#I'm too much of a lore nerd not to reference him

[psychomusic]

oc time again! + her town & culture (heavily inspired by pre-roman italic populations)

she is suri sauthon (later suri laran, after her marriage). her story is linked to my swtor imperial agent, but most of her life for like. the one year away where she meets him, is spent in a town in the mountains of mirial.

despite mirial being cold and desert, and many cities developing underground, her town flourishes thanks to a force nexus, venerated in the form of an ancient, sacred, alive crystal. the ecosystem of that mountain depended on what "the horned crystal" was capable of giving them, but mirialans couldn't live off of that alone, so they developed trade and some rudimental technology, even if oftentimes it was bought thanks to the highly profitable trade of a plant used to make medicines that slowed down aging and had overall healing properties.

note: everything that's generated by this nexus has these healing properties BUT they have to be processed, except for those who bathed in the waters of the cavity under the crystal - the "real" nexus, but not the worshipped one. the waters were sacred but they were not thought to be miraculous, unlike the crystal, who instead was thought of as the keystone of the ecosystem: without it, everything would fall apart (and that is partially true: the cavity was the "real" nexus but thanks to the crystal, also strong in the force, the properties were spread all over the mountains). those who bathed in the cavity's waters - so, all of the town, who had a sort of baptism there - could eat the plant, make whatever food with it, and not only that plant, but everything generated by the nexus, that, again, had similar properties. this allowed people to live up to normal life-spans without advanced medicines or, much, really. to those who didn't live there, though, after the processing, had incredible effects, slowing down aging - for those who took it regularly - and making people able to live up to half a century more than the average]

originally, there were four tribes of nomads that lived thanks to horned farm animals that decided to settle down into one bigger town and other smaller settlements, to live off of transhumance. this division of the tribes stayed into the political and social organization: every person belonged to one tribe specifically, and had slightly different rituals and culture. for examples, each tribe had their own priests and healers, with different techniques and traditions. the town, tho, was guided by a group of people in the high priesthood, a position you could reach only by having earned the trust of all tribes. those high priests had many roles: they guided the people into sacred processions common to all the tribes, they managed the trading with outsiders, they did the maintenance of the temple of the summit (the one that functioned as casket to the crystal) and created a special liquid to offer the crystal that helps it grow.

this particular temple was important because 1. it was very visible, from every angle of the town, and it became an important identity symbol; 2. it stored the venerated horned crystal; 3. it had the altar where sacrifices were made for the crystals. that altar had a hole connected to the cavity, that allowed the liquids to reach the underground; 4. it had various symbols: statues representing each tribe + the high priesthood, and typical mirialan tattoos carved into the wood of the trees that served as columns for the temple, symbolizing 8 values that who dared to enter HAD to have; 5. it was on the way to an important lake (called "mother lake" because the lake the town was built around to depended on the waters of that other lake) where they traveled to in important processions; 6. it was said that a the wizard who unified the tribes made it with its magic, making the plant grow to hold the temple's roof. this wizard was, actually, a force user, obv.

BACK TO HER THOUGH: she's daughter of one of the high priests, who was in charge of managing the trades with outsiders, and lives in a house on the mountains with her mother and him. her parents are from different tribes (that's one of the things that earned him trust from the 4 tribes): when a child is born from two different tribes, they don't pick one to allign to, but they're usually linked automatically to the one with more relatives in it (in her case, the father's tribe: she had many uncles and aunts on his side while her mom only had one sister).

later, though, she got quite tied to her mother's tribe due to a mysterious illness that only her mother's tribe healer was able to cure. she spent 4 years (from 10 to 14 years old) living with the healer and learned her secrets. to better study, she wrote them down. when she returned home, she studied to become a priestess with her father. at 22 (the average age: you can't become priest before your 20s), she was supposed to take a test and become a priestess, but the healer of her mother's tribe died and the tribe asked her to take her place. she couldn't technically do that, but both tribes estimated both her and her parents and she was allowed to become both. she then decided to try to become a high priestess, and became one at 25 (a quite young age). being part of the council, she tried to convince the various tribe healers to unite their knowledges and write them down, and eventually made it. healers still remained tribe based but they now had an "upper, inter-tribe level" similar to high priesthood.

years later, the sacred horned crystal is stolen from the temple by some Hutt mercenaries looking for a profit. given the trust she has earned from all the tribes and the fact that her father is the high priest that deals with outsiders (and she's been hearing stories and advice about it since she was little), she is the one tasked with getting it back. without the growing crystal, the keystone to their ecosystem, the village would have lasted only a few years. in hrr quest, she meets imperial intelligence agent tar'x laran and, as they "solve the mystery" and fight to have it back, they get closer. they'll get married and have a daughter, Vegoia (who's the only one who actually will get to the plot of my story. this was all background)

[cherrylight]

hello everyone. do you want to see my tua self insert whose lore is so confusing and discombobulated because of time (i also have too many ideas for her lore wise so it's okay i guess). i'm being brave, because you are seeing her and i'm indecisive.

look at my darling. i love you. (i like the one on the left a lot i'm sorry)

picrew

[bernardellinewsagency]

Have any other Galladay shippers gone diving into HSR lore cause you're a little too obsessed with the game and ended up thinking about how you could create parallels between not only Sunday and Dominicus, but also Gallagher and Aelenev (and that you could make it gay)? Or is it just me who's spending too much time wishing we had more lore about the Harmonic Strings?

Putting my ramblings under the cut cause it's long and there's some spoilers in case anyone still hasn't finished the Penacony quests

Sunday and Dominicus, that's pretty obvious. It's the Wisher of the Harmonious Choir that he attempts to bring forth at the Charmony Festival, using his power as well as the Order to spread Ena's influence among all those slumbering within Penacony. When talking about Dominicus, "A Hymn of Charmonic Strings" says "Prayers you suckle from the millions gathered here, and the masses' heartstrings you play," which could very well allude to Sunday's plan of placing everyone into the most perfect dreams they could wish for, dreams they would never wish to wake from. And like, apparently the name Sunday is even derived from Dominicus or something, according to the etymology notes on the HSR wiki page.

But that same readable mentions Aelenev, the Commander of the Eternal Centurion, and first of all that's just a cool fucking name in general. Second of all, there's several points that can stand out when looking upon the full section of the hymn,

"O, Great One of Paradise, Caress this scripture that is stained by blood on the battlefield, and kiss my longsword of bone and soul, Life is howling, and the sharp blade of streaming colors hangs high. Aelenev, do you hear? The soldiers' bones are buried at the end of the world. Comrades' whisper united, and the gospel can be heard for miles long, Blissful rain pours out thus, and one person equals to thousands. Thought they be the invincible steeds and death, they too long for their home deep in their soul."

The main part that I choose to look at is "one person equals to thousands," as there's lots of ways that could be interpreted. There is, of course, the fact that the Family is basically a hivemind, and also how Aelenev was summoned on one occasion and his sword was "unsheathed from the scabbard of 4,630,000 Hounds" which I take to mean as sort of manifested from their collective minds and wills, so to speak. Similar to how Gallagher is a lie manifested from the traits of 52 loyal Family members, no? And longing for a home deep in their soul, soldiers' bones that have been buried, a scripture stained by blood, I personally think that those could easily be taken as references to Mikhail, the revolution that led to Penacony being formed in the first place, and how Gallagher misses those he used to know. Or maybe not references, but they certainly could hold a similar meaning. I don't know, I'm not a fucking literature major or anything, I study animals and nature. This is just me being a massive nerd on the internet.

Anyways, this is mostly just to wonder if anyone else has/is thinking of using these parallels to make really gay stuff. Sunday should get more weird and fucked up with his affection in fics, because I think it would be really fun to see. Have him call Gallagher "my Aelenev" or something, make him want to craft Gallagher into a wonderful embodiment of the Harmony the same way as he attempted to usurp Dominicus' power. Get weird with it!

Or hey go a step further and make yaoi about the Harmonic Strings themselves. I'd do it. I'd fucking do it. I'm insane about this game's lore sometimes.

Also: Robin could be a parallel for Constantina, the singer of the Panacoustic Theater. That just leaves Beatriz, the merrymaker of the Blissful Ball, who I suppose could be parallel to Sparkle? Not to say that all four of them need to be represented by members of the Penacony cast, I'm just coming up with random thoughts about it.

[martyrmystik]

I think Tumblr needs to know about my dumbass Poppy Playtime AU I literally JUST made today so uhm... Here's the AU I've been hyperfixating on-

More information under the cut!

This is the first half of the Smiling Critters references (I loved making their designs omg)

Basically to summarize why they are a significant part in this AU:

This is an AU where the Smiling Critters survive, using anything and everything they can to continue to do so. It's a small resistance group (hence the AU name, "RESISTANCE") trying to fight against The Prototype! They still have their dynamics and everything else but they have more freedom to express themselves (hence, the clothes and accessories. And how Kickin' Chicken is wearing two bandana's because yes, he is extra.) AFTER the events of The Hour of Joy. By that time they were like what? 1st-2nd graders considering the experiments that were done? Now they are more like teenagers in this AU since I still follow the plot-line of the actual Poppy Playtime story taking place 10 years later-.

As for how the group works, everybody has their own little role and is in charge of something, they aren't made useless as it is a group based off of teamwork and friendship (despite the casualties.) Here's some of the roles they fall into:

(IF I SEE ANYBODY SEXUALIZE THESE CHARACTERS ISTG. THATS ICKY AND GROSS and I will make sure you get smited by lightning, because even if these guys are aged up THEY ARE STILL MINORS!!!)

Kickin Chicken: The vice president if you will, the leaders right hand man. (Because Dogday is the leader.) He's kind of full of himself but the confidence and pep talks help the team keep motivated, even if he is a bit self-centered

Bobby Bearhug: Assistant to Kickin Chicken (although they have a rivalry.) and also the medic. Is also the one who helps Dogday with anything considering in this AU he still has half of him torn off. (More on Dogday in his own section sometime later)

Hoppy Hopscotch: Basically explores the facility in any area at any time to gather new information on ways to try and get out (all of them are actively looking to escape btw!)

Craftycorn: Maps out stuff (maps, plans, other things) using her drawing abilities, although she also acts as the therapist friend because her art is soothing to others.

Bubba Bubbaphant: THE LITERAL. EMBODIMENT. OF. THE NERD EMOJI. He is a actual know-it-all which can come in handy but that makes him seem like a dick sometimes because of his knowledge.

Picky Piggy: I don't really have anything important to add to her, since I want to keep some of her lore a secret [might be revealed through the ask page I just set up for the AU on my page] HOWEVER she is the chef of the group and is literally the only one that can cook, if anybody else tried they'd all get food poisoning LMAO.

Here's some extra things in this AU that won't go in my other posts about this AU (maybe):

(So take notes if you want.)

- Catnap is redeemed, but it takes a VERY long time for him to get out of "old habits" as I'm going to word it. (Without spoiling too much of what I have planned.)

- I don't know what to plan for The Prototype yet but I'm talking with a couple of my mutuals on discord so maybe I'll figure it out eventually

- Dogday can normally stand and do other things because of the belts he has, however he can't put them on for too long (for like at max, more than 4 hours a day.) because they will wear into the plush, and he needs to put the belts on tight or they will come loose. He only uses such method when the group goes to hunt for food or similar activities, otherwise, he just uses a wheelchair when in the groups safe environment (the Playhouse!)

- This is going to be a shock to some people, but there is NO player character in this AU, not only is this a what if the Smiling Critters survived, but it's also a what if the player character never returned to Playtime Co.! This does come with some issues, like on how the asks are going to work, but trust me, I got everything taken care of when it comes to that!

- There also isn't really any shipping in this AU at all, I'm focusing on the story/friendship dynamics more than that, so if somehow you were looking for Dogday X Catnap this is, unfortunately not the place for that.

- This AU also has the personal interpretation of Dogday being part of the experiments some of the orphanage kids faced, as I don't really vibe with the idea that Dogday might be a Playtime Co. worker??? I don't know, I'm sticking with my idea for now but I will be keeping a close eye on canon if anything confirms or denies it, and I may adjust the AU accordingly if that's the case.

- Future posts may or may not contain other Poppy Playtime characters but the main focus is the Smiling Critters and The Prototype.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

References of Dogday and Catnap are already done but I may wait a bit on Tumblr to see how well this AU is being received :)

(I spent 6 hours on all references in total 😭😭😭)

[arataki-neato]

Resident Vidyadhara lore nerd here, I'm typing this all out at 3 in the god damn morning so I might regret this but I wanted to give my take on something I feel like a lot of people might have misunderstood or misinterpreted:

Hatching rebirth is not a cosmetic thing, it's not simply amnesia, it's not a way for Vidyadhara to escape taking accountability for what they did in their past lives, and Dan Heng is not in denial for believing himself to be his own person, distinct from Dan Feng.

There's this document in the alchemy commission you find as part of a quest with a compendium of medicines, and one of those is a treatment that, when administered to young Vidyadhara, allows them to begin to recall their past lives. This is most likely how it's done for High Elders.

However, there's the added stipulation that administering this to someone else without their consent is a punishable offense.

The Vidyadhara have a way of negating the memory loss caused by hatching rebirth, but they don't want it. The process of hatching rebirth and the strict separation between past lives is not only culturally sacred to them, it's an important part of their life cycle. The fact that it's done to High Elders is pretty much a perversion, but it's apparently considered important for the survival of the species.

The reason why is that there's just simply an upper limit to how long someone can comfortably live a single life--Xianzhou natives become Mara struck after about 1000 years, and while there's no real knowledge of what causes it, the general consensus is that their memories accumulate and become too much for them. Hatching rebirth protects them from this, it's an opportunity to rest and renew, to heal from old scars and past traumas, and most importantly, a chance for a fresh start.

Believing themself to be a different person than they were in their past lives is not an attitude unique to Dan Heng, it's consistent with pretty much every Vidyadhara npc you can talk to.

(Chunfen, the reincarnation of a famous Vidyadhara opera singer named Ling Jie, uses Ling Jie's notes as a guide on how to live an exciting life, but still talks about her as if she were someone else who left them for her and not as if they were something she herself had written)

(Jinyu, the Vidyadhara woman whose rebirth cycle is so accelerated she basically becomes a new person every month, has had many short-lived yet passionate love affairs, but she never remembers them and never has any interest in trying to rekindle the relationship)

There's the Vidyadhara Cong, who by chance or fate has ended up falling in love with the same long-life Xianzhou woman in every one of his past reincarnations, which she found romantic at first, but she has grown old and tired and has had to try to let him down gently because she can't force herself to try to fall in love with him again.

There are Vidyadhara who are reluctant to let go of their memories and try to bring keepsakes with them, but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that most of the time, their future self does not attach the same emotional significance to it that they do, and it only ends up being a source of grief and a reminder of what they lost.

When Vidyadhara hatch out of their eggs, they are a child with no memories. Despite not being a true death, it is functionally no different than the death of the old self and the birth of a new one (and Dan Heng sees it this way, too, he even refers to it as his "birth")

And I think that Dan Heng is perfectly justified in not wanting anything to do with Dan Feng or anything related to his past life. All he knows is that ever since he was a child, he has been punished and abused and hunted and despised for something that, from his perspective, he didn't even do.

It's not like what happened with Scaramouche, which I feel like a lot of people are probably comparing it too--If Dan Heng suddenly and with perfect clarity got back all of Dan Feng's memories, it would not make him Dan Feng. They still wouldn't be his memories, and they wouldn't supersede his current life--He would still just be Dan Heng, but with someone else's memories on top. He really is his own person, and he deserves to have his own life to live.

[wisemins]

heyy🕺

so I checked your f/o list and I saw not only do u ship w stan but also ford!?🧐 incredibly based😌 since I have gravity falls brainrot this is my obligatory ask about your s/i if you have one👀 if not use this as gush pass🎫

side note: do u prefer being called miya or starshine? because I saw someone refer to you as miya once and that's what I've been doing but you and some others refer to you as starshine so uh I just wanted to check🧍🏽

second side note: are you okay with sharing stanley? I understand if not, I only have 1 tag for him so far (💗: stan💸) if you want to block it. okay done for real🏃🏽‍♀️

@i-put-the-s4p-in-s4pphic

YYAYAYAAAA I've been waiting forever to be able to answer this but I've been so busy with work!!! OH BOYYY IM SO EXCITED TO ANSWERR

Gravity Falls is like one of my all time 'tisms, like I have seen it an unholy amount of times, I've never kept track of just how many times. I used to just have it on 24/7 as background noise around my house. I know this show like the back of my hand and I simply adore it!!! okay so-- I've also been shipping in it since I first got into it, but eventually I wasn't shipping in it anymore and just enjoyed it for what it was-- until I rewatched it in my adulthood.

Now, I used to only ship with Ford, but...well, my crusty old man taste had developed to fruition already in 2021 so Stanley was instantly looking FOOOOOINEEE as hell alongside Stanford. So then it was-- I was shipping with both of them. Separately, though. Definitely needed different canons for it to work, since Ford and I have a much different relationship than Stan and I, but I'm honestly still working on my lore with Ford now that things have changed and that I'm much older. There's just more potential with him in terms of intergalactic/dimensional stuff!

So in terms of Stan and me, we're mostly just very domestic and comfortable outside of the crazy canon lore! I started off working at the mystery shack, helping Stan with his crazy ideas for new creatures and attractions, I also helped out a lot with sales and tours! But eventually we both just clicked and I discovered that I in fact LOVEDDDD that old man. And as it turns out he felt the same too!! He was more hesitant, for obvious reasons. A considerable age gap, the fact that he's a lot more insecure than he lets on, people in general think he's disgusting and conniving and a scammer, but I like his style! I never judged him like that, I get where he's coming from, and we've both been through a lot in our lives so we tend to relate A LOT despite the generational difference. But we're mostly just a very doting couple who makes the dream happen, we hustle and we take care of the twins! And also try to keep them out of trouble, to the best of our abilities. Stan and I are only dating, but if I were to ever have the pleasure of marrying him-- well I'd be honored to be any sort of caretaker figure to them!

Now, me and Ford? Our relationship depends on *when* we met. Currently I have two timeline ideas, but for now I'll focus on one where he's also a crusty old man. We relate a lot as well, just on a different level! We're both giga nerds, love to write and draw, are nervous wrecks but simultaneously too oblivious for our own good. We do have our own version of a domestic life, one that just includes more weird happenings and nerd stuff! Lots of D&D&moreD, talking and theorizing, and a lot of dorky longing looks and late nights of working on stuff together. I'd like to think in this version of myself in Gravity Falls, I'd be more akin to the weirdness and was far more aware of it than I would be if I was with Stan, seeing as Stanley would most likely try to shield me from it than make me aware.

Also you can call me either or honestly!! Miya is my real name so it's more personable (I would be honored if you felt comfortable enough to call me as such!), and Starshine is just a cute nickname that my mans Wonka calls me along with some other mutuals! or if you want another *another* nickname, you can also go with Marnie!

Also I am super duper cool with sharing Stan!!! for so many years...i have felt alone in my Stan loving because he was the "gross" twin that only very few people actually liked 😭😭 So the solidarity and the sharing of joy in this crusty old man is ALWAYS welcome!!!

tysm for the ask once again Frankie!!!! MY BELOVED MUTUALLL <333

[stardew-obsessed-ora]

I've been avoiding posting just so that Ulrich's ref could be my 100th POST. RAHHH. WOOO IT'S DONE!!

For anyone whose new to seeing this man, his name is Ulrich Althaus (Ulrich Mephisto Althaus if we're referring to him in other canons). He's a Technical Lead for Joja Corporations, and despite being introverted, he can come off as rather judgmental to people who don't know him well enough to understand how he speaks. He's around 18 years old when he first arrives in the Republic itself, finding himself staying around Downtown Zuzu for a while. He's somewhere in his late 20s/early 30s when he stations himself in the valley itself and tries to gather the resources to set up a Joja Brand tech store. In his mind, he truly, deeply believes that Joja can help benefit the valley. He ends up having rose-tinted glasses over the company for the longest time, and gradually has those viewpoints shattered the longer he stays within the valley. Of course, I plan on building his lore up gradually and through slow answers here and there, so I'm really trying not to spew out too much :3 also he's ungodly picky i mean he hates more than the average farmer LMFAO. bro has most of the universal hates too

More general description stuff/expansion stuff (fair warning its long):

 Ulrich's personality is a fascinating one. He feels as though he has a reputation to uphold, and will often shut down most, if not all critique coming toward him unless they are genuine. He often-times does not stand for attacks on his own character. Usually though, he’s the one giving critique to others, but it mostly comes off as insults rather than from a genuine place of concern due to how blunt he is. The way he phrases things tends to be derogatory in nature due to his lack of filter. He tends to get annoyed when people act offended, and genuinely doesn’t understand why they took his concern the way they did.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of feeling he has to constantly uphold a reputation, he is quite the perfectionist. It's difficult for him to accept his own mistakes without shutting down and having to distance himself from the situation awhile. To put it simply, he feels like he’s failed those around him through his errors. While he gives others the opportunity to correct their margin of error, he would never give himself that leeway. 

Due to Ulrich’s lack of social understanding, he tends to struggle at fraternizing with others and oftentimes misses obvious jokes or sarcasm within sentences. He is particularly bad at this when matched with tone through text, and will often find himself over-explaining something that didn’t need to be explained to begin with just to be met with “blah blah blah its a joke”. Though his lack of tonal understanding is better in person, he can still be found occasionally left confused and bewildered at interactions.  

Speaking of social scenarios with Ulrich, he is relatively introverted, and prefers brief interactions with strangers in person as to not burn himself out. He prefers interactions with little to no people around, and in general much prefers spaces with little to no activity. This is one of many reasons which his line of work involves remote involvement and virtual meetings on his end. While this issue does not present itself in online chatrooms, he still finds himself burnt out of interaction occasionally if he’s had to speak to those hes unfamiliarized with for too long. 

To those he’s come to know, however, he can be a rather clingy, overprotective individual who wishes for nothing more than to be there for the ones he’s come to love. His clingy nature comes from a place of fear, as he doesn’t want to go through losing someone else he’s come to grow close to. Though, he can be a bit overbearing at points. 

Other Likes:  

 - He highly enjoys programming, creating things from scratch through the languages he knows,  and being able to experience anything which was decently coded. He’s actually a total nerd for video games and especially for computer viruses. He loves being able to dissect things like that. 

He enjoys heavy metal music and EDM. His playlist can be a jumpscare for those entirely oblivious to his music tastes.

He enjoys hiking and exploring alone in his free-time. Its relaxing for him to be able to get out and exercise in any way he can. 

He’s a total dork for mythology and the study of all things surrounding mythological creatures. 

He gets overly hyper during the festival of the moonlight jellies 

He’d never actually admit it, but he really likes dancing, the art behind dancing, and is a decent dancer himself. 

Other Dislikes: 

He has a phobia of needles

He’s outright terrified of Krampus. His father told him ONE tale for bedtime and it forever sealed his fate. 

He dislikes overly loud and obnoxious individuals, finding them quick to drain him. 

He dislikes summer, finding himself overheating easily in the harsh sun

Despite being a Joja employee, he somewhat holds disdain for the way a majority of the branches are run. 

Geese. I don’t need to explain this one, I’m sure it’s justifiable.

Strengths:

One of Ulrich’s greatest strengths is how agile he is. Being relatively skilled on his feet, he is able to run away from most confrontations. Of course, he’d find that shameful, so instead he uses this agility of his to get to and from places at concerning speeds. He might have knee issues, but that doesn't mean he's not fast as fuck.

He's a total computer nerd. Got a tech problem? He’s probably your guy to help out. 

He’s a surprisingly good chef

He was also taught a decent amount of fishing by his father, making him decent at it. 

He’s very outspoken about how he feels regarding any given situation

Weaknesses:

He’s ass at farming. Do not make this man do farmwork, you’ll regret it deeply. Please PLEASE don’t make this man do farm work.

He has the depth perception of a literal toddler. If he’s running somewhere, there’s a 50% chance he’ll slam into a pole on the way there.

As stated in his bio, he has difficulty in social situations. This can make bonding with others difficult, and causes him his fair share of conflict. Especially when he mistakes a joke as a snide remark and starts to comment about how it shouldn’t have been said and it spirals out of control.

He’s stubborn to a fault. He has a very stern set of morals which are hard to bend. Not only that, but his strict internal code causes him to react oddly to anything which bends it even slightly, causing even MORE conflict on his part. 

He’s very outspoken about how he feels regarding any given situation

close up on some things that might be hard to read + the chibis that im absurdly attached to (i might post them standalone)

[alltimefail-sims]

LORE TIDBIT TIME WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Did you know Vlad was apart of the settler colony who mysterious disappeared? This is obviously a nod to the Roanoke colony which I think is sooo cool. What do you think happened to Vlad's colony? I like to think Vlad was turned or became a vampire and whipped them out.

HELL YEAH LORE TIDBIT ABOUT VLADDY DADDY!!! 😏

I'm going to treat this as a "deep dive" into Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, so I'll be adding it to my Deep Dive Series tag. Unsurprising to literally everyone, but this is gonna be a long one.

So… let’s get into it! ↓

Going into this I will admit that I actually did know this about Vlad!! I've been wanting to talk about it for forever but have never gotten around to it haha. 🤭 I'm a bit of a history nerd and I love a good spooky story/conspiracy, so naturally the Roanoke Colony was one of my obsessions when I was around 11 or 12 years old.

I think it's an interesting tie in from the sims team, I'd even say it's a bit meta because I feel like the game normally sticks to making references toward itself and its own canon characters/events while generally staying away from anything that would be too direct of a reference to "our world." Personally though I wish they broke the fourth wall more! I like easter eggs or hidden details that make it easier to imagine the characters existing not in their isolated, imaginary worlds, but in ours instead.

It's interesting to think about why the sims team might have made this connection - was it just a cheeky, unserious little wink to a well-known unsolved mystery, or was it done for the purposes of creating implications and expanded lore regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow (a case of them showing us instead of telling us). There are so many theories archaeologists and historians alike have had about the lost colony of Roanoke over the years: some believe the Roanoke colonists could have all died by disease or famine, some believe they could have been victims of a deadly storm, some believe they were attacked by neighboring tribes or by Spanish soldiers. Nowadays there are scholars who will argue that no tragedy befell the settlers at all and that they simply relocated (that would be why they left "Croatoan" behind - there was a nearby location referred to as Croatoan Island, now modern-day Hatters Island).

With that in mind, along with Vlad's own refusal to recall the details of this event, it's safe to assume that the sims team isn't referring to the happier Roanoke theories...the 25 colonists of Forgotten Hollow likely faced an unfortunate end.

Your theory of Vlad being turned and thus wiping out the colony (I'm guessing due to new-turn bloodlust) is sooooo compelling, the implications of that scenario are delicious and I personally never thought of it from that angle! My theory is only a little different: I agree that Vlad was turned on the day that the colonists "disappeared" (whatever that implies), but I have always played Vlad's story not as if he was turned and then killed everyone after, but rather that the thing that turned him successfully killed the other colonists but accidentally turned Vlad. It's a really long story that I play around with for fun in my brain but the short-ish version is: Vlad awoke outside - cold, alert, sweaty, dirty and covered in his own blood - but somehow alive, which he was thankful for. His new immortal condition is still unbeknownst to him at this point, but he felt an ache like never before, so deep in his bones it was excruciatingly painful, but his senses were heightened tenfold. He didn't remember much, just that the colony had been under attack the night before. His relief to be alive rapidly melted into abject horror as he found everyone else (friends, neighbors, family, children) dead. He realized soon enough what had happened to him and stayed in Forgotten Hollow where he would be memorialized as its "founder." He spent his days hellbent on retaliation and retribution, but was also steadfast in continuing the work that was began there before the attack. Eventually he does get to face off with the vampire who attacked him and his people, killing it and rising to power in the vampire world. He keeps the events close to his chest because they were traumatizing and cause him sadness, and he's worked diligently to remove himself from his humanity/human memories and from emotions in general (thus how he has become the person we see today). I always thought if he killed the colonists himself the other vampires in his circle - at least his closest confidantes - would know (as he's got quite the massive ego), but they don't seem to have knowledge of this event and they never mention it. I've thought that it could be possible that sharing the memories of this event would make Vlad feel weak, and he's not one to boast in his weakness. He'd much rather rewrite history in a way that is beneficial to his image; dragging up emotions about dead people would not bring them back to life, and by burying this history of a massacre in Forgotten Hollow he is also creating some mystery around himself and making it easier to play the role of a great-great-great-great grandson (or whatever he's pretending to be, relationship-wise) to the original founder.

But that's just how I play with Vlad! 🤷 I could be way off-base lmao!

Regardless of what happened, we know Vlad is the sole survivor of this event and he is scarred by it, impacted so deeply that he only ever vaguely alludes to it with no clear explanation. Whether he killed the colonists himself or just witnessed their death, the sims team will probably never give us concrete answers (and frankly, that's probably for the best considering their track record). But the clever connection of the LOST colony and FORGOTTEN Hollow are clear as day and I just think that is freaking cool! The occult lore in TS4, especially regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, make interesting framework for storytellers and lore-lovers alike! Vlad is one of those characters who has sooooo many interpretations, and I eat up each and every one!

Okay, I think that's all I've got for now! Sorry about my word vomit! Somewhat related: here's an article I recently read on Roanoke that talks about the archaeological finds which have changed some of the discussions surrounding whether the colonists survived or not! I found it pretty interesting and you might as well!

[4lph4kidz]

3, 4, 17, 18, 26 and 36 for the writer ask game. :3

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

i play ridiculous music when i can't concentrate and need stimulation. running in the 90s. mad rat monday. spamton CD. this kasane teto song which i have seen (accurately imo) described as penis music.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

i can't really... think of any? there are words i like but i wouldn't say i hoot and holler if i see a chance to use them, or see them crop up in someone else's work. themes and ideas, yeah! specific words... idk.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

i've been doing a lot of probably entirely unnecessary research for my latest WIP which is... hm! how about i dm you about that one.

on the subject of research, i'm under no illusions, catabolic seed is sheer scifi nonsense (affectionate). i've purposefully held off from getting too in the weeds with it because i know i would stress too much about complex worldbuilding and scientific accuracy, so a lot of stuff that isn't directly relevant to the plot is broad strokes stuff. as per the main inspiration, wolf 359, i'm leaning more on the workplace comedy at the start (because, haha, i have a job, he just like me fr) but i may develop the sci fi elements more once its time to fully bring them into the story. what i do have is: detailed bios and job descriptions for each character, a rough layout of the spaceship Hemera, notes on robotics and spacefaring technology, rival factions within the worldspace, some alien biology stuff... i'm a pretty big science nerd, and i enjoy good hard sci fi! but we're not doing that here, we're putting guys in situations. this is about genre. verisimilitude. you're getting good old fashioned technobabble.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

alright, how about this part from ch1 of catabolic seed! i made some pretty big last minute changes to the beginning of the fic because the pacing wasn't working, and i ended up pulling in a scene from much later in the story to serve as a dirkjake meet cute.

i like set up. establishing tone, creating atmosphere... the way you introduce a character, even one known already to the audience, is something i think is important and i enjoy playing with that a lot. originally jane was present and dirk was going to be pulling a bunch of wires out of the wall, which jane described as 'disemboweling her spaceship' but at some point i decided him popping out of the vent and scaring the shit out of jake seemed like a more fun idea so i ran with it. this establishses dirk as a potential threat, which leads to the stupid kabedon moment later, which leads to the jokes about the disney cruise liner and the engineering section flooding... i didn't have time to think it through all the way but as far as choices made on the fly go i think i made it work!

dirk being in the vents was also pulling from wolf 359, specifically referencing the character captain minkowski who i felt was kind of comprable to dirk in terms of her neuroses - it wasn't till i got someone else's eyes on it that they pointed out that i'd introduced dirk exactly like a fucking xenomorph, which was perfect, so i scrambled to insert a textual reference to the alien movies and doing some hasty worldbuilding while i was at it.

in general i think exploring the relationship from jake's point of view is super interesting. in an au where they don't already know each other, dirk is an interesting figure for jake to 'figure out' - aloof, mysterious, other - classic love interest stuff. which is perhaps less interesting than their deal in canon, but hey, i'm having fun running with it.

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

hm, i don't know. i hyperfixated on the alpha kids pretty hard so i think i already have quite well-formed interpretations of their personalities and perspectives, it's not hard to dredge those up when i need them. i won't pretend my writing is for sure an accurate reflection of canon characterisation or anything but i'll go read passages from canon when writing and refining dialogue especially. and hmm. i do end up going to dark places sometimes, and nearly every fic ends up quite a bit darker than i mean it to... i'm totally fine. don't worry about it.

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?

be bisexual, eat hot chip and lie

aside from my aforementioned interests in genre fiction, or biology, i can see what i'm grappling with as a person reflected quite clearly in what i end up exploring in my work. i have the past experiences of being a queer teenager who had no idea what was going on, grappling with mental illness and feeling incredibly alone. or i can draw on my experiences as an adult, finding myself as a person, going out into the world, and all the struggles therein.

[thedawningofthehour]

I meant to send this yesterday, but did you ever mention what exactly Josh is? I honestly don’t remember there ever being clarification (and if there was it totally went over my head) and while i was rereading for the umpteenth time Josh was referred to by splinter as “the copper one” and my mind kinda went “Excuse me, Copper???” I figured he was a Yokai of some kind but then we know that Rose is a witch/from witch town (right?) so whenever I vision Josh is just a very wobbly image of some nerdy buff guy idk and he’s always wearing a blue shirt for some reason :P

Lol well you're pretty close! Josh and his brother and sister are all witches from Witch Town and look vaguely humanish, as Yokai witches are shown to be.

Like yes, these people are undoubtedly Not Human, but unlike many other Yokai they don't seem to be anything else in particular. (in general-I see Lion Dude up there, but he's an outlier) (I've actually thought a lot about the lore of Witch Town and I have no idea if I'm going to end up using any of it so I might do a write-up one of these days)

Josh and his family (his twin sister, their little brother, and the little brother's husband, and maybe his niece I haven't decided if she exists here) all live in Witch Town and run an apothecary. They actually met Bella because the little brother Reed (who I apparently haven't even referenced by name yet, sorry Reed) was her bodyguard while she competed in the Nexus. He got into some debt and the debt was then purchased by Big Mama, and he refused to fight for her. Big Mama basically rigged his contract so he could never pay her back, effectively enslaving him, and had his tongue cut out for talking back to her too many times. He got assigned to Bella because she already knew how to sign, they became friends, and when she left she bought out his contract. Turns out his sister was hot and his brother was her platonic soulmate, so happily ever after. (Bella and Reed are still really good friends, they're just less reasons to mention him because his skills aren't really plot-relevant)

Josh is definitely a nerd, he's pretty tall and broad-shouldered but skinny. He's kind of pink, not intensely so but definitely a few shades into 'not a human skin color'. His hair is either blond or he's a very light redhead, depending on how I feel that day. He has an extremely prominent nose, which...I just realized that doesn't sound good, considering he's Jewish. Okay, to be fair, when I designed him he was not Jewish. He's a Dishonored OC, the Dishonored world does not have any real-world religions, they have one twink who is also a whale as their god and their religion is centered around hating on him. I made Josh Jewish because Bella was Jewish and I kind of liked the idea of her bonding with him and his family over that. (I don't know why Bella is Jewish, she just Was) (also Bella and Josh aren't religiously Jewish-they're atheists)

Rose looks pretty similar, except she's much shorter (which vexes her greatly, as she's the oldest) and her hair is more of a ginger color. Reed however is massive, taller than his brother and super buff, like 'body of a Greek god' but unironically. His coloring is more pinkish-purple and darker because he has a different father. Everyone thirsts over him and he is entirely oblivious. His husband got a lot of high-fives when he put a ring on it. (and a lot of jealous glowers, especially when the story of how he proposed with a BBQ sandwich came out)

Splinter calls him 'the copper one' because their last name is Copperspoon but he couldn't remember. (he's old) And they have that name because their mother is this bitch:

Delilah Copperspoon, bisexual poly witch and bastard daughter of an emperor. She's such a wonderfully evil character.

[basicallyjaywalker]

For the ask game >:3 ✂️❤️

🎨 I know you have OC’s but I know embarrassingly little for being a mutual this long. Hand them over rook :)

Edit: I forgot to say hi 😭 sorry I saw you mentioned OCs and literally just. mind blank got the zoomies started stimming forgot my manners. Anyways

Hello Oli :DDD

One thing I would change: I mean. I would rewrite a lot of the series but mainly I would wanna give Nya a more prominent and starring role early on. Let her have more Samurai X moments and quit putting her on the sidelines while the boys do things!!

Favorite ship? Canonically Pixane ngl. I love Jaya but Pixane is soulmate coded for me I break Jaya up at the drop of a hat for funsies I feel bad breaking up Pixane.

Do I have OCs? You're goddamn right I do I have wayyyyyy too many. I'm working on character sheets for the main ones now but until those are uploaded have a taste!

Nataly Chumsworth: Master of Love, half Serpentine, menace to society. If the name did not clue you in she's Pythor's daughter and they have. A relationship.

Roxie Andrews: Master of Peace, local stressed out mom friend, former student at Marty Oppenheimer's! Old friend of Cole's and someone i imagine Nya being besties with.

Jasmine Bucket/Julien: Master of Nature (secondary: Ice), engineer at Borg Industries, made before Bolobo I swear. Zane's half sister but neither has any clue about that yet

Jackie Fei: Master of Magic (I have a whole system set up for this), chronically tired and depressed but gets to have a glow-up, chaotic good incarnate. My favoritest little blorbo ngl

Hannah Stone: Master of Music (different from sound and again swear she was pre-S4), punk rock girl, Chen's former... student is not the right term. Embodiment of that one audio: "they got their weapon, I got cheated out of my childhood)

Kyle Stone: not an elemental master but a former member of Chen's cult kinda (born into it), instead of masking his trauma with anger like Hannah he masks it with bubbliness, chronic overprotective disease. He and Hannah aren't blood related but they're also the closest thing to family each other has

Master Twyla: Master of Light, the teacher of these fucking kids, trying her best to keep the memory of the former EMs alive. Bops her on the head this bad girl can fit soooooo much trauma she's trying to overcome in her, goddamn

Ivy Crest: Master of Wind except not fully until S5 (thanks Morro), Morro's bio daughter and Ronin's adopted daughter (bet you can't guess who she prefers), expert in forgery and shit at mechanics. She and Nya form a close bond in S5 and Nya continues to try and teach her mechanical stuff (it does not work)

Luna McCallister/Garmadon: Master of Dreams, long lost Garmadon daughter who?, big fucking nerd. I have no idea when she and Lloyd realize their related but it makes their interactions at the comic store beforehand a lot funnier (for reference: she is about 2 years older than him)

Jonathan Borg: heir to Borg Industries, curious about the supernatural elements of Ninjago, knows about something he probably shouldn't. His place is not fully figured out yet but I feel like he's gonna start wanting to prove more useful after S7 to mixed results, esp bc his sister is way cooler than him

Willow Whispernight: yeah check back later chief I am reworking her ENTIRE lore lmao. Currently also connected with nature in some way and Jasmine's step-sister

Ahahaha that isn't even all of them. it's been over a decade I am soooo normal. I do not have *checks notes* approximately 20 OCs, named and unnamed, with various places in stories and development

[inkblackorchid]

Okay I gotta get that out somewhere and you’re the best person to ask that but I feel like my brain is going wild and reaching but like,,, I wanna see the whole design of Godwin‘s Daedalus times because I feel like Crow‘s WRPG riding jacket looks super similar to the one he wears in the Flashbacks where he jumps from the bridge and 🥹🥹🥹 idk it might just be the color and the details but I think that would be so cute. Literally the Daedalus Legend is one of my fav things about Satellite lore.

Finally, finally I can answer this ask! I'm sorry it took so long but I had to go back and rewatch like three episodes to even find young Rex Goodwin's design because as it turns out, the guy is seen in riding gear in exactly two flashbacks in the entire show and I was incapable of finding an animator's reference for him.

So. Allow me to put on my nerd hat and break down my findings for you.

Exhibit A: Crow's riding suit. (These were the best screenshots I had of it). So, basic colour scheme: Brown, black, orange, and yellow/gold. Simple enough. Note the simple collar that splits off into Crow's usual, high collar and the shape of his jacket closure.

As for Goodwin...

Exhibit B: Young Goodwin's first design, as we see him when Crow tells the story of the legendary duellist. And yes, you read that right: Young Goodwin actually has two designs, and as you'll see, this is going to turn out to be a bit of an inconsistency. (Also, excuse the garbage quality of the images. This guy is hard to get a hold of, for one, and for some reason, my internet did not like rewatching this episode.) Anyway, note the lack of sleeves and shoulder pads. Also, no gloves. You could argue that the detailing around the split collar here is also brown-ish gold, though. All around not very safe motorcycling gear. Not much protection offered. Also, there's a button. I could not figure out what for. Moving on.

Exhibit C: Yoing Goodwin's second design, the one we see in the flashback when Yusei talks to him during the DS arc's final duel. Funnily enough, this one has sleeves! And shoulder pads! (And they're not the same colour as Crow's, but vaguely the same shape.) Also, knee pads again. And heavy-duty boots to go with them this time. What's more, the brown-ish/golden detailing is a lot more obvious here. And Goodwin has gloves here, but unlike Crow's, they disappear under his jacket. The colour scheme isn't far off from Crow's riding suit, though.

Finally...

Exhibit D: Their backs. (It was impossible to get a back shot of young Goodwin #2, I'm sorry) What stands out here is that Crow's outfit is all around more detailed. But then, given that Goodwin's outfit is presumably thrown together with whatever he had, whereas Crow's is a professional riding suit, that's not all that surprising. Both have diagonal thingies here. If they serve a functional purpose, I have not found it.

Verdict: So, here's the thing. I can definitely see some similarities here. The shoulder pads have the same shape, both have yellow/brown/golden detailing around the collar and the front of the jacket, and at least going from Goodwin's second design, both have black gloves, too. And, of course, all three jackets are brown. I don't know if that's enough to say that Crow intentionally took inspiration from the man who built the Daedalus bridge, but you can see some nods here and there, I'd say. (If nothing else, it might be a cheeky add-in by the animators.) As for the inconsistency between Goodwin's two designs, allow me to introduce a silly headcanon: Since the first design is seen in Crow's version of the story of the legendary duellist, this may be how Crow imagined him to look. Even though Goodwin's "real" design is slightly different (and safer lmao).

But yeah, make of this what you will! This was all I could find, haha.

[toxictoxicities]

thank you for answering me. It was really cool seeing your response. Also I love the comment about Suns not crying to Pebbs. It's funny. Though I know I'm more of a sunstone shipper-- but again, I got to be the weirdest little fandom person ever and think about how tiny Pebbs is portrayed in the fandom, looming over, or straddling Suns and how they're portrayed in the fandom. I can't just be normal. Also I am still new to fandom, and haven't played the game, so I am still learning lore and stuff. I remember it saying that Pebbles in the beginning was difficult to respect authority, so I liked that angle; because he didn't bow to authority, because he questioned, and challenged Suns, suns felt like he wasn't just some means of worship. but ANYWAY, I KNOW YOU LOVE SIGNAL LIGHTS, AND I DO LOVE How Sig and Suns can be with each other! They are very much on Stable Even Ground. And hearing Suns say they learned from the best (aka Sig). That's so cute! Little gay robots making little cats together. Especially disabled cats (looks at spearmaster and hunter). Anyway, it's so amazing that you replied to my little comment. And again I just--- Suns. Suns is good, and they deserve to be given love and taken care of sometimes. And especially the baking bread. Even if they can't eat it. The idea of Suns baking bread is the cutest thing ever and Suns-- if they had more human hobbies, would absolutely bake.

I'm too lazy to draw a reply so- I might as well also warn with spoilers bc I've played all campaigns, read broadcasts and pearls- the lot- I'm a fucken nerd XDD you can ask @revolvius and he'll tell you I'm god with the Rainworld geoguesser (too bad it's down rn tho :(

Yeah throughout Spearmasters campaign we get a shit ton of broadcasts between Sigs and Suns, Suns coming over to Sigs searching for support and all that jazz. Being defiant and such is mentioned to be a common trait for new iterators, it being referred to as a phase. Pebbles just happens to be quite more driven to be independent not wanting to be told what to do.

This trait is why Pebbles works with Suns in the first place because Suns - in sliverist groups- is the one asking the big questions no one wants to talk about such as "is it truly wrong to break the self destruction taboo" which probably was appealing to Pebbles to follow behind the footsteps of an older iterator who had similar ideals and researching into something Pebbles would want to sink his teeth into to be independent from what every other sliverist was thinking. Hell even his local group dissed on him because once again- sliverist despite wanting to follow SOS still held the taboo higher than actually trying to figure out SOS solution

(EP being Pebbles, Erratic Pulse)

Anyways yeah with this in mind I reckon Pebbles would heavily look up to Suns, worship not being the word I'd use but certainly I don't think Pebbles would go against Suns- he only does when confronted about his mistakes which he admits later on he only did it out of shame.

Sooo I won't lie there is some sort of tone with Suns being held so highly- despite there not being much evidence I would love to see Suns city and see if it is bigger than other iterators ect

can only infer Suns status with what's around him.

I mean there's also this- Pebbles always coming to Suns for guidance but never vise versa. It shows that Suns had a higher status or rep to Pebbles- portrayed as wise when they are only intelligent.

Also in Emergence, they can in fact eat bread ^^ , upgrades people upgrades

[turtblurts-pkmnirl-hub]

Pinned Post!

I feel that we're due for a bit of an update in here since I've been radio silent for ages!

________ Gentle, highly persistent // he/they // 18 years old

Buenas!! My name is Jaime, I'm a Humanities track student at Naranja-Uva Academy and head of the Journalism Club at the school! I'm a big literature and history nerd, I'm starting to take an interest in anthropology! Please infodump me I love listening to people infodump!!!!

I was born and raised in Alfornada and started attending Naranja-Uva almost 4 years ago— I'm in my final year of Bachillerato (12th year in Unova, iirc?). My focus of study is in Literature and I plan to also study history on the side!

I don't really have much else to say about myself, really. I'm psychic, I guess.

// OOC under the cut! Please read before interacting!

Rules

Both character and mod are adults. I am fine with jokes but do not approach with outright nsfw content. Do not.

Jaime primarily exists in a Discord roleplay server, so he may reference events and plots that originate from said server. Because of this, he will favor interacting with others from that rp that he already knows and is friends with.

Furthermore, Jaime has a lot of backstory and lore connected to him as a result of this Discord server, and he may bring up events that had occurred in the past. The only thing that I feel is relevant to bring up now is that Jaime and his sister come from a rich, influential psychic family lineage that is known for birthing some of the strongest psychics in the world. However, Jaime is an incredibly weak psychic and was considered a disappointment to the family. In June of 2023, he separated his sister and himself from the family and is no longer associated with the Velasco name.

Asks are open! You can send in-character hate btw :3

Because I follow a certain canon, I may ignore interactions and asks if they conflict too much with that canon. That said, I will try to interact if I can!

High stakes shouldn't appear much on this blog, but I have a dedicated tag if that comes up

Tags

#jai posts -> posts made in character

#jai replies -> asks answered in character

#jai rbs -> stuff reblogged by jaime

#the minds eye -> school newspaper

#high stakes -> general high stakes

#los horrores -> high stakes that are specific to jaime

[madamemachikonew]

An actual thought I had when I was reading your fic, I think it was the first or second time you mentioned the painting, was “oh wow this is too smart for me, this is much smarter than I thought.” Not in a “oh this person is above my level and I am a mere fool, everything is stupid now” way, but in a “this has layers I’ve never even considered adding to my own writing” way. Like usually it’s a reference to songs or movies, not historical paintings or ancient mythology/history. I love how you integrate them into your story as both symbolism, character development, and overall just personal flair. You’ve also gotten my 101 reasons why I love your pants man so not gonna focus too much on him, rip king.

It was kinda weird at first because I was like “but genshin not real world” and then immediately kicked that thought out because this ain’t about that. I’m more used to like extra drama or action in my fics so it did take some time to get used to the slower, calmer pace of the fic, but it’s been worth it. I get really excited when I get the email you updated.

That is all :3

Thank you so much! Honestly, you and the other commenters on that fic are a significant part of why it is so much fun to write. I love hearing everyone's theories and interpretations and some angles or theories that I never even considered when I was writing it.

I confess that this fic has been unashamedly self-indulgent in terms of the sheer nerdery of the symbolism. I am also a lore nerd and am *that* bitch who will *absolutely* click on all the NPC dialogue and artifact lore and read it, so it's been super fun to weave all the Pants tidbits into one place. I do worry that I might alienate readers with it or that the references are too obscure or that people will find it boring (as much on account of the slowness of the slow burn as the nerding out). But so far at least, I think the real world/Teyvat crossover works Ok for this particular story..? 

There will be another painting - I haven't decided yet whether it will be in his Fontaine house or a new acquisition when he gets back to Liyue. But I'm going to keep its identity a secret for now. 

[slusheeduck]

Binding Resolution

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3]

Chapter 4

              The walk to the village is a decent one, but much easier than the last time you went to the manor. After all, there’s no ice blocks, no spirit boxes, no broken bridge to vault over; you and the Prince just walk down a pretty path, carefully tying off the Dwellers’ letters as you go. (You do take a moment to look for Snatcher’s future house, but all you see is a giant tree. You wonder how he manages to hollow it if he’s a ghost, then wonder if it’ll ever actually need to be hollowed if you manage to save him. Not…that you’re 100% sure you will, but it pays to be positive.)

              “Penny for your thoughts, kiddo?” the Prince asks abruptly, managing to tie off his last letter and tuck it under his arm. “Do you even have pennies where you’re from?”

              You stare at him. You’ve never heard of a “penny” in your entire life.

              “I didn’t think so. Besides, you’ve got an awfully expressive face anyway, so I bet I can guess.” He holds out his hand, offering to take the letter you’ve been struggling with for the past few minutes. “You’re wondering why I’m with Vanessa when she gets…like that.”

              You stay quiet, waiting for him to continue. You’re sure he will; he’s not Snatcher, but he’s still Snatcher (if that makes sense? You’re not sure it does, and you’re glad you don’t have to explain it.) And, of course, he does.

              “Well, clearly I’m staying for the inevitable glut of power I’ll have when I’m crowned king.” You roll your eyes, and he smiles. “Good, you’re catching on. But yeah, that’s a joke. I don’t even want to be king over the whole land or anything; I’m more than happy with my forest. Here, let’s switch. You hold the finished letters, I tie the rest.” You swap loads; you can barely see over all the letters stacked in your arms.

As you struggle to keep a hold of the letters, you freeze as you feel your hat plucked from your head. The last time this happened in Subcon, you had exploding potions and minions chucked at you. Just as your heart starts to race, though, you feel something else plopped down on your head—much smaller and a little heavier. Carefully, you reach up one hand to touch it—metal. Did the Prince put his crown on you? You look up, and judging by the way he’s adjusting your hat on his head, you think he did.

              “What? I’m a sucker for a good hat. And I thought every little girl dreams of being a princess, which you are so long as you wear that.”

              You roll your eyes again.

              “Not into princesses, huh? Well, too bad. As long as you’re on my turf, what I say goes. And I say I get to wear your hat until we finish delivering the mail.”

              You smirk and tap the crown on your head. The Prince stops, then sighs.

              “I did say you were a princess with that on, didn’t I? And I could concede that and give you your hat back. Or I could remind you that you have stubby little arms that are currently full of an entire village’s worth of letters, and you wouldn’t be able to get it back if you tried.”

              Unfortunately, he has a point. You can’t reach your umbrella with all these letters in your arms, and dropping them might get them squished. And that’d just be mean. You sigh, adjusting the crown. Yeah, he’s definitely still Snatcher without being Snatcher.

              Except this one, weirdly, feels like an actual friend, not just a contractually obliged one.

              “Annnyway,” he says, tying off the last letter and tossing it at the first house you pass, “you want to know about me and Vanessa, and there’s no more hats to steal, so I guess I gotta quit stalling. Just chuck the letters at the houses you see, by the way, they’ll get them.”

You nod and start tossing the letters; you’ve done this before, so your aim is amazing.

“The truth is…I wasn’t her first pick. I wasn’t even a pick, as far as I know. She had some…childhood sweetheart or something. They were engaged, and then he just up and disappeared. Left her completely devastated. But the future queen has to get married, right? So her mom arranges a back-up with the next highest ranking unmarried man in the land, and that’s me.” He chuckles as he tosses a letter at a nearby Dweller, waving as they thank him profusely. “Let me tell ya, kiddo, nothing’s weirder than coming home from school for the summer and finding out you have a fiancée. Anyway, I expected for us to be one of those usual arranged marriage situations—you don’t actually care that much about each other, but you get along well enough to run a country. But then we met and…” He looks up at the sky, letting out a long breath. “I can’t explain it. Meeting her eyes was like…like someone had just plugged a socket into me. The whole world lit up. And then we got to talking and…look, you just…you caught her at a really bad time. Because she is so loving and headstrong and passionate. And…part of the problem is that her passion gets a little…intense.”

              You frown. Again, you’re no relationship expert, but freaking out over having someone love bacon seems a little more than “intense.” The Prince quickly shakes his head.

              “Look, when things are good between us, they are so, so good. She’s absolutely who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I just…wish she was a little less jealous.” He tosses another letter to a Dweller, smiling as they hop up and down in excitement. “And thinking about what’ll happen to the forest when it’s in her control…” He shakes his head. “Jeez, what am I doing? You don’t want to hear about all this relationship junk, you’re just a kid.”

              You’re about to tell him that actually you are very interested in this particular relationship junk, because it might give you an idea of how to keep things from going sour. But instead, the Prince crouches down beside you and points up to a tree with a little door at the very top.

              “Instead, let’s talk about that last letter you got. I bet you your hat that you can’t get it all the way up there.”

              You should turn the conversation back around. But…that’d mean turning down a challenge, and you’re very competitive. You’ll bring it up after you get your hat back.

              You scramble up the tree easy as anything—in fact, it’s a little shorter than it is in the present, so you don’t even need a grappling hook. You get right on up to the door and gently slip the letter through the mail slot. You turn around to give the Prince the smuggest face you can.

              You really, really need to start paying more attention in Subcon. Because that turn shifts your footing just a tad, and the branch your standing on isn’t quite as thick as you think it is. And down you go.

              “Kid!”

              Lucky for you, you still have your backpack, and falling from high places is something you’re very used to now. Whipping out your umbrella and opening it is second nature by this point, and the last fourth of your fall is spent floating down gently before lightly landing on your feet in front of the Prince, who looks like he’s the one who had a thirty-foot fall. He lets out a nervous laugh and shakes his head.

              “Real…real efficient way of getting down, kid. Also real efficient way of giving the people around you heart attacks.”

              As he regains his composure, you hold out your hand in a silent demand for your hat.

              “What? Oh, the bet.” He shakes his head, then takes off the hat. He pauses, looking it over before smirking. “You know, private bets aren’t legally binding. So technically, I don’t have to give you anything.” As you open your mouth to argue, he chuckles and holds out your hat. “Lucky for you, I’m a man of my word. And besides, if you can look death right in the eyes like that, you deserve it.”

              You take the hat with a relieved sigh, popping it back on your head as the Prince picks his crown up from the ground. He dusts it off, then nods back up toward the path.

              “Well, our work’s done here, so it’s time to head back, I’d say.” He grins, tapping your hat before leading the way back to the path. “We make a pretty good team, don’t we, kiddo?”

              You smile as you follow him. Before your time jump, you would have never said that. Ever! But now…well, now, you kinda do make a good team, huh?

              All the more reason to keep him from becoming Snatcher in the future.

~

              The walk back to the Manor is a leisurely one, and the Prince chatters the whole way about where you could spend the night now that Vanessa’s back in her room.

              “We have a parlor with a pool table…maybe we could pop a mattress on it? You’re tiny enough that it should be pretty comfortable. Or maybe a little cot in the piano room? Oh, don’t worry, no one in the house plays, so it’s not like you’ll get woken up by it or anything. Ugh, I wanted to renovate the dungeon into a guest room—oh, yeah, we have a dungeon. Of course I don’t use it, that’s barbaric.—but the budget this year just was not having it. I guess if you don’t mind sleeping in a cell it’d be doable…”

              You’re not really listening. Instead, you’re considering your options. You still have that Time Piece in your bag, so you really can go forward at any time. And you have to, eventually—and you have to clean up the Time Rifts, and putting it off will just mean you have to do it later. But…at your core, you’re a fixer. You fixed up Rumbi. You fixed up your ship. Some birds even yelled at you about fixing the Bird Awards! So something in you just won’t let you leave until you fix whatever goes wrong here.

              But who knows how long it could be before then? Staying an extra couple days is doable, but what if they don’t break up for years? No one told you what could happen if someone chooses to stay in the past.

              You look up at the Prince, still chattering. Still alive and happy and genuinely nice, even with his weird, Snatcher-y sense of humor.

              Could you really live with yourself if you let him become what he does in the future? He’ll lose everything, and now you’ll lose a friend.

              You can’t do that. You have to stay.

              “Oh! The attic! I’m sure we have some old bed things up there, and it’s actually pretty cozy once you dust a little. When we get inside, I’ll…” The Prince suddenly trails off and slows his pace. You look up at him curiously, then up ahead.

              The manor’s in view, and standing on the porch is Queen Vanessa. Her arms are crossed, her entire body is rigid, and the air seems to have a chill in it as she stares hard at the two of you, obviously furious. The Prince holds out his hand, stopping you as he watches her. His face is composed, but his dark eyes are darting around at nothing in particular; it looks like he’s strategizing.

              The air is horribly tense. You think both of them are waiting for the other to move first, so for several minutes, they simply stand and stare at each other across the courtyard. Finally, the Prince inhales deeply, then lets out a long, slow breath. He takes a smooth step in front of you, and you can hear the put-on smile in his voice as he says, “Darling!”

              “You were supposed to be here when I woke up.”

              You shiver. This isn’t like her explosion at brunch. Her voice is quiet, full of rage but so quiet. It nearly sounds the way she did as she chased you through the manor.

              “I’m sorry, my love, I honestly thought you’d sleep longer. We had a little bit of a snafu ourselves, but we…”

              “You BROKE your PROMISE.”

              The Prince’s show of cheeriness drops, and he starts to step back before glancing back to see you. He swallows, then lifts his head.

              “I know. And I am so sorry, Vanessa. I’ll do what I can to make it up to you.”

              You peek around the Prince’s legs to look at Vanessa. For one moment, her eyes lock onto you. They’re still blue, but there’s so much rage and hatred in them that you’re just as frightened as you were when you met the blood red ones in the manor. It takes every bit of bravery you have not to immediately hide behind him again, but you don’t want her to think you’re afraid of her. Even if you really, really are.

              Finally, her gaze shifts back to the Prince’s. Then, through her teeth, she hisses, “Talk to me in the parlor. Alone.”

              He nods. “Of course, my princess.” He stays put as she turns and sweeps back inside, then lets out a sigh as he hits his forehead with the heel of his hand.

              “Stupid. I should know she never sleeps well after a trip,” he whispers to himself, then sighs before crouching down beside you. “Listen, kid, when we get inside, why don’t you go look for a room you like? The parlor…isn’t the best anyway.” He stands up and taps on your hat. “And put this in a safe place. Never know when someone’s gonna snatch it off ya.”

              The two of you walk into the manor. You can’t help but notice the Prince looks a little sick, but he quickly shakes it off and puts on a composed face. You wonder if that’s a royal thing or a grown-up thing, and you kind of hope it’s the first one, because you can’t ever imagine pretending like nothing’s wrong when clearly there’s a lot wrong. He glances down, noticing you’re still there.

              “Go on, kid, shoo. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”

              You nod, starting to slowly walk toward the stairs. When you reach the bottom one, he finally goes into the parlor and shuts the door. You, of course, run back to the door as quickly as possible. The keyhole’s too small to see out of, but if you press your ear to it, you can hear everything crystal clear.

              “You lied to me.”

              “I didn’t lie, my love, it was a mistake.”

              “And how many more mistakes am I going to have to endure, hm? Am I going to have to listen to excuses like this when we’re married? Am I going to…going to have to constantly worry about where you are?”

              “Vanessa, I told you where I was. If you were really worried, you could have come out to the village with the two of us.”

              Vanessa muttered something you couldn’t quite make out, but given the noise the Prince makes, it can’t be all that good.

              “You cannot be serious.”

              “I am.”

              “For God’s sake, Vanessa, she’s a child.”

              “She has ruined this entire surprise I had for you! WE were supposed to spend the day together! WE are the ones getting married, but you’ve spent every waking moment with HER instead of ME!”

              “She’s lost!” the Prince snaps. “You should have seen her when she showed up, the poor thing could barely walk. She still hasn’t said a word this whole time she’s been here.” He huffs. “I’m just trying to get her back home.”

              “Oh, so playing mailman with her today was getting her home? Setting up brunch for her was getting her home?”

              “My god, am I not allowed to distract a little girl from getting scared?”

              “Not like this!” Vanessa shrieks. She takes a few deep breaths, then adds in a very low voice, “I want her gone. Immediately.”

              “Don’t be ridiculous, Vanessa.”

              “I am very serious. I want her out of here as quickly as possible, and I don’t want you seeing her ever again.”

              You feel your heart start to race. This is bad. This is really, horribly bad. If the Prince kicks you out, then it’s all over—he’s going to end up as Snatcher. Maybe he’ll say no. Maybe he’ll break up with her! Anything to buy you a little more time to fix things.

              You hear him let out an irritated sigh. “No. This is stupid. I love you, Vanessa, and I’m sorry that your surprise hasn’t worked out the way you planned. I’m sorry I broke my promise, and I will do anything to make it up to you. But getting this worked up over a lost little girl…it’s a new low for you.”

              You let out a sigh of relief. He did it, he stood up to her. You have some extra time.

              But then you hear a giggle. A not very nice sounding one.

              “Ohhh, my prince, my prince. You remember what happened with my last fiancé?”

              “I’m not like him. I’ll stay.”

              “He said the same thing. And then he disappeared.”

              “I’m not like him, Vanessa.”

              “You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? About how he might have disappeared. About how it might not have been his choice to be hardly more than a memory now?”

              This time, the Prince’s voice falters as he repeats, “I-I’ll stay.”

              “Oh, yes you will. I know you will, my princey-wincy.” Her voice lowers to a whisper, so quiet you have to mash your entire face against the door to hear. “But don’t test me like this. Rumors are just rumors, but I’d hate for you to find out if any of it was true.”

              There’s a very, very long silence that follows. You hear a small “smack,” like a kiss on the cheek, and Vanessa sweetly asks, “Well?”

               Another silence. Then, the Prince takes a long, shaking breath. “I’ll get her out of here. Right away.”

              “There we go. That’s all I ask for, my love. And now we’ll have the whole night to ourselves, just the two of us!”

              You lean against the door, feeling your heart sink in your chest. This is so much worse than you thought. Is fixing it even possible at this point?

              No. You can still do this. Anything is fixable.

              It has to be. [Chapter 5]