#Is this considered heavily referenced?? Idk

[starry1avender]

they told me to draw my babygirl and I drew my babygirl,,,,

[yarpharp]

I think one of the key things to consider when discussing Solas as a character is that his life is heavily... Conceptual?

The Elvhen Empire had a language where meaning was extremely interpretive based on every set conversation. They lived side by side with Spirits and Demons, so they reflected an equally fluid yet painfully rigid world. Solas bears a name that means Pride, with plenty of referenced or hinted at evidence that he was once a Spirit of Wisdom turned from his purpose. Specifically by Mythal, in fact.

But the thing is about this... What if naming him Pride was actually far more complex? Pride in what, exactly? Pride in having a body, pride in knowledge and skill, pride to the point of actionable hubris? Maybe that is part of it.

Yet what is Pride for someone who never was allowed Personal Pride? Or more specifically, embodied pride in service? He HAD been tattooed with vallaslin like the rest of Mythal 's slaves. He had been drawn to form a tangible body to serve her. He must have accomplished so many things for her, in wars, advising, political ploys. Was he named Pride for being so proud to serve the one whom he viewed as "the best" of the Gods?

Ironically, it still suits him even when he decides to reject it. He burns off the vallaslin and slightly scars his face, but isn't he truly proud now? Proud and clean-faced, an individual who serves no one now but himself?

Idk I'm just ruminating on that simple little name of his. It makes him such a conceptual fellow. It leaves me endlessly contemplating the layers.

[synniestar]

A N B U ⟩ 🐆

heavily referenced from an @adorkastock pose!

i'm back on my Naruto bullshit so here's Moonie as an ANBU operative. i chose Leopard in part because i felt Cat was too on the nose, and i couldn't remember off of the top of my head if they repeat masks at all. Yamato has a monopoly on it if they don't, lmao. irls will understand why i chose Leopard specifically 😋

idk how i managed to get this drawing to work considering i haven't drawn in months, much less posted here, but i'm happy it turned out the way it did in my head!

send me an ask if you'd like to be added to the ping list when i post :]

[n0rtist]

 I rewatched your entire Stema video playlist and noted all my suggestions here. I hope this will be helpful.

The mechanics of Geo types only being immune to Electro if they are grounded. You said you thought it might be too complicated. It would be best if you put it differently. Instead of saying, "Geo types are only immune to Electro if they are grounded," you could say, "Geo types are immune to Electro types, but there are some moves and items that can remove this immunity."

Nautigrade's Cryosleep Attribute: what if they are immune to most damage, except for supereffective damage, like Shedinja's Wonder Guard, except it only works when asleep?

The moves are Sublimation and Deposition. Having them only affect Cryo and Aero types would make them too situational to be useful. I would have both affect all types except Hydro, Pyro, Geo, and Electro. Why these specifically? Well, you probably guessed that Hydro and Electro are because of Liquid From Phazorm and Plazorm; as for Pyro and Geo, they would represent the factors of heat and pressure on the phase change diagram.

The weather mechanic. Since the weather affects the Hydro type's Speed and Cryo type's Physical Defense, to keep the symmetry, it would affect the Pyro type's Chemical Attack, leaving moves to be affected by terrain if you decide to implement it.

The possible field mechanic. To maintain symmetry and contrast with the weather, I suggest separating the electromagnetic field into an electric and magnetic field so there would be three with a gravitational field. They would buff and debuff Electro, metalla, and geo moves; the electric field buffs electro moves and debuff geo moves, the magnetic field buffs metalla moves and debuffs electro moves, and the gravitational field buffs geo moves and debuffs metalla moves; I not sure if the science tracks but that's my idea.

Evolution methods. I noticed that the evolution methods on your roster are a little... too varied. The first gen of Pokemon only had three ways to evolve a Pokemon: level up, elemental stone, and trading. I would suggest you narrow down the possible ways your stemas can evolve. If I were you, I would keep the level-up evolutions and create a base evolution (like have your version of Firestone to evolve Malloaf and Gelero) and one more original evolution method, maybe the move type-based one that Stemolt has and expand it to other type changing branch evolutions like Levestress and Tunirad.

First, thank you for taking the time to watch and care for my works! It means a lot to hear so much about my project. As I have been developing my game whilst making these videos, I can confirm/talk about the points you made.

Despite the YouTube Community poll, so far Geo is coded to be immune to Electro. I can definitely see some Electro attacks piercing this immunity, but yeah I think it's easier to remember if they are normally immune. Also as an aside, I do not plan to have held items in this game.

Referencing Wonder Guard would be neat. I hope it doesn't make people think they are too similar. Still, it's something I would heavily consider when I get to coding Nautigrade's Signature Attribute.

Sublimation and Deposition were ways to make Phazorm immediately change between Gas and Solid forms. While it may be situational to apply on other Stemas, the concept was that it was to change the user's type right before attacking as every turn has 2 actions for each Stema.

Having Sunny weather specifically affect Pyro's Ch Atk is a fun way to balance the weathers which I also agree with. A part of me is thinking about possibly removing the Sunny weather and just make Liquid Precipitation and Solid Precipitation be the only weather setting skills... Though thematically Sunny fits really well so there's more of a chance that I keep it.

I actually have specific designs to wield Electromagnetic and Gravitational fields, but they are much later in the game. I'll come to think about the field effects eventually. For now, idk, I guess one would let Electro pierce the Geo immunity while the other makes grounds airborne Stema? I can consider having Electro and Geo damage boosts but it might be too much. We'll see there's a lto on my plater before those skills.

A lot of my advancement requirements have changed while I have been making videos. Some of the specific ones like Tunirad and Jelter were supposed to have some NPCs that can help tell you how to advance them. However, I can see Malloaf and Levestress being Skill-type requirements like Stemotl.

Again, thank you for being invested in my project! It's going to take a long while, but I really hope that I can deliver!

[youkaigakkou-tl]

The TRUTH behind the soul pieces

Preamble: I started writing this expecting nothing, but I actually found something??? not clickbait???? gone right???

Warning: the expected reaction of reading this is “damn. I’ve never seen someone grasp harder at straws” and “I dunno about this one chief”

So. "The soul pieces aren't exactly what we're told they are" is an idea I've had for a while now. (I wouldn’t even call it a theory, it’s just a passing thought.) Not that "they're manifestations of Haruaki's traits" is wrong, but I think there's more to them than immediately obvious. I just haven't talked about this much because even I don't fully buy into it and it kinda verges on horoscope-type confirmation bias territory. It’s kind of a, I THINK there’s more to it but I don’t know what exactly is more.

A brief recap

First one shown is his "worldly desires", animal trio vs Seiryuu.

Second is his "freak athleticism", that Kurahashi's team and Ebisu just ran into.

With just these two he runs off to find Sano

Third is his "cowardice", found by Sano's team and Byakko, which gets away and hides in Sano's pocket.

Fourth is his "memory", originally found by Hijita's team and Genbu, which gets picked up by Genbu and then the whole Heian flashback happens.

And last is his "intelligence", which for some reason is also the one that can use his exorcism power.

So immediately a couple details stood out to me.

Why is "memory" here?? I wouldn't call that a trait exactly??

Also, when it first broke apart and flew off in five directions, it's specifically pointed out that it's "like a five pointed star" (even though it's not really if you look at the actual locations on a map lol)

And the sticking point, if it was as clean and simple a split as “Haruaki’s traits”, why do the traits bleed into each other? “Athleticism” is into sailor uniforms too, and “Cowardice” and “Intelligence” are pretty quick by themselves. Also, even without his “Memory” at the time, he remembered that conversation with Seimei in ch87.

The five pointed star detail, considering everything in the arc heavily relates to the Four Gods and Seimei's star, which relates to Wuxing, almost begs to be referencing that too.

What is Wuxing?

Wuxing, five elements, five phases, gogyo, whatever other name for it: I’ve talked about it briefly in my Kyoto arc analysis

(Wait. Is this actually all I mentioned regarding Wuxing in that analysis???? This tells you nothing!!)

(Tbh I think I had a longer explanation about it but I cut it because I thought it was irrelevant)

Wuxing 五行, roughly translated as five elements or phases, is a concept that comes from Taoism. The five elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water and describes the interactions between them. Here’s the wikipedia page if you really want to get into the details.

The “xing” means movements/moving, and the entire concept of Wuxing comes from the five classical planets’ (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) movements affecting… things? In general? (It’s horoscopes)

In fact, the names of those five planets in Chinese and Japanese are tied with the Wuxing:

Mercury = 水星 water star

Venus = 金星 metal/gold star

Mars = 火星 fire star

Jupiter = 木星 wood star

Saturn = 土星 earth star

You’re taught these as a kid but not the reasoning behind it (because it’s hella irrelevant lmao) but I guess it kinda makes instinctual sense? (Venus = yellow, Mars = red, Jupiter = stripes, like tree rings?? Saturn = brown. Mercury = it looks like there’s rivers? idk how much detail they were seeing in the BC times)

And just to sate curiosity, the planets that were discovered after telescopes were invented are just based off the English names

Uranus = 天王星 sky god star

Neptune = 海王星 sea god star

Pluto = 冥王星 underworld god star

By the way, this is also why the days of the week are named after elements in Japanese; it’s not actually the elements, rather it’s referring to the celestial bodies: those 5 planets + the moon and the sun. It’s the classical Chinese system that Japan adopted around the 5th century AD, and they haven’t changed it since then. (Chinese uses stuff like “weekday 1” for monday now.) And China itself adopted the Greco-Roman system of the 7 day week, days named after celestial bodies around the 4th century AD, which is also why the planets and days line up if you look at the English and Japanese names now.

Would be crazy if they independently decided to have 7 days in a week and name days after celestial bodies and assigned the same planets to the days huh.

(Also, TIL from looking at this chart that the sun (taiyang) is indeed called that because it’s the “great yang star”, and the moon is called the “great yin star”, you know, like yin-yang)

I���m remembering why it’s so hard to research and write about this stuff now. Everything is so inextricably connected to everything else its hard to talk about one thing in isolation. Thanks for indulging my astronomy tangent I love astronomy.

(I always got saturn on da mind when I think about Seimei cus of this art…)

The only useful part of this essay

So. Wuxing. Here’s a pretty standard diagram of it so it’s easier to visualise

There are five types of processes Wuxing describes:

Generating: Wood feeds fire

The reverse side of generating: Fire burns wood

Regulating: Wood grasps earth

Excessive regulating (destruction): Wood depletes earth

The reverse side of regulation (exhaustion): Earth rots wood

And here’s a full list of it, from wikipedia

With this in mind, you’ll notice that it pops up all over the place in Kyoto arc!

If we take lightning as aligned with metal (because Byakko = metal = lightning user), this is the regulating interaction of metal -> wood

Metal cuts wood, but wood also dulls metal

Water… nourishing wood….???

Water destabilizes earth

(“This is just pokemon lol” WRONG!! Pokemon types and every other element system in videogames came from Wuxing!! (Or Godai))

Back to the soul pieces

So you see, it’s incredibly tempting to connect the five soul pieces with the five elements of Wuxing. It’s basically begging for it. The Wuxing has been associated with lots of things that come in sets of five, including things like senses, tastes, smells, emotions, mental qualities, periods of one’s life, body parts. It has applications in divination and traditional chinese medicine after all. If there was a clear, 1-to-1 match between the soul pieces and the elements, you bet I would have talked about it more by now. But the connections are tenuous at best, and even I don’t really believe it. They might, probably, just be the traits we’re told they are. So this really is just to humor myself, and maybe someone can glean something more from this.

Let’s lay out the things surrounding the soul pieces:

“Desires” was at Arashiyama (a bamboo forest) and Seiryuu was present, both associated with Wood

“Athleticism” was at Ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion), none of the four gods were present, no obvious element associations here.

“Cowardice” was at Mount Kurama (mountain = earth?), Byakko was present (metal?)

“Memory” was at Kiyomizu-dera (clear water temple), and Genbu was present, water association

“Intelligence” was at Kinkaku-ji (gold pavilion), and none of the four gods were present initially. (gold = metal?)

The other thing I’ve yet to mention is all the soul pieces seem to be of different points in Haruaki’s life. (Well. Four of them at least.)

“Desires” and “Athletics” seem to look and act younger (as much as you can tell with chibis…), both wearing simple t-shirts, and “Athletics” t-shirt and shorts look like what Haruaki wore as a kid in the Miki arc flashback. Adding on to that, we’re constantly told how into sailor uniforms Haruaki was as a little kid (literally whenever his childhood gets brought up: Mamaaki talking about it in ch8, him saying his first cry as a newborn was “sailor uniform” in ch43, the ch51.5 extra) (ok to be fair. his sailor uniform fetish gets brought up at every opportunity. but i feel like it’s Pretty emphasized here) Also I feel like “Desires” especially talks like a kid.

Meanwhile “Cowardice” and “Memory” are dressed the way he currently does, and “Cowardice” seems to parallel the way Haruaki was at the start of the series. It’s Sano’s team that runs into him, he acts like how Haruaki did early on just amped way up, and he ends up hiding on Sano.

IQ-kun… still don’t know what to make of him and how he fits into this lol

Put like this, doesn’t it almost seem like, in the order they appear, they represent points in Haruaki’s life too?

Or, this could all be nothing, because they’re all wearing the same thing in the jacket for Volume 14.

So anyway, from this angle, it seems like Desires and Athletics line up fairly cleanly with Wood and Fire respectively, but Cowardice, Memory and Intelligence are a little murkier. Cowardice only somewhat lines up with Earth, and both Memory and Intelligence could align with Water, while Memory could also be Metal. (I dropped the quotation marks bc they were getting distracting)

Here’s a diagram to illustrate.

(See it’s kinda, pick-and-choosey, horoscope-type shit)

Immediately a couple problems arise. First and most majorly is the horoscopey-ness of it all. And then there’s the matter that, if the four gods represent four out of five of the elements and earth is the outlier, wouldn’t it also make sense if IQ-kun as the outlier would be assigned that?

There’s also the possibility that the first four are a set, and IQ-kun makes up the “yin” to the rest of Haruaki’s “yang” (But then what would the first four correspond to individually? idk….)

We’re getting nowhere with this analogy, so let’s look at some adjacent philosophies in sets of five, just for fun, and see if they line up any better.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

This one is the most related to Wuxing, there are five main “organs” in TCM that have associated Wuxing elements. They might be called the same names as the anatomical organs, but they’re actually more like concepts only roughly correlated with locations on the body. This is stuff codified thousands of years ago before modern knowledge of the human body, mind you.

Heart (fire): stores the “aggregate soul” (the mind)

Spleen (earth): governs transportation of qi and blood, and governs muscles and limbs

Lung (metal): stores the “po 魄” (physical soul)

Kidney (water): responsible for willpower or fear

Liver (wood): governs free flow of qi, blood and emotions. Stores blood, which stores the “hun 魂” (ethereal soul)

(The wikipedia page I linked has more in depth descriptions)

And if we sorta line up the attributes…

Desires = Liver/wood

Athleticism = Spleen/earth

Cowardice = Kidney/water

Memory = Lung/metal

Intelligence = Heart/fire

Something like this? It doesn’t line up particularly nicely either, and certainly doesn’t line up with the first theory…

But reading up on this actually brought something useful to my attention: the concept of “hun” and “po”

See, there’s this Chinese compound word “hun po 魂魄” that generally just means “soul”, but if you get really semantic they’re two different types of souls?

The “hun” is the yang-aligned “ethereal soul” typically understood as the wits/mind of a person, whatever constitutes the personality, and is the part of the soul that leaves the body on death.

The “po” is the yin-aligned “physical soul”, sometimes described as the “baser animal spirit” of a person, and is attached to the body.

This could explain why Haruaki’s soul is also Seimei’s soul, but also Seimei is in the underworld?

This scene I got real hung up about in my Kyoto arc post?

It lining up and being a reasonable explanation is one thing, but whether sensei is deliberately referencing a property of Chinese linguistics that doesn’t have an equivalent in Japanese kanji is another thing. And honestly, I could see Tanaka “I’ll have to read up on Chinese history, but off the top of my head Byakko and Seiryuu are from 4000BC and Suzaku and Genbu are younger” Mai could and would do it. (Good god, what I wouldn’t give to see sensei’s notes. Yohaji fanbook explaining every cultural reference PLEASEEEE IM BEGGINGGG)

Godai

Godai (“the five great (elements)”), while also a thing with five elements that features prominently in Japanese culture, differs from Wuxing in that it originates from the concept of Mahābhūta in Indian Buddhism, and features Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Void. It’s a more inert definition and describes the elements as building blocks, contrasting with Wuxing which is more concerned with the balancing and interaction between the elements and the changes they cause in each other.

Godai also isn’t ever depicted as a star (and Wuxing is only depicted as a star as a byproduct of all the arrows denoting the interactions, sometimes the 5 elements are arranged like the 5 side of a dice with lines connecting everything) and is typically depicted as a Gorinto, a stone structure.

In order from top to bottom, it goes Void, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and represents the structure of the universe in Buddhism.

So. Attributes and if they line up any better.

Earth: unmoving, stability

Water: fluidity, adaptability, motion

Fire: passion, power, energy

Wind: growth, freedom

Void: the spirit? thought? there’s not really a clear description of this one. To begin with, originally in Buddhism, it’s just said that “from void emerged air, from air emerged fire, (etc)”

I could see wind = Memory and void = Intelligence, but the rest… I dunno man

The five aggregates in Buddhism

And now, following the thread back from Godai, to the Buddhist concept of Skandhas, or the “five aggregates of clinging”, described as the five factors that make up a sentient being’s personality. (Hey, this sounds like it could be onto something here!)

The five aggregates are:

Form or matter: the material form of a person

Sensation or feeling: the five senses + intellectual sensation, and the feelings that occur whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral

Perception: cognition and recognizing what has been previously noted

Mental formations: dispositions, or something that motivates a person to take action (or sometimes described as the influences of a previous life?!)

Consciousness: cognizance, or the base that supports experience, sometimes translated as mind, intelligence or life force

Wait… This kinda… lines up…? No way…?

Form = Athleticism

Sensation = Cowardice

Perception = Memory

Mental formations = Desires

Consciousness = Intelligence

This… kinda works? They all basically line up and it’s not too tenuous, and there’s enough matching details in the descriptions of the five aggregates that it’s kinda scary…?

I’ll be real, prior to writing this section I hadn’t actually read the descriptions of each of them too carefully (I had the tab open and roughly noted the descriptions kinda worked) and I entirely expected to end this essay with a “in conclusion: no conclusion i learned nothing lol” but there’s actually something here????

And Tanaka Mai is known to reference Buddhism a lot, so this could entirely be intentional…??? I’m kinda shaken rn tbh

I mean, I guess I should have looked to Buddhism first considering sensei’s track record, what with how the arc opened with Haruaki getting put under a waterfall to get rid of his worldly desires, and how 3 out of 5 locations were Buddhist temples, but Buddhism concepts usually use their Sanskrit names and I don’t know how to google for that… (making excuses. classic)

Um. Hope you enjoyed reading this and that you learned something? Here’s all the relevant wikipedia pages if you want to go down your own rabbit hole:

Wuxing (Chinese five elements)

Godai (Japanese Buddhism five elements)

Mahābhūta (Indian Buddhism five elements)

Hun and po (two concepts of souls)

Skandha (five aggregates that make up a person)

Twelve Nidanas (didn’t mention this one, but it’s related to skandhas)

If you read all this you should read all my other long rambly things too if you haven’t, they’re all under the #rambles tag 👍

[liquidstar]

speaking of greece and also oc side projects, i was trying to do worldbuilding on the "godless" ocverse. still in the concept stage but heres what i got

what i've already established is that this is a fantasy world where all of greek mythology is real, but the gods have abandoned the earth for a long time. after almost 2000 years, we're in the equivalent of the 1800s/early 1900s. the general conditions (as well as designs) are based on real life greece during that era. the main difference is that its much more peaceful- part of the reason im setting this in an alternate world is because im not doing this to tackle ottoman occupation, the pontic genocide, or world wars 1 and 2. a lot of that stuff is heavier than what i wanna do.

but i am still trying to tackle one thing about greek culture, specifically in relation to the gods. the history of hellenism is still something very deeply ingrained into the country's culture, and yet... idk if you guys have noticed, but the country has been christianized (the fact that the gods absence lines up w the anno domini era is on purpose). my goal isnt to romanticize ancient greece by any means, there was a lot wrong with it and im not one of those "roman empire" guys lol. but what i wanna do is get into that weird "gap" in greece's modern identity vs its ancient one, via the feelings of the characters and being abandoned by the gods and the bygone age of heroes. (and im aware ofc that a big part of that IS the heavier side of the country's history, even if i wont directly be tacking the aforementioned real world events)

MOSTLY i want it to be a fun romp though, i wanna pay homage to the adventures of heroes like odysseus, jason and the argonauts, perseus, heracles, etc., who would all be REAL historical figures in-universe! (well, heracles is a demigod) most likely ones the protagonists would idolize in their own adventures. im referencing the cambelion monomyth/hero's journey as a format for that, but i don't intend to lean too heavily on it either.

all that being said, i made a map :)

i chose the name "ilia" from the ancient greek name for troy- "ilion," which is also the namesake of homer's iliad.

the region is split up into different territories. all the territories still worship the gods equally, but they each have one main major sanctuary to focus on the olympians+hades (and i included both hestia and dyonisis, i think it would be funny if both region didnt consider the other one a true part of the lineup). the position of the symbols shows you where the major sanctuary is located.

again, all regions worship all the gods and have different temples throughout (smaller towns and villages may have their own temples dedicated to more specific deities) however, the major sanctuary in each area is what defines it because the hiereus or hiereia of these temples acts as a head of state (of course, a world where gods are real is a theocracy). the requirements for a hiereus/hiereia are to be gifted by the god of the temple, and be a dedicated scholar of their domain. theyre selected from a large group, through a democratic processes, usually leading for life.

i have names for each reason but theyre not set in stone so ill keep those on the back burner

i dont have a lot of specifics plot-wise figured out anyway, but wanted something to visualize the idea. itll put me on the path to figuring out exactly what that could entail! after all, even with the gods gone, plenty of supernatural things remain. enchanted/cursed relics, hallowed ruins, ancient monsters, the underworld, olympus, oracles, and, of course, the gifts!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I kind of believe Ace will play at least somewhat of a role on episode 7. Maybe the fact they set him up to be Malleus’ birthday interviewer this year is an indicator of that, but I could be reaching.

Ace’s relationship with his friend group is interesting because he acts like he’s just nonchalantly there. Like “What? No, I don’t really care about those people, I’m around just because!” — but as we can see, he really does care. He cares about Deuce, MC, and Grim (I believe some of his vignettes hint to that?). He’s the only one who isn’t visibly upset (as in, not letting it show) at the prospect of MC leaving, choosing to deflect the subject when the mood is souring because of Deuce and Grim saying it’ll get lonely without MC.

Also, I think the friend group just came together beautifully and will be relevant in episode 7. Coincidentally, the friend group has 7 people: Ace, Deuce, Grim, MC, Jack, Epel, Ortho and Sebek. I say Sebek because it’s heavily hinted he’ll join the friend group(what stands out is the 1 year official art and anthology comic cover featuring everyone + Sebek even though at there wasn’t much to justify his presence there). The way Ace, Deuce, MC and Grim initially formed a quartet of people begrudgingly brought together by complete chance then developed into a group of friends is very precious to me, and I believe that’ll at least play a part in this episode, considering this is the one Sebek will (apparently) join our group. Which also makes sense for them to be able to explore Sebek as a character, since this is the Diasomnia episode.

Idk if I’m being a clown and pointing out the obvious but anyways!!! I think Ace might have his moment to shine in the next updates, depending on how the story goes. Or idk, he might be hit by the sleeping spell and stay out of the story the whole time, but since Deuce got his spotlight in Glorious Masquerade, it would be only fair.

[Referencing this post!]

I think the birthday interviewers are arbitrary to the main story 🤔 There doesn’t seem to be a clear pattern to the interviewers assigned for the Broomquet series of cards (whereas Birthday Boy and Union definitely did have their own patterns). If there's some significance to Ace interviewing Malleus, then wouldn't the logic hold that the other Broomquet interviewers also have some kind of big tie to the birthday boy...? There doesn't seem to be this importance reflected in all of them, at least as far as I can tell.

Of the main trio (Ace, Deuce, and Grim), Ace seems to be the least emotionally vulnerable. He’s not totally honest about his feelings (despite, ironically, being the one to tell others how it is without any sugarcoating) and uses jokes/humor to deflect from confrontational or difficult situations he doesn’t want to get entangled in. Ace claims to not care, but his actions tell very different stories than his words do (see: the worry he displays in episodes 4 and 6, as well as some vignettes and events). I guess this could be called “tsundere” behavior, but rather than being his entire identity, it’s only a single aspect of Ace and lends to his overall cheeky yet bright character.

Ace doesn’t want to linger on things he considers boring or sad; he lives in the moment and wants to quickly move on to the next thing that may be more fun or happy than the current moment. The same does not hold true for Deuce or Grim, and for very good but also very different reasons. Deuce fixates on his past and his failures due to wanting to reform from his delinquency, and Grim is attached to Yuu because of their close bond as partners, roommates, and master-minion. Given this, of course Deuce and Grim would feel more sad and make remarks about the things they cannot do together anymore once Yuu leaves.

I think it’s possible that Ace has multiple intentions behind not sulking with Deuce and Grim 🤔 For one, yeah, it’s not in Ace’s nature to; he’s just more cheerful than the other two—but I think this speaks to other aspects of his character. He’s the only one of the group to point out that Mickey may not actually be Yuu’s ticket home, yet everyone is treating it like it’s already the end. I wonder if this is Ace lying to himself too—making up some excuse to avoid looking at the truth, or maybe genuinely hoping he’s actually right. Alternatively, maybe Ace is saying these things because he doesn’t want to see his friends sad—or even to alleviate everyone’s pain when Yuu ultimately has to leave (in kind of a “don’t cry now, save your tears for when the time finally comes” way) 🫠

I appreciate that the first years assemble in 7, but it felt a little clunky to me since we didn’t previously see them unite or act as a big group of friends. It was usually just Adeuce + the first year for that particular episode like Epel or isolated incidents (ie checking in with Jack and Savanaclaw pre-VDC in 5). I’m still under the impression that Adeuce and Grim are the close friends of Yuu and the other first years are friends in a looser sense of the word—but narratively speaking, it makes sense to bring the group together for what is meant to be the “last chapter” of their story. It emphasizes how far everyone has come, how they’ve grown so much closer than the circumstances which initially forced them together. It feels more bittersweet seeing the friends made along the way and realizing that Yuu has to say goodbye to them all.

It’s interesting that we end up with 7 people (excluding Yuu from this count), one for each dorm (even if there is no one representing Octavinelle and Scarabia + two representing Heartslabyul). I don’t know if that means anything right now other than being a recurring number, but it would be cool if it does! The promotional materials of the game really seem to market the first years as a group of close knit friends, which is reflected in the fandom works but not super deeply in the main story 🤔 so it’d be nice to see more of the group together and such. I wonder how Sebek will be integrated with them, seeing as he’s so opposed to befriending humans and those outside of the Briar Valley. He’ll certainly complicate the group’s dynamics and add a lot of flair to episode 7!

Oh, I’m sure Ace will have his fun at his own Glorious Masquerade (the Halloween 2023 event will probably be Masquerade Part II with the other half of the NRC cast). I just hope Ace also gets to play a big role in episode 7 😌 and earns his unique magic along the way~

[pavlovianpanic]

i see this a lot all over the fandom, and i have written a lot of posts regarding this in various headcanon posts, but i think answering it directly will make more sense:

why did josh prank chris, ashley, and sam so hard compared to mike, jess, emily, and matt?

first off, i'm going to just re-explain myself over re-linking any old posts, but know i've written this before so i'm just referencing myself basically.

regarding jess and mike: josh was likely going to film them in the isolated cabin and use that footage to exploit them the way he feels hannah exploited. basically? a sex tape.

matt and emily feat. mike jess: this is the hardest for me. i think there are several things to address here ... a) josh had to adapt to it being mike and jess, not mike and emily, and had likely planned to isolate mike and jess into a situation of hooking up, getting emily to see it, and somehow using matt to do that because matt likes emily. b) matt and emily could never do the chris and ashley plot. emily is way too smart. also, mike and jessica would never take it seriously enough. additionally, mike and jess as well as matt and em need to do the mines / miner plot. chris and ashley are not physically capable enough. sam might have been able to do the firehouse thing, but not likely. c) i have considered maybe he had a separate thing for matt and em to lead them back to chris and ash? maybe? but i think we would have seen more of what josh would have done to them had he not been interrupted by the plot of until dawn lmao

so, yes. josh was going to prank those four. just the plot of the game interfered with josh's plot, which is a cover plot for the real plot of until dawn.

sam: josh sees sam as guilty. this is why he pranks sam. it doesn't matter if the player doesn't get that. josh thinks sam is guilty of betraying hannah, so he betrays her. pretty simple stuff. the cut dialogue between josh's masked killer and sam was more revealing and would have been helpful. he sees sam as someone that watches the pain of others from afar. he sees her as the bystander complex in his tier of guilt.

chris and ashley: i've made so many posts about this. josh sees chris as a) not guilty, b) not self-motivated (literally gun to the head to confess to ash, all the foreshadowing, etc), c) josh is putting chris in a hero position and ash in a victim position (hannah was the victim). he uses chris also to punish ashley a bit, especially revealing the tape to chris (thus showing josh never showed that tape to chris ... but also no one else was really being super honest with chris and josh either). josh sees chris very highly, no shipping stuff included in this btw. that's just a fact. chris knows the most about josh. so ... think of this, too. chris has to be there. so does sam. not having them there would indicate so fast to the group that something was up, especially if josh has distanced himself from them as is heavily implied. the entire group became fractured fast in that year between pranks. also ... the remake does one thing right with the prologue that always bothered me: fixing the positioning of ashley and matt. how was matt ever going to film from the closet. now ... the ashley problem. she literally sees nothing, her best angle is seeing matt. so idk how guilty josh finds her, he sees her kinda close to sam. guilt by association / not caring / victimizing hannah. the difference? ashley wasn't hannah's bestie.

if anyone wants more chris and josh explanation content, in addition to sam and hannah content, i do have posts addressing this much more in detail, but this is just a pretty good summary. josh is paralleling everything as what he perceives to be a 1-for-1 to what happened with hannah. he never wanted to actually hurt them, though. an ego death is the closest he could ever encounter. everything josh did was fake.

edit: regarding mike and jess btw you know he had them being isolated planned from the start, josh tells mike to go to the cabin he “told mike about” — josh already got the idea 💡 going before mike even knew it was going to happen. again, he likely was gonna do a cheating thing for mike-em-jess using matt to help lead em to mike and jess but josh had to adapt as the relationships changed.

[writingsoftrash]

I know I'm posting a bunch of nonsense (i swear i am writing as well, but I'm eating dinner and rewatching the movie to help lol) but anyway

I just got to this part in the movie where he tells David this, and I had completely forgotten that he also mentions in his little monologue to David about being built for a specific purpose like he and every other mecha is. And, realizing I unintentionally, sort of referenced that in his speech in chapter 13. For Joe, it's no longer just that he was built for a 'specific purpose', but that he was built for Alice specifically. :,)

I'll probably expand on it more because one of my favorite things is showing... hm, how do i phrase it. Joe isn't necessarily 'pro-orga!', he still has his doubts, especially considering he's viewed such ugly violence perpetuated by orgas onto not just mecha, but each other as well. (That's actually going to be brought up pretty soon lol) And outside of Alice, he does enjoy the company of certain clients, he considers Claire (and Ricky & Lola) friends - and genuinely wants to believe they think the same. But he still heavily mistrusts orga as a whole - but Alice makes him *want* to believe. Because if he can fall in love with her, and, more importantly (to him), she can genuinely love him, then maybe, just maybe, there is hope.

But, ultimately, to Joe, the rest of the world just does not matter to him. And it's not an obsession with Alice (like with David and Monica), he still works (and enjoys what he does), still exists outside of their relationship. But if it were to come between choosing between alice and the world - he'd choose alice every time.

anyway idk where im going with this im just rambling at this point lmao

[dashiellqvverty]

i really don’t love takes that are like “how can you be anti copyright but also against ai” because it’s like. well first of all i don’t think ai itself, or specifically generative ai (because “ai” alone is imo a pretty meaningless term that refers to so many things at this point), is like. inherently evil. it’s a tool and in fact it is a tool that you can do some pretty cool or even useful things with! and like my issue honestly is not even really with people using ai to generate art, but rather with the gen ai software itself because that’s the actual product.

i often think of a post i saw comparing generative ai that pulls from various artists to like. heavily referencing or emulating specific artists in art. and i don’t think that’s necessarily a bad comparison when it comes to the people entering the prompts and generating the images. HOWEVER i just feel like. if someone downloaded a bunch of pictures from the internet and compiled them into a book or a document and then SOLD it as a book of art references without any credit much less compensation to the artists behind those pictures, whether you consider that theft or not i think it definitely constitutes a Dick Move.

there was another post that was like “oh everyone made fun of nft bros about right clicking their bored ape pics but those same people see it as theft when those images on the internet that anyone can see are used for generative ai” or whatever and it’s like. idk, for ME my line is that when SOMEONE is making money (in this case tech ceos) off of a piece of art, but not the person who made it, that is a problem. and maybe this is just a Strong Autism Conviction thing for me bc i’ve felt this way for a long time but like downloading something for free is one thing but downloading something for free AND THEN SELLING it is another. in my opinion

BUT ALSO there is a difference between what i personally think is right/wrong and what i think should be the law. and personally i think that any legislation about ai meant to target stuff like this is almost certain to do a lot more harm than good. like we don’t need copyright laws getting any stronger 😐

[scripturiends]

before i started watching season 3 (particularly the second half) i legitimately thought all jeroy had going for them was the same set of scenes i would always see in edits or gifs but noo there are actually SOO MANY LITTLE ONES sprinkled in the show that i never found being heavily referenced (like obviously i do wish they had thought of the ship earlier on in the show like in s2 but there was still jara and considering all the circumstances they were still able to write jeroy so well even if they came in clutch

one of my favorite scenes was when jerome came up to joy and said he likes her hair brushed and that it reminded him of letdown hajskfjdj it’s just soo jerome clarke of him bringing up mara’s dog to joy bc it was their first date AND managing to slip in an actual compliment under the guise of teasing like come awnnnn whipped

idk it just made me feel giddy bc jerome can be an absolute sweetheart while still being his usual devious self. same goes for joy who, after greeting jerome sweetly would go back to teasing him and being sarcastic. like that scene in the stairs when he says “i was thinking” and she replies “oh so thats what that sound was” and after their kiss in the house when she says “please dont say youve come around just to get a compliment on your kissing technique” like it’s just so Them it’s so natural it makes sense whoever thought of this ship came to swoop in and said i will give u the most character development within a limited timeframe

[eskawrites]

For both Elden Ring AUs, please: 3, 6, 13, 18, 25

you are indulging me and i love you for it

3. Did the idea change at all by the time the fic was complete?

For the first elden ring au, there wasn't really an outline (which is something i never do) because I was kinda just writing it off and on as I played? and the ideas were simply 'badass nancy and broken fantasy world vibes' which stayed the same throughout. nothing really changed until the very end after i beat the game and realized I should have made Robin Melina, which of course led to the second elden ring au, and since that follows the frenzied flame storyline it also didn't change much lol

6. How did you decide what tense and POV(s) to use?

tense is weird because I always write in present tense now but that was like a subconscious shift I made several years back? when I first started writing fic it was all in past tense. I experimented with present tense once in a while for like drabbles and stuff, but didn't think much of it beyond practicing something different until a fandom friend pointed out that any time i wrote in present tense, the story was deeply rooted in emotional angst. and over time most of my stories became more deeply rooted in the emotional side of it all, and that trend sort of just took over until one day i looked around and realized everything i wrote was in present tense

as for pov, it was really just a natural decision for both? since Nancy is the tarnished she's the main character so of course it's her pov (I did consider having more Robin pov in the elden ring au ii for a hot second, but that was a beast enough as it is to write and tbh I don't know what Melina is doing whenever she's not hanging out with the tarnished! I do not understand enough of her lore (read: there is not enough clear lore on her) to really delve into her pov, so it stayed as nancy pov until the lil epilogue bit

13. Did you write any of the fic by hand? If yes, which parts? Do you find you write differently by hand vs typing?

lol no, i haven't handwritten any pieces of fic since college, when i would scrawl scenes and ideas into my notebooks instead of paying attention in bio 101. there were a lot of things put on my phone though since a lot of scene ideas for both these fics came from experiences during my own playthroughs of the game

18. Talk about your editing and revision process

honestly my editing process really just consists of re-reading and then re-reading again (and then re-reading again, and sometimes re-reading again). but i guess for the elden ring aus there was also a lot more cross-referencing with wikis and stuff to make sure i was staying true to the lore while also trying not to get too much into it. most of the big edits when i write though happen when i'm copying rough drafts of scenes from my notes doc or my phone into the actual story

25. Share your favorite line

for elden ring au i: it's a paragraph but

Her words sink warmly into Nancy’s chest, but they settle heavily. She thinks, almost desperately, that it would have been easier if Robin wanted the blade between her ribs.

something-something nancy learning never to trust anyone and robin letting her let her guard down for once, and somehow that's even more dangerous

for elden ring au ii: also a few lines but

It isn’t Robin. Nancy has saved her. That’s worth burning for. She’s doing the right thing. She’s doing the right thing. She’s doing the right thing. She’s doing the right—

this was the closest i could get to mimicking the feeling of a hard cut to black after an emotional cutscene. idk if it worked for anyone else, but i'm proud of it

(fic ask!)

[magiccifi]

I just saw the new teaser that was released at some sort of convention and I’m not elated nor am I unhappy…I’m pleased to hear/see more tho!

Here are some things that I’m hoping with the reboot so far (or just simply thinking about):

Warning potential spoilers!!!

I hope that the animation gets polished a bit more; I’m very hopeful on this considering the show isn’t coming out til next year, and any sort of developing polishes a product as time goes on, even if the deadline is soon

I have already seen people be a bit concerned about the mention of social media, with I also am a bit; it’s important to remember that winx came out during a time in which MySpace was very popular and Facebook was both a rising platform and at some point in the winx running time THE social media to be on, which was not really that reflected in the show; so I’m hopeful that social media and it’s presence will either a) be limited to earth and magix/alfea doesn’t have much or b) the creators won’t lean to heavily into it but will be present in magix/alfea

I definitely can see the girls having their own social media accounts, but I don’t think that social media will be too heavily present considering the winx is all about being fairies and defeating evil with friends and you don’t have much time being an influencer doing all that

I do think we have to accept that social media overall has a much heavier presence in the life of people, inducing children (which I do think make up a core of the target demo of the show, accept it or not 🤷🏾‍♀️) compared to the 2000s; it makes sense that it will be at least mentioned here and there

if the reboot gets far, pls do not kill nabu 😫 I didn’t get that far into winx just yet, but I hate that he dies nevertheless

While I’m not the biggest fan or hater of the animation/style of the girls, idk how well it will look on the specialists…

I was very repulsed when bloom smiled at mitzi in the clip, did not like that at all; I pulled the same face when she smiled when I played totk and that one cutscene shows ganondorf’s big ass feet ew; that part of the animation is really off putting…so no more smiling!

I do like that it seems that bloom’s background as a normal girl will be shown before she learns about being a fairy; it also gives us a better idea of mitzi in terms of a school bully rather than some weirdo that is mean to some girl on the street lol

THE LOGO IS STUNNING!!! 10/10 BEST PART OF THE ENTIRE TEASER

look at it!!! (Got the pic from user @/wingsofthe on Twitter)

I saw the prototype of the same scene and have to say, prefer the prototype more but I’ll keep an open mind until the show is actually out; the hair is 100% an improvement tho

with the expectation that the reboot will be good and do well, I demand to have comics similar to manga volume style, not the small thin ones; imagine how beautiful they could be 😍

…someone on Twitter pointed out that Sirius black’s (ya know from Harry Potter) wanted poster can be seen in the background of the bathroom scene…they wildin’ in Italy 😀

Could be a little wink to the German dub referencing Harry Potter in season 1 lol

Someone on Twitter also made a point about Stella being the fairy of the sun AND THE MOON; hope the reboot focuses on Stella’s relationship with her mother and the adjunct powers in the same way they did with her and her father

Anyways the winx are back baby!!!

[mixedupmojo]

jttw sci-fi

Just want to put this out there but am I the only one who wants to see a journey to the west sci-fi retelling/crossover. Like considering the number of adaptations jttw has had. I expected there to be at least a few which were inspired by the sci-fi genre and aside from starzinger there don't seem to be any (if there are more please let me know). I just think it would be really cool to do a whole sci-fi version (with some fantasy elements mixed) especially considering how awesomely weird jttw can be at times I just keep thinking, how cool would it be to have a space version that feels like it's in the same ballpark/is inspired by Farscape, treasure planet, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and to cap it all off the humans are weird/space orcs/space Australia concept.

Anyway with this concept rattling around in my head. it has inspired some ideas, so without further adu here is a list of headcanons for a sci-fi world of the journey to the west that I have. A spoiler alert is now in effect as I'm gonna be referencing some things from the book.

·         First off I am personally thinking of a version that takes place in outer space as I think it fits with the whole journey aspect not to mention there is a whole galaxy of possibilities that could be encountered (see what I did there) 

·         but I could also imagine it taking place in a future dystopian world instead. where Tripitaka has been tasked with getting some important artifact, in order to restore the world and bring back life to the planet or something. however, I'm gonna stick with the space theme so here we go

·         Combining magic and mythology with sci-fi. I just really like the idea that even though this world is heavily technology-based and scientifically advanced there is still an underlying magic system in place that governs things and that everyone relays on. Not to mention it provides an opportunity to delve into different theologies and philosophies and explore these concepts in a different way.

·         just imagine the character designs!!! 

·         Just think of how otherworldly and alien they could be like for example:

 -I can't get the idea out of my head that sun wukong looks like he's made from actual living rock. Something akin to marble with the cracks and veins looking like molten gold/lava (they also glow). I also like the idea that even though he looks like he's made from stone he doesn’t actually feel like it. Like you expect him to feel like marble but in reality, it's completely different, actually feeling like fur in some places. quills in place of some of his more fluffier parts mainly around his neck/back and head. Also, I have no explanation for this but I can't stop thinking that he would have an extra set of arms and at least one extra set of eyes. His eye's would also be huge as this is to do with the fact flower fruit mountain relies heavily on bioluminescence. originally they were black but after the incident with the furnace, they are now blood red with flecks of gold.

 -when it comes to tang Sanzang/Tripitaka I have a few different schools of thought about how he could be portrayed. The first is that he is human as I feel it kind of fits based on how his character was originally portrayed in the book and it also allows for an outsider's perspective (IDK I'm just getting token human vibes off him for some reason). Second, he is part of an endangered race that is very spiritual, taking on a slight insect appearance but in a very subtle way with iridescent skin. But for all versions, he has this hovering platform which he constantly sits on or uses as a place to meditate. it has the ability to fold in on itself for easy storage/carrying. I also like to think that as the journey progress, he starts using it less and less

 -I think it would be a cool idea for Sha Wujing "Sandy" who is obviously some kind of aquatic alien having to wear a high-tech suit that allows him to breathe out of water. Something with a large fish bowl helmet that is filled with water   

 -Zhu Bajie "Pigsy" I honestly haven't given it too much thought when it comes to him. But I do like the idea of him having these insanely large tusks like that of a wild boar

 -for Bai long ma I have this whole idea. if anyone here has seen Farscape then you will know that in the show Moya is a living space ship and I kept thinking what If Bai long ma was the same what if he started out as a space dragon, but instead of turning into a horse-like creature he would become a living space ship as it makes a lot more sense since the group are travelling through space. there could even be moments throughout the journey where he needs to turn into a smaller dragon-like astral horse creature in order to travel places or conserve energy as I imagine travelling through the void of space would take a lot out of him

 -six eared macaque shearing sun wukong's rock-like appearance (as they were both born from stone) but instead looking like he is made from quartz, with some parts of him even appearing transparent (he is also much softer to the touch than wukong somehow). his six ears are always changing colours and look like reflected rainbows

 -Neha looks like a lotus flower but on fire. Let me elaborate he looks vaguely humanoid in shape but where his head is it looks like it is made up of lotus pelts, which depending on circumstances appears as a bulb or in full bloom and he always seems to be admitting a flame-like aura around him. His body is comprised of living armour and appears copper coloured that is heavily patterned. He never walks he is almost always floating this is done through the use of a high-tech version of his fire wheels

 ·         Space dragons with translucent glittery scales that reflect the void of space so all that you see is a shimmer before they reveal themselves to you and it's suddenly like a whole new galaxy just appeared before you. Their eyes burning with the force of the sun

·         The four dragon kings are the largest of all the dragons and because of this each of them is often mistaken for being a star themselves. However in reality each of the dragon kings has taken up residence in the biggest star in each of their respective galaxies and are often found curing around them hence where the confusion comes from. and like the Tardis in doctor who, Their star homes are much bigger on the inside

·         sun wukong's staff was originally being used to prop up the sky in the domain of the dragon king of the east ao guang. After taking it the loss caused that part of the sky to sag and several stars to fall. to this day they are some of the most coverted items in the whole of the galaxy and ao guang was not happy about losing them

·         On that train of thought just imagine how cool and high-tech the weapons could be  

·         I'm just imagining the part where wukong is first brought before heaven to stand trial play out similar to stitch's trial 

Jade Emperor: It is an affront to nature. It must be destroyed!

The gold star of Venus: Calm yourself, sir. Perhaps it can be reasoned with. wukong give us some sign you understand, any of this. Show us that there is something, inside you that is good.

The entire court of heaven waits on bated breath as wukong takes a moment to think before breaking out into a great big grin

Sun wukong: Meega, nala kweesta!

The court of heaven gasps, several of the members fainting

The gold star of Venus: So naughty!

Wukong laughs maniacally

 ·         Space pirates/bandits with ships that look like they've been cobbled together or ones that take after a traditional sailing boat 

·         On a side note, just imagine all of the different types of space transportation and I'm not just talking about spaceships. What if there is more than one way to get around in space such as teleportation and it being highly regulated much like an airport you have to go through mass amounts of security. or star roads that only appear at certain points in the day and only last for a certain amount of time so you have to be quick when crossing 

·         Space fish and other creatures that somehow manage to survive in the vacuum of space

·         On that note when it comes to wukong's summersault cloud I have two schools of thought one being that its technology base appearing as a sort of hoverboard. the other is more mystical like it's made out of stardust or something

·         The group having to hitchhike on different spaceships for whatever reason and having memorable encounters with each individual that picks them up

·         Flower fruit mountain is completely bioluminescent the plants, the rocks even the water and everything seems to pulse with a strange heartbeat. the plant life being larger than life tree's towering thousands of miles into the sky that are completely hollow on the inside and looks like they are nothing but roots that have been twisted together. The flowers are as big as cars and appear to breathe their petals opening and closing in rhythmic patterns. The ground and the rock are always emitting a strong heat with different spots on the island being warmer than others and all of the residents taking advantage of that. Flower fruit mountain appears to be steeped in an almost permanent night. This is mostly due to the fact that the island does not have a sun of its own, since it is constantly on the move. It doesn't matter though as both the mountain and the inhabitants have evolved to survive without 

·         I like the idea that flower fruit mountain is a wondering place never staying in the same spot for too long, and like the stars and planets themselves appearing in certain places depending on the time of year and season. I also like the idea that it is very much a floating island and not an actual planet. The rivers just flow off the side and down disappearing into the void of space. While all the residents have to be careful not to fall off the edge

·         all of the monkey residents being very varied in their appearances and species. They live high up in the vast canopies of the trees in intricate woven villages that are hidden from all, but the ones in the know

·         The water curtain cave being at the highest point of flower fruit mountain and behind it being a complete juxtaposition from the rest of the mountain. The mansion/palace/house (I've heard it be called a couple of different things) being made of a chrome like metal and heavily patterned. 

·         The entrance to the place of the dragon king of the east sea is a wormhole. 

·         Heaven being an intergalactic space federation type of organization. with the main headquarters being located on a planet that looks a bit like Saturn but has at least five times the amount of rings and glows. it is also near impossible to get to, as you have to navigate through a minefield of asteroids and other obstacles. 

·         Just imagine all of the different worlds to explore and the different alien cultures to encounter like for example:

-the group having to cross a desert made up of red and purple sand, with there being at least three suns overhead but somehow the sky is a deep plum colour and it feels dark despite this.

-coming across a world where the inhabitants are long since dead but their spirit still lives on vicariously through their creations

-visiting a planet where the colours are completely inverted or alternatively a world where everyone perceives a completely different spectrum of light/colour (kind of like how a mantis shrimp can see 12 more colours than a human can) and trying to navigate it.

-a Gulliver travels inspired world. I'm just imagining a scenario where Tripitaka gets kidnapped by a giant little girl who views him as a new pet and the group has to figure out a way to get him back.

-visiting an intergalactic spaceport and trying to navigate through the crowds of different alien species

-accidentally ending up on a primitive world that hasn’t yet figured out space travel or the fact that they are not alone. Trying to keep a low profile so as to not freak out the locals but inevitably being discovered.

-going to a planet that is entirely covered with water and wukong absolutely hating it while sandy is just having the time of his life.

-ending up on a very sketchy planet where crime is rampant and having to constantly be on the lookout for anything shady. Wukong slowly loses his mind as somehow Tripitaka keeps getting into trouble every five seconds. the rest of the group is no better.

-visiting cities that are technologically advanced, fast pace and obsessed with the latest craze.

-stopping at an intergalactic truck stop for food and rest and being confronted by the strangest weirdest food they ever have to eat, while simultaneously trying to figure out if it is even edible. Just imagine everybody's unique individual reactions in this situation.      

 There are just so many possibilities

 ·         Imagine them having an encounter with chang'e on the moon. I'm just picturing the group having a nice chill tea break with chang'e talking about life and just taking some time to recharge before they have to move on.

·         Encountering red boy on a planet made of pure molten lava and fire. Where the fire/ lava of this world is safe to touch in some parts and in other parts it burns so insanely hot that it can melt the flesh off of the bone. and no one really being able to tell the difference between which fire is safe and which isn't. red boy is completely immune to this world and knows how to wield it to his advantage

·         Demon bull king and princess iron fan are some of the galaxies' biggest warlords and conquers. They have one of the biggest fleets of battleships and an unstoppable army. As such they have conquered multiple planets

·         That just made me think what if there was a galactic villain scoreboard just like the one in wander over yonder. Or at the very least the villains have a celebrity status amongst the galaxy. (at some point wukong would have been totally at the top of that scoreboard)

·         There's a part in the book where they encounter a demon that turns out to be Guanyin's pet goldfish that’s gone rogue. And I like the idea of the group encountering a giant dangerous Robo-mech that they have to face off against only for it to turn out that it was a tiny goldfish controlling the suit all along. (and he would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling pilgrims)

·         the lady bone demon being in control of a hive mind of other alien species. Working like a parasite she infects/possesses other creatures to do her bidding and expand her influence. the longer they are under her possession the quicker they start to waste away and become a skeletal zombie-like version of their former selves. Think of something similar to the zombie-ant fungus.  

·         What if the Single Horned Rhinoceros King instead of just stealing everyone's weapons through the use of the jade ring (an alternate form of the diamond snare that Laojun had made and used to capture Sun Wukong) like in the book. he was actually capturing planets and hoarding them like ships in bottles and the jade ring is actually some super weaponized shrink ray that allows him to do this. The group ends up not only trying to find a way to defeat him but then having to figure out how to return all the planets back to their normal size. This idea could also work with an original character as an alternative. 

·         The immortal trials I can see playing out much like the book with the exception that It takes place on a more primitive planet that does not have much experience with technology and goat, deer and tiger immortals taking advantage of that. using the knowledge and tech they have to trick people into thinking that they are all powerful, omnipotent beings and forcing them to do their bidding

·         The spider queen/spider demons being these drider like aliens. Their ships are equipped with web-like nets that they use to capture spaceships. The nets are huge in size as well as virtually unbreakable. They then kill and eat any of the unfortunate victims that they trap and sell off the ships for scrap metal along with any valuables they find. Often they will leave their webs out in space, trapping anyone unfortunate to get stuck and not returning for a lengthy period of time while they check on their other traps. by then the victims of the snare are too weak to fight back and make for easy pickings.

·         Shapeshifting while being pretty common is extremely hard to do with only a few beings being able to actually do it properly (sun wukong is one of them, pigsy on the other hand is not so he resorts to holographic glamour instead) most just end up using holographic technology to glamour themselves. Or pills that can transform a person for a short amount of time, or even stranger alternative methods

·         A planet being inhabited entirely by females playing out much like the book. With the inhabitants having the appearance of both lizards and starfish combined. They are very pleasant but extremely curious about the male species 

·         Finally, let's talk about the main goal/objective of the journey personally I like sticking with the whole finding the scriptures and returning them to the east. Which still works for this only the stakes are much higher as the whole universe has been plunged into chaos and is on the verge of full on collapsing and the only way to stop it is to get these special scriptures (honestly this can be subjective as they don't need to be scriptures just something of great importance) and get them to where they need to be. Not only is the journey there hard but the stakes are upped as they now have to get them back and by now every powerhouse and criminal wants to get their hand on them as they are a highly coverted item

    So yeah those are my thoughts. If I think of any more I'll be sure to add them but for now, this is all I got. Apologies for any spelling mistakes or if I've messed up on the lore (I tried to be as accurate as possible). I'll be honest I'm getting very tempted to write a full story based on this however I've got other writing projects in the works so I don't want to start anything new just yet. But who knows maybe one day in the future.

[piggylobotomy]

~info and boundaries~

Hi I’m Bruno/wrath call me either, I am a multi fandom artist. I consider myself the king of crackshiping and multishipping because idk I do it alot. Also I love pigs, I draw them all the time and half my ocs are pigs

This account is ran by a system so might sometimes use a different name and have a fluctuating artstyle 

Art boundaries:

-Tracing, and reposting is allowed with linked credit. Referencing and using it as a pfp is allowed without credit but credit is appreciated still!

-please don’t get heavily inspired off my ocs, a lot of them are very very personal to me so it would almost feel like identity theft lolll. But getting inspired off them is fine just don’t make it basically just a recolor or same character with different clothes or something idk

-don’t use my art in radqueer or proship media please. You stay off my land I’ll stay off yours

Fandoms I consider myself apart of:

Overwatch

Flee the facility

Mincraft

Dandys world

Pillar chase

Madoka magica

Roblox in general

Lego monkey kid

Fnaf

SpongeBob

Beetlejuice

Creepy pasta (sorta)

Juggalo (icp)

Radio head (I’m ok computers number one fan!!!)

And also my own ocs ofc

Tags:

Art: #piggyneedslobotomy

Text: #oinkoinkoink

Reblogs: #lobotomyrb

[zan0tix]

TYSM FOR THE ASK I HAVE A REPLY FOR YOUR TAGS BUT ITS LONG SO ITLL BE UNDER THE CUT AGAIN ive been bottling up my ideas for months im actually exploding rn dont let me talk abt homestuck i will not shut up😭😭😭

I feel like because dirk is the more “explicitly gay one” because in text he is specifically labeled as such (when thats so hilarious considering just how extensive and thought out jakes gay coding seems to be) and i guess people fall back on gpa harley and also post canon jake both being Super Masc presenting and also disregard his expression of femininity as frivolous or comedic. This is so stupid when Literally in his INTRODUCTION he points out his “Sexy Lara Croft Thigh Strap Gunholsters” specifically and has a little bit about them LIKE WHAT ON EARTH ELSE IS THIS MEANT TO BE TELLING US ABOUT HIM😭

Speaking of lara croft i watched both tomb raider movies with cyrus because weve made a list of movies that are referenced or appear in homestuck (at least what we could identify) AND ITS SO ENLIGHTENING OMFG. If you havent watched con air and are a homestuck fan you Need to watch it its so hilarious knowing the context i promise its worth it for homestuck.

BUT TOMB RAIDER!!!! Get this. Lara croft lives in her big mansion full of wacky memorabilia and weaponry and had a deep connection with her deceased father and he greatly inspires her to do what she does. She has a techie guy in the chair who she has coy sometimes flirtatious interactions with. And she goes on a grand adventure exploring the world and interacting with old rivals and discovering artefacts and stopping a great evil. AND THERES ALSO A ROBOT BUILT BY THE TECH GUY THAT SHE TRAINS AND SPARS WITH. TELL ME THIS ISNT WHAT JAKE WAS IMAGINING WHEN THEY SAID THEYD PLAY THE GAME AND HAVE AN ADVENTURE AND ALSO WHAT INSPIRED SO MUCH ABOUT HIS ATTITUDE. But it turns out sburb and reality are not campy and fun and are actually cruel and unforgiving :(

But jakes gayness and expression of femininity are integral to his character and how the narrative treats him and you can tell the exact kind of guy hussie was trying to capture using jake. IDK. My jake interp specifically… have you guys ever met a fem gay bear😭 they tend to be so nerdy and silly its so perfect for jake. I believe if homestuck wasnt such an internet niche thing and was like a tv show or something gay men would LOOOVE jake. You cannot tell me jake isnt a theatric gay and wouldnt take any opportunity to dress up (literally does this in comic)

I think because this fandom is so heavily transmasc dominated alot of people dont know how to or dont want toportray transfem characters😭😭 so many people boil the girls down to just being Nice and Kind because theyre girls and nothing else and all the others whose negative actions are integral to the plot are huge bitches who are irredeemable (literally saw someone say this abt vriska a bit ago💀💀💀) so when it comes to june and the “erasing” of her personality i think it stems from peoples internalised misogyny and also just. Not being friends with any transfems. It feels like it comes from the idea that girls cant be anything but Nice and Kind and Happy. Hashtag guys. JUST LISTEN TO TRANSFEM PEOPLE THEYRE PEOPLE TOO???😭 Transwoman June has the exact same personality as if she had not transitioned.. shes the SAME PERSON. Let her be mean and nerdy and depressed it wont kill you🙏

I also see so much of “X character presents fem/masc so that means i will hc them as transfem/transmasc!” When thats so reductive and brainless im not sorry😭 people seem so paranoid of letting any of their favs be anything other than Trans Boy or Trans Girl or Transmasc Nonbinary. As a transmasc YOU GUYS HAVE TO STOP AND THINK FOR A SEC😭😭😭 particularly about jake and jane.

Jake and jane (aside from davepeta) are THE most transcoded and gender non conforming characters in the comic. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL Thats literally what both their personal arcs are ABOUT but people think theyre annoying so they dont care💀 but making jake transmasc and jane transfem when their ENTIRE ARCS are about growing up in cishetero society and being conditioned to believe they were meant to be like that too until they discover they dont have to be!!! Jake english would not be transmasc and not know liking men is okay that voids like a whole part of his identity journey.

And then it becomes especially strange to make jake transmasc and jane transfem when crockertier jane threatens to make him into a baby making machine??????? Do we not see a problem with this omfg😭😭😭

If you want a transmasc and a transfem OVERPERFORMING their gender identities THATS DIRK AND ROXY!!! They are RIGHT THERE!!! Both their stories of growing up where they got to Choose their identities and presentation but had to piece those together from the remnants of a dead civilisation and then inferring how theyre meant to be from their friends and thus having flawed views on what it is to be a Man and a Woman. Then ALL the alphas learning that their expectations for themselves were from flawed systems and ideas and that rather they are Themselves, how ever theyre comfortable being LIKE THIS IS JUST TEXTUAL MAN IDK WHAT TO SAY😢😢😢This is why i dont trust alpha kids fans who are only a fan of one of them and not the others bc theyre all integral to understanding eachother

But Homestucks messy portrayal of gender and sexuality is so unique and realistic and offering jane and jakes dichotomy of being in the closet and then once they get the choice to theyre experimenting with their presentation in a very casual way around their friends and deconstructing the systemic ideas that has restricted them back on earth and then to just throw that all out the window feels disheartening to me :/

One of homestucks best aspects is the intricate and realistic portrayals of queerness and ESPECIALLY it being a sapphic and transfeminine centric story, its so special i havent found it in anything else but so many people are so ready to just flat out ignore it all in favour of making everything abt men!!!!!! I could talk forever about the importance of homestucks reversed narrative gender roles but if you cannot admit that the women are INTENTIONALLY more important than the men idk what to say other than Read it Again.

IM SO SORRY I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS😭 like i said im the master of going on tangents dont let talk abt homestuck im insane. But thank you!!😁😁 tomatograter dirkjakepilled me… i hope to be honouring the nonbinary gay jake meta he outlined years ago with grace🙏🙏

Hi tumblr user Zan0tix, I have to say that I love that you draw Jake as big and hairy AND fem. It's such a rare combination outside of mean-spirited caricatures, every time I see your Jake I get a big smile on my face. :)

Hi tumblr user HermitCyclop ^u^ here is a jake drawing for you 🫶

The transmisogynistic demonisation of these features is so maddening!!! I agree! Im glad that the intent (appreciating these features) of my jake design reaches you c:

GOING TO PUT IT UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. But jake english gender meta because i think about it Too Much and am taking this as an excuse to infodump abt it. 😁

The alpha kids and their specific defiance of both homestucks gendered narrative AND real life societal expectations are so fun to think about to me!! but since we are talking about jake, his specific defiance of both homestucks models of masculinity and femininity in the context of his queerness is like the reason he is my fav character.

He props himself up that he wants to be the adventure "hero" in the homestuck sense (the hardheaded blue femme fatale) and the western media sense (the hardheaded action man) yet whenever pressed to actually act on what he says he always refuses or obfuscates. Because really what he wants is to just be himself! I really love the alpha kids because they all just want to be Themselves, not be restricted and defined by what is expected of them, (all the characters have this but the alphas particularly really hammer this home for me)

The heavy emphasis on their beta selves, the heteronormative archetypes they embodied and what went wrong in their lives that manifest as fears in their alpha selves... im always thinking about it. How differently society affects queer ppls choices in life and then the fact that they all get a second chance and getting to watch them live out that second chance and realize their queerness and them all caring so much abt eachother and wanting to aspire to be better FOR the ones they love!!!!!! it always tugs at my heart strings to ponder😢😢

IM SO GOOD AT GOING ON TANGENTS MY BAD but basically. The alpha kids explicit queerness and how despite the comic itself protesting, they are all shown to be deserving of love (of all kinds) And as a person who super heavily relates to jake, his experience with his own identity (and dirks unending adoration and love for him and likewise jakes belief and admiration of dirk) serves to me as a reminder that yknow! We are all worthy of love!! Even if we dont think ourselves to be (this is just the message of shrek.) and there is always hope to be found in things improving!!!!

But in a text thats explicitly queer and not shy about letting its queer characters do wrong in realistic ways i think this message is incredibly powerful and certainly one of the best things about the comic in my eyes. And i love embracing that in my art of the characters! Drawing queer (but here specifically trans) characters all getting to be proud of themselves and their appearances makes me feel proud of myself alongside them and I think its wonderful to be able appreciate other trans peoples experiences and looks through it too!!

I specifically in homestuck fandom dont really see anybody but twinks (usually dirk or eridan LMFAO) portrayed to be fem in any manner 😢 when jake is the most explicitly feminine man in the comic. (I think the transmisogyny thats kind of rampant in this fandom means people dont want to consider those outside conventional attractiveness being feminine or transfem identities outside binary transwomen if even that😭😭) I am being the change i wana see in the world 🙏 The amount of transfem fat gay bear jake in the world increases by one every time i post