#Not to mention a lot of the other creators had their own lore finales

[dnalt-d2]

Alright-y, so in case anyone missed it, we've recently gotten some information from Quackity that he's most likely doing some new project, that seems to involve multiple languages, once again. Kinda like QSMP?

Maybe EXACTLY like QSMP…????

Or maybe not

Basically, the way I see it, it is pretty likely that this is QSMP-Related, what with the images that he's been posting recently, with the GODDAMN EYE GUY

However, even if it is QSMP-related, there is something that would need to be addressed

And that's that it's incredibly unlikely we'd be getting QSMP back in the form we knew it as

Honestly, I don't really see many of the Admins returning, Egg or otherwise. Whether it's by their own choice, or the choice of the powers-that-be. And I think we all know that all the Admins, Egg or otherwise, were a huge part of what made QSMP special

In addition to that, there's also a chance that with that sort of outcome, a lot of the Creators wouldn't be coming back either. I could kinda see some of them not returning even if the Admins DO come back. I know a few of them had more sour experiences with QSMP than others did, and I couldn't really blame them for not wanting to give it another shot

So even if this is QSMP, there's a HIGH chance it won't be the same server we knew

But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. After all, I'm pretty sure the Eggs weren't initially MEANT to be as big as they were, which means that there HAD to be some plans for other stuff at one point or another

Hopefully…

Now obviously this is ALLL just, as usual, ✧˚⊹SPECULATION~!⊹˚✧

I'm not a psychic, and I don't know jack-all about what's been going on behind the scenes regarding QSMP or anything Quackity-related. I'm just making educated guesses and reminding everyone to temper their expectations, and try not to be too disappointed if this isn't exactly what you were hoping for

Because even if it isn't, I think it could still be something pretty fun, and I'll probably at least give it a chance regardless of whatever it winds up being

(Except maybe Purgatory 3, because I think I had enough of those vibes during my recent Purgatory 1 Re-Watch)

…

(Oh who am I kidding I'd probably end up checking out Purgatory 3 at least once I have a problem okay???)

[shhhhimwatchingthis]

Cinderella's Castle Lore:

Some interesting world building/character lore dropped in Cinderella's Castle that may be further explored in The Lands That Are:

There was a time when the sun was blotted out and Trolls controlled/had free reign over the lands that are. What happened to sun? how did humans bring it back?

The Fairy Queen of Sweet Dreams, The Goddess of All That is Green and Good:

So much to chew on from her scene:

She was 'caged' in the land of death, so who caged her there (killed her)?

There are Nine Good Gods worshipped in the Lands That Are, but when Ella names the goddess of love the Fairy Queen has never heard of her, implying these gods are false/don't exist. If they are a real power in this world, they aren't as old/powerful as the fairy queen.

The Lady Ashmore: was the stillborn she placed at the roots of the old oak her still born child (a sibling of Ella's?) if not where did she get the body? how did the Lady Asmore know of the goddess of all that is green and good? how long had she worshipped her? Finally if her version of the ritual had succeeded what was the sweet dream she wanted the fairy queen to grant her?

The Grizzwald Bastard: part of why Justine and Lucy believe Ella about her step mother is they know about Trolls because 'their bastard brother hunts them' this is just such a specific detail I feel like this brother has gotta come back in some way

especially interesting to note he slays trolls, when there's a whole scene with our Narrator and Master Dwarf spelling out that trolls are fucking hard to kill, so how powerful is this guy?

The Narrator: this one is super small, the type of detail that drives me insane but I don't know if anyone cares. At the very end of the play, when the peasants bow for Queen Ella Ashmore, the Narrator clearly bows to her as well. As the Narrator. What i mean by this is unlike say Kim, who is in that scene costumed as a peasant, the Narrator is in the same outfit he has always been,he is not a background peasant, he is still clearly the Narrator. But he interacts with the story. He bows to Ella. This is the only time he does this. What does this mean, if anything? That he met Queen Ella Ashmore? That he was there? Are you thinking about the implications?

Some Miscellaneous points, not from the show itself, but from cast/creator comments:

The Fairy Queen of Sweet Dreams wanting revenge against the King and Prince, and that being part of why she pushes Ella to her own revenge. This is a hint dropped i believe from Kim Whalen about the Fairy Queen's motivation in one of the promo vids about her character. Brings up the implication that the royal family was behind the Fairy Queen's imprisonment in the realm of Death. (or at least did something that infuriated her)

Jon Mattheson in a cameo to a fan mentioned the possibility of Sir Hop-A Lot...or his descendants returning in a future show. Ella wishes for Sir Hop A Lot to 'sire many tadpoles' and grants him the lands of the swamps (land that would pass to his heris). Interesting to think of the other Castle shows taking place in the Lands that are but centuries apart. (either centuries before or after Ella) some interesting themes about the nature of stories and myth could come from this. What are the stories of Queen Ella Ashmore in the Lands That Are hundreds of years after her reign? Could be cool to hear stories of the events of Cinderella's Castle and see how they differ from the version the narrator told us.

[crispy-bonnie]

Hikari Arasawa (MK1 OC)

a singular person @mothergoose90 cOUGH COUGH expressed interest in my silly little oc so now i'm making this lore post because i can :)

the ref i made is a little bit half-assed bc i couldn't be bothered to make a turnaround or anything . might do it later tho

also i forgot to add it to the color palette but their eyes are dark brown

Earthrealm | Shapeshifter | Artist

✨(energy) 🌀(chaos)

From the night sky, Hikari emerged as a fallen star into Earthrealm, possessing unique powers and an unclear purpose. With no home or family, Hikari attempted to fend for themself all alone, but they finally found a home as they were taken under Madam Bo's wing. They may not have found their purpose, but the light that guided them knew that this was only the beginning.

BACKSTORIES AND PERSONALITY UNDER THE CUT

Personality

Hikari is rather shy and withdrawn, often avoiding conflict at any given moment. Nobody really hears them talk, so it often catches people by surprise whenever they actually use their voice. This doesn't mean they're entirely anti-social, seeing as whenever they open up to people, they become a lot more chatty and bright.

Backstory

Hikari has two versions of their backstory, as they're more of an open-ended character — a self insert, a blank canvas for me to write whatever I want. This isn't just a choice as a creator and stuff, but also part of their lore as well.

As I mentioned in my Kombatober angst post, an outer force had reset the timeline. That outer force is me, rewriting the story for my own indulgence. It's like if our fanfics and fan-created stuff actually applied to the MK1 universe. I like to reimagine scenarios and storylines in my head, so I applied doing that to the timelines as 'resetting it'. Nobody recollects these resets in the timeline, not even Geras or Liu Kang. Hikari can only faintly remember or recognize events from previous timeline events, but it's a very blurry memory and it's not enough to actually have any weight for them and they never retain these memories long enough for them to piece everything together.

VERSION 1

Nobody really knows Hikari's origins. They literally just fell from the sky and landed in some forest in America. They spent a good chunk of their childhood fending for themself, often finding drawing as an escape from their unfortunate situation.

At around the age of 10, Hikari ends up getting stuck on a cargo boat after looking for food. The boat ended up in China, where they had to once more navigate their strange new place. They eventually find themself in Fengjian, where Madam Bo spots them trying to steal food from the kitchen. She takes them in as her adopted child, raising her alongside Sektor (familiar story, am I right?)

VERSION 2

Hikari falls from the sky (still with unknown origins) but is a full-grown adult rather than a child or something. They land in the Wu Shi academy and is taken in by Liu Kang. He introduces them to the Lin Kuei brothers and becomes recognized as an unofficial member of the clan, seeing as Bi-Han didn't see the value in their powers like others did.

[altocat]

Random thought here but do you think they’re going to do anything with Lucretia in part 3? I know the creators mentioned there being a lot of loose ends they couldn’t tie up in OG because of technical and time limitations and to me Lucretia’s felt like one of the biggest ones. I mean supposedly she was frozen in ice not too far from where Sephiroth’s physical body was and he should know who she is- since he took in the knowledge from the Lifestream- but he never sought her out? I know he’s not supposed to have human attachments or whatever but come on… it seems like his raging mommy issues followed him into the after life as well. Wait as I’m typing this out another question pops to mind: wouldn’t Sephiroth also have figured out that he’s not actually part Cetra? Wouldn’t the knowledge from the Lifestream also include knowledge of his own parentage?

Just to clarify, while Sephiroth has canonically become aware of what he and Jenova really are as well as the fact that he's not a Cetra, there is no evidence to suggest he ever found out the truth about Lucrecia's existence. Some argue that he had to have. But he never ever mentions it. Ever. Even when Vincent speaks of Lucrecia in Opera Omnia, Sephiroth just brushes him off. His locket certainly made him aware of her face, but I think it was deliberate since recent entries have designed Jenova to look similar to Lucrecia. Sephiroth has never found out about Lucrecia, nor has he said or done anything to suggest he is aware of his birth mother's presence.

They could retcon this, of course. After all, Rebirth!Sephiroth shows up in all sorts of places he wasn't originally before. It's possible he follows the group to the crystal cave as well. Personally, I'd rather that they never meet, or that Sephiroth never finds out. It's infinitely more tragic that way. And him rejecting Lucrecia for Jenova, while completely in character, sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth, though I'm not entirely sure why. It would feel anticlimactic I guess. I think it's just sad to have them separate from each other. Or at least not have them reunite until Sephiroth reaches his final endgame death. Idk that's just personal preferences.

As for Lucrecia, idk if there's much she can actually do in the plot beyond the purpose she served before in the OG. It's not like she can really escape her prison. The trilogy will supposedly link up to Advent Children, which leads me to believe it will do the same for Dirge, in which Lucrecia is still in her crystal. I really think it's going to be the same as before, with some added lore possibly thrown in, especially in the incredibly lucky chance they retcon Sephiroth's paternity.

This is all spitballing. It could go many ways. This is just where I currently stand. The separation of Sephiroth and Lucrecia is one of the more underrated tragedies of the Compilation. One could loosely argue that it was the literal centerpiece that staged the entire plot of the story. I want to see it done justice if they actually cover it, or at least not make it too predictably lame with Sephiroth being your typical scornful villain. It would be a huge moment. And I think that deserves something better than Sephiroth evilly monologuing like usual while rejecting his mom.

Lucrecia is flawed AF and is 100% responsible for what she did to her son. But it's like kicking a sick dog. I get no pleasure watching her continuing to suffer without a proper conclusion. I want to believe they'll do more with her, or at least make what was already there more tragic than before.

[starry-pierrot]

Sleeping Critters

So I'm not the biggest fan of Poppy...at least until CH3 had come out. Don't get me wrong I still dislike the creators and I'll never pay for the game but the smiling critters and Dogday got me. So have this super indulgent fic! Also this is canon divergent so not 100% accurate to the lore!

Warnings: Mention of cannibalism, death. Kissy Missy is dead (Hoping she's alive in CH4)

Characters: Dogday, Reader, Poppy, Smiling Critters

After defeating the prototype you, Dogday and Poppy try to rebuild what you can of PlaytimeCo to offer whoever is left a safer home.

===================

You were tired. 

Very tired. 

About a month ago you had finally defeated the prototype, freeing whatever toys that were left in PlaytimeCo from its claws. But that also left you with a lot more work to do. You could have just left it all behind and maybe taken Poppy and Dogday with you but that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of them. 

Not to mention you did not have the space to house a partially giant dog. 

And he had wanted to stay to watch over the rest of the smiling critters…wherever they are.. Now that Catnap was out of the way they might see some reason. Which is why you were so tired. After everything had been dealt with you agreed to help Poppy and Dogday find the others, to build a new home in PlayTime Co, even if it was temporary. 

Who knew when whoever owned the damn buildings would come and legally claim them someday. Sure it’s already been years but you wouldn’t be surprised if the titles were transferred to someone else after so long. But until then rebuilding would at least make everyone more comfortable. 

The problem was that…you three had hardly found anyone just yet. Poppy knew there probably wasn’t much of the toys left but still she encouraged you to check every nook and cranny you could. So far you’ve only found a few Mini Huggy’s, a Cat-bee and a Candy cat. It’s not much but it's cute to see them all snuggled on some of the beds in the orphanage. 

 “Angel, are you sure? I can go by myself.” Dogday asked as he looked at you, the two of you were standing at the entrance to Playhouse. “You haven’t been sleeping much lately.” 

“No, I can do it. Besides I’d rather not leave you to potentially cannibalistic little fur balls if I can help it.” You manage to hold back a yawn before reaching for the door. “I’ve handled them before, I got the flares.” 

Meanwhile Dogday only had his hands and a pipe you had torn off from the wall when it was loose, you’d be more worried if you hadn’t closed his lower half with a sewing kit. And now he seems to get around alright on that little bright yellow gym scooter. But still you worry he might get overwhelmed. 

“If you say so. Just please don’t go too far from me.” Dogday urges as you open the door and slip inside. Much like the last time you visited the place was a mess, meaning those wheels on Dogday’s scooter aren’t going to be much help. 

“Seems the dog is gonna have to do a trick to get around.” You tease as you step over some toys that were left on the ground.” 

“Har har, Angel.” There was no malice in the fake laugh, planting his hands on the ground he hauled himself up into a handstand he began to follow behind you as you searched. If it was one thing that was annoying it was all the crawling you had to do, your knees weren't meant for all this crawling!

“Hey Little critters! We have food back in the orphanaaaggee!” You try to draw them out but so far the two of you haven’t seen any of them. You don’t remember seeing many on the prototype, it couldn’t have killed all of them could it? No, there were far too many. 

“Catnap is gone, you don’t have to listen to him anymore!” Dogday called out as he crawled around on his belly, “Come on you little fellas!” 

Where the heck could they be hiding? This play house wasn’t that big! Maybe if-

CRACK!

“ANGEL!” 

Suddenly the floor snapped under you, you would think you would have remembered to check that considering what happened the last time. But suddenly you were tumbling down and down..and down-what did you find a secret deep tunnel or something?!

“Ooof!” Hitting the ground hard you could help but gasp as the wind was knocked out of you, your already tired body screaming in pain from the impact. 

“Angel!?” You could barely hear him calling from the top of the hole, “ Angel are you okay?? Say something!” 

It took you a moment but eventually you turned over, “Yeah…y-yeah I’m alive.” With a groan you sat up noticing that you seem to have fallen into a hidey hole. It looked like it had been dug out, there was another hole further up but there was no way you could reach it. 

“Stay there I’ll…I’ll come find you!” Dogday said, “That or I’ll find some rope.” 

“Nowhere I can go!” You call up and after a few more moments of talking Dogday was off to find something to pull you up with. Which just left you here…alone…in a dark and quiet spot. Oh this was going to be terrible. You didn’t even have your phone or heck even a book on you. 

Sure you were fine when you were moving around but now that you had to sit here and wait in an admittedly comfortable little spot…your eyes were drooping after the first ten minutes. You knew you should have listened to Poppy when she told you to get more rest. Jerking your head up you shook yourself trying to wake yourself up a little more. But that didn’t seem like it was working much. 

“Dogday?” you tried calling up hoping that he was still nearby but with no response you had no choice but to sit and stay. “Well shit..” Your eyes grew heavier and soon against your will your eyes closed as your head dipped into the crook of your shoulder. 

Only for you to jerk awake once more which quickly turned into a little spat with your body as you tried to stay awake. Too bad your body had won out eventually. 

You had fallen asleep.  --

“Angel!” 

“Angel!!” 

You cracked your eyes open to the darkness, feeling awfully comfortable in the little hole you had fallen in. Was it always this warm down here? 

“Angel!” Dogday yelled whispered at you, frantically trying to get your attention. Looking up you could see him erratically moving a hand only to stop once he’s realized you were awake. “Oh thank god! Don’t move! I’ll l-lower the rope down!” 

He must've found some rope. Good thing because your legs were starting to cramp from the curled position you were in, “How long was-” 

“SHHHH!” He quickly hushed you. “I said don’t move! Be quiet!” 

What? “Wh-why?” 

“Sh! Sh! Just-quiet! And..don’t look down.”

 Well now you had to look down. And when you did you had to force every bit of nerve in your body to stay still, a squeak just barely escaping your lips. Even stuck in the dark you could make out a Catnap Smiling Critter sitting right on your chest, sleeping. Little growling snores filled the space and when you looked around you could see at least one of every single smiling critter either sleeping next to you or outright on top of you. 

Something touched your head and looking up revealed the rope Dogday had lowered down to you. Craftycorn had taken your right arm hostage but luckily the left one was free. 

“Just hang on…gonna t-tug you up alright?” It wasn’t much of a game plan but the idea of being tugged out only to have to run was better than staying down here in a potential feeding hole. Lifting your free arm up you almost grip the rope when you feel movement. 

Looking back down your eyes stare into the little Catnap’s eyes alight with their white pupils. The two of you stared at one another for a moment. It wasn’t attacking. But if you broke the spell that seemingly had overtaken the two of you…would it? You did come here after all to try and get them to go back with you, to save them. 

Best case scenario Dogday pops your shoulder out of your socket while pulling you up to get you away from the man eating plushies so the both of you can run. 

Worst case you become a meal. 

Taking a breath you lick your dry lips “T-the prototype is dead....we can feed you. At the orphanage.” You whispered, “I can fix you up.”  You knew the Critters were experiments made from children but did they even know that anymore? Dogday had made it sound like they still could understand what was going on like most normal children but would the years of being down here change their view point to follow the strongest out of the pack? 

Still the little creature stared at you for a long while before it bumped its head against your cheek making a little sound. 

You felt your heart beat hard in your chest as you stayed still, soon it became apparent that the little critter wasn’t going to hurt you. Lowering your arm down you carefully petted between it's ears, “Um…ya know what just let them nap for a moment.” You say while looking up at a panicked and still nervous Dogday.  --

It took almost an hour before the other Smiling critters in the hole woke up and much like the Catnap one they all just stared at you. It was a little unnerving in the dark but once Dogday pulled you up and the little critters climbed up behind you, you couldn’t help but coo a little bit at them surrounding your feet. 

“Ohh who’s an adorable little monster?” You smile as you pick up a Hoppy Hopscotch and scratch right under it's chin. Catnap had climbed up onto your shoulder and a Dogday one had been attached at your ankle. 

“Angel…please don’t tease them like that.” Dogday’s voice was flat, clearly unamused at you acting like they were adorable little creatures and not the monstrous flesh eating plushies they were. 

“But look at them!” Holding out Hoppy you pouted at the dog, “They’re harmless!...at least now they’re harmless!” 

Dogday’s eye twitched at that, “I question how much self preservation you have. Lets just get them back to the orphanage. I’m sure Poppy will be happy we found more toys.” Seems the dog still had some nerves about the critters, but it was only right considering what had happened down here.

"Okay okay, I'm coming!" Pulling Hoppy back you began walking behind the dog and the smiling critters followed closely behind. 

“I’m cooking all of you some beef.” 

--- Please like and reblog if you like!

[katkat030]

I remember you mentioning “The Watchers”, who are they? Can you tell me some lore behind them?

This is a rabbit hole that I don’t fully have time to go down myself right now but there’s a gold mine of information here and it can be split into about 3 parts.

From what I know:

There’s the original Watcher lore which is canon to Grian’s Evolution SMP, which started in 2017 and ended just over a year later. My knowledge of the SMP is mostly second hand, but the premise of it was to run through all updates of minecraft in order from the earliest version (buggy, grainy, fairly difficult to survive) to the more recent ones (transitioning bit by bit into the game we know today)

Evo smp and watcher lore is really concisely explained in a tumblr post here.

from the Evo wiki: Grian's final episode of the server was of the dragon fight, where he joined The Watchers when everyone jumped through the portal after killing the dragon. His joining of the Watchers had a modified end screen poem, where a text color representing Grian and additional text mentioning some of the other Evo members was added in. if you follow the link to The Watchers you’ll get more information on what exactly they are!

Grian talked about Evo and the watchers briefly in a podcast a good few years back (co-run by the same person who voices the Hermitcraft recap actually, Pixlriffs!) - when he joined Hermitcraft in Season 6, it's my understanding that his version of watcher lore ended with Evo. Canonically, Hermitcraft!Grian isn’t influenced by them at all. This isn’t the case in fan lore, which I’ll touch on later. There happen to be some incredibly interesting example of a what-if-they-do-follow/influence/kidnap/affect-him by talented writers, so if you want fanfic recommendations just ask :3

Where it gets really interesting is that creator Martyn, ign InTheLittleWood, decided to continue a version of watcher lore. This "eyesandears" (<- tumblr tag for it. Will contain spoilers) watcher lore is only canon to his interpretation of the series, and isn’t a server-wide thing that others incorporate into their videos. This runs throughout the life series and includes cryptic poems/rhymes, elaborate reasonings for why canonical events took place, Jimmy’s canary curse, who remembers the events of previous seasons and so on.

Note that the life series isn’t scripted, and has very loose guidelines for how players should act besides adhering to the rules. Martyn therefore has the story adapt as the series evolves (pun unintended), and a great example of this was his stream after limited life (life series iteration number 4) ended. He’s also on tumblr, because of course. This is his vod - I don’t have the time to go through it again myself. It contains lots of spoilers, but if you hang around in the fandom long enough you’ll begin to recognise the winners of each season and a few key events/alliances/betrayals/plot points regardless. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As far as I know, none of the other life series creators really know much about this or keep this in mind when the life series is going. It doesn’t influence them, nor does Martyn seem to go out of his way to incorporate huge amounts of it into his own pov. The lore adapts to what the players do, not the other way around.

There’s also the fanon (fan canon) watcher lore which is incredibly well (and quickly!) covered by Ezzriin, I’ll link that video here - this is more important for understanding why Grian’s depicted the way he is (and exactly what that usually entails).

The links I’ve included explain things better and more concisely than I can. Martyn’s 2 hour vod may take some time to get through, but I recommend at least checking out the others! :)

[seasonschange32]

I'm trying to watch Athena P lore videos because god are they entertaining and so funny. But here's some shows/movies I would love a lore deep dive on and why:

Inspector gadget reboot - the 'romance' between penny and Talon was so confusing yet endearing. Also, loving how chief Quimby just Disguises himself just to give gadget a misson

Total drama - not only was it a huge fan of gross out humor and has our overlord chris mclain, it literally introduced me to the ' bad boy x good girl' trope before ripping it out and taking a character ( who was literally perfect with another) and forcing them together due to aesthetics.

Transformers: robots in Disguise ( 2015) or Transformers prime - two shows that have fanbases debating ( seriously), each saying why each respective show is better. But other than that, both are fine for what they are and gave me two crushes that I hold dearly.

Mia and me - a fairy show that's not only animated but live action? With the main character having an ability to talk to unicorns? And with one of her bullies DISCOVERING HER SECRET LIFE??

Ben and hollies little kingdom - super wholesome and I love how the humans coinside with the fairies

Max and ruby - there's a tiktoker who made a whole series on why ruby was annoying. Need I say more?

Trollhunters and the spin off 3below - honestly from what I remember, I loved the stakes of the show and how cool the Armour the main character had. Regarding the spin off, loving how the bully I think was into the alien girl

Max steel ( not the 2000s one. sorry) - Max having to come up with the most unbelievable excuses as to why he has to go is cliche but also kind of funny? And the fact that the company Max's dad works for has lore as well is kind of interesting

Dino squad - I actually remembered this show through a cringe compilation of all things and had to add it. From the theme song, to the plotines, to the fact that I had a crush on Laruzo even though he was obviously queer coded ( his Dino form was cool though)

Jem and the holograms - the I am a giant song from the misfits lives in my head rent free. Also, jem practicing trying to reveal to that one guy only from him to yell at her is funny to me

Lolirock - same with jem as revolution is iconic as well as the villians. Plus, why is was eventually taken off

The tinker bell movies - forgot I was supposed to mention movies as well ( sorry). But I love them and how the fairies each have their own abilities ( as well as different kinds). From pirate fairies to winter fairies, it's really cool.

Barbie: a fashion fairytale - I love all barbie movies equally but this...this just takes the cake. What other movie will you see ken making a child cry, fairies with attitude, rotting dresses, and a roller skating aunt?

Zoom (2015) - the trailer showing a scene of the main character and her character arguing is honestly what made me want to watch it ( I haven't but I'm planning on it)

Super hero squad - kid me was laughing my butt off when falcon married his bird. So...

The little prince movie - I didn't even read the book but when I saw that the old man had died, I was emotionally devastated, especially after listening to all his stories which inspired the main character to go find the prince UGHHH

The book of life - is it cliche? Yes. Is it like coco? Yes. Do I like that in the end, the main boy has to sing a guitar version of creep to calm down a bull? Absolutely yes!

Epic - josh hutcherson, beyonce, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny knoxville, an enemies to lovers storyline, a snail, a royal guard having a love for the queen, the enemies being bugs, and ANDD a nerdy dad. That's it.

Rise of the guardians - I absolutely love it followed jack and his arc of being seen and when he finally is, the kid and him are just so excited! Also, the fact that a lot of people are simping for the Easter bunny is a testament to how many people will call anyone sexy.

Daniel spellbound - wanted to add this because there's an awesome creator ( cough cough @bonkalore) who's made an amazing au out of this show and I wanted to see what you thought of it and your theories

Bonus options ( just random one's I think could fit): the rainbow fairies series, Lego friends, the complicated life of Claudia Christina Cortez, sonic underground, drama or sisters ( but any book by rainia would be great), Junie b Jones, stoked, barney, goddess girls, glitter force ( that's what I remember it as), invisible sister, a monster in Paris, Maya and miguel, and Martha)

If you want anymore, let me know!

[mcytblr-archive]

Early MCYTblr Interviews: leftistgnf

today's interviewee (after far too long letting this sit in my drafts) is leftistgnf/marg, also known for running the gnflegalteam blog! they were kind enough to answer my laundry list of questions, and i'm excited to finally share them with you all!

Q: What do you remember about the mcytblr awards?

A: omg i hope this isn’t a disappointing way to start but i actually remember very little about these. were these the ones angie markets did? i just remember attempts to make mcytblr-wide events like this usually got complained about because the fandom was too big lol.

Q: What was the gnflegalteam blog?

A: probably the most poorly-aging part of my digital footprint 😭sometime in late 2021 i started doing a bit on my blog where i’d roleplay as a lawyer defending george from the gay allegations. on april fools day 2022 i made a sideblog with this fake press release about how we lost our case and needed help with the appeal and people started sending asks and it became a whole little side project. it was honestly pretty fun! people who already didn’t really fuck with me called it parasocial, but so was everything we were all doing all the time. unfortunately it is gone forever now…. after the story about george sexually assaulting caiti became public i made a final post telling him to kill himself and someone reported it and tumblr deleted the sideblog LMAO. it was a pretty fitting way for it to go out.

Q: What was the "drama stream" that you and Hari streamed?

A: HAHAHA okay this was like, summer 2022 i think? i had made this channel with the gnflegalteam username just to talk in sol’s twitch chat, with no intention of ever streaming, but hari and i began kicking around the idea of doing a “””drama stream””” where we’d mostly talk about cc drama. i’m not sure how to best describe this but: we, and our friends, tended to disagree with the dtblr majority on a lot of controversies. and dtblr could be really vicious when you had differing opinions! even on inconsequential stuff like lore takes! so people already saw me and hari as being toxic and controversial, just because we held those differing opinions, and i guess i felt like i didn’t have anything to lose by talking about it all at once.

admittedly we clickbaited it a lot and probably flew too close to the sun and hari made a very uhhh.. inflammatory advertisement for it. but looking back i don’t think we actually talked about anything THAT crazy. like i said, most of the “drama” was related to creators or the dsmp and not other tumblr users. there was a group of blogs who specifically planned a stream at the same time as ours and made posts about choosing positivity or something, which blew what we were doing way out of proportion and created its own unnecessary drama. but the stream itself, after all the angry anons we got leading up to it, was a lot of fun. it attracted a lot more attention than i ever expected. i infamously got connoreatspants to react to a raid from a channel called “gnflegalteam,” which was probably one of my favorite moments of my whole mcytblr experience.

Q: What was it like to be in 404blr?

A: 404blr, especially in the earlier days, was nice because there were so few of us who actually considered themselves “”george mains.”” george never streamed and was barely even active on social media so a lot of the community bonding happened over content droughts. i remember a lot of thinkpieces on the trajectory of his career and these floods of desperate “i miss george” posts. also, i know you didn’t ask about 404cord but i want to mention it briefly because basically everyone on 404blr ended up joining in the first couple of days. before all the drama it was really just 404blr people, plus a couple dream stans who also really liked george. it used to be very fun and normal!

imo most of the conflict surrounding 404blr happened when we fought with other subblrs. there was definitely a clash between dream/dnf mains and george mains, because they would really mischaracterize and over-sexualize george in ways that felt weird to us. in the context of shipping, george was always portrayed as this blushing virginal twinkish nymphomaniac. in general a lot of self-proclaimed dnf/dream team mains were really just dream mains who liked george as the other half of a ship and didn’t really care about him as a person. honestly, we were always just on a soapbox trying to convince people that george was a fun interesting good streamer.

it’s complicated to look back on because obviously i think george is really fucking gross now, which colors all my memories of being a fan of his. i don’t know that i still agree with my past self about him being particularly good at streaming either. but i met a lot of friends through 404blr and generally think about that specific community fondly

Q: Why was Hari in people's blocklists?

A: hmm i won’t say too much about this just because it’s not my exposé to give. but like early 2021, when i had just joined mcytblr, there was this discord server that hari was in, and they had a conflict that escalated to the point of some members putting her and “her supporters” in their dnis. it was really bizarre because they talked about her like she was a problematic content creator and not a friend they fought with. i was mutuals with a couple of the people who were mad at her and they were vagueposting like she killed their entire family. iirc everyone involved was very young at the time, which i think explains a lot of how that went down.

Q: Do you think there was an overlap between inniters and 404blr?

A: yes thanks to me! JUST KIDDING. i personally was a big clingy duo fan so i followed a lot of inniters and ended up being friends with a lot of inniters, but most of them didn’t really gaf about george. a lot of inniters (sbi fandom in general) didn’t like dream and really didn’t like rpf so we were a little star-crossed… i can’t speak for innitblr as a whole but there were definitely jokes among my mutuals about a couple of us being token george mains or token dnfers. because george (at the time) was kind of controversy-free and also interacted a lot with the uk dsmp creators, i think it was easier for them to let 404blr into their hearts than like, dreamblr or dtblr.

on the other side, a lot of dtblr people hated inniters because they were critical of dream, or because they had such different opinions on lore. i was constantly getting anons asking me why i was friends with certain blogs who had made fun of dream before. so i guess idk if crossover is the right word because it was more like, three or four dnfers who really liked tommy and shamefully showed up at the doorstep of innitblr asking not to be softblocked. thank you spider enclosure for extending that grace to me.

Q: What was it like on the inniter side of Tumblr?

A: my personal experience with innitblr was great! obviously a lot of them felt apathetic or negative towards george or the dream team but that was never really an issue for me i guess -- all my mutuals’ criticisms were pretty fair, even back when i disagreed with them. i remember the community itself being really funny and a lot less volatile than dtblr or even 404blr. they were also way more invested in lore, which was another draw for me because i was always a huge lorehead. tbh i probably posted as much about clingy duo as i did about the dream team so i was basically a part time inniter anyways. that being said, innitblr skewed a little younger than dtblr so i was never as involved in the community. but i always loved interacting with them and i’m still friends with a lot of my (ex-)innitblr mutuals. most of spider enclosure (for example) are still on tumblr and just post about like doctor who and shit.

Q: What were some positive things you remember from that time?

A: like i’ve mentioned: i made a lot of really really great friends who i still talk to often, even a year and a half out from leaving the fandom, which is easily the most positive outcome for me. i could write a million words on how grateful i am for those relationships. it’s kind of sweet to think about how these random blogs i befriended during a crazy minecrafter hyfx are now people i’ve hung out with in real life, or who send me instagram reels, or who i watch timothee chalamet movies with. mcytblr also had some of the most talented artists and writers i’ve ever met! i also think the culture of liveblogging was a LOT of fun, especially during like big lore streams or mcc. an all time favorite memory was liveblogging tommy’s love or host because i saw tommy fans, george fans, and variety fans on my dash all begging for it to end lmao.

Q: Conversely, what are some negative ones?

A: a lot of people were like… really really not nice. and i’ll be honest, most of the not nice people were on dtblr. it’s kind of insane thinking back on the stuff that was said to and about me and my mutuals. this is another thing i don’t want to get too into because a lot of the stories aren’t mine to share but in addition to run-of-the-mill suicide baiting i got a lot of lesbophobia in my ask box, and my friends got anti-semitic and islamophobic and racist and transphobic hate anons. i’ve been on tumblr for like 10 years and it was my first fandom experience that was that vitriolic. it was also really easy to get swept up in that kind of toxic culture -- i’m certain i said some things i wouldn’t be proud of now, especially in defense of dream or whatever.

after october 2022 when dtblr self-rebranded as “dtblr 2.0,” there was a lot of gossip and hate posted about those of us who had left. i don’t like admitting this but it really fucked me up for a while! and ruined a lot of my ability to look back on the fandom fondly! it sucks knowing that people who have never once spoken to you have decided to hate you.

anyways, i’ve done a lot of self-reflection on my own relationship with fandoms and online discourse and public figures and i think i’m better for it, so i guess i hope the people who harrassed us have done that too.

Q: Were there any major fandom/creator events that you remember?

A: broadly speaking, mcc will always have a special place in my heart because it was such a community-wide event. like yes it was about the creators but there was so much activity in the fandom surrounding it (posts, art, analysis, etc etc) that it felt really major for us too.

i don’t remember details about this but i know there were mcytblr elections at some point in like 2021 maybe? i just remember i endorsed the 404blr ticket. maybe you’ve already archived posts about this. i don’t think it really went anywhere, but the campaigns were fun! and it was the first “community” event in the mcytblr fandom that i remember being around for.

ALSO i’m a little nervous to talk about this one in case it’s still controversial on dtblr. but ages ago i had a friend who put a bunch of mutuals in one of those silly hunger games simulators and it became this whole thing where people accused them of only including the “dtblr 1%”. which was like, categorically untrue, but it spawned such inane discourse that it’s ingrained in my mind forever.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share or have archived?

A: i think you got an anon asking for 404blr perspectives in the wake of caiti’s statements, which is like… what do i even say except that george is a sexual predator lmfao. because he is! obviously i left the fandom when a lot of people did, after dream’s grooming allegations, because i think he’s also acted inappropriately with underage fans (to put it mildly). the sheer number of survivors publicizing their experiences with abuse and assault in the mcyt space proves how prevalent an issue it is, and how harmful it was to have george and dream (and wilbur, and punz, and so on) in such positions of power there. it’s nauseating to think how much they, and men like them, were able to get away with. i regret how many red flags i overlooked, even back then before the worst of it was known.

i’d like it archived that spider enclosure was technically in the washington post. they ran an article about r/place back in april 2022 and the screenshot they chose for the header included the spot where we wrote “spien” even though it’s so horribly pixelated that it’s illegible.

uhh i think that’s it. sorry if this was more focused on dtblr than 404blr, they were pretty inextricable by 2022. but i hope those people who wanted to hear from 404ers got the insight they were looking for? my parting words… subscribe to tubbo.

[miilkyrolls]

a finch rambleshit of id2's finale

now that id2 is fully released for vip and is on its way to being wide released. i have some thoughts in the form of a tag "rambleshit" noun: a long winded, strings of thought, typically about a choices book made by finch

minor spoilers, BUT JUST IN CASE

okay let's get my final feelings about the book/ last couple of chapters out the way. i've needed these last few days for 2 reasons: one, the last chapter came out on my birthday and i was literally sitting in the parking lot waiting for my reservation while watching the Himeme playthrough , and two, i needed to digest just how much exposition lore was dropped in the last 2-3 chapters that to a point I felt overwhelmed ! Anyways, overall score 8.5/10. it was a good book story wise, however, it had SO MUCH RETCON and plot holes to a point that i felt like id2 could've been it's own standalone, set apart from id1 (kinda like untamable vs unbridled). there's a few i could explain away, for example, the concept that was the entire point of book one about how vampires get sick from even the tiniest bit of fellow vampire blood, but we have an entire ceremony of vampires doing the exact opposite? or the scene where cas bites mc's lip and licks the blood away. now, imo this could be explained as A) the vampires are just biting for the symbolic purpose of the ritual OR they're injecting venom without drinking mc's blood (which kinda makes less sense then the former but anyways) and B) Cas just doing shit for the sexy thrill or whatever which i can accept

what I CAN'T explain away is things like..mc having powers that everyone just..accepts(?!) with no issue but with cas it's seen as some type of anomaly..? claims "the leylines can grant special abilities" but why only cas and mc? why not the oh idk leaders of the covens? or the elders or even just pull a warrior cats "Power of Three" situation and give gabe, cas and mc powers that's because they have a special destiny or are reincarnations or something freaky deaky about them being polyam or being from different covens IDK SOMETHING! and before someone mentions it, i know cas is a more direct witch descendant then the other vamps, but considering we know nothing about her family, if we go with the assumption that cas is last preforming witch since great grandmama constance, that still wouldn't explain why her powers get awoken now? like please for the love of god correct me if i'm forgetting something but the only connection we have is

cas gets cut from the business card, lennox's face morphs (again, odd ability cause cas's powers seem to be exclusively nature related and premonition doesn't seem to match that, unless she has mc's type of premonition from the leylines but that wouldn't make sense either cause mc's manifests in out of body, future seeing, while cas's manifestation is more like actual intention sensing *cough, they should technically switch their ability names cough*, the cut never heals unless cas let's the power out/or is happy and gets worse when she's upset. so when you think of it, there's really nothing that directly correlates with the leylines that connects it. maybe it's because the leylines come from creators and witches are split descendants of vampires so whenever the ley lines are getting fucked with it affects witches too?? idk

a few more unaddressed issues are but not limited too: what beef cas and gabe have in the branding room (i'll get back to that one later), libby having partial memory, (same thing as above), if vampires can actually sleep, how in the first book G+C can hear us murmuring their names from miles away but we can't hear cas screaming in the woods, having vampire sight but straining to see that pile of bones in back of the cave etc, WHY LEWYN IS STILL NEVER HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR KILLING HIS OWN COVEN MEMBERS??

that's my biggest issue with id2, there's so much guess-timating w/ info and lore that would be fun to theorize or hc in a standalone but in an ongoing series it creates more headaches and others are plain plotholes. i think id would've been more consistent if they spent more time explaining the lore of WHY things are instead of WHAT things are, you know?

now lastly, here are my id3 theories/ hopes:

libby is a witch. that's the only explanation we have for why she acts so odd all book + why her memories are the most intact despite her not doing anything to awaken them like mc's mom did

gas's beef with each other is explained. i saw someone hc that the reason gas hate each other beyond the typical Clement vs Venandi bs is because they're exes and while i would love the angst of exploring that + it would explain their sudden intrigue (if u choose the poly route end) to possibly get together + it would be so carnally delicious if we have some real slow burn enemies to frienemies to lovers out here but i doubt it. however their beef seems to stem from before mc came into the picture purely because of how gabe talks and treats cas in the first few chapters of book1 and from the branding room scene (my hc/ theory however: in the branding room premium scene, g+c talk briefly about a situation where gabe "was playing the hero", cas was "scaring humans" and as a result got punished likely by branding. my theory is that while as a human, gabe's grandmother was a fluked hunt by cas, with gabe protecting his nan, this sparks sarah to investigate into vampires more which leads to the covens trying to kill her. so gabe hates cas for nearly killing her and consequently getting him turned and cas hates gabe for ruining her hunt / giving her first brand)

gabe getting powers. we know gabe is kinda a literature nerd and can read specific vampire languages that seems like pretty rare ability for a newer turned vamp so maybe that could be his. idk it just feels odd that cas and mc have powers but gabe doesn't (even if reading super well is for NERDS 🙄/j maybe they can make it fun and unique to him)

witches are absolutely the villain of the next book, there's no doubt in my mind but since it seems like witches were playing both sides of the field of vamps v hunters, it's safe to assume we might befriend a teenage witch (possibly libby??) and we have to fight with against evil witches??? 🤷🏾‍♀️

more like point 4.2 but we could also possibly meet cas's family or even parents! while its safe to assume them being dead is what made cas an orphan, its pixelberry and there's a good chance they'd bring out that random of a plot twist, like with gabriel and lennox being cousins, out of the blue andddd the heirloom book cas has from her parents looks suspiciously like the grimoire astoria has🤔

multi pov: if id3 is assumingely the last id book, and they're going to keep teasing gas, i would love see that all exclusively from their pov's (ik it's unlikely pb would suddenly change the format of a book at the supposedly end of the series but these books need a new element or it's going to feel like a repeat of the last 2 books)

gas. self explanatory. they need to kiss regardless of which route you choose. idk how or why or when but it needs to happen

these mofo's will graduate human high school. yeah that very forgotten aspect of immortal desires is that it's a TEEN supernatural, so we need to pop in some extra credits or something and graduate since they're all seniors/ "18" (in my hc cas is a super senior and is like 19 when she was turned but anyways)

[kataraslove]

I'm so tired of people claiming being a kataang fan just makes you a aang stan first who has zero respect for katara and nor a true katara fan when we aren't purposely ignoring canon of her being the one to suggest kissing and being super affectionate with aang. They ignore katara clearly telling toph she dislikes being viewed as a mom while antis insist momtara is canon

Kataang fans show way more respect for katara than they do they treat enjoying canon as a moral failing and I'm tired of em acting like kataang fans are shallow sexist men when plenty of us happen to be women enjoying canon shouldn't be so controversial

the “kataang stans are primarily aang stans that don’t care about katara” is such a ridiculous take to me because there’s so many kataang fans I’ve met that prefer katara. a lot of us are in fandom spaces creating said kataang content and making kataang defense arguments about katara’s role in the relationship and the many positive ways it benefits her. i would not be shipping kataang as hard as i do if there weren’t clear substantial evidence that katara is crazy about that boy in her own ways, and feels passionate towards him in a way that she doesn’t feel towards other members of the gaang. yet her feelings for him are either categorized as motherly love and affection or her appreciating him only when he’s the avatar and fulfilling avatar duties. I’ve mentioned this before, but to truly appreciate kataang as a ship or even katara & aang’s bond (platonic or romantically), you need to be well-versed in katara’s character. and thankfully, a lot of kataang fans engaging in fandom can understand and write katara really well, even if they prefer aang among the two.

kataang fans have created and/or produced post-atla headcanons such as katara creating hospitals, working clinic rotations, inventing the infrastructure of the public health care system for republic city, establishing republic city alongside aang (which is pretty much canon as per imbalance and avatar legends), chief katara, sitting on the republic city council, opening up waterbending schools, and plenty more. we’ve always been the main ones pushing the “master katara and her husband avatar aang” comments, until it was finally canonized in avatar legends lore. we’ve been the main ones emphasizing that katara is still a child (albeit a very mature one), who still often acts like a child and ought to be treated like one in fandom. we’ve criticized the adultification & hypersexualization of katara by fandom when she’s still a 14 year old kid in the original series. there’s also a very strange fascination towards katara in her fire nation attire over her practical and adorable water tribe outfits by the fandom, which we’ve also critiqued too. notice how there’s a lot less content of katara in our fandom spaces wearing her husband’s colours or clothes? because we also recognize her unique position as a genocide survivor and how important her culture is to her, even well into her adult life. also, the notion that we vehemently defend the writing and neglect of katara in most of the GLY comics and LOK is so laughable. just because we clearly disagree with incorrect labels such as housewife, baby-maker/breeding machine, trophy wife, does NOT mean that we find the writing 100% satisfiable and true to her original character. of course she deserved a statue & her accomplishments to be highlighted. of course she should’ve attended jinora’s airbending ceremony. of course she should’ve been present at her own bloodbending trial. all of these are very valid, fandom-wide criticisms that we have aimed towards the creators as well. if the recent comics written by bryke and other printed media from avatar studios are to provide any indication, i think they have listened to the fandom. and I think that that 2025 gaang movie will provide more nuance to katara’s adult character as a fighter, healer, politician, wife, and maybe as a mother than what we had witnessed in legend of korra a decade ago.

even if the majority of kataang fans prefer aang’s character, why is that necessarily a problem? does that mean that we understand katara less? because let me tell you, a lot of people from other parts of this fandom will willingly call themselves a katara fan, yet blatantly have the most incorrect interpretations about her, or straight up only view the value in her character when she’s beside zuko. they will only be interested in engaging with her character and making content for her character when it pertains to their ship. by comparison, so many kataang fans love and adore katara, view her as their fave character, create content solely about katara, have written some of the best meta about her character out there; yet we get accused of not valuing her character and seeing her only as “aang’s trophy wife.”

[justdaniel-eh]

I wanna ramble so it's time to talk about

⚙ MINISTER ⚡

Pre-warning: this post is gonna be a LOT cos I don't think I've talked AnoVerse lore much publically. I will do a public AnoVerse lore breakdown at some point. Or at least what I'm fine with revealing.

Also, I really hate how there's no yellow text honestly I cannot keep sufficing for orange, that's not Minister's colour that's Danny's 😭

Gonna be so real guys help I have no idea how to put his little patchy beard into the smaller format god send help (in short, the sprite is still not done)

Minister is our teams unofficial leader, not just by being the oldest (in his late 20's roughly), but also because he's by technicality the one who really started it all. Though, in the end of the day, the 4 of them have never even discussed the idea of a team name let alone roles or positions haha. Minister himself is a massive nerd engineering, mechanics, and science. He spends a lot of time locked down in the basement, tinkering away at little inventions, but ends up needing to go out and about now and then anyway.

His most beloved creation is Myr (seen to the left of Minister in the sprites above), his handy assistant robot. She follows her creator most days - the two only splitting if Minister is needed in two places at once, or if Minister needs an extra pair of eyes on the house. He would probably go crazy if she were to ever break or get damaged.

Minister's story though is also our beginning to AnoVerse. Appearing out of literally no where in Faremont roughly a decade ago, he began making a name for himself, fixing and creating devices for the townsfolk. The money he saved from these jobs allowed him to save to begin building his own house on the outskirts, sick of the noise the city brought, and also just wishing to be more isolated and alone.

Then one night in late Winter, there was a knock at his door. A poor kid stuck out in the cold and snow, needing a shelter to stay in. Minister really wasn't one for unexpected visitors, but alas he couldn't leave a child to freeze in the snow - and thus, Deejay began staying at Minister's house.

The two eventually formed a bond. Deejay got Minister to become a tiny bit more open and less isolated, even if it was with him. Minister gave Deejay a place to call home. Generally though, that's all you need to know for now.

Above: Minister in his early 20's, shortly after Deejay appeared into his life, and before being fired from his job at the time.

Anyway, here's a list of Minister's relationships with other characters

I am about to name drop a ton of characters I haven't quite mentioned before be ready LMAO

As previously mentioned, Minister provided Deejay a home. Between the other 3, Minister has the closest relationship with Deejay. Someone he can confide in and rely on when he needs to.

Minister's relationship with Another is... rocky. You'd imagine Minister to be closer with one of his creations, much like Myr. But something about the way Minister looks at Another, you can see hints of... disappointment? It's odd and not something Minister wishes to open up about. The two generally tend to never speak 1 on 1 unless absolutely necessary.

Minister doesn't know much about Danny... just that he kinda barged into the house one day, made himself at home, and Deejay convinced him to let him stay. Though, he feels the less he knows the better.

Minister and Grant Evco (AnoVerse's main villain/the head of Escenic for those who do not know) have a complicated history. One that kind of stays in the past... but it really impacts how much they seriously dislike each other now. Though, for what it's worth, they still have enough respect to not destroy each others reputation.

The final major person in Minister's life is Samantha Heel - the head of defensive operations for Faremont City. The two end up working together a lot due to the amount of times the government commissions work off of Minister, but have had history before even then as they have both worked in the same company on a couple occassions in the past decade. And though Minister will never confirm anything... They might be sneaking off together now and then. She's definitely the person he's closest to, maybe barely just above Deejay.

Above: my favourite piece of Minister and Deejay. A remastered piece, originally from a comic. All done by @/evilredyoshis. I cannot stress how much art she's done for my projects in previous years, as usual go drop her a follow or show her posts some support.

This. Is a really long post. For something that I probably need to give LOTS AND LOTS MORE context and world building around before anyone even touches this.

Anyway that's all goodnight hehe :))

[genericpuff]

(1) Hello, than you for your posts about Lore Olympus and for recommending the Pyrrhic_Victoria podcast. I'm a very casual reader of the series, at time going months without checking the episodes and it's fascinating how many problems just flew over my head, although I had weird impression when reading the chapter about Persephone defeating Kronos, it felt odd and off (the reporters - just... how?).

Considering you put this into 3 parts, I'll just be responding to all three in one post if that's okay! (hence the copy pastes above!)

The S2 finale was definitely where I really started to go "uhhhhhh" with the series. The trial already had me raising my eyebrows (such as the Eris reveal) but the S2 finale was where I really just started to drop off and lose the love I once had for the series.

ETA: I realize the tone of this post kinda went off but it's a hot button topic of mine that I enjoy talking about so bear with it haha Thank you for wishing me luck with Rekindled, I got big things planned ❤️❤️❤️

To address #2, I actually have a liiiittle bit of beef with that notion. As a writer, I don't think it's necessarily good form to blame the audience for failing to meet expectations. Yes, audience members can come up with some wild theories and expectations especially when it comes to serialized stories like this, but the core of the issue is that LO/Rachel doesn't manage what it sets up well at all. Even the most basic expectations for where the story is going seem to be dropped, expectations that anyone who pays an inch of attention to the series would come up with.

For example, I don't think it was too big of an ask to expect the time skip actually show more than it did. A lot of people were hyped to see Persephone be on her own, forced to do her mother's job, and live up to everything she had bragged about at the start of S2 (about how she had 'peaked' in her mother's duties) not to mention offer her an opportunity to make spring her own. There was also the theory/expectation that it would potentially lead to an actual genuine abduction, through Hades option to go to the Mortal Realm and take her "back" to the Underworld in defiance of Zeus' sentencing.

And of course, there's what happened with the Eros x Psyche myth, the return of Kronos, and the Hymn of Demeter, all of which are stories that not only had setups as far back as S1, but Rachel has butchered within the confines of LO because she wants to try and be "subversive", not realizing that being "subversive" doesn't mean completely screwing over the original meanings of these myths or writing a poorly-constructed story.

These, to me, are not wild expectations to have in the slightest for a comic that's claiming to be a retelling of the taking of Persephone. But LO is as far from being a true retelling as retellings can possibly get. It can hardly even be called fanfiction at this point.

Point is, it's up to the writer to fulfill the expectations they set, and that's a separate thing entirely from an audience setting their expectations "too high". It's not like people are asking for anything that's outside the reasonable realm of what Rachel is tackling, everything that I see people "expecting" is pretty par for the course for the stuff Rachel has noticeably set up (like the return of Kronos, for example).

I see the argument crop up a lot that people should just "lower their expectations" of LO for the sake of enjoying it, but frankly, if I were in Rachel's position, I would be downright insulted and disappointed in myself if I found out my audience had to lower their expectations of me and my work to enjoy it. I don't want an audience out of pity, I want an audience because I've put out a damn good piece of work that's earned that audience. And this isn't something that's unique to me, this is pretty much the viewpoint of every other creator I know, so if Rachel is seriously hiding behind the notion that it's her audience's 'fault' for having their expectations too high, then she's a coward, full stop. She set those expectations herself in a lot of ways, and especially by going so far as to claim LO as a 'retelling' of some of the most beloved myths in literature.

As a writer, it's disrespectful as fuck to see people come up with these kinds of arguments instead of expecting better of someone who claims to be a professional and regularly brags about their awards (which weren't even earned, they were very likely bought).

As an audience member, I shouldn't have to turn off my brain and forgo my own intelligence as a reader to enjoy someone else's work. I'd rather just stop reading it altogether and put that energy into something else far more enjoyable and worth my time.

[thejustsimon]

My OWN FNAF Missing Children Incident Theory

So, after a lot of thoughts, like A LOT, I finally got my OWN theory who were MC, I believe that they are none other than kids from FNaF 4 minigames, here's my explanations. Gabriel - Baloon Kid - Freddy Fazbear: Freddy definitely in idea widest animatronic of all 4, since Baloon kid is kinda fat I believe Freddy is the only animatronic or costume for who boy's body fit to physically, plus, this boy wasn't actually mean to Evan, in minigame or talked about something his own like other kids, Freddy in idea kind animatronic (at least I want to believe). 2. Jeremy - Boy with a bunny - Bonnie: Well, my only implication is here that he holding a bunny, yeah, that's probably Sprigtrap or Plushtrap or even Spring Bonnie BUT, fact that this toy is implication of Spring Bonnie can be a hint an actual bonnie and future fate of this kid. Fun fact: At first I thought that was Sammy Emily, cuz he had fredbear and friends toy, Sammy's father is one of creators Fredbear franchise (Henry Emily) and he could make a toy for son, but now it's ridiculous and Sammy probably don't exist in lore of games. 3. Susie - Girl with toys - Chica: At first I had doubts and thought she was Charlie (by the same reason as Sammy) but if think about that she really have a similar image with girl from FNaF 6 Fruit Maze mini game, similar haircut plus color, similar color of clothes, similar color of eyes, that's kinda all and they way she mentioned Chica (and her beak) as her toy BUT ignored Freddy and Bonnie. 4. Fritz - Laughing Boy - Foxy: By elimination method I confirmed for myself that Laughing Boy is foxy, plus he looks taller that the others or actually his legs, usually tall people walk fast, its like a hint that Foxy is fastest of all animatronics, plus, after his death boy replaced his laugh by dum dum song. 5. Cassidy - Pigtail GIrl - Second Spirit of Golden Freddy: Yeah I know that someone already had a theory that she is Cassidy & everyone just threw this possibility away, but hear me out, as we know that in that confusing logbook Cassidy is a girl with a black hair and yellow eyes and yet we never saw her clothes, like at all, only head and in a sideview, anyway, there's two things that make me think that PG is Cassidy, first one is obvious, pigtails, she have the same damn haircut like girl in logbook, and second thing similar cruel sense of humor, as PG she scaring Evan by gossips about animatronics and then pretends like nothing happened, now remember how she REALLY cruel and restless in UCN, "I will never let you leave, I will never let you rest", she does have a cruel demeanor or something, and last thing that make me think that she and Cassidy one and same being is color of text, last text of Fredbear plush in the end, its the same like her, pale yellow, while Fredbear's text in other games (who I believe is William) is just yellow or even slightly gold, so her words "I will put you back together" but what does it mean? She planned to "resurrect" Evan? It seems that PG knew more than it seemed, maybe she even knew about remnant, plans of WIlliam about immortality and that's he specifically kidnapped her and killed, because she knew too much, but after death became Wlliam's worst nightmare "The One Who He Should Not Have Killed" and share GF together with Evan, also, I tink in UCN she kinda using Evan's image as a facade, to confuse Wlliam, to play some cruel mnd games with him, to DOMINATE- okay I stop.

[geminicollisionworks]

Question! I’m having a moment of lost in fandom Life with Althaar and I forgot what characters are canonically queer, would y’all be able to tell me which ones are? I think John B was bi but I can’t remember is that was my own HC

Thank you amazing creators!!

No problem and thank YOU! Pardon the excessive answer but I wanted a few things clear and public...

John B is definitely bi, as has been obliquely yet firmly acknowledged a couple of times -- though Berit has some opinions on the accuracy of that or any other defined label in the landscape of Althaar. I think the only other character whose sexuality has been clearly mentioned as non-het was the odious Beaux Several -- but that's a bit complicated as while they chose to present as a cis male Human on the Fairgrounds, "he" was an alien shapeshifter, whose gender/sexuality probably can't be defined in our current terms. There are other background mentions -- the mothers of sisters Amber on the Bridge? and Ashlee! in Hydroponics; John B's friend who joined a polycule of farmers...

So... why not more?

Well, as far as we're concerned, there are more than what has, and will ever, be confirmed in the show. As Berit says, "we will NEVER make any character in the show canonically straight." And we have a hard time believing that most of our characters on the Fairgrounds -- those who have any interest in romance or sexuality -- have not been involved in non-het, hell, non-same-species affairs. As Berit puts it, "in a world where alienfucking is a thing, what specific flavors of Human anyone is into is hardly worthy of comment." Even the definitely "provincial" John B (as H.F. pretty accurately calls him) is not cishet, or hung-up.

The Althaariverse and Fairgrounds are very clearly by no means a Utopia. Great Jones, no! However, there are some happy advances on where Humans stand in the 21st Century, and the fading away of just about any sense of sex/gender binary or labelling of any kind is one of those. The irony being that as it is no longer worth mentioning to the characters, it doesn't get mentioned on the show. But we know. And we hope you do too.

One of the glories of the audio medium is in leaving space for the audience's minds to wander and finish the creation in their own ways. To do that, we can be specific in our minds but ambiguous in the show, so that even when things are unspoken, they are consistent. There's lots we know that will never come out on the show -- why Althaar chose masculine pronouns to refer to himself (a definite, not-entirely-informed choice, equally accurate and not); which two regular characters had a brief "offscreen" relationship that NO ONE would ever mention, least of all them, but still effects how they are written and played. And we aren't being coy or planning on pulling some kind of "[character] was GAY all the time!" retcon bullshit later on. We just prefer to build the world this way -- there's Canon, there's Lore, and there's Flavor; Life With Althaar works most of all to be flavorful.

Berit -- the Queer member of our partnership and marriage -- notes that they basically have an internal subroutine going in their head when they do the last edit of each script: "how can I de-heterosexualize this? and does this have to be a dude?" I (Ian), the big ol' cishet white guy in the marriage, who worries about whether he's doing enough for representation, keeps dropping in really obvious diversity mentions that Berit removes in the edit, saying (accurately) that I'm dragging it in by the ass and no one would actually bring these things up realistically in the dialogue of the Althaariverse.

So in the end, the real final cut is your individual headcanon, which is, as audience for Althaar, about as valid as our own. And we love to see the variants that others bring to it. Enjoy our creation; enjoy your own that spring from it.

[swluminekin]

To the one theorist who bounces theories with me:

Thank you.

Do you know that I haven’t theorized properly in at least years almost 4 at this point? We have a mutual friend - you know who I mean - and they can tell you that a lot of the time I’m still scared. They can tell you my story - I think they already have - but it would be better if it came from me.

There was a time a few years back - the “before times” if you will of the world as we know it now. The ego fires didn’t go out because we were always getting new information, new tastes, new hints. It was early days of the official community server, run by the gladiator himself. The theories channel was always busy but it got to a point where things died down a little. Basically people started pulling at straws to figure things out. I had seen one person mention something, and I tried to voice my own thoughts, agreeing with them. Immediately, I was shut down and told that I was wrong. Didn’t really give a good reason as to why, just shut me down completely.

Not too long after that, in a completely different community in a completely different place, I put out another theory. Once again, I was near immediately shut down, told I was wrong. They at least had some sort of explanation, but for the most part they just shut me down and told me I was wrong.

I was hurt, lost. I felt that if I theorized anything, thought anything, I would be hated, told I was wrong, be berated and yelled at. Just for thinking, for theorizing, for having fun. In my mind, if I couldn’t theorize, then I couldn’t create. If I couldn’t create, that meant I couldn’t do any form of art, which included stories and any sort of drawing.

For months I was hurting, the only person I could turn to being our friend. When I tried to do anything creative or theorist wise, I would always hesitate or stop entirely. It caused me physical pain to even try. There were even times when I would cry because I wanted to return to theorizing, to creating so bad, but I felt that I couldn’t. They listened to me cry and comforted me because I wanted to return to that but was afraid to.

Eventually I found I could draw again. But when I drew, the art felt hollow - at least it did to me. I was excited that I could do art again but it just... never felt right. Even when did “draw this in your own style” stuff, it didn’t feel right.

I don’t even remember what happened, what video caused it, but one day I finally wrote a theory. Specifically, it was the Convergence theory. But I was so scared about what I was talking about and that I would be shut down again that I felt like I had to show my proof, show that I knew what I was talking about. I pointed out specific videos and discussions and Instagram posts. Heck, I even put up the pictures of the discord channel as well as my proof as to the channel’s naming.

Because I was scared.

After I wrote that theory, I was tired. I was so worn down. It was all because I felt like I had to prove myself. Like I had to show the world that I had something solid to back me up. Our friend could tell you that while I was proud of myself, I was exhausted and had one hell of a headache. (To be completely honest, I’m surprised at how well the Convergence theory is still holding up three years later with the I.R.I.S. lore? Like what?)

Ever since, I’ve rarely done theories - maybe having done a couple here and there, but not many. If I theorize, I’ve almost never written them down, I’ve just said them out loud. But I’m able to draw again, and I can write stories again. But I’ve never been able to really feel proud of myself, feel completely happy with anything I’ve done. All because of that fear of failure as an artist, creator, and theorist.

Then you came around. You looked at my theories. You were willing to bounce off of me. Counter me with “... but this... and because of...” rather than just “No and I won’t say why.” You’ve helped me with relearning and accepting my theorist side. The fact that we can bounce theories off of each other has helped me to think about things again. Our friend can tell you this. I still don’t theorize like I used to, but to know that I’ve actually somewhat met people who understand what I’m talking about, who accept me and my theories and thoughts? It helps to ease the process and the want to write them down again.

So I say to you again, thank you.

Your mutual theorist,

“Scarlet”

[ps-cactus]

MC and her lore - Introduction Post

I'd say she filled out this spreadsheet in the beginning of her sixth year, but her creator added a few notes, knowing some things about her past and future 🤭 (±900 words below).

✧ She knows nothing about her origin but wouldn’t even mention it unless you’re really, really close.

At the age of three, she was adopted by the Salters, a wealthy family living at Norfolk near the sea: Mr Salters (ship doctor) and Mrs Salters (a dressmaker). The couple already had two boys and longed for a third child for many years. After countless debates, Mrs Salters finally convinced her husband to adopt a girl. As someone who worked with colours a lot, Mrs Salters was captivated by the girl’s striking amber eyes and came up with the name Amberlyn ✨ And years later, not expecting this at all, Mrs Salters became pregnant again and gave birth to another daughter, to her and her husband's great joy.

✧ She is okay with people using her full name but prefers the short form.

✧ Her Patronus is now incorporeal. However, in the future, it will take the form of a seagull.

Some associations were: finding opportunities among obstacles, being quick-witted and flexible, and having a love for adventure and travel. Balance of independence with a connection to those around. Also, emotionally, Alyn’s deeply connected to the seaside and everything that comes with it, especially the birds she always loved to observe. Yes, she even likes their shrill screeches.

✧ She doesn’t have any pets now, but eventually, she will own a small owl named Titan (after Saturn’s largest moon).

Due to some unfortunate events (involving the Ministry using Veritaserum on her), she had to give away all the creatures from her vivariums. She still feels a deep sense of sorrow and guilt over it.

✧ She doodles when deep in thought, often sketching magical creatures and plants. However, portraits are disasters for her—she just can’t get them right.

Sometimes, during class, Ominis’ notes fall victim to her doodles of mandrakes, puffskeins, and other stuff. Though he’s asked her to stop, he’ll secretly keep those pieces of parchment forever.

✧ Dreams of life being back to normal asap and considers transforming that ominous shop in Hogsmeade into a charming café filled with coffee, sweets, and cute little trinkets. Even thinks of becoming an artist who can create magical pictures like the ones she admires at Hogwarts.

Sure, all of that could happen, but she might also end up teaching young wizards pre-Hogwarts: giving them a basic understanding of magic, plants, beasts, and some history (recalling how Professor Fig helped her, this would feel especially meaningful to her).

At the muggle boarding school she attended, they had lessons in music, sewing, and other common subjects, but her favourite was always art, of course. Also, she enjoys listening to instruments and even still remembers a few piano melodies, though she struggles to play full compositions, because of >attention issues< speaking of which…

✧ She loves Potions, though it's challenging to make ones that take a long time to brew—sure, she mastered a perfect Wiggenweld. She also enjoys Garreth’s experiments, especially when they don’t involve her stealing or drinking anything. And she absolutely adores Charms, believing they are the greatest art form in the magical world. ✧ Astronomy fascinates her because she never imagined so many wonders existed above in the sky. She loves charting the stars, and it's remarkably the only activity that keeps her fully engaged for hours without getting distracted. ✧ She hates Flying lessons but absolutely loves the thrill of speed flying over the Highlands. As for Aritmancy, well, >attention issues< and Divination-like vibes make it a nightmare for her.

She doesn’t hate History of Magic—it’s the perfect time for a midday nap. And having Ominis fall asleep beside her just makes it even better.

She's also good with some other healing potions and ointments, which were very helpful with her injuries after the battle with Ranrok. She still bears scars on her left hand, ribs, and leg, and her left hand is now slightly weakened, contributing to her newfound issues with spells and ancient magic (and other activities, such as her wish to ever try Quidditch or even play some music again).

✧ More Salters Family Details (the most important note—she hasn’t had any interactions with them since the end of her fifth year. She was barred from any contact with muggles while the investigation into her magic is still underway.) ✦ Home - a large "Foxglove house" on a hill with a beautiful garden next to it. A few staff members to look after the house and the children. ✦ Mom - a warm and kind relationship, but Mrs Salters was always passionate about and busy with her work and, later, with the youngest child as well. ✦ Father - a cold-to-distant relationship. He was rarely home after transitioning from hospital surgeon to ship doctor. It always seemed like he never fully got used to having a child that wasn’t his own. ✦ Arthur - 10 years older, really nice relationship. Alyn wishes she could have more of him in her life, but he moved out years ago. Alyn used to admire Sebastian for being such a great brother to Anne, as it reminded her of Arthur. ✦ Greg - 5 years older, and they've always hated each other, as his favourite thing to say to her is that she’s not really part of their family. ✦ Gwen - 7 years younger, and as the most spoiled child and mommy’s little princess, she’s an absolute nasty little gremlin.

p.s. a sad remark alert as her eyes colour on the pic is not a mistake:

After the end of her fifth year her eyes turned a deep, dark brown, and there were other changes in her appearance. Description from September 1891: "...the warm blonde that once shimmered like sunlight now appeared faded and muted. When she looked in the mirror, she saw a sick and lost reflection, a stark reminder of the damage the last year caused her. She wondered if she would ever truly recover."

... and that's it! THANK YOU for reading this far let me hug you and kiss you on the forehead I love you so much marry me

such a cool and fun template by @kiwiplaetzchen thank you!