#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

[ex-coelis]

can I talk about that implications of the Navy having specific sky soldiers? can I talk about the fact that 1) we are getting more ferin content, 2) Jayson has more siblings than just Drey??? 3a) wings are a GENETIC PROPERTY OF THE FERIN FAMILY and 3b) JAY DOESNT HAVE THEM NATURALLY??? IM FREAKING OUT HERE OH MY GODDDDD

[pencilofawesomeness]

The consequence of coming up with a full backstory for Sukuna for With the Storm is that I think about it too often. Little things remind me of it and I am compelled to talk about it; alas, it'll be, like, 20 chapters until fully get into it lmao.

Inspired by this amazing graphic made by @dappermouth which is very Sukuna-core to me and I could not stop thinking about it until I drew this.

[kickedin17]

Okay hear me out (other people have basically already said this but hold on this is my post)

We're getting very clear messages that indicate something might be... wrong with Clancy. During the US leg via the FPE letters we heard a lot about how Clancy was inspiring the masses, and now it kind of seems to be the opposite. Torch explicitly saying we destroyed them so we didn't become them.

Plus Tyler now wearing black shirts, with imagery that seems to relate to Blurryface songs. The occasions last tour where his "Clancy" shirt was black text instead of red. The Blurryface account tweeting again this tour. The bishops taking over the Judge that one time, trying to hijack a moment that celebrates the clique (irl banditos). Paladin Strait, which apparently is not supposed to sound like an ending, which concludes with Clancy being named explicitly by Nico, and which shows a version of Tyler in the mv literally sitting above it all & seemingly mirroring people's movements from other shots.

I see your "Clancy becomes a bishop" theories (I love bishop!clancy to be clear I think it's awesome) but I think that might be too esoteric to end up being the explicit canon (I could also be wrong and it will be, but functionally the rest of the point here is the same). The thing is, Clancy is pretty simply intended to be a version of Tyler that extracts and represents certain traits, just like Blurryface. We know Blurryface to be insecurity. Clancy has never been said explicitly afaik but I think it's clear he represents Tyler's drive to create things that inspire people (despite crushing obstacles like mental illness - Dema and the bishops, and especially with the help and inspiration of others - Torchbearers and the banditos (us)). Which we know can be incredible, but can also become self-destructive. We were introduced to Clancy at first cryptically through his personal writings, and only explicitly after a long time (and after being told he'd "died" by the characters that represent Tyler's mental health struggles, which, depressed creatives iykyk) because I think owning your creativity and ability to inspire others is a much more arduous journey than being controlled by your insecurity. But Clancy was never intended to be a different type of character despite all that. He is a version of Tyler.

And just like Blurryface he gets his own namesake album. A lot of people have pointed out how the Clancy and Blurryface tracklists can actually be read to mirror each other. As the lore progressed Blurryface became Nico (and the other 8 bishops) battling against Clancy, but they're all abstractions from Tyler's mind. Both literally, in the sense that he is literally the one coming up with the story, but we're also reminded of this on both Bandito and Overcompensate with the "created this world" bridge. I believe this is also what we're seeing represented in those shots in the Paladin Strait mv. There's also the fact that the Clancy era is extremely extremely red - this in lore represents Clancy's process of reclamation as well as his (violent) uprising, but in tøp's wider context it is kinda just The Blurryface Color along with black.

Blurryface turns 10 immediately after the Clancy tour ends. We know the Clancy tour to be the reflection of "someone's life flashing before their eyes" and that this album was supposedly meant to wrap up the Dema storyline. I do not think this means Clancy dies. Because he is Tyler, and he cannot die, because for that to happen I think Tyler would have to never write or make anything again. And we also know this to be a cycle. I think what's happening is what's always been kind of obvious, and inevitable. I think Clancy is going to become Blurryface. I think he's already been Blurryface this entire time. They're the same person at different parts of the cycle, and I think we're going back to the start of it.

[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

[lightofunova]

I know it’s a bit early, but happy blogiversary. 🎉

We’ve been through alot together, theres been so many roleplays and interactions that you lovely people have gifted me, and so many new ideas and plans that I cannot wait to share.

Even so this year was pretty rough, I’m not gonna lie. I’m not done with the blog, I’m not leaving, but there was alot that happened that definitely hindered my progress on it. Even so, I’m happy I was able to get further on the story I think? I’ve learned alot of new things and I’m finding my voice, and I’m grateful for the friends that have supported me online and offline. You all know who you are, I have not nearly the amount of words I need to express how much you all mean to me. I really do appreciate every single one of you.

I want to work on so much right now, and do so many things it’s hard to settle on one without dropping anything else. That’s most of the reason why I haven’t touched the blog(The other is work lol), and I appreciate everyone’s patience more than you know. Rest assured I will be back in time(Probably after PoGo Tour in February when the inspiration hits again haha)

There’s so much more to say but, honestly and truly?

Thank you. Your support means alot to me, and I can’t wait to continue the story.

Thank you so so much, for spending two years with me on this blog. Here’s to another 🥂

[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*

[icharchivist]

there's something so tragically meta with the amount of Fen'Harel's vallaslin mods that get made everytime, because on one hand i understand fans not wanting to wear markings of known tyrant and slavers when they could be honoring a rebel leader/possible boyfriend

... but imo one of the thesis of Inquisition that is especially illustrated with Solas is that "demonization AND worship are just two faces of deshumanization".

"Worship makes you more. he just wanted to help."

"You saw another story, written in desperation to give me more credit than I ever deserved."

the Inquisitor, especially in the Prologue of DAI, especially illustrates that. From being blamed for all the wrongs in the world, "they have decided your guilt, they need to", to having all those very people bow in front of you calling you the herald of Andraste (which has 3/4 chances of not even being your religion) without even seeing you as a person.

Countless companions bring this up. That people don't know you because they only ever see the icon they want you to be.

The Inquisitor can choose to believe and/or embrace the role, but it doesn't change that ultimately even worship is deshumanization.

And it is especially echoing Solas' storyline because he's been demonized AND worshipped and in both case, neither ever really represented him.

Solas has always hated the system the Evanuris put on the people. The fact he doesn't have any Vallaslin is pretty clearly because he rejected this aspect of "Godhood" when he's been promoted to Evanuris in his own right. He's the man best known for removing said Vallaslin.

And there's such a metatextual tragedy in making Vallaslin for him because you appreciate him so much as a "God" that it doesn't matter that it goes against everything he stands for.

and again i understand on a purely aesthetic and player's perspective, re what i said on the first paragraph.

But this is so tragic, to me, for the one character who was always pulled to extremes he didn't want to be part of in the story, who is explicit about the deshumanization felt by worship, and to ironically just run right into the trap of doing the exact same thing out of love for him.

[small-spark-of-light]

heres a study i did featuring ludo!!!

[chiricocuvie]

Me, anytime I read any discussion about Nicrosil Compounding

[clumsiestgiantess]

The man DNAlien, the myth, the legend. Cruel and just king of humanity. Slain in battle by his own kin, who believed his dominion over mankind had gone too far.

He is where the tales of dragons who steal away helpless maidens first originated — tales that have stood the test of time, though he did not.

[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.

[glitchfang]

not even five minutes into this episode btw

[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