#a bit of the lore implications

[rowanthestrange]

Eh, citation needed to be honest. The episodes so far:

“Season One” with 14:

-Both the conceit of the whole thing and details of Episode One relies on a firm remembering of characters and details of a story from fifteen years ago. You weren’t watching back then? Rip. You forgor? Rip. The most unjumping on point conceivable for Season One Episode One babyyy. How are there 14 Doctors I thought there could only be 13? You don’t get an explanation. The Doctor’s just gonna talk about being really fucking old now when you thought the Doctor was 900. Are you watching and not a legal adult yet? Well hope you heard how fun 10 and Donna were and went back to watch the old stuff, or else you get the fun job of quickly picking up on new old characters. We’ve brought back a famous comic alien. What do you mean you didn’t know there were comics.

-Episode Two: Hey did you guys skip the 13th Doctor’s series as casuals are renowned to have done? Sucks to suck. The Doctor isn’t a Time Lord? Abandoned? Adopted? Oh you’re confused? Tough, I’m not going to explain the whole thing. Take it as read or do the homework.

-Episode Three: Congratulations, if you weren’t there to be traumatised by Donna’s ending fifteen years ago, you don’t know what’s going on but it sounds bad so you’re just going to have to roll with it. Also enjoy this very rough explanation of a character that’s about 60 years old that’s all you’re getting. What do you mean creatures outside the dimensions? If you didn’t watch the middle bits of Classic Who I guess just skim over that, just nod, just nod.

“Season Two” with 15:

Church and Episode One: Haha I mean it, go back and watch the 13th Doctor, this abandoned baby Doctor not being a Time Lord plotline is going to persist, and I hope you got the subtext Chibs was laying down cus we’re gonna carry on as if you did. Don’t know why the Doctor’s able to blow regeneration energy into a butterfly cus it’s apparently not a limited resource? We won’t be explaining. Just smile and wave. The show says it all links together but you don’t know the Doctor’s backstory enough to know what that means? Smile and wave.

Episode Two: We will be persisting with the niche Classic Who callbacks. Here’s a character mentioned last seen 60 years ago. Don’t know if you should know who these characters are? Don’t worry about it.

(Everyone’s talking about Mel in the trailer and you still don’t really know who that is? Don’t worry about it).

((Haven’t been noticing the same woman appearing as a background character over and over and over again? Don’t worry about it.))

Like I get it. But the amount of stuff a “casual” already has to look past and adjust to and fill in for themselves in Russell’s work right now is bananas. But they do. Why?

Cus it really isn’t that hard to introduce niche characters or concepts in a way that normies understand. At all. We do it constantly. Russell is an expert in it because that’s what he had to do with everything from Autons to Rassilon for four years to literal children.

Like even our most niche of characters - no-one has ever needed more than 30 seconds to get the character of Iris Wildthyme across in any media she’s ever been in. Popular niche characters are popular because they boil down to a few simple elements that Are Cool. A good character is easy to get across even for someone of no prior knowledge.

The amount that Casual Viewers don’t understand in NuNu-Who is huge, but Rusty is a master of getting them to ignore that feeling and learn on the job enough to get through. And perhaps enticing them to find out what they’re missing and start the journey to being a fan instead. The Casuals almost never understand the actual macro story or people in it, watching it just gives them happy feelings. And so long as you do that — as Rusty is a genius at doing — he has proven time and again you can do whatever the heck niche thing you want that they were never going to fully understand anyway. A good writer can write for both at once. And he does. Never forget, this is the man who rebooted Doctor Who with fucking Autons instead of Daleks.

As ever, when theorising the Dr who fandom would do well to remember that the show is made first & foremost for casual fans lmao

[kirkwallsquad]

The Veilcast Episode 2: Before The Veilguard

in this week's episode, max chats about veilguard lore, all the companions, and manages NOT to go on an hour-long tangent about how hot davrin and taash are.

people and posts i reference in this episode:

@felassan, specifically the companion compilation post

@dalishious, specifically the catching up with thedas post

elle tchi's post about animating lucanis, which as a non-twitter-user i can't find or link to rn, but @biowho posted these screenshots

@bryceypants' post about emmrich being a sweet bean (with gorgeous fanart by @timethehobo)

@anneapocalypse's dragon meta post

[knightwhoisni]

probably been noticed at this point but i just stumbled on an easter egg featuring audio from the fucking 90s zach bit of all things

[phoenixdragon1258]

No because after confirming Augbert was his last name and then being asked what his first was, Brennan had to've considered just saying Augbert again in the sense that he had only 1 name and it was Augbert, making it his first and last name, but he had to stop himself so he didn't accidentally recreate Hilda Hilda

[ashpkat]

in my idealized version of the books (the Good timeline), jericho and constantine’s relationship is not the one aaron and calls relationship parallels — it’s constantine and joseph. in this essay i will *gets taken out by cassandra clare’s snipers*

[project-sekai-facts]

Pspsppspspspsp…,. Any weird facts on how sekai works? Specifically wondershow if you can, but from what I know is that in general sekai will kick you out forcibly if your phone dies, school sekai has no daylight cycle, wondershow has a Victorian ages style library, empty sekai is so big you can get lost in it, and street sekai has a city

Okay I'm going 100% Wonderland SEKAI on this because I can and I have some stuff scheduled already about general SEKAI lore. And because holy shit Wonderland SEKAI is interesting.

Without further ado, 8 facts about Wonderland SEKAI...

Under the cut due to length

This doesn't display well on the desktop dashboard I apologise for that.

Wonderland SEKAI fact #1: KAITO might have been stabbed.

This is all the same magic show, just three different references to it (and a minor inconsistency that Tsukasa gets told about it twice). These are from an area conversation, Miku's Wonderland SEKAI 2* story 1, and KAITO's Wonderland SEKAI 2* story 1. Either KAITO really is that flexible or Virtual Singers cannot die. This probably applies to all SEKAI not just Wonderland but I just wanted everyone to know about KAITO getting stabbed.

Wonderland SEKAI fact #2: Miku seems to be younger than the members of WonderlandsxShowtime.

In an area conversation, KAITO says he thinks Emu would be the oldest if she and Miku were sisters. However, in this conversation he seems to be mainly referring to personality, so there is a possibility that Miku is still her standard age of 16 and just acts younger than she is. That said, the ages of Virtual Singers do vary through other SEKAI (particularly School), which adds a bit more evidence for this fact.

Wonderland SEKAI fact #3: Plants are sentient.

They're alive. They talk. They sing. They have conscious thought. Alice in Wonderland type shit. (Sources: KAITO's Troupe Positions Open 3* card stories, @/pjsekai_eng's translation of 4koma #72)

Wonderland SEKAI fact #4: Wonderland SEKAI is the only SEKAI with distinguishable inhabitants (not counting Virtual Singers)

While the Stage SEKAI has audiences that come and go, we don't know much about them and they don't seem to have any defined personalities or characteristics (it may be an instance of leaning on the 4th wall). Wonderland SEKAI is inhabited by plushies and puppets, all of which have their own individual personalities and free will. KAITO believes that these may be plushies that Tsukasa played with and performed shows with as a kid. You'll see this again in a bit.

Wonderland SEKAI fact #5: Since everything in the SEKAI is pulled from Tsukasa’s psyche, not all the plushies are based on shows he wrote as a kid

For example, Usa-chan. She seems to be based on a younger version of Saki, where she was more sensitive and would need cheering up a lot. Obviously connecting to Tsukasa's main drive being making people (specifically Saki) smile.

One more notable example is the cat and dog plushie from Full Power! Wonder Halloween!. The dog plushie is very obviously meant to be Tsukasa (it even has a star on it), and the cat is Rui (and it has cameoed in his cards a few times). In the event story, Tsukasa and Rui had an argument due to Rui holding himself back after a stunt gone wrong, and the cat and dog plushie have a very similar conflict, albeit the cat plushie representing Rui is much more aware of it's feelings.

KAITO's A Chat With The Lost 4* card story shows him making a different (although possibly the same, the story contradicts itself) pair of dog and cat plushies resolve a conflict and open up to each other. Yet again, the plushies very obviously represent Tsukasa and Rui.

TLDR: Tsukasa's feelings and experiences work their way into the SEKAI in real time through the form of plushies.

Wonderland SEKAI fact #6: Oh yeah literally everything in the SEKAI reflects some aspect of Tsukasa.

I find it interesting how KAITO tells Rui that he should go and talk to Tsukasa about it but then to Emu and Nene he gives a more confident answer. It's a nice little detail that ties into Rui's character (read: he didn't have a lot of friends at this point).

Linking this back to the previous fact, it does seem like the other members of WxS do have some influence in the SEKAI, specifically over their plushie equivalents (since the cat plushie has the exact same internal conflict as Rui that Tsukasa had zero knowledge about at the time). The power of friendship I guess.

Wonderland SEKAI fact #7: Wonderland SEKAI manifests as a response to Saki asking Tsukasa why he wants to be a star.

But that doesn't sound quite right, does it? It's stated constantly that SEKAI are created by strong feelings, and this is true in all other stories (Ichika thinking about how she had drifted apart from her friends, Minori reminding herself to never give up and keep aiming to be an idol, An's declaring her dream while Kohane wished she had one, Mafuyu's depression and longing to find herself). So it really sticks out that Tsukasa's SEKAI is formed by this:

Sorry about the wiki screenshots

There's not really any strong feelings here... In all other instances, the SEKAI are formed by a concious desire for something, and yeah okay, Tsukasa seems to want to remember why he wants to be a star, but at the same time it doesn't seem hugely important to him (not pictured but he drops the train of thought just after this) and the SEKAI isn't born from that anyway. The SEKAI is born from the feelings that he was trying to remember, which implies that the SEKAI was formed by his subconscious.

Further supported by Miku immediately picking out the correct reason for him wanting to be a star in chapter 3 of WxS' main story.

And in the Opening chapter of the same story where KAITO explicitly mentions that the SEKAI is nostalgic to Tsukasa, suggesting that he knows exactly what Tsukasa has forgotten. Tsukasa himself had noticed that it seemed nostalgic, although he denies it when KAITO brings it up.

Oh and then he somehow manages to remember everything by the end of the story and like I'm not a psych student but that doesn't seem right? Honestly from what I do know about psychology the situation sounds like a repressed memory but it doesn't sound 100% accurate either? I dunno, maybe it's just fantastical psychology coming into play (it probably is).

Regardless of all of that, it implies that you can somehow form a SEKAI through subconscious/repressed feelings which is really interesting actually.

Anyway they're probably never going to elaborate on any of that in the game because...

Wonderland SEKAI fact #8: the game goes out of its way to not tell you Wonderland SEKAI lore, and if it does tell you, it's usually not clear

For example, this area conversation. KAITO doesn't tell them directly and we never find out if they learnt the answer.

Or this area conversation (very abridged) where KAITO doesn't even know the answer.

Or the fact that Rui still hasn't had that talk with Tsukasa that he said he would have in KAITO's 2* card. Or that KAITO isn't 100% certain about the things he says about SEKAI. How do more plants grow in Spring? Does the Wonderland SEKAI have a plant lifecycle or do they just never die? How is Miku seemingly derived from Emu despite having existed before Tsukasa had ever encountered Emu? (I know Kohane and An hadn't met either but Kohane was at least watching An's performance. Miku actually mentions "others" in the Main Story Opening which means there's some more weird fate shit going on. The power of friendship I guess.)

The other SEKAI have their quirks explained (for the most part) but everything in Wonderland SEKAI kinda just exists and is never really explained beyond "it's something from Tsukasa's psyche". I mean there's stuff from other SEKAI that isn't explained but it just seems like there's a bit more here.

I mean you can infer a fair amount of stuff just from Tsukasa as a character but I want the game to talk about it to make my life easier I have a fact account to run I need evidence. Tsukasa please be less emotionally constipated, sincerely, mod.

If you made it this far I'm sorry.

Love is stored in the WxS KAITO <3

Bonus Wonderland SEKAI Fact #9: this is a mistranslation and KAITO should be calling Tsukasa the top star-to-be and not himself. Poor TLs aside KAITO does seem to be like, Tsukasa's "ideal self" for lack of a better description. Also Len takes traits from Rui while being a foil to him, MEIKO takes some traits from Emu, Rin is a foil to Nene, Miku seems to be a mirror character to Emu but don't ask how that works and Luka is derived from ???

[chiricocuvie]

Me, anytime I read any discussion about Nicrosil Compounding

[blaiddfailcam]

I constantly am thinking about how in Bloodborne, your first steps onto the Great Bridge of Central Yharnam are greeted by the toll of the Grand Cathedral's bell, but which sounds eerily more like a wolf's howl.

Moreover, it's not until you see the cathedral in profile that you may notice that the Astral Clocktower, which projects from the main church, is shaped something like a sitting wolf, as well.

[skitskatdacat63]

"Victory belongs to the most persevering" - Nandopoleon Alonsoparte

+ First Consul Nandopoleon

Wow look I finally drew him properly! This was like the 2nd or so AU I've ever made, but honestly I feel so strongly about it that it's really intimidating to try and make a satisfying explanation post for it. I want it to be perfect ah. But I will one day! Maybe a web weave or smth in the meantime. But I digress. Napoleon Bonaparte = Fernando Alonso, please contact @/skitskatdacat63 for details.

In this painting I drew the uniform Napoleon wore during the Italian campaign in the 1790s, bcs I think it's so pretty, and not just the typical Napoleon outfit everyone knows(tho dw I'm in love with that one too.)

Though I will say, it was a bit weird drawing Fernando in navy blue(is this a sign for 2025?), so I had to draw him in the bright red First Consul uniform, to return some order to the world y'know

I ended up picking "victory belongs to the most persevering" as the Napoleon quote to use, but that was really hard to pick tbh. I literally have a whole folder of Napoleon quotes that remind me of Fernando LOL. Some others, to give you an idea:

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."

"From triumph to downfall, there is but one step."

"Morality has nothing to do with such a man as I am."

"It requires more courage to suffer than to die."

Etc etc., again: I have a folder ;;;

I don't think this drawing was nearly as complicated as the Seb one, but for some reason it made me suffer more. I think you just get into this really intense mindset after drawing smth super detailed, and it's very frustrating. But I like it! His face was very confusing to me(the angle of the eyes), and then it randomly hit me how to draw it so that was cool. Look at him face :) handsome boy

Also here's the process! I think I'm gonna try and draw something each weekend as a gift to myself after the school week(if I have actual ideas for it lol)

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

A locorro soulmate au would be so interesting, image lo’ak is born and on his arm is “miles socorro” who knows how neytiri would act😭

BRO THE WAY I DROPPED EVERYTHING TO ANSWER THIS ASK.

Okay so the Na'vi don't have written language, it's all oral. So like, if the soulmate au is a tattoo of the person who is your soulmate at birth, a name would be distinctly human. Maybe the Na'vi don't have soulmate tattoos OR they have a symbol for the person, like maybe their spirit animal that they see in their Uniltaron?

So first of all the lORE IMPLICATIONS ALONE?? Jake being born with no name just some crazy dragon on his leg (I like to imagine Neytiri's spirit animal is an ikran) and everyone is just like shrug, weird man. Jake's is toruk in the deleted scenes, so I imagine Neytiri's tattoo would just be toruk and she didn't think anything of it until Jake, because she knows full well Tsu'tey's is not toruk.

BUT LO'AK'S BEING JUST "Miles Socorro" FUCKING CRAZY DUDE. Jake sees and is like oh fuck. Because there's no mystery like there usually is for Na'vi, or for humans who have a billion in one chance to actually meet their soulmate. Lo'ak and Spider just know they are soulmates from the jump, and everyone just gets to vibe with that knowledge and adjust how they can. Mo'at is like *nods* the great mother knows they need each other, and Neytiri is losing it in the corner because now her son, already set apart from even his sibling with his human features, is even further ostracized. I think Neytiri is pissed about it for a while and then she just comes to a point where she is like "soulmates are chosen by Eywa, she can't be wrong so we'd better make sure this kid is immersed in the culture. Cue Spider growing up hardcore Na'vi, doing every rite of passage that he can. Neytiri is his firm teacher, especially when Lo'ak is little and Spider is just old enough to start learning. She starts to love him because of his dedication, his enthusiasm, and the way they gravitate to each other even as little kids.

God I love this idea I see so much potential drama in it I could go on forever? But I need to chill.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

not really decided on what i want to do with minecraft-the-game's existence a la luke's world but by far the Funniest option (to me) would be if it existed but in like. a knockoff format. like as craftmine yknow. extremely similar to minecraft but different Enough that luke never draws the connection. like yeah sure this seems familiar but craftmine was known for everything being a rectangular prism not a cube . it didntve 'servers' it had 'spaces' . etc etc

[antirepurp]

i don't think sonic translates particularly well into open world environments so it probably would be for the best if future games didn't go the same route as frontiers HOWEVER. they should return to the formula of huge hub worlds to give us a space to run around and goof off in like in frontiers. i want them to take sa1 06 and unleashed and expand on what they did. maybe make seamless transitions from hub world into stage environments who knows!!

[deadrlngers]

WIP DAY

i was tagged by @moonmothers @devilbrakers @flymmcargo @nuclearstorms + @hibernationsuit thank you guys so much!! <3

tagging: @morvaris @faarkas @shadowglens @voerman @faerune @ladyshar @liurnia @halsin @gortash @risingsh0t @necroticpetals @druidgroves @malefiicarum @feypacts @florbelles @calenhads @thedeadthree and anyone else i missed! can't remember exactly who writes or not so if you see this just say i tagged you

disclosing my violante/ruven/gortash (pre-game events) agenda,,even if it's mainly vio here but if i added any more of the wip in here you guys would kill me bc it's already so long. anyways who doesn't like masked balls?

“Dare I ask who I'm in the presence of?” The gems nestled in the fine silver net adorning her hair made a gentle tinkling sound as Violante tilted her head forward in a courteous bow tasked to open the dance. When she rose to meet her partner’s gaze once more, she resumed: “And most of all, is it friend or is it foe?”

Even beneath the mask, the wicked shine of Enver’s dark eyes appeared brighter than the play of light on the golden wings that stretched from the front of the mask to his hair. “Vicare, the only human man that could fly.”

Vicare – Violante wished to laugh. Was his arrogance the cause of her amusement? Or perhaps it was his full, unabashed, commitment to that little theatrical play they were staging? Whichever the reason, she found that trying to conceal her smile around him was beginning to verge on the impossible. Disgraceful…but thrilling, she couldn’t wait to let Ruven hear of it.

The music carried their voices along the notes like they were part of the sheets; it was a concerto of violins, lutes and harps. Violante could hear the distinct sound of a few wind instruments as well but failed to recognize them. The melody was slow and soothing, inviting the dancers to know one another, play their coy games before dealing their full hand when the culmination of the song would strike.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, barely letting the fabrics of their clothes brush one another as they drew a circle on the floor with their steps: a dance that resembled more the stalk of two wolves ready to attack, reach for the throat and sink sharp teeth in the flesh and let fate settle who was going to bleed out first and declare the other victorious.

“The name holds a familiar sound.” She spoke calmly, voice just above a whisper but carrying confidence, pride. A pride soon betrayed; a quick glance stolen with the tail of her eye to the dark haired man, searching for any hint on his half covered face that would reveal his thoughts to her. She hoped for the stars, yet she was no astronomer at all. Whatever Enver Gortash was thinking, from amusement to annoyance, remained a well guarded secret. “I’d like to hear the tale of the man of the golden feathers, if he’s willing to share.”

The violins played a grave note and as if spells were casted, each performing pair jumped into position – facing each other, one arm up as the back of their hands brushed the one of their partner in a gentle kiss of the knuckles. His hand to her waist, her touch above his shoulder. "Do I have to tell? I'm sure you know well how the story goes. The one that dreamt of flying too high in the sky – accused of free will, punished with the amputation of his wings.” He leaned forward, a cunning smile curling his lips upwards charmingly. “They used shears, if I remember correctly, to make me never wish to fly again. Quite the gruesome spectacle it was.”

Enver’s back was straight, tense as the string of a bow ready to let its arrow strike the prey, yet the movement of his steps was nothing but light and elegant as they spun in unison with the other dancers like a gentle breeze barely caressing the marble under his feet. He was a great dancer, Violante couldn’t deny it.

“Yet you persist, don’t you? Behind those walls you still look up for the cobalt sky.” A swirl, restrained in perfect graciousness learned in years of training with a certain drow, the rich crimson fabric of her gown twisting around her body like a tail. “Which amount of punishment is enough to make you learn, I wonder.”

His eyes narrowed yet that wicked grin didn't falter. “Flying is a thought, and nothing can stop an idea. The wind reached me even when my feet were bound to the ground." They waltzed into an outside spin and moved into the next step with a final touch of the wrist, pulse against pulse. “Besides – I can take a fair amount of penance, if rewarding.” His fingers twitched against hers, nothing more than a controlled and quick brush tauntingly demure, yet just enough to make Violante wonder, take the hint of that touch and let her mind carry it on as it pleased. The power of a thought, wasn’t it? 

Enver appeared no less pleased, be it the quick flash of her surprised expression or the sudden rigidity of her muscles. “Now that I’ve answered your question, allow one for myself: who are you in turn?”

Violins stood out from the choir of instruments with a strident sound this time, separating the couples as if the touch of one another was akin to reaching for a flame with naked skin. Violante arms rose up in a fluid movement, like the fluttering of a bird’s wings or the stroke of a brush, while Enver’s form bended in a half-bow, one arm behind his back and the other circling his waist.

“Death.” She expressed sharply, excited as if her time in this play had finally come. “And if I recall correctly, even Vicare couldn’t escape Death.”

[nightmarist]

trying to play elden ring getting my ass handed to me over and over again but i want to meet all the demigods and learn the story so bad

[aangelfreckles]

I'm curious about what y/n's motivations are as to why they tried out to be the royal guard for two substitute rulers. Was it fame? Money? A title? Was there a debt they needed to repay? Friends? Love at first sight?? Was it... because they were playing the long-game assassin/intel collection? Prophecy?? --

bonus question in the chances that the previous question were major spoilers. What are the boys' opinion on y/n or what do they like/dislike about them? :3

Eeek such good questions!! Ok ok so this gonna be done in multiple parts because the comic I'm making about Sun and Moon's opinion on Y/N are a bit long (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠)

So let's start with Y/N motives!

TW! THIS PIECE HAS SLIGHT BLOOD AND SLIGHT IMPLICATIONS OF PAST ABUSE

Y/N was raised in a village quite far from the rest of the kingdom but still close enough to be considered a part of it, They never saw outside of that small village in their childhood. from the day they learned to walk they were constantly trained by their mother to be a royal guard, nothing else. They were put through years of ruthless training and grew up with a mindset that their only use was to be a royal guard. They have no idea why their mother wanted them to do this so badly, they learned to stop asking after a while. When it was finally time for them to tryout for the royal guard position they knew they couldn't mess it up, this is all they know.

Now, what would happen if 2 rulers showed them that they matter a lot more than just being a guard? (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

[ne0nwithazero]

I'm so starving for wholesome Swatchton content 😭😭😭 As much as I enjoy the edgier lore-heavy stuff, I'll see cuter stuff and I'm immediately just 🤲🤲🤲 /pos

I need it too...