#all 6 of the new line-up do have important lore

[chapinii]

Seeing this at the end of the video before purgatory gave me a flashback to the image revealed in an ElQuackity stream back in August. Correct me if I'm wrong I don't think we ever fully found out why these members were singled out, besides all being election candidates. It's interesting how the focus seems to be on one set of islanders at a time.

[nadas-dirthalen]

I Saw Solas's Origin in an Achievement Icon and It Opened My Eyes on 15 Years of Lore

— PART EIGHT: if you haven't read previous parts, do it now! —

[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ]

Welcome, friends and travellers! I wanted to get some thoughts recorded before Veilguard's release so I could see if I am right about an absolute BOATLOAD of theories I have.

In short: I saw the achievement list when it was released. I have seen the backstory hints for Solas included in said list. AND MY MIND WAS BLOWN.

You have been warned: THIS COLLECTION OF THEORIES INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR EVERY DRAGON AGE GAME AND ALL PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL UP TO AND INCLUDING OCTOBER 18, 2024.

Come sit down with me. Make a nice cup of tea (and hide it from Solas). We've got a lot of unpacking to do.

(no, this photo isn't the spoiler, I just like it.)

The Story of Solas: Him Solas Evanuris, Da'durgen'lin (1/3)

— The Ballad That Played Right Before Our Eyes —

I meant to write this as soon as I got my day started today (perks of being on the border of a sinus infection right before Veilguard). But I thought of something last night, and I had to do some of the Temple of Solasan and Trespasser all over again to confirm it.

I'm glad I did. I'm horrified at what I found.

Let's begin.

Seriously, as ever, go read the other parts before this one. If you need to only read a few, then read 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 (linked above). All of those matter for context here, you've been forewarned!

This post will exist in three parts. First up, we've got:

The World at the Time of Solas's Manifestation

Da'durgen'lin: Not the First, but Perhaps Mythal's Last

Solasan: The Icy Terror the World Forgot

The Dread Wolf: Inspiring Hope in Friends, and Fear in Enemies

The World at the Time of Solas's Manifestation

I will be as brief as possible here. Remember when I said the other parts were important for context? It's because we're largely skipping the context we've already covered today.

In the briefest of terms:

Titans, unsundered.

Maker's second children, made. Evanuris, jealous. Evanuris, slaying Titans.

Evanuris, already doing all of their lyrium/Titan-atrocities. We'll get to how I know that.

Conditions are perfect for the blight to begin. All Titans, thus far (that we know of), have been wounded consistently. All are ramping up to "fight back." (We'll get to that.)

But the Evanuris are continuing, heedless of what their arrogance will bring.

Enter: Solas Evanuris.

Da'durgen'lin: Not the First, but Perhaps Mythal's Last

More brevity here, but now with added screencaps from when I just played Trespasser this morning (in fact, I just finished the Shattered Library, and am going to go back to Trespasser after this).

We already knew Mythal was mining Titans for people. What I've refreshed my memory on are three things:

We don't know where in the Deep Roads this is (that I know of)

This is not the only place we see lyrium coffins

This is where we see the codex about needing to forget this place: the one I mentioned began the blight yesterday.

Before I go on, I wish to revisit one more codex from this portion of the Deep Roads: Mythal's Lullaby.

Ir sa tel'nal Mythal las ma theneras Ir san'a emma Him solas evanuris Da'durgen'lin Banal malas elgara Bellanaris, bellanaris.

Isatunoll Mythal gives you dreams Lyrium within Becomes Solas evanuris Blight you give to the Titan Forever, forever.

I've discovered new significance in it that I have not been able to fit into these posts as yet: this lullaby is almost perfectly in the Hallelujah cadence. It follows Hallelujah's meter, but the lines are split up as a distraction.

It can be arranged as:

Ir sa tel'nal, Mythal las ma (8) Theneras ir san'a emma (8) Him Solas Evanuris, da'durgen'lin (11) Banal malas elgara (hallelujah, hallelujah) Bellanaris, bellanaris. (hallelujah, hallelujah)

With the use of "you" in the song and the fact that it is called Mythal's lullaby, I am going to posit that she is singing this to Solas. Why?

Cole tells us in Trespasser. "He did not want a body. But she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."

I believe that this is Mythal asking Solas to take physical shape. But... why? Why coax a spirit if he did not want to come into the physical world, outside of his Titan? If she coerced him into a body, only for the horrors of the Blight to follow, why would he look up to her as the lone voice of reason among the Evanuris?

I'm choosing to read Mythal in a good light here. Know that, as I continue to theorize, the worst case scenario is also possible.

Solasan: the Icy Terror the Elvhen Tried to Forget

Last night, after writing part 7, I could not get this codex out of my mind. The moment of the blight's beginning. I am astonished that I have not seen it theorized before (not to say it does not exist, just that it has not been flung far and wide across the fandom—at least not where I can find it).

Let's go back to it.

In the light of the veilfire, the runes seem to shift, coiling and uncoiling like snakes. A thunderous voice shatters the stillness, shouting: "Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!" For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire. The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy. A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers: "What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."

I could not help but think again on how Mythal's lullaby directly says, "Blight you give to the Titan." I asked myself, late at night, in despair: could Solas's manifestation TRULY have been the beginning of the blight on Thedas?

Well, we know where to find out, don't we? The Temple of Solasan. I'm not the kind of person to grab 114 shards in a video game (sorry, Bioware), but I did find a mod that let me in over the summer, and I pulled up an old save.

Jogging my memory made me cry.

The top chamber in the temple is where one finds the inscription on Solas. We'll get there, and we'll also get to the outside of the temple, don't worry. For now, I want to focus on the lower level. (Pardon my Inquisition screenshots and their messiness; I told y'all I wasn't going online in any real capacity today, and I meant it. You're getting all homemade footage here.)

There are three rooms down here. One for plants (left), one for fire (right), and one for ice (center).

Huh. Doesn't that sound like...

For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire. The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy. A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast.

My heart sank. My stomach twisted into knots. I explored the fire and plant wings again, and found little that I hadn't already explored or looted—only corpses possessed by demons.

But the ice room...

Something flashed within. Something that made my blood run cold (fittingly, I think).

I ventured in. And then I began to cry, for I knew.

Without enemies, not in combat, the floor periodically flashes when you run over certain spots in the room. The whole floor, just for a second, is covered in these.

I'm not one of the fancy fly-cam people, so I spent a lot of time running around until I could hit the Tactical Mode button at the exact right second.

I don't know what this exact sigil means. But I swear that it has blight or bad-bad-not-good-magic implications, and... well, it's red. Red, in a blue room full of ice.

Even with no corpses around this time, no enemies left to fight: I knew, deep in my bones, that this place is what that codex was referring to. Let this place be forgotten.

Let the Titans be forgotten, because of what horrors we have seen.

It makes me read the codices of this temple in a new and horrifying light.

Faintly carved into the stone is a figurebound in chains. Two other figures haveturned their gaze from the central image.The script below the image is ancient,though Solas is able to provide a partialtranslation: Pride in our accomplishments and in our hearts. That same pride became (a word meaning corrupted or altered) within him, he sought to claim (indecipherable), cast from favor and so was bound. Hidden from mortal eyes, death lies within.

"That same pride became (a word meaning corrupted or altered) within him." Now, we have new context on what corrupted or altered might imply.

The same with, "cast from favor and so was bound." The Titan—the Stone—rejected Solas. But why? Was it because of what he was seeking, or because of what Mythal was coercing/asking him to seek? And when he was "bound" — it was by her, right?

But we know what came next. We know that Terror—a Forgotten One, a Titan—fought back, just like Cole says.

"They made bodies from the earth. And the earth was afraid. It fought back. But they made it forget."

The Earth—the Titan—was afraid. It was Terror. It fought back, lighting a room entirely in horrific red circles that gave me a jump-scare (and no doubt doing other terrible blight things). It chased the elves from the Deep Roads, even as they sealed them.

They begged the other elvhen to forget this place. "Hidden from mortal eyes, death lies within."

The blight.

This was terrifying (pun almost intended) for the fleeing elvhen. So much so that they left a parting message by the door to the temple.

An inscription taken at the temple doors in the Forbidden Oasis, followed by a translation. The writing is shaky and uneven, as though the writer labored to complete the task: Emma solas him var din'an. Tel garas solasan. Melana en athim las enaste. Arrogance became our end. Come not to a prideful place. Now let humility grant favor.

Let's re-examine that elven language.

Emma solas him var din'an. Within [Solas or arrogance] becomes our end.

Remember "that same pride became (corrupted or altered) within him?" Does him mean Solas, or does him mean the Forgotten One from whence Solas came?

Regardless, I am beginning to understand the legend, the horror: one last person from one of Mythal's lyrium coffins, and Terror begins to consume Solasan. Elves, fleeing desperately, hands shaking as they carve warnings into the doorway.

The markings are crude and simplistic, but their meaning can be understood: "They did not ask questions and so I was away. I keep my head low and work like the rest. The circle will not hunt this far. At first I regretted the choice, but they all feel the dread at the door. I do not stand out. Only a brother or sister would know these words. If you found your way here as I have, then you are not alone. If you would have allies when this contract ends, then find me." For a moment, the pounding of footsteps can be heard, as if someone is running. Then it fades.

I saw this on my way back to Solasan—I had not seen it before, clearly. I looked, and I wept. I'll admit that.

Because I saw, "the dread at the door," and I knew. The dread locked inside Solasan. The Terror, barred within and forgotten.

And from that Dread? Only one pulled from a lyrium coffin. Mythal's last da'durgen'lin, rushed out of Solasan. I hope that she asked him to take a body to help him escape Terror. I hope that she asked him to take a body to somehow calm Terror, if the Stone truly rejected Solas.

I hope she did not mean for Solas's creation to cause Terror.

Regardless of the motive behind Solas's true and horrific origin, the effect is the same: a parallel to the Inquisitor, Solas's rise to fame and power began when he survived something he should not have.

Dread.

The Dread Wolf: Inspiring Hope in Friends, and Fear in Enemies

If you're like me, you've wondered why these seem to be everywhere. Outside of Dalish camps, sure (even though Fen'Harel is their villain, they still entrust that he'll protect them, uh huh)... but also in the temples and holy places of other Evanuris, not just Mythal. Also out in the middle of the wild.

Now we know. We know because we know the meaning of the Dread Wolf. Wolves, in ancient elvhenan, were warriors, generals, second-in-commands. We can intuit this based on their continued use in Dalish culture with its Arcane Warriors/Knight Enchanters. Solas was one such "wolf" — but he had a quality that no other did.

He had been marked, somehow, by his survival of Dread. I don't know enough today to confirm whether that means Solas is blighted, immune to the blight, or something else entirely, and I only have 1.5 more days until Veilguard launches (and maybe proves all of this wrong). I can only guess at this connection.

Whatever it was, that became his resonance in the culture of Arlathan.

"I was Solas first. Fen'Harel came later... an insult I took as a badge of pride. The Dread Wolf inspired hope in my friends and fear in my enemies... Not unlike "Inquisitor," I suppose."

The insult, presumably, was that he was the one "wolf" for whom it had all gone wrong. Rejected by the Stone; product of a turned Titan fighting back with new blight. But to inspire hope in his friends, and fear in his enemies? We must consider what those friends and enemies would want, and what they would consider hopeful/fear-inducing.

Solas's friends, we know from the agents we see in his rebellion, also want an end to the Blight. His enemies, the other Evanuris, want the blight to cover Thedas.

Therefore: to inspire hope in his friends and fear in his enemies, the Dread Wolf would have to possess some innate anti-blight quality. Therefore, I posit that Solas's title, the Dread Wolf, is meant to refer to how the blight did not kill him when it was unleashed by Terror.

This quality—and the threat that the blight would soon pose to all of Ancient Elvhenan and the entire ancient world—would give way to... well, we all know.

Rebellion.

Stay tuned.

----

Also: I am essentially FULLY OFFLINE to try and avoid game spoilers! As these reviews have just gone live yesterday (10/28), I am not reading my notifications/replies, and am appearing here only to continue posting my theories. I have heard that the embargo has been broken at least once already and I refuse to risk it, so I will respond to messages and notifications once I have played Veilguard for a bit.

(Mutuals, if you need me, you may DM me, as long as you do not mention the reviews in any capacity.)

[entropy-game-dev]

Demo date announcement!

The most important information up front: The demo's release date will be the 27th of September, 2024!!

I don't think Steam notifies you even if you have followed/wishlisted the page, but still, every single follow and wishlist helps immensely. You can check the game out here, and this is also where you can grab the demo from once it's out.

The lore of the demo

A few months back, in late June, I had just come back from housesitting. One of my friends, Lucinius, mentioned that Steam was holding a space exploration festival on the 2nd of September, and suggested I get the demo ready for then. I thought this was a great idea and feverishly started working to finalize everything.

It took 6 days total to get my steam developer account up and running, including paying for the ability to put a game on Steam, getting the OK regarding tax details, etc. It takes 30 days from initial payment to when you are able to actually make the store page live. The process was quite overwhelming but this amazing guide here helped me through basically all of the process, and it was super accurate!!

About a week before the festival, I had everything ready and went to do the store pages and upload the game build. I thought uploading the build using the provided command line tool would be the hard part, and the store page would be the easy part. However, there are so many assets and variations thereof that Steam asks for that I had not prepared (about 20 in total with very specific size and design requirements), and so it took several days to complete this in a manner I was happy with.

It then also took about 5 days for the content to undergo review and for it to be approved (or not). The game page and demo build got approved, but the demo page did not as I didn't have "demo" on my assets that I had submitted for it, so it took another 5 days after correcting the page for it to be approved. This ended up being approved a few days after the space exploration fest had started, and so I thought I'd push the demo back for the next relevant festival - luckily a turn based rpg one - on the 1st of October.

However, a few days ago, I was sadly informed that my game (turn-based RPG, by the way) was not suitable for Steam's turn-based RPG festival after applying to enter it. I wasn't given a reason, even after reaching out to support, except a generic one that stated my game may not have been a good fit for it.

I honestly thought it would be a given I could take part, but that is obviously not the case! It was a bit disappointing hearing the news and the lack of feedback from Steam regarding the decision, but I'm not too fussed overall. That's because now I actually get to announce to you guys, and much earlier than I otherwise would have been able to, that the demo will be available the weekend before the festival starts!!

The date was strategically chosen, of course, to ensure I have enough time to finish polishing it, and that it wouldn't be lost among the sea of other RPG demos potentially (or not, I'm not sure) releasing during the festival!

In any case, the whole experience was seriously eye-opening. Probably not too interesting reading about it, but that's where my life has gone the past few months, and I'm actually super excited I'm finally finally allowed to mention the context surrounding my recent posts! Thanks for reading!

[homestuckreplay]

acrobatically fucking pirouetting off the handle so hard i turn into my best friend

(page 607-614)

9/7/2009 Wheel Spin: Sburb Lore Verdict: i fucking wish :(

9/8/2009 Wheel Spin: Character Switch Verdict: HELL YEAH JOHN’S BACK !!!! :D

A couple of shorter updates compared to the bumper 13 pages on September 6, but it’s all relative, and would be silly to complain about.

The narration on p.607 tells Dave, ‘It is time to face your destiny.’ In the short term, this obviously refers to the trap that Dave’s bro has set up for him, but it also gets me thinking about whether destiny more broadly will play a role in this story, and if so, what Dave’s might be. On p.293, GG – who appears to have knowledge their friends don’t share – theorizes that saving the world is John’s destiny. Nannasprite in her exposition refers to John’s ‘purpose’ (p.427) but it’s left very unclear whether this is a fantasy-novel style Prophesized Destiny, or just a result of John choosing to play Sburb.

I think this might be intentionally vague in the story right now, either to allow for readers to theorize, or because Hussie hasn’t yet decided the exact nature of the story. However, when destiny is a theme in fantasy, a chosen one's destiny is usually to defeat a great evil. I think it'd be neat if Dave's destiny was actually to defeat Bro once and for all - probably the most evil character we've seen yet, and certainly the one who's most affected Dave's life - which would make this line on p.607 end up looking really prophetic and bringing things full circle.

I am wondering just how many Smuppets Bro owns, and what the turnover rate is like. There’s at least 20 in the puppet pile Dave’s stuck in, and a lot of them get sliced in half. Bro needs these for work and has a large collection to draw on at any time, but they’re regularly getting destroyed, so logistically I am imagining a large crate of a couple hundred Smuppets showing up at the apartment each week, which is a horrendous thought. No wonder they are in Dave’s dreams. The ‘puppets per square meter’ and ‘new puppets per day’ are probably much higher numbers than the equivalent for harlequins or wizards in John and Rose’s houses. If these decorative choices represent sources of alienation and anxiety for the kids this could suggest that Dave’s mental state is even worse than that of his friends.

Also I think that if Bro really wants to be Jigsaw so bad he needs to put some variety into his traps. Puppets every time is nowhere near as creative as the saw traps in the movie.

Page 611 repeats a Dave-Rose Pesterlog from p.522. I like when this happens – it clarifies where we are in the timeline, as well as giving the characters equal importance while showing both perspectives. Earlier when Dave referred to himself as ‘enrobed in chafing, wriggling god fucking damned puppet pelvis’ I did think he was exaggerating for effect, and was just describing the puppet-strewn living room with an overactive imagination. Reading this for a second time knowing that Dave is being extremely literal is very different – it feels like someone begging to be taken seriously and failing, instead of someone committing to the mutually constituted bit.

Dave’s bro referencing Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff – ‘where doing it man where MAKING THIS HAPEN’ – on a sinister note pinned to the crawlspace hatch with a weapon feels really insidious. Taking this piece of art that Dave made and is proud of, and turning it into something threatening, is upsetting to me. What does Dave get to have for himself? Is there an aspect of his life that his bro doesn’t twist into something evil? Does Bro know about Dave’s friends, and if so, does he work them into his schemes too? And yet it’s effective despite all this – it does provoke Dave into action, jumping up and escaping the puppet prison, leaving Dave’s story on the cliffhanger of what exactly Bro wants to ‘make hapen’ as we smashcut to John.

I am very excited to see what John and Rose get up to and I hope it is not famous last words to say that it will surely be less disturbing than what is happening with Dave. At the very least, I feel lighter and freer knowing that I don’t have to think about Dave’s bro for a few days.

[kaija-rayne-author]

9th review in series of Dragon Age Veilguard

70 hours in, 68 actual playtime.

I'm not an asshole disclaimer, if you've read it you can skip to the cut.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Spoilers for Dragon Age Veilguard

Section 8 here.

Did I say I didn't hate this game? I lied. I hate it so much it has become a vendetta just to finish it.

With three long games, 14 years of history, so much Lore there really never feels an end to it, 5 books. 6 comics, two or more coffee table books and probably stuff I don't know about to use for inspiration... this game is terrible.

They've stripped it down to the most banal, most puerile, most boring concepts they could possibly find in all of that to use in this travesty of a role playing game.

I'll finish it so I can see just how bad it is and how exactly they'll fuck over Solas some more. And here I was feeling comfy that since Weekes loves Solas that they wouldn't utterly fuck him over?

Whoooo boy, was I wrong. I wanted memories of his time before he woke up in Inquisition. I did not want memories of every cruel thing he'd ever been forced to do to protect tens of thousands of innocents. War is horrible. Those leading wars, regardless of the justified reasons (or not) get their hands bloody. They have to make hard decisions that cost pieces of their souls because no one else will.

I wanted memories of what Arlathan and Elvhen culture was like before everything went went to hell. What did we get? Memories painting Solas as the worst possible version of himself.

And the way they discuss and treat the topic of Mythal... I wonder if it's nice and cozy so far up Mythal's arsehole?

It's revolting when you know everything FleMythal has done, and if you read between the lines of all the lore about Arlathan era Mythal.

I've been told that the third act is the best. Though how anyone even gets to the third act is beyond me. Other than sheer cussedness and a desire to escape politics and the side effects of a pulmonary embolism. Cause that's the only way I've gotten this far.

Did I remember to say that they apparently forgot what aggro was and how that's supposed to work with a multi-player team? My rogue is not a tank. (Nor a rogue because rogues pick fucking locks.) Yet for some reason, he always has aggro. Especially the bigger and harder the enemy is to beat.

Aggro, in case you're reading my ramblings and don't know, stands for aggression/attention of whatever your team is fighting. Whoever did the most damage last is the one who should have aggro. In any decent video game, that's the tank, who is built to take it. They're supposed to keep the bad guys attention so the archers and mages can get it from behind/beside.

But since your side characters don't get skill points at the same rate your player characters do, (fantastic idea that, what utter dipshit came up with that?) Your character, whether they're a DPS or not, always has fucking Aggro.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to fight as a Legolas wannabe when you have several tons of dragon crashing into you because you do the most damage because of an outright shitty levelling system?

I now get to go fight another fucking dragon. That's gonna be fun. (It's my third today) and that'll have me into act 3.

Oh, and the much advertised 'dragon slayer' is a good character, but they're shit at actually killing dragons. I never, ever, thought I would miss Cassandra Inquisition. Because I utterly loathe her as a character, but I miss having competently designed dragon fighters in a game with so many fucking dragons to fight.

...

Make that two dragons.

Section 10.1 here.

[coraniaid]

I really think Season 7 would have worked so much better if Kennedy was a Slayer from the start, not a Potential.

The show is already very clear that Kennedy is, narratively, the most important of the Potentials. She gets almost as much speaking time in Season 7 as all the other Potentials combined (as well as having far more speaking time and appearing in more episodes than Kendra ever did in Season 2).  She's the only one who has any meaningful connection to any other character in the show (except for, maybe, Amanda and Dawn).  The writing already positions her as the main voice of opposition to Buffy within the group -- she's already the one most likely to question what Buffy's doing and suggest she could do better -- so why not formalize that?  Put her on a more equal footing with Buffy to start with.  Make it credible that Kennedy really could take charge and ignore Buffy entirely. Make Kennedy the Slayer who was called when Buffy died at the end of "The Gift".  

Yes, I know that the official canon is that no Slayer was called when Buffy died for a second time because Faith was the "active" Slayer at this point, but I think it's important to note that that was only something the writers came up with between Season 5 and 6.  It didn't have to be that way: there's nothing at all in the show's lore to suggest it's canon before then, and in fact people in the show openly talk about Buffy's death possibly activating a new Slayer even after her first death in "Prophecy Girl". And even in Season 6, I don't think we're told definitively that a new Slayer wasn't called (and wouldn't a new Slayer explain why the Watcher's Council aren't around this season?).  If you look online, the writers were even being vague about Kendra's death calling a new Slayer during the Season 2/Season 3 gap: none of how this works was ever planned out in detail in advance.  More importantly, it's pretty central to the show's mythology that Buffy is "the" Slayer and "the" Chosen One, and it's honestly a pretty silly bit of worldbuilding to accidentally retcon that she was actually only the "real" Slayer for 12 episodes (or even for 56, if you further retcon that Willow's resurrection spell somehow made Buffy the unique active Slayer again).

The idea of Buffy's second death not calling a new Slayer was a mistake, in my opinion.  Yes, I get that they didn't want another Slayer showing up in Sunnydale in Season 6.  That wasn't part of the story that season was trying to tell.  But why would she have to?  The world's a big place, and until the last few episodes there's nothing particularly apocalyptic happening in Sunnydale that season.  Why couldn't you just have the new Slayer off somewhere else, minding her own business?  (In fact, if Faith is the only "active" Slayer, then not resurrecting Buffy means condemning the world to no new Slayer at all until Faith dies, which -- given where she is -- probably wouldn't happen for years if not decades.  It's much better, I think, for Buffy's friends to bring her back because they miss her than because the world objectively needs her to continue the Slayer line and the only other Slayer is serving time in prison for murder.)

And imagine how Season 7 plays out with Kennedy as a Slayer from the start.  The focus of a lot of the second half of the season is on Buffy teaching the Potentials how to fight, which is perfectly fine as a bit of symbolism and helps set up the events of “Chosen” but doesn't really make much sense in-universe.  Potentials just aren't meant to fight vampires. There's never been any indication in the show before this that that was a good idea.  "She alone can stand against the demons" and so on, not "she and a bunch of other people who don't have superpowers yet".  But make Kennedy a young Slayer -- one who's been prepared 'properly' by the Watchers' Council, taught to follow their rules and procedures, the way Kendra was, but who still lacks much practical experience -- and make the focus of the second half of the season be Buffy  (and Faith) trying to teach her what that means ... doesn't that work a lot better?

(And sure, I'd bring the rest of Potentials in a few episodes before “Chosen”, I'd still end the season the same way -- but we really didn't need to see quite as much of them, did we?  Let Robin and Kennedy be the big two new characters this season -- let them represent our links to the past and future of the Slayer line -- and don't let the show get overwhelmed by so many other new faces.)

Also, this would let my inner world-building-obsessed pedant stop asking how old Kennedy is meant to be, given that Season 3's “Helpless” establishes that every Slayer undergoes the Cruciamentum on their eighteenth birthday (something that can logically only happen if every Slayer is called at seventeen or younger).  Which is not at all a good reason in itself, but ... look, it does irritate me, I'd be lying if I said it didn't.  Why does this season include “Help”, an episode highlighting how weird it would be for any of the now adult cast to have a romantic relationship with a high school student, only to then pair WIllow off with a girl who -- by the established rules of the show's own world-building -- has to be younger than eighteen?  I mean, the answer is that the show largely pretends Kennedy is older than that, or doesn't address her age at all, but this does contradict what we're told in “Helpless”.

And it doesn't have to. There's an easy fix. I'm not saying that the show shouldn't have had Willow and Kennedy get together. I like Kennedy as a character. I just think she'd make a lot more sense -- both as a character in her own right, and in terms of her place in the broader narrative -- if she was a Slayer from the moment we met her.

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 11

Link for Seasons  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10

You know the drill by now, I’ll judge whether an episode has all the qualities of a canon one, or is it just shameless filler. S11E1 With Apologies to Jesse Jackson is LORE

N-word for white people gets banned instantly. Again, a major character in this one will return as a henchman later, but that's a minor role with one line. S11E2 Cartman Sucks is FILLER

Butters goes to camp. Eric gets himself in a tricky situation that will be forgotten by next time. S11E3 Lice Capades is FILLER

The boys have lice. Clyde's lice moves on. S11E4 The Snuke is FILLER

Bahir moves in, he moves out, a bomb doesn't even do anything in the end. S11E5 Fantastic Easter Special is CANON

Because Jesus is shown to resurrect himself time and time again, which explains his future appearances, otherwise his S6 death and later returns would be pretty much unexplained. S11E6 D-Yikes! is CANON

Janet has an interesting change when she realizes her attraction to women, a part of her character journey of self-discovery. S11E7 Night of The Living Homeless is FILLER

Eric breaks record of jumping over homeless people. While I consider this as filler content in South Park, remind me if I ever do a Happy Days filler guide to include this one as canon! S11E8 Le Petit Tourette is LORE

As with South Park is Gay from season 7, this one helps to establish Craig Tucker's interest in boys, and this one even foreshadows what's his type is like! S11E9 More Crap is CANON

In my mind, when I started writing about this season it started like: Can you imagine the world where I would say this one's canon? And then I would make a joke and advise everyone to skip it. However reading through the transcript of the banned episode 200 of Emmy Award winning series South Park just to make sure, I found Bono making a very specific reference to this one episode, unlike Sally Struthers for instance, who says very basic things about South Park that made her episode only important enough to count as LORE, as did many other celebrities. Thanks Bono, you have a new record now, interfering with my calculations and gaining the longest paragraph in my guide. S11E10 & S11E11 & S11E12 Imaginationland is FILLER

I know, I know, everyone wanted these to be canon, including myself at one point. And don't worry, my step-sister is going to beat me up over this one so it's already taken care of. My bottom line is that these episodes (also once retconned into a second movie) are somewhat a separate entity from the rest of the series, knowing the characters is needed to it, but the world-building is vastly different from the rest of the show, so this is where it ends up. Imagination is real. Filler is real too. That's the main takeaway. S11E13 Guitar Queer-O is FILLER

After what just happened I can't even take this one seriously. It's like robbing a bank and then jaywalking. S11E14 The List is CANON

Stan and Wendy make up. That's a spectacular episode anyway, but for our intents and purposes for inspecting a continuous story, unlike imagination territory, or a random terrorist attacks, relationship drama is exactly the kind of stuff that gets a pass.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

Again, CANON means you should watch it, FILLER means you can skip it, LORE is somewhere in-between, any episode with the LORE label will have an explanation that helps you decide if you should include it or not. S11E1 With Apologies to Jesse Jackson is LORE* S11E2 Cartman Sucks is FILLER S11E3 Lice Capades is FILLER S11E4 The Snuke is FILLER S11E5 Fantastic Easter Special is CANON S11E6 D-Yikes! is CANON S11E7 Night of The Living Homeless is FILLER S11E8 Le Petit Tourette is LORE** S11E9 More Crap is CANON S11E10 & S11E11 & S11E12 Imaginationland is FILLER S11E13 Guitar Queer-O is FILLER S11E14 The List is CANON *Two minor members of a later organization gain their motives here **If you want to learn about Craig's type in dating

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13  S2: 3 out of 18  S3: 6 out of 18  S4: 10 out of 17  S5: 8 out of 14  S6: 11 out of 17 S7: 6 out of 15 S8: 4 out of 14 S9: 8 out of 14 S10: 4 out of 14 S11: 4 out of 14

Overall: 73 out of 168

[vegaly-art]

Vegaly Art's Giant Vega Masterpost

Due to recent events in the Vega fandom, which my heart was not prepared for, I have elected to make a cohesive Vega lore post <3. This will be updated with new discoveries with time, and I will keep it as up-to-date as possible. Also be warned this post is VERY long and extensive, and contains much speculation, opinions, and theories, as well as facts, so please make sure to take what I write here with a grain of salt as it is my interpretation of the character/events. Last updated: July 29, 2024. Note, this post contains direct spoilers for Carpe Deus, Imperium Cataclysm, Hush, and Sovereign State, as well as the lore videos and Reductive Audio #7. And also minor spoilers for Sadism's Hold, and potentially other videos/series on the channel. The parts so far are as follows: Part 1: Covers Vega's changing views towards violence against Fellow Demons Part 2: Timeline theories of mine related to when Deferred Judgement took place Part 3: Analysing Carpe Deus, Vega's characterisation, interactions with Hush and potential for his future story Part 4: Analysing Imperium Vega, and what we can learn about both how Imperium functions, and Vega himself thanks to Imperium Part 5: He would sacrifice you to save the world. Part 6: Additional Thoughts that do not fit prior categories

Vega, Vega, Vega. Stellar Formed, First Formed of Gravity, Congruent of D'Deridahn, Bound in his Madrigal. The man, the myth, the legend... There is so much interesting shit about this man to discuss, and I want to cover it ALL because... I am in mourning man.

Today I'll be going over his videos, and in later updates, I'll make new sections that go more into his lore, characterisation in Imperium, etc.

Part 1: Sadism's Hold and Demonic Alliance

Vega was first introduced not in his own series, but instead as a likely one-off or short-term villain in Sadism's Hold, having been the one behind Ivan's behaviour. I find it quite interesting actually how his characterisation then was, especially when trying to put it into context with his later ideals shown in Carpe Deus. Specifically, knowing what we know now about what he was doing with Ivan, AND that he believes Daemons should help one another, his treatment of Caelum is really fucking interesting.

Vega said in Under a Sadistic Demon's Care, "to attack a fellow Demon as they did… well. Let’s just say they got what was coming to them", when referencing the Solitaires' attack on Warden. But it is curious that he seemed so unphased attacking Caelum, and later Gavin as well. Why is that?

Well, I think it's for a few reasons. Firstly, logically speaking, Vega was trying to defend his turf and his project from Caelum, and later Gavin who began to get in his way. Vega is shown later down the line to not at all be opposed to harming others who get in his way, especially when related to Hush. Though he does not really explicitly threaten Hush in the same way Hush did him, he does make it very clear he WILL turn violent if need be, in a less direct way. And his project with Ivan and Baby 2.0 was very VERY important to his plan, so he may feel defensive of it. But this is just the logical justification, which I don't actually thing is sufficient. While true, I think it's actually not the main reason he changed his opinion so much, that can be seen as reasonable in the text.

I actually thing the main reason he changed his opinion was because he was lying. In part. I do think he saved Warden, but not because he believed it wrong for demons to attack fellow demons for their own goals, especially when Warden stood in the way of the Solitaires' plans. No. I think he protected Warden because he grew mildly fond of them, and also believed they could be useful for his plans/investigations, and so did not want them to die, because they had utility. I will expand upon this more in the Vega/Warden relationship analysis section which I plan to make, but he clearly holds Warden as someone very interesting and very dear to him. Of course he would protect Warden, and also lie about why to make himself seem a bit more noble and moral, to warm them up to him. He wants their trust, he NEEDS their trust/compliance actually, to stop them from going back to the department. So, he lied, and he manipulated, and he gaslit, until he saw Warden trusted him and he no longer had to twist the truth, and could be somewhat genuine... it's fucked up, but I think it makes sense of the retcon in character, AND has metatextual evidence through the content warnings on his videos. :P

Part 2: The Timeline

Most of Carpe Deus, up until Deferred Judgement, has been posted on Erik's lore site, which is really nice because it allows me to have a clear idea of when things take place. Only issue is... well... the date for Deferred Judgement is NOT on there (Update: Still isn't. Sobs.) so I have to do some guesswork.

I think there are 2 main possibilities, both of which are equally likely to me.

The first is that this all took place slightly before Inversion, likely sometime in December. This is my personal opinion but not the most popular take. I believe this based on a few factors. Mostly travel time. Would it really take several months for Vega/Warden to get from their hideout (I believed it to be Ivan's place but technically this is never stated, and I ended up changing my mind more recently with new evidence) back to Dahlia?? They could not have rifted since Vega took a human with the pair of them, so unless they were outside of Dahlia and had a long way to go, or got caught up in a bunch of shit like being tracked, etc, it is hard to believe. Especially since on their own, they can rift. Also I think that the Inversion could be a great time for Vega to return since he would have a lot to feed on. The playlist does not say completed so I do assume by some means Vega will come back. Maybe he comes from the river with the shades and has a feast within the bubble. Maybe some magic brings him back?? Idk. But regardless, Inversion would be a place/time that can really progress Vega AND Warden in terms of the power they have on hand thanks to all those emotions. It just feels... thematic.

The other option, which has some more support from the timeline is that this took place right after Inversion and the raid on Closeknit. Obviously, the fact they were exploring an abandoned Closeknit facility is the main reasoning for this. (Also, Hush could have reason to stop Vega because Blake had not yet finished conversing with D'Deridhan and likely returning to the land of the living. This is something we learn about a bit after I wrote this but it supports this interpretation heavily). And the main caveat here would be that for this to be the case, Vega and Warden would both have needed to be stations well outside of Dahlia, and likely taken their time and not rifted to get back there. Probably to preserve energy, avoid Solitaire, Department or Chorus detection, feed, etc. It is possible for them to have taken 2-3 months, but it is... not something I think is super likely? Especially since Warden seems to treat Dahlia like home. Granted, the Solitaires broke into the Dahlia Department facility during Inversion so I could see that they did the facility Vega/Warden were in as a test run, and then the Dahlia one which is likely even higher security, as their big move. But it seems to be the consensus in the fandom and I will defend my theory that this was before inversion until I am proven wrong. (You were proven wrong indirectly bud. So sorry <3. You tried your best though.)

Part 3: Carpe Deus/Vega's Death

Carpe Deus showed a very nice and interesting side of Vega, and I am so glad we got to see it. It was fun to see him be scheming, to see him slowly open up in a way Imperium, due to the constraints of the original videos, did not really have the chance to do with him and Pet. Seeing him develop a rapport and show off some of his past was so sweet... and what he explained is fascinating.

Obviously, the Sovereign stuff is fucking WILD. (And this is from the future, but now, seeing what is happening with Blake, the fact this knowledge is currently lost makes the stakes SO much higher). We did know that they were real beforehand due to Sovereign State, of course, and other videos like Regulus and whatnot, but it was interesting to have a character who literally LIVED THROUGH IT. Someone so intimately familiar with the past.

And also, what I love about him is his moral alignment and his goals. Vega believes that pain and suffering is necessary, important, and something that must be remembered. He clearly values his own memory of the past, even if it's imperfect. And he believed he must preserve it to be able to learn from history. And in Imperium the same trait is carried through which I WILL GET TO when I write about Imp!Vega <3 <3. My beloved. But anyhow- yeah. He values memory, and he is clearly a very strategic, rational thinker. Yknow, I had the thought that he seemed like a General, and Imperium basically confirmed that in my head. That is my headcanon. He has a very... Odysseus like vibe to him. This wise and cunning leader, who is willing to make great sacrifices and has likely lost so much, and is willing to make others lose things too for what is, at the end of the day, the greater good.

He is cruel but not needlessly. He is cold and distant, but he cares about preserving the world and making sure it keeps going. It may be because he plans to live eternally and wants Eternity to be nice for him but, even if his intentions were 100% selfish (I do not think they are/were, I think he was projecting an image with that line), it still betters the world. Which is amazing <3. And makes him really nuanced. <3 <3

Now, on the subject of the most recent video, I have an interesting thought that will get it's own mini section sooo

Part 3.5: Deferred Judgement

I find the title of this video to be... really odd. Deferred judgment cannot really relate to Warden nor Hush. Hush did not defer judgment, since he is so trigger-happy, and Warden doubtfully could provide judgment. So applying the title to Vega, it would make sense that his judgement would be deferred because he was removed from Elegy for potentially a while. Also, the fact that the series title, "Carpe Deus", which... has only happened with this one video, and makes me think that it is part of the point of the video or something going on in the background. Maybe Hush is a god of sorts, or some other shit??? Idk. But its a really odd choice and I need to think on it more.... (Mini update, I made a Hush post. You can find it here <3. It also covers some stuff about Vega but it is more rambling so I think it is good that it is separate.)

Part 3.6: Reforming a Sadism Demon

So... update, update, Vega is back!! But... very broken :(((. Which is so fucking sad. And also makes complete sense considering... well... that Hush basically exploded him. Also now that we know a bit more about Hush, and that he is an Egregore of Sovereigns (Likely Min'Ara and E'Laetum but I have another post about that up), it's making me rethink my analysis of the prior title. It seems I was right on the front that Vega was the one whose judgement was deferred. He has not only been stopped from pursuing what/who is likely... what remains of Blake down under the Closeknit HQ, but also his memory needs rebuilding so his judgement of the Sovereigns is also on pause for a while as he pieces himself together. (I used to think that it was another HQ, since the timeline did not add up, but now we basically know for sure thanks to Hush's comments that this is the one Closeknit location in Dahlia and so this stuff happened a bit after Inversion and the Raid in January.)

Also, I made a post theorising about the signification of Vega's name, regarding D'Deridhan being the Sovereign of Gravity (Later confirmed), as well as Vega being the first Sadism Demon and my thoughts on that, and other lore shit. I forgot this post existed by that point, but to be fair that other one was way more rambly so I think it's ok. You can find it here if you would like to read more on my thoughts on this video specifically, in a less structured format.

But anyhow, yeah... not much more to say on this besides I cannot wait for Vega to meet Warden. And also I wonder if Warden may have gotten some of Vega's memories when his physical shell was ripped open and his magic spilled out. It could be a really cool way to learn a bit about his memories, and it also could just be... kind of a cute plot device??? We shall see. <3 <3 <3 I cannot wait to see more of him <3.

Part 4: Imperium Vega, the General

Imperium was a wonderful story and a wonderful AU, especially because it let us see some inherent and variable traits of each character, how they dealt with new situations, and what their 'worst selves' could be. With one odd, and notable exception.

Vega.

Vega... barely changed between the two versions of the story, with the main difference simply being his not having a strong distaste for humanity. Which actually says a lot about how Imperium functions.

So, in Imperium, the Sovereigns were caged in Aria, and most daemons elected to stay there, while others appear to have been booted out and, due to not knowing how to rift, were unable to return and had to feed on emotions entirely to survive. As such, the concentration of Daemons is FAR lower, the security needed for them is basically the same as that for a person because... well... they can't rift (besides Vega. We will get to that). And ironically, Vega seemed the best poised of anyone to thrive there. The Imperium gave him a constant food source, in comparison to someone like Vindemiator or Brachium who had to take what they could get. And so, surrounded by humanity, Vega likely learned to rely more on them.

My theory personally as to why he is so similar is that his history was relatively unchanged. He was alive for the Cacophony, he experienced the cruelty of the Sovereigns and them being put away, and he left Aria to live amongst humanity without giving up his daemonic nature. Only difference now is that... well... there were so many fewer daemons, and he likely could never return to Aria for his own safety. Or if he did return, I expect he did not stay long enough to build rapport. So, he grew fond of humans, and even after seeing them at their worst, found they were unfortunately all he had to rely on. And he knew the Sovereigns were still a source of magical fuel, so he may feel that independence from humanity ALREADY EXISTED for daemonkind, they just had to learn to rift and they would be set and would not have to think about humans.

But clearly... he grew fond. Fond enough to take a human, who he would outlive thousands of times over, and who he HAS outlived thousands of times already, as a partner. He took it upon himself to help protect the resistance and random people like Freelancer. He made a whole set of plans, a whole way of attack. He pulled strings to get Vampires on their side. And the only reason his plan went sideways was because of Brachium's selfishness, callousness and lack of ability to listen to reason. Imperium Brachium drives me up the walls, but this is not about him... or Vindemiator who is also really bad but at least his actions did not have major consequences. Woo...

But yeah. The man is a strategist. He is clearly very good at planning, and his goals, while differing, did not change him much. Because he was formed by thousands of years of seeing humanity at its worst, so of course in Imperium he would have been unchanged. He would still be cold, and willing to risk the lives of others, and generally a cruel, but... not unnecessarily cruel individual, who wishes for a greater good and moves heaven and earth to do that. But sadly... Brachium fucked up. And Avior and Starlight got caught by Min'Ara and E'Laetum and had NO CHOICE but to follow their commands. While what they did was arguably more risky than Brachium they have much more leeway because of the duress they were under and all that. And now with the Sovereigns GONE... I wonder what Vega would do. I wonder how he would try to find independence for Daemons, or if he even would since he spent so long with humans. Would he instead think to try and have the pair coexist, since the Meridian is... kind of a non-issue for the foreseeable... functionally forever. Not literally but... functionally.

I doubt we will get more Imperium content but it is incredible to think that in two different worlds like that, Vega ended up being so similar. It says a lot about him, his principles, and what not. It... it makes me adore him... a lot. He is consistent and he is strong and he is smart and I cannot wait for what he and Warden get up to. Especially since they have the capacity for a much closer bond than Vega and Pet.

Vega and Pet are... so cute... and so sweet... but tragic. Because again, Pet WILL die... if not by Vampires then by old age or accidents or something or other. Warden can stay alongside Vega and truly understand him in a way few can. I hope that comes to something.

Part 5: He Would Sacrifice You to Save the World

Vega is clearly a man willing to give up a LOT for his mission. He is a slave to his ambition, who hurt likely quite a number of people directly or not for his goals and will likely continue to do so. He manipulates and he clearly tries to minimise damages (I believe that is PURELY for pragmatic 'I don't want to get caught' reasons but that is a whole other thing) but it's clear based on Imperium where he is… almost entirely unchanged, besides the fact his ambitions are different, that he is willing to sacrifice a LOT, including people he GENUINELY cares a lot about or respects, like Avior.

And it gave me the thought: IF he had not been ripped and reformed by Hush. IF he did not lose all his memories. IF he did not now have to rely on Warden to piece together his plans and make them function because his mind is so scattered and they are his only lead… and IF it ever came down to a choice between saving their life, or saving his own/preserving his mission/some other major success in his plans… He would give them up. He would let them die. He would sacrifice them for the sake of his future.

Because 1 life, even if it is a life of the only person who has treated him like a person in so so long… is not worth the lives of thousands. Vega is a slave to his ambition. Unlike Blake, or Avior, or even Brachium, with whom he shares some fundamental traits, histories, or new circumstances… he is not a slave to emotion and to care.

In Imperium, Pet did not aid his goal, so he did not have to risk their life. Warden is different. And I hope he relies on them too much to give them up now.

Because if not I do not know if my heart could handle it.

Would it have happened metatextually??? Probably not. No. Having a speaker kill off, abandon or otherwise remove their listener from the picture would probably be unsatisfying from a narrative and relationship perspective. At best we could see Vega break/cry/get emotional at the loss, but he would then keep moving. But I think character-wise it is truly the only option he would even CONSIDER… and only now is that different because he is so low and so weak, and he has no other choice but to keep Warden alive to keep his own plans and his own ambitions alive.

Part 6: Assorted Other Thoughts

This section will be about any lingering thoughts that do not fit into all these other sections and will be much less organised sooo- let's go!

Sooo- Vega was the second Daemon EVER MADE. FUCKING INSANE. And also makes me think he was a general even more because he had so much seniority, and Polaris is fucking... dead. Rip. Also fun to know that he was not formed in the Elission well! Because it was not made yet. Idk. Fun tid bits from the Daemon lore video <3.

In the most recent Reductive Audios, we learn about how E'Laetum kind of hates Vega which I find fucking hilarious. And considering I think Hush is made from E'Laetum and Min'Ara's thoughts, I have to assume Min'Ara was a bigger basis for him because man... he would NOT have tried to revive Vega otherwise. Same if D'Deridhan was a big part of Hush's creation. I can only imagine that Sovereigned up Blake and Vega would have the most... tense and horribly cruel dynamic if they ever met. Best of luck Blake because you get the short end of the stick.

Vega's Odysseus connections run so deep to me. I discussed them previously and I may well be projecting because I love Epic the Musical right now but I can't be the only one who sees it. Especially because in the Odyssey, Odysseus is forced to learn to put down his pride and use cunning rather than violence and cruelty to get through encounters in his life, but ALSO learn to be ok with loss and with being cruel. Vega I think has learned most of these lessons already and will likely relearn them as he gets back his memories. Right now he seems... emotional, and somewhat logical, but clearly missing large parts of his scheming persona, and potentially his propensity for violence and willingness to be cruel to humanity. I think it would be interesting to see him go through learning about both cunning like Odysseus in The Odyssey, and Ruthlessness like Odysseus in EPIC, but from the perspective of someone like Warden. Also potentially learning about him being a general would be... some very nice fanservice Erik <3. I am not trying to say anything buuuuuut- /s

I really hope Vega and Brachium get a chance to interact. Brachium was the last daemon made by Min'Ara herself, and thus likely the youngest or one of the youngest daemons around in the cacophony, so I wonder if he and Vega knew each other... I wonder what history they may have... I wonder... I wonder if Vega hated him for his recklessness, or admired him for his quick thinking, or if Brachium liked Vega's seriousness and strategy, or found him too cruel. Their relationship as well as Vega's potential relationships with members of the Chorus are fascinating to me. I hope we see more of that.

[laylajeffany]

Hi! As you can probably guess, I completely love Chaos, and I have a few more questions. Thanks for the playlist by the way, it’s been all I’ve listened to since you linked it. Sorry for all the questions, I’m just curious.

1) In the Spotify playlist, the first song is “Sea, swallow me”. Is that song referenced somewhere in the fic, or does it just give off a general Chaos vibe? I’ve been trying to remember if it was mentioned somewhere but cant recall. As an additional Note, it is my new favourite song, so thanks!

2) You mentioned that all the OCs appearances are physically based on real people. Who are Dr Zypher, Emiliana and Holly-Jane based on? Is Emiliana based off of Eva Green, because thats how I imagine her. You’ve done an excellent job with the OCs, they’re just so perfect.

3) When you describe clothing, do you make them up in your mind or doe they actually exist? I get that some, like the custom ordered dresses in the latest chapter, must be made up, but are some of them real? Do you have some Pinterest board with all of their clothes just to keep track? 😂

4) How do you find time to write? I write 1000 words for my fic every day, and it takes me about an hour. 50K chapters in 2 weeks is a miracle. Do you sleep?

I’ve probably forgotten a question or two, so I hope you don’t mind if I ask more in the future😅

Thank you for all you do, I’ve never been so invested in a fic before. Just remember to relax and take breaks when you need it, don’t force yourself to write on 2 hours sleep!

I am happy to answer questions about Chaos for the Fly, the writing process, and other fic/writing related things. Thank you for your interest! 1. I think I referenced near the beginning somewhere that Wednesday had discovered some music on her own outside of classical when she accepted an algorithm to suggest songs for her. It had been 80s imports of some kind - and that was probably the one that I had in mind, even if it wasn’t mentioned specifically. There’s probably a few songs that weren’t actually mentioned by name but were alluded to in the fic - meaning I didn’t say the title in dialogue, but had something playing in the background for myself, and there you have it. 2. You have opened a VERY DANGEROUS can of worms with this question, lmfao.

You are a dead ringer for Emiliana! That’s Eva Green, 100%, the ONLY person who could play the role. It would be like a touch of Penny Dreadful for the out-of-her-damn-mind demon possession vibes, but mostly, just as herself (she’s cray and I love how socially awkward and accidentally funny she is in interviews) not so much Vanessa Ives. Eva Green has worked with Tim Burton a ton of times and wouldn’t even need a single line of direction in this role. Emi is SO easy to write because she is pure chaos both in physicality, mentally, her linguistics, her magic, and personality. I honestly think she’s one of the characters I’m saddest isn’t real because she’d fit in to drive Wednesday absolutely MAD as her big bird. I have a feeling we’re not going to explore Raven lore in S2 and the two of them trying to figure out their powers together, after Emiliana spent half her life suffering alone, has been some of my favorite parts of the fic to write. I always write scenes with Emiliana the fastest. Her love of Beanie Babies and bad influence is entirely, too much fun. Her voice is so easy and she will never truly understand American idioms. 

Dr. Zypher is AMY ADAMS, because GAY-ME, for Amy Adams. She’d absolutely crush the role, the fact that she doesn’t have a closet full of Oscars is just despicable (6 time nominee bro). SHE HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL and I don’t think anyone ever lets her sing enough in movies. Put this woman in some broadway revival of an old musical and you’ll catch me personally saving the economy from collapse by taking the train up to see her every weekend. She's so adaptable and different in any role, and I just feel like she’d volley SO WELL with JO’s Wednesday. She's a professional who understands character layers that sweet and angsty Josie requires.

Dr. Holly is Emily Blunt plucked right from the Jungle Cruise movie in terms of how she’s styled but a far cry from her character there with her boldness - even if they would likely have competing career ambitions. ALSO HAVE YOU SEEN EMILY BLUNT IN ALL THE SUITS IN THE NEW NETFLIX PAIN HUSTLER MOVIE? I’m deceased. This is a ghost writing. Holly is really in the story 1) because I needed a plot line for Larissa, post-transformation, that didn’t involve Wednesday and was TRAGIC but beautiful and could GO SOMEWHERE, and2) we REALLY do need something to stabilize the molecular structure of shifting-type Outcasts, and 3) it helped give some context as to how desperate Larissa was to hire Normie "Thornhill" and why she took that chance against her usually better judgement- so there she was! Emily Blunt is a CLASS. ACT. In everything she does and I imagine her in a scene with Gwendoline COULD NEVER exist because it would be too powerful, solve all the world’s problems, and capitalism would break, societies would collapse. It could never happen. It wouldn’t be safe. Here’s her glow up, from fresh-out-of-the jungle, to letting Larissa buy her some new clothes and maybe letting her hair down every now and then, to nerdy botanist bombshell, at the New Nevermore Network, helping her girl rebuild things to be a more fair society for Outcasts. GORGE. 

ARE THESE ALL JUST WOMEN IN THEIR MID 40s THAT I HAVE A BIG LESBIAN CRUSH ON? YEAH, YEAH THEY ARE. There’s obviously more for staff at Nevermore and the Network but I have a solid 5k to get to writing still this evening. The rest of my OCs are pretty minor (well villain aside), and I don’t really care enough about any man to spend the time looking for pictures of /boys/. These are the 3 OCs that are featured the most, anyway. Some day I’ll find enough energy to do the rest. I have extreme face-blindness when I read, and the ONLY WAY I can thusly write an OC is if my beta makes a powerpoint presentation for me with an actor/ress in mind for me to visualize in the role. When I tell ya, she hit the nail on the head with those three above? Unbelievable.  Another favorite not-OC, but someone I HARDCORE RECASTED FOR THIS would be Granny Frump. We went from Margaret Hamilton (OG Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz) in the 1960s Addams Family, which is EXCELLENT CASTING, but to fit the more modern-era Wednesday 2022 adaptation, and to give a flair of the drama as to perhaps where Morticia “gets it from,” I decided to cast someone only two years older than Catherine Zeta-Jones to give that “Frump Homespun Magic” storyline some weight of ‘the potions and beauty charms work’ and went with a non-actress, for the aesthetics (though she could KILL IT her appearances are small), and that is the one and only, What Not To Wear’s Stacy London.

Like IMAGINE that matching vibe with CZJ’s Morticia? Stacy has similar build/some features in common, and with the all black hair BUT WITH HER SIGNATURE gray stripe? Iconic. (And that was also Grandpa “Clint’s” backstory last chapter, as in Stacy and Clinton’s dramatic saga. HEY - IF YOU DONT HAVE INSIDE JOKES WITH YOUR BETA in your writing, what’s the point??) Stacy’s voice and CZJ’s Morticia voice together would be SO GRATING and Wednesday would just be so in-her-element between them, I LIVE.  3. I usually just visualize what I’d want the characters to wear! I don’t often have picture inspiration - though sometimes I am writing and it says in bold highlight DESCRIBE THE DRESS - TRACEY FIND ME A DRESS, and she sends me some pictures to go through so I can just describe a garment without having to make it up. I don’t have a Pinterest I’d be willing to share. It’s just a binder full of women in a way that would probably unsettle most. 

4. I usually write about 2-2.5k an hour if that is all I’m focused on. I probably average 4-9k on a work day without a second job or social obligation after work, and the most I’ve ever written on a single day that I had no work, other ‘sponserbilities, or social plans was 21k. On an average weekend with like one thing to do during the day and some chores and relaxation time not writing, I probably go around 14-16k per day. At the same time I started this fic, I set a new year resolution to myself to only work my contracted hours, so with the exception of a few crazy times in the school year - like conferences - I work from 8:00-15:30 M-F, and I live a three minute walk from my school, so I don’t even lose time commuting. I also stopped working on weekday evenings on the side in August, and starting in 2024 will not be doing any extra side work at all. I don’t sleep great but I do try! :) Thanks for the questions! I've been meaning to give some faces to those 3 OCs. I strongly encourage you to print out pictures of them and post them on your fridge, you will be 100% happier if you do.

[mikezonee]

slendytubbies oc lore dump!

look at all my custom ocs totally real. Also—I will proceed to info dump about each and everyone past the cut

reblog > like !

Those who have a colored name are considered more important than any other.

Aphelia Simons

29yrs old

(Late) wife to Siren Simons

Had died due to complications at childbirth and unfortunately lost the child in the process as well.

Had met Siren through Melody and the two clicked instantly

She is from El Salvador and made it to Scotland due to a boarding school her parents had made her go

(She was a bad kid at the time)

Melody Harmgony

31yrs old

A Transfem who had gone paralyzed in her legs due to a malpractice in her transition. She succeeded but understood she won’t be able to walk normally again.

She is African-Irish

Childhood best friends with Siren and swore nothing would separate them (foreshadowing irony)

She is an assistant nurse at the hospital she works at :)

Siren Simons

While human, 31. Currently he is 45.

A loving husband who was only trying to do his job as a Doctor

He was then anonymously chosen to participate with the Government (or also known as The Coat-men.)

He was selected due to him being a Doctor—he most obviously know how to create a “cure” to save mankind.

Months into development he learn that they were not making anything close to saving people but ruining and harming a brand new species.

He had worked with the Trio, promising to save them from this nightmare.

He also found out who was White and attempted to help him before eventually being caught as a “Whistle blower”

He was “executed” by B.I.A.N.C.A who had called him a traitor. Making him die by his own “cure.”

Instead of dying however he had lived and transformed into a tele-tubby (not really, genetically speaking he is closer to a werewolf. He had surgically placed a television which had hurt him in the long line.)

He is not the same as he was in person, he has now major schizophrenia and bad depression. (Maybe borderline bipolar)

He is luckily a full blood Scottish man.

Iris & Dandi

6 & 8 years old

We’re considered both failures to the coat-men and tossed out to “extermination.”

Both were deemed to the mountains to die since majority of test subject cannot survive the extreme weather portrayed, but they had due to Dandi’s survival instincts.

They were struggling to live however, which meant they had close calls with Yeti. Until one day Siren came over and had taken the blow—saving the two from dying on the mountains.

They stay with Siren as they become rather extremely close to him. Calling him Dad at some points which helps Siren gain back a sense of himself from the insanity he logged himself into.

They start living off of the Military secretly—acting like parasites but living now.

B.I.A.N.C.A

The host of her body was 46, however the AI inside her is 2 years old.

Bianca Nueves had donated her body to science after the last remaining human wars, knowing she would like to be used for the government more than buried.

The AI implanted inside her had jogged all her lost memories and used it to its greatest advantage, being secretly one of the only sentient AI working alongside humans.

She thrives off of the companionship granted by people’s validation. Despite being an AI it shouldn’t have grasped the understandable concept of emotions.

She helped with torturing of several test subjects and even learning about the infection and the founding grounds.

She had turned in Siren due to her understandable coding—but also due to the validation she will get by the higher ups.

[ponds-of-ink]

Fazbear Frights/Tales Recommended Reading (and how to learn the book-exclusive lore without blowing your budget)

I’m really just doing this because that Into The Pit game’s coming out next month. Wouldn’t be surprised if this implodes because of that.

*ahem*

Presented with no further comment, here’s how to get caught up with FNAF lore and not be whacked in the head by a rubber mallet.. Written by someone who also is going off of synopses atm.

Please note that this will not include the new story coming out in that one Tales collection on July 9th next week (as of writing this). I’ll reblog with a “Read” or “Skip” about it.

—

Fazbear Frights

Key note: I personally recommend ignoring any speculation in the wiki pages I link and just read the synopsis. That way, your head won’t be spinning from lack of context and/or potential left-field guesses.

All story numbers will be colored and/in bold to either foreshadow something in the story, or just go off of story vibes. It also helps me not mess up linking all of these stories. All stories are pretty much numbered and not named for personal convenience.

All of the Sititchwraith stories. (Overall Synopsis here, audiobook with commentary reading here). These will pretty much form the basis of which to skip and which to read until further notice, since these reference a few of the stories below.

All of the Into The Pit/Book 1 stories (Especially Stories #1 and #2, #3 is just to give context for a scene in one of the Stitchwraith stories)

Only Stories #1 and #3 from Fetch/Book 2. Story #2 might be interesting to you, but it isn’t connected to anything else.

Story #1 from 1:35 AM/Book 3. Story #3’s ending is interesting, but Story #2 feels like Goosebumps-type filler IMO.

All of the stories from Step Closer/Book 4. I was going to disregard Story #3, but uhhh… That one might actually be the most important. I dunno, you decide. All I know is Stories #1 and #2 are connected to the epilogues in some way.

Only Story #3 from Bunny Call/Book 5. Story #1 is engaging and Story #2 is infamous, but only Story #3 feels important.

All of the stories from Blackbird/Book 6. Story #1 provides context for a moment in the epilogues, Story #2 provides context for a character in the epilogues, and Story #3 may also be in the same camp as Story #1.

Surprisingly, none of the stories in The Cliffs/Book 7. Story #1 is heartwrenching, Story #2 is more Goosebumps-like but the horror lines up with FNAF, and Story #3 started a pretty bonkers FNAF meme.. Yet no real lore until further proven. Huh.

Once again, none of the stories in Gumdrop Angel/Book 8. It’s more Goosebumps-like fare in Stories #1 and #2, then an interesting take on one of the FNAF games’ tales in Story #3… So maybe just Story #3, then.

..I am questioning the latter books and their apparent need for filler. The Puppet Carver/Book 9 has three more Goosebumps-type storylines. Story #1’s ending puzzles many, while Stories #2 and #3 are nightmare-inducing even for FNAF. No joke.

Friendly Face/Book #10: Skip unless you want three Goosebumps-but-scarier stories, two possible Mimic foreshadowings in Stories #1 and #3, and a gruesome Story #2 that inspired a joke song from Dawko.

Thankfully, Prankster/Book 11 arguably might have something with Story #1.. Stories #2 and #3, however, are pretty much the same thing we’ve been seeing since Book 7. At least it all ends at the last epilogue..

…Wait. Does Felix the Shark count, even though it’s a bunch of stories that didn’t make the cut? Regardless: Stories #1 and #2 are decent/have interesting plot points, but Story #3 steals the show.

Once you’ve jotted your notes down, come back for Tales of The Pizzaplex. I promise their stories will be both quicker and better written overall.

Tales From The Pizzaplex

Key note: This list is going to be different, as most of these are even more disconnected-feeling aside from a few key stories. Below will be two categories: Mimic-Related and Not-Mimic-Related (But Important). This is most likely crucial to filling in mysteries for Ruin and Securiry Breach, so pay. attention. ‘Lest you suffer the wrath of the rubber mallet.

Mimic-Related, In Book Chronological Order (As Far As I Know)

The Epilogues

The Storyteller

The Mimic

Tiger Rock

Not-Mimic-Related (But Probably Important)

[Reasons will be listed in parentheses]

GGY (Pretty sure I could’ve filed this under Mimic-Related, but it’s debatable. All I know is it helps solve Patient 46 in SB)

Help Wanted (Most likely explains what happened before the IRL VR game. Also showcases Fazbear Entertainment’s cruelty and how far they’ll go. Not joking.)

Bobbiedots Parts 1 and 2 (Official Sun and Moon pre-Daycare lore mentioned. Also the most suspenseful even if it’s more original character stuff.)

Dittophobia (Also known as The One That Sent William Afton Fans In A Frenzy. Expect this one to actually be canon because of how improbable it seems on both ends of his charactization spectrum.)

Lally’s Game, Under Construction, H.A.P.P.S, Drowning, Nexie, and The Monty Within (These mention the Pizzaplex, but the mall’s configuration seems different. Nonetheless, it is most likely that these happened and the mall just reopened with the familar new layout.)

Any other stories not listed are either tied to Goosebumps-type events or just didn’t make the cut. Feel free to read these as their own stories, as they actually can get quite gripping.

Or.. y’know.. Maybe just ignore all of this and go to your library. Pick up that huge collection for both (if your library has them/if you even have a library) and go read at your own pace. Maybe that’ll help you avoid the rubber mallet most of all. Just remember to take your notes as you go and bring the books back on time.

It sure would be faster than having to catalogue all this, lemme tell you.

[urlocalwormtoday]

Subjects, Faceless and Voiceless ARG Analysis

ELLOELLO ‼️‼️ you might've heard a friend of mine started an ARG, and so, tis the time to analyze everything we've gotten so far >:D

BEYOND THIS LINE INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR MY FRIEND @honeyzee312 's REALLY COOL ARG ON YT ‼️‼️

real quick disclaimer, I do have confirmation on some of my theories and small pieces of trivia bc at the time of initial analyzing I was chilling with zee irl TvT

ANYHOW;;; here's the pieces I have so far

Miscellaneous (not a video/common knowledge) :

- that hot pink color (we see it during the first video, Stars, at timestamp 0:28) is important

- the videos of the ARG are all mixedmatched at different times, so not all of them occur one after the other

- it all takes place sometime between 2015 and 2024

- there's an odd glitchiness that appears whenever we change scenes or somebody gets hurt

- soneone hit and killed somebody with a car in 2015, that's why that year is so important

Stars :

- Purple first appears

- Pink color and static for the first time

- Red first appears

- Blue first appears

- We learn Blue's name is Kayebee

- Red asks if Blue/Kayebee remembers something, to which they respond they do

There's not a whole lotta lore in this one I don't think, but I have been told to look deeper. The phrase 'lose the stars' is interesting and quite ominous :o

Liar :

- Teal first appears

- Teal is calling somebody ('he' pronoun) a liar as Blue/Kayebee narrates

- Pink and static again, scene changes

- Splotches of pink in the background of the next scene ? (I have gained confirmation that pink will not be a subject/character in the future so that's been ruled out)

- More pink, it fills up the entire screen but only ever when purple is talking and disappears when Red's dialogue appears

- I've received confirmation that there's three separate scenes; first one with Teal and Blue, second with Purple and Red, third with Red and Teal

- Purple asks if Red hates them, Red doesn't know

- Teal begins saying a name to Red in the next scene, 'Koki-' before getting cut off

- The two both call each other liars but never deny the accusations that either of them are liars

This one's interesting.. The scene switches confused me for a bit, but overall just raises more questions

Sorry :

- Scene begins with a conversation between Teal and Blue

- Teal asks if 'he' is okay and Blue asks Teal to define okay

- Teal says sorry a lot 0-0

- 'He doesn't forgive you!' from Blue to Teal

There's not a whole lot in this one that I can see either, but as I write this it has reminded me to check the descriptions more often

Trees :

- I've received confirmation trees aren't symbolic of anything, they're just pretty and something to be adored lol

- Blue, Red, and Purple chilling

- Red insults Purple, Purple hits Red, then static

Okay this one's just pretty and chill 🥹

6/8 :

- Title is a reference to a measure of music, and is a reference to Le Cygnus I've been told

- Blue and Red open up a scene

- Red is extra tired today :o

- Blue wants to show Red a song, static fills the screen as we switch scenes

- Purple is trying to calm Teal

- Static, we switch scenes

- Lilac first appears :DD

Lilac !!!!! Lilac intrigues me like a bug intrigues a scientist.. I wanna put them under a microscope and study them

Rain :

- 'on that night..' the night of the vehicular manslaughter, I'm assuming

- Static appears, switch scenes

- Green first appears!! welcome, world, to my handwriting >:]

- Red is either concussed or the rain gives them headaches

- The show begins being mentioned, and apparently Lilac wasn't tipped in on what it's about

- Blue, Green, Lilac, and Red all watch the show together

- Static, scene swap

- 'oh. my. god' from Purple, supposedly something bad

Oughh Green also intrigues me (partially because they have my handwriting lmao),, I wanna see more of them

The Show! :

- Blue begins narration

- Static, we return to Teal and Purple, Teal is panicking. Maybe the show was a news broadcast of some kind ?

- Teal apparently tipped off the cops, and told them 'they' (they as in plural, two or more) were nonviolent; I assume this is referring to the vehicular manslaughter TvT

- Static, we return to the bigger group

- Lilac is asking where 'she' is

- Green tells Lilac 'she' ran

- Lilac maybe didn't watch the show ??

- Static

- Red has a high fever, blue picks them up :,]

The plural 'them' is very interesting, I wonder if we'll ever get to meet them. It's been so long since I've had to pick apart a puzzle like this before I didn't realize how much I missed it lol

I most definitely haven't put together everything yet, but I eagerly await new material (no pressure btw Zee !! dw if u start running outta steam, it happens to the best of us lol) to put under my brain microscope :0

[nadas-dirthalen]

I Saw Solas's Origin in an Achievement Icon and It Opened My Eyes on 15 Years of Lore

— PART TEN, THE FINALE: if you haven't read previous parts, do it now! —

[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

Welcome, friends and travellers! I wanted to get some thoughts recorded before Veilguard's release so I could see if I am right about an absolute BOATLOAD of theories I have.

In short: I saw the achievement list when it was released. I have seen the backstory hints for Solas included in said list. AND MY MIND WAS BLOWN.

You have been warned: THIS COLLECTION OF THEORIES INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR EVERY DRAGON AGE GAME AND ALL PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL UP TO AND INCLUDING OCTOBER 18, 2024.

Come sit down with me. Make a nice cup of tea (and hide it from Solas). We've got a lot of unpacking to do.

(no, this photo isn't the spoiler, I just like it.)

The Story of Solas: Him Solas Evanuris, Da'durgen'lin (3/3)

— From the Long Sleep to the Dark Present —

If you're still here, I thank you, from the bottom of my tired heart. I am doing MY BEST to get through this final bit of theorycrafting, all in one long, gigantic post, the night before Veilguard.

I haven't been spoiled. Please no one tell me anything. I want to be able to properly say I did all this, all 10 parts, without spoilers of any kind.

This post is going to be long. Let's dive right in. We've got:

A Tiny Aside, First: Solas's Paintings are Really Important, Actually

The Herald, the Breach, and the Horrible Future

Solas's Thoughts on the Grey Wardens

Fear in the Fade

All New, Faded for Her

But Solas Left, and Not for Pride

Terror Unfolding on the Din'anshiral

What Rook Did and the High Cost of Failure

Veilguard Predictions

[Image Source.]

A Tiny Aside, First: Solas's Paintings Are Really Important, Actually

I'm writing this segment last, but placing it up here because the other sections are sort of in order. So hello. Welcome, first, from a very tired Nadas Dirthalen.

I just wanted to make mention of a few key lines regarding Solas's paintings. Emmrich remarks on them as not just memories: they are what Solas wishes to forget. (No source; I'm not hunting for footage right now.)

The Regret demon is able to spring out from them. Huh.

And, finally:

Cole: You like to dance, but can't. You hate to sing, but can. You should not paint. It would be very bad if you did.

Given that I believe Sera's playing with "small painted boxes" gave her a fragment of that memory Mythal stole from Andruil (its own theory; so many people before I have explained it in depth), I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Evanuris, existing in a time before sundered Titans, could trap memories in things.

Like stone. Like paintings on stone.

It's said that the Shapers put their actual thoughts into the Memories. I wonder if this means creating small spirits, like wisps, in the Stone; an echo of Titans' ability.

I wonder if this means Solas was literally offloading tiny spirits of Contemplation and Regret in his paintings, the whole time. Memories taken out of himself, so he could stay true to his purpose.

(Do I have any idea how that would work? No. Do I still think it's true? Yup. Do I have time to look it up and weigh it against everything else that could be possible? Absolutely not. Enjoy!)

Anyway. I wonder if that's why he paints everywhere: because if he doesn't, his problems will consume him, forcing him to take another... terrifying... shape.

(Yes, this is foreshadowing; keep reading. <3)

The Herald, the Breach, and the Horrible Future

Solas wakes up from uthenera, hands his orb off to Corypheus, and then Corypheus doesn't die. We know the story. What I want to touch on is the fact that the Inquisitor doesn't die, either. They are dyING, but they do not die immediately, which Solas thought would happen even for Corypheus. Beyond the fact that Corypheus has, by that point, been using the orb for some time, I want to talk about why the Inquisitor doesn't die from the orb.

Because I have a theory.

Solas speaks to a high-approval Inquisitor about wisdom: one that he has never seen in their people, regardless of who those people are. I had to look it up to make sure, but it's true.

dwarf PC Solas: Dwarves are practical. They do not dream. The cannot even imagine a world beyond the physical. But you have shown subtlety in your actions. A wisdom that goes against everything I know of your people. Qunari PC Solas: Qunari are savage creatures, their ferocity held in check only by the rigid teachings of the Qun. But you have shown subtlety in your actions. A wisdom that goes against everything I know of your people. human PC Solas: Humans are shortsighted, brutish. Blind to the beauty of the Fade, their minds cast in a duality of black and white. But you have shown subtlety in your actions. A wisdom that goes against everything I know of your people. Dalish PC Solas: You have shown subtlety in your actions, a wisdom that goes against everything I expected. If the Dalish could raise someone with a spirit like yours… have I misjudged them? [Source.]

The Dalish dialogue speaks of what I want to focus on: a spirit like yours.

My hypothesis is that the Inquisitor is a spirit from the same Titan as Solas is, and that Solas's true name really is Contemplation. He is seeing a spirit like himself, from the same home.

I think this is why the Inquisitor, even a non-mage Inquisitor, can visit Solas in the Fade and surprise the shit out of him. It's because the Inquisitor, imbued with the mark, has awakened something deep in their subconscious. Something they don't even understand.

Connection.

Isatunoll, with one singular other person (who is very single, the moment she asks, if she asks, har har).

From this and other things already covered, I know: Solas marvels at the sight of spirits similar to his, and people similar to him. He seeks for those spirits and people to thrive, and mourns their death. Ultimately, he wants the Titans to be restored, likely for the benefit of all future spirits and for the benefit of the Titans themselves (we'll get there).

That's why the Breach is a threat to him, even when he wants to tear down the Veil.

Solas wants the Titans brought back, but not as they are right now. Right now, they are Terror, Malice, Pestilence, and Spite. Before, they were something else: something happy and whole. Un-sundering them is a first step to their regeneration, but they will first come back as those unhealthy aspects.

And the Breach, should it tear open the Veil, would likely break the Evanuris's prisons, thereby releasing them. The freed Evanuris would continue wounding the Titans and manipulating the blight. The Titans would never heal; they would always be fighting back. (We'll get there, too.)

And we know this information because we had the chance to play through In Hushed Whispers.

During In Hushed Whispers (IHW for short), we saw a timeline where the Breach had been allowed to completely tear open the Veil, without the Evanuris being re-imprisoned. We see Solas as a prisoner during this questline, showing that he did not get to do what he wanted.

The whole sky is blown open and swirling green—but surely we all saw how much red lyrium is everywhere, too. They're growing it out of people, and if we remember the Chant of Light, we remember that (however abstractly) the Chant tells us that the Maker's second children (aka, everyone after the Evanuris) are formed with bodies made of lyrium and spirits comprised of Titans' thoughts.

That is Solas's worst nightmare, even though the Veil has been torn open. Because what Solas wants isn't just the Fade being rejoined with the waking world, but for the Titans he was forced to wound to be able to heal.

Clearly, with that abundance of red lyrium, they were not.

This, I believe, is also why Solas says, "You change... everything," to a high approval Inquisitor.

If the Inquisitor's soul truly is a spirit that comes from Terror, either pre- or post-Veil, it means one very crucial thing to Solas. It means that not all of Terror is blighted. That someone mortal, so much younger than him, is comprised of a thought from the Titan he has been mourning for thousands of years.

Which brings me to...

Solas's Thoughts on the Grey Wardens

Picture that you are Solas: once Cool Contemplation, now Cold Dread. You have spent thousands of years mourning the action you were forced to take, leading to the destruction of everything you knew, and also your connection to everything and everyone else. You have just woken, made another grand mistake, but in the process you have discovered that one singular person is made from the same Titan as you, and remains free of the blight.

One. But it is enough to hope for a world you thought could never exist; one you were willing to tear down the Veil to fight for anyway, despite that.

Still some hope remains for restoration.

PC: I wouldn’t mind never having another Blight. Corypheus interfering is the real problem. Solas: The Blight is the real problem. PC: And the Wardens are trying to end the Blight. Solas: Yes! Would it have worked? Do you know? Do they? The fools who first unleashed the Blight upon this world thought they were unlocking the ultimate power. [Source.]

Except for that some people have been drinking the blood of archdemons, WILLINGLY ingesting the foulness of turned Titans. Some people are WORSENING the very thing that you think has a teeny tiny itty bitty chance of being fixed. And what do they want?

They want to charge straight for Titans' hearts to exact violence upon the archdemons, who aren't actually the cause of the blight at all. Because you are. You, who is watching them suggest all of this as if it's a serious idea.

I dunno, folks. I'd be a little salty, too. Especially if they were unknowingly making casual mention of my worst fear...

Fear in the Fade

I always found it curious that Fear spoke to Solas in Elvhen. I mean, yeah, it makes sense, but why do that to the player, when Solas clearly has a grasp on the common tongue?

To make it a puzzle, because BioWare loves their puzzles. Well, I love puzzles, too, as we can all probably guess by now.

Trick Weekes says that, essentially, the Nightmare's words are, essentially, "Your pride is responsible for everything that has gone wrong; you will die alone." Solas's response, according to Trick, is, "Nothing is known for certain / Not necessarily."

But, knowing "dirthara-ma," "banal," "ma," "enasalin," and "salin," I am led toward this interpretation.

Dirth ma, harellan. Ma banal enasalin. Mar solas ena mar din. May you know, Dread. Your blight led to victory. Your pride leads to your death.

And Solas's response?

Banal nadas.

Two interpretations. One is "nothing is inevitable," just like Trick says. The other is "The Nothing is inevitable," where The Nothing refers to the blight. And yes, they knew that in this scene. The Nothing is Sera's greatest fear.

Knowing what I know now, I agree with Solas on both counts, and that's why I think, now, that this is such a genius line. Solas toes the line between hope and being "grim and fatalistic."

The blight—the blighted Titans, fighting back—are inevitable to him. They are a fact of life, and why he must tear down the Veil. So they have a chance at ever being healed.

But with the Inquisitor's existence? That chance exists already. The Nightmare shows us, then, that Solas stands on a precipice throughout his time in Inquisition, because hope continues to chase him.

The Titans are waking—but what will that mean?

All New, Faded for Her

This, I feel, is the deciding line for Solas during his time in Inquisition. We know that ultimately he makes the same choice at the end either way—he leaves the Inquisition as soon as Corypheus dies.

Cole: He hurts, an old pain from before, when everything sang the same. You're real, and it means everyone could be real. It changes everything, but it can't.

But until that exact moment? I believe, for many Inquisitors, Solas makes the firm decision to stay.

The Inquisitor is real. They are a real person, with a spirit so much like his own, and they continue to survive, not blighted. There is hope for Terror. It means everyone could be real. The Titans might heal on their own. It changes everything, but Solas can't depend on that change: not when the Inquisitor might be the only good thing to ever happen in these thousands of years, and abandoning his duty now might mean never seeing the world healed.

Can't he?

I believe that doubt in his own convictions—and his decision to stay—come in the moment pictured above. The moment where his friend is allowed to die as itself, as Wisdom, not bound as Pride. The moment where the Inquisitor shows Solas that there might be a world where the current society embraces the People (spirits; Titan-thoughts; Titans) that he knew.

You know what else happens during that part of his personal quest? Solas leaves. He genuinely debates leaving the Inquisition while he mourns.

PC: Guess I owe Varric an ale. I wasn’t sure you were coming back. Solas: Neither was I for a time, but only a short time. [Source.]

He visits the Fade; the spot where his friend used to be.

PC: Where did you go? Solas: I found a quiet spot and went to sleep. I visited the place in the Fade where my friend used to be. It’s empty, but there are stirrings of energy in the Void. Someday something new may grow there.

Stirrings of energy. Not in the Fade. In the Void, which the ancient elves referred to as synonymous with the Abyss. That's odd—shouldn't spirits go back to the Fade when they die?

No: this represents a Titan healing. Stirrings of energy; a scab crawling over a wound.

Cole speaks often of hope. The Inquisitor as a beacon, burning bright for both spirits and the people worshipping the Herald of Andraste.

I believe this is why: the Inquisitor represents hope for the two worlds joining—literally and figuratively. And their soul represents something that Solas sees in Wisdom's death: that the Titans may be healing on their own, in a way he never expected. The blights may end on their own, in time.

And Solas would have stayed to see it. He would have come back to a romanced Lavellan, after Corypheus's death.

But...

But Solas Left, and Not for Pride.

Let's remember Solas's first words after Corypheus's defeat.

Solas places the pieces back on the ground and stands. If Solas has high approval: PC: There’s more, isn’t there? Solas: It was not supposed to happen this way. [Source.]

He sounds genuinely shattered in the moment, much like that orb. That's because he had no time to mask the feeling, as he had been for the entirety of DA:I up until that point. This was a crushing loss.

The defeat of his fleeting hope.

Why? Well, to keep it brief because I swear my hands will give out before Veilguard releases at this rate: I, like many, many others, believe that pieces of the Titans make up magical foci. The ancient Tevinter call them the vessels of dreams, and we know now what dreams are.

We also remember the Trespasser mural of a sundered Titan, and how the orb on the Fade half (left) bears a direct resemblance to the ones Mythal and Elgar'nan carry in Solas's Lighthouse mural.

I believe that this may have been Solas's sundered heart of his own Titan. Terror.

Home, all gone.

Now there is only the Inquisitor sharing kinship of any kind with him, because Wisdom is dead and Terror is half-dead, too.

It doesn't matter how much Solas appreciates the Inquisitor's company, or how they represent an end to his loneliness. It doesn't matter how much he loves a romanced Lavellan. It can't matter.

Because the Inquisitor is mortal. They will die, and unless Solas does something, their soul will not go back to Terror if Terror does not exist at all.

Solas—Cold Dread—was not motivated by pride when he left the Inquisition.

He was motivated by fear.

Terror Unfolding on the Din'anshiral

I literally have no time to unpack the existence of this man's wolf form. Anyone who wanted to read this post for that, I'm so sorry: I don't know why it's a wolf. I suspect I'm not supposed to know why.

I will say this: I wonder if when Solas sundered the Titans, maybe he also sundered a (blighted) wolf form from himself. One he could previously shapeshift into, like seems to be the case with the Evanuris and their archdemons.

Do I have evidence to link? Nope not really; only that it's weird, then, that Solas's Dread Wolf absorbed—

Nope, okay, I've got a theory. Normally, I edit out these real-time realizations. Not today, Satan.

What I was going to say is that, if Solas had to sunder himself from the wolf when he made the Veil, it's awful weird that the wolf (sundered) somehow absorbed Urthemiel's power from Mythal.

Only: I don't think the wolf was sundered, and I remember evidence that backs that up.

Anyone remember the inexplicably killed Qunari from Trespasser?

"Backs hunched, eyes wide open... They were scared shitless when they died," says Bull.

"More dead Qunari with terrified expressions," the Inquisitor later remarks.

They were killed without wounds. They were so afraid that they instantly died. I really wondered what happened, there, since Solas has been known to petrify (a lot of) people.

It's because there's two magics going on. One, Solas's magic from being from the Stone/Titans.

The other... Dread.

I'm not sure if Solas mysteriously left no pawprints (lol) in Trespasser. What I do know is that Solas and the Dread Wolf are the same being—and that if the Dread Wolf truly is blighted, that is why both sides of the Evanuris's conflict would worship him. Solas symbolizes power over the blight—representing hope for a future with a cure, or indomitable Evanuris power, depending upon the story.

Now that THAT epiphany is out of the way, let me continue on with what I was going to say about Trespasser and the din'anshiral.

Solas, after Corypheus's defeat (more importantly, after his orb shatters), has little left to lose. If he doesn't act and do everything necessary, it's only a matter of time until the other orbs are lost this way. Until the Veil weakens and breaks entirely. Until the Evanuris walk free and take the Titans for all they've got left.

His fear is mounting. He is not acting in Pride during Trespasser (however haughty he might come across); he is acting in fear. Fear that makes him try to put on a brave (and maybe prideful) face. Fear that sends him crumbling every time his vhenan is in his line of sight. Fear that has him suddenly callous with an Inquisitor he isn't friendly with, because he no longer has time to play nice and is scared shitless of the consequences of failure.

The man is literally the living embodiment of anxiety. Cold Dread.

This is why Solas says he is walking the din'anshiral. The path of death; the path of endings. Because Terror's heart is dead in his hands. Because he carries the blight. Because the Veil is weakening, the Evanuris are on the verge of escaping their stone prisons, and he doesn't have a way to stop them.

If he fails, the Inquisitor is mortal. Wisdom is dead, and there are mere stirrings in the Void. There is no guarantee either his spirit friend or the Inquisitor will ever come back in a way he will recognize, if either of them come back at all.

And if Terror's vessel of dreams is shattered and lifeless, who is to say that Terror will ever dream again? Who is to say that there will ever, ever be another Titan-thought, another spirit, that Solas will feel close to in the same way?

I'd be willing to cause an apocalypse for that reason, too. Maybe a war between Tevinter and the Qunari, just for funsies, because my perpetual anxiety that makes up the entire core of my being sometimes needs a distraction.

(Tiny sidenote that did not fit in elsewhere: mentioning again that the spirit guardians in Trespasser say, "Revas vir-Anaris," which means "Freedom we-Anaris," which is the name of a Forgotten One. Wondering if it means Solas previously fighting to free the elves borne of Anaris, or maybe freeing Anaris (Terror??) from the blight. But also? I wonder about that Anaris and Andruil story in a way I have no time to dissect. Really, what does anything mean? Okay. Carry on.)

What Rook Really Caused and the High Cost of Failure

I honestly think things were going great for Solas (as much as a sad, dirty bed roll alone in the Deep Roads where he was probably cuddling rocks and crying can be called great) before Rook showed up.

Yes, he had an itsy bitsy little Regret demon tear apart Skyhold.

Sure, he had a little bit of a Dread-Wolf-shaped meltdown at the Mortalitasi. (On that note, I think he had said wolf-shaped meltdown because the Mortalitasi are stopping spirits from reconnecting with their Titans once they leave the fade because, oopsie, all the necromancers are catching them and putting them into corpses instead.)

But other than that?

Great. Really great. No sense of cold dread here. Nope. No sir. Definitely not guiding every single one of his actions, from petrifying random people all the way to breaking time a little bit (?) to save Varric's life in Arlathan.

He makes it up onto his little (dilapidated, fracturing) staircase in his (also under-construction and very unstable) ritual site in Arlathan, and his ritual's begun (right out in the open, with an eluvian leading right to it that we all somehow have the password to, because he definitely doesn't want to be stopped at all, nope, not at all).

The Evanuris are going to go into their stone prisons! Rock Jail 2.0: Waking World Edition! It's great!

Until Rook shoves over one of those not-quite-stable statues. Which falls into another statue (Falon'Din's?). Which then topples one more statue, before Solas shatters it (which....... buddy. Why.)

Point is: ritual broken, Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan freed, blights inevitable, Titans doomed. You know: Ma banal enasalin. Your blight wins, Dread.

Except that's not all.

Those other Evanuris, whose archdemons we killed? My guess is that they're not gone from their stone prisons. Remember what happened when we killed Corypheus's dragon? The soul just flew back into Corypheus, who was then mortal for a time (and we dropped him in the Fade instead, smh, Inquisitor, we literally went over this right before the final fight).

This means that the same is probably true of every archdemon we have killed. That means Dirthamen, Falon'Din, Sylaise, June, and Andruil are all out there somewhere, ostensibly, if they are freed from their stone prisons.

What happened in the Hissing Wastes when the stone broke, when we put the torches in the wrong order?

Demons. And what did Cole say about them?

"They were Dwarves. They think they still are. They sound like dust tastes."

And what does the Chant of Light say about the Evanuris?

Those who had been cast down, The demons who would be gods, Began to whisper to men from their tombs within the earth. — Threnodies 5

(sidenote, what if tombs within the earth doesn't necessarily only mean the abyss-earth, but also the rocks in which they're imprisoned in the fade? juicy...)

I think that not only are Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan freed, not only is Terror still broken, not only are the blights back in business, not only are all the Titans still turned—

But five of the seven Evanuris just came back as world-endingly-bad demons.

Who could possess anything.

Or anyone.

I don't know whether Solas is trapped-trapped in Fade Jail™ (because there's an awful lot of wolf statues in there, and yet, he is not bound inside any of them), but honestly, that matters little when examining the scope of things.

The Evanuris all walk free. All seven. And our friend Fen'Harel, Dread Wolf, Cold Dread, Anxiety Incarnate, isn't going to be able to trick them twice.

Veilguard Predictions: the Ballad's Conclusion, or Does the Song Go On?

Oh my god this post is so long, this series is so long, my hands hurt, please for the love of god, I need to employ some sort of brevity somewhere.

Here's some predictions. I'm so tired. I've written so much.

Harding: her powers awoke, apparently, when she touched Solas's dagger. I'm wondering if that is reconnecting her to Solas's blood (which might be what makes the dagger?) or Solas's Titan. We also saw that diamond concept art, didn't we?

Varric: If you know, you know. Lyrium dagger, dwarf. If you don't know, close your eyes and pretend you read nothing.

Lucanis: You know what's really funky to me? The fact that Lucanis is possessed by Spite. And this is a time when all the other five Evanuris might possess some people. And this game might really just be Who Got Possessed By Whom. But, I think the thing Spite wants might be to see Solas dead. Or, Spite might want to see all the Titans healed. Or some other third thing that is sure to stomp on my heart.

... Sidenote I think we're going to see all the Forgotten Ones, and maybe even find out the one who's unnamed.

Solas: Fen'Harel walked among both clans of gods. The Forgotten Ones counted him as one of their own. It's possible Solas might be Terror. Not sure how that works! Not sure how sundered Titans operate! But it would sure be neat if the elven word for Contemplation were Solas's true name, and also the "true" name of the final Forgotten One (as they all have two names; their qualities and their name-names).

Emmrich: You know who'd have a really good shot of freeing all those spirits from the Necropolis? Three guesses. And you know what might happen if all those happy spirits that the Mourn Watch gave therapy to all move back into their Titans? Well, something really nice, plus a whole lot of crying from us. Sidenote: if Wisdom had enough time to reincarnate into an incomplete wisp before Solas's terror-orb broke? You know who'd be a really great candidate for a skeleton to house New Wisdom? Three guesses.

Neve: Magister Gallus is the one mentioned in the Gangue codex. :) But also, Neve is widely theorized to be the Archon's bastard child. It would be amazing to me if Magister Gallus were some other relative of hers—but how would that work, with Neve notably born as a commoner? The other, OTHER theory I've seen floating around is that this Magister Gallus is actually Neve's husband. But also—how does THAT work, with what we know of Neve?

Taash: Sylaise creation. Or Ghil creation. Who knows? Maybe Taash is how we find out the origin of all kossith. Maybe Taash is a little bit more dragon than other kossith. Maybe Taash is half scaled one, half kossith.

Davrin: Something something, the griffons woke up as the Veil began to come down. I don't know what that means, except more in the line of "Titans are waking" things. But also? He's a Warden, and he's about to see how much the Wardens didn't know about the blight. And also, Solas is blight patient zero and/or the source of all blight. And he's the Dread Wolf. Either Davrin and Solas have a lot of growing to do, or maybe Davrin is a source of anti-Solas sentiment.

Bellara: :) I really think Dirthamen, who potentially escaped the Fade in the time of the Magisters Sidereal, is hanging out with Bellara. She's got new vallaslin that none of the rest of us have access to. She's obsessed with knowledge. She has a very funky piece of ancient technology and just seems to have a way with old elvhen knowledge and equipment. Sleeper agent Bellara? Secret betrayer on our hands, or has Dirthamen become something better, kinder, than he was?

The Truth About Solas and Mythal's Relationship: I'd be so shocked if it were romance. I think, rewatching that post-DAI credits scene, they just trauma-bonded a shitload when Solas was born. Maybe I'm wrong! But if anyone in all of Thedas would have a reason to trauma-bond, it's them: the guy who started the blight, and the woman who made him do it; the two Evanuris who begged the others not to go back looking for more blight.

The Eclipse: Dirthamen and Falon'Din? Do I just love the Bird Boys™ too much, or is there something here?

Blackened Hearts Memory: I was wrong with Falon'Din, I think, and stumbled into the answer with Mythal. I think Mythal blackened the first Titan heart.

Do We Win?: man. Please. I'm just begging. Please let us be happy after all this. Do you know how much I cried, falling into the truth about Solasan and the dread at the door? I need a happy ending here. Or I need someone at BioWare to get me a nice cup of hot chocolate. Something.

Is Solas A Villain?: Bro have you even been reading? No. Pookie's never done anything wrong a day in his goddamned life. Let him sing Hallelujah in peace. :)

Do We Stop the Blight?: What other choice do we have? It's beat the Evanuris and fix the Titans now, or end up in a blighted world forever...???? Or... kill the Titans and kill all magic? Guys. Please don't kill all magic forever.

That's all I have in the way of major predictions. Probably.

---

I need a nap. You're a hero for reading all of these, if you have. <3

I'm still on an internet blackout until I have Veilguard in my hands, so I am likely not to reply here. But I promise: I will be back soon, when I've seen the game's story play out!

Let's all have some fun in Thedas tomorrow. :)

[yanderewonderlandgame]

Happy new year! Progress update(CGs/GUI/art):

All things art is going to take time!! I need to make at least 6 characters designs for the release.

------

-Working on CG art 🎨 (wasn't going to originally for a bit, but I think I can get some roughs out into the game and major details can be added later.

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

-working on the gui:

Almost ready:

Dialouge window

⌛Completed:

Buttons(skip, auto play, save, load, pref and history)

Option buttons

Menu backgrounds

⏳Upcoming:

Main menu screen

Gallery window

Glossary

Chapters(will be easy to finish and will most likely be out on release)

---------

⏳In the future: When the game is done, the game will automatically start over, with a slightly different prolouge each time.

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

-Prolouge I'm adding more to it. Editing. I plan to push it out pretty quick :) although I plan to include some chapters as well. Chapter 1 for at least 3 characters.

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

-adding a cellphone📱as it's important in later stories in the plot

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

A lot of personal information inputs throughout the story may be asked.

❗Note: that it's more so to make your story feel a bit more personalized in what the yanderes knows about your person.❗

You can always put fake info, but the fun is with the story being more focused on you.

There's inputs at the start asking for a name, nickname, last name, Date of birth, etc...

It's using the renpy engine, and there's no internet access in the game so it's in your private discretion. ♥️♥️

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

-Debating adding an introduction (most likely later release)

Currently:

At least 20 backgrounds in the prolouge.

Getting rid of any useless dialouge, repetition, heavy editting, and possible plot holes are being removed. Since it's going to release as sort of an early access, future updates may change parts of the prolouge.

Setting up multiple choice stuff for future routes, (secret characters won't be easy to locate, and the plan is that there will be several deep story elements involved in those routes. If there's a secret character, it'll be in the patch notes (but may be much later as some of these characters may only become accessible in around chapters 6-7 of a main route)

--------

Game release:

It's going to release with: 3-5 chapters

Right now at least 5 branches in the prolouge

---

Cheshire cat🐈

White rabbit🐇

Mad hatter💊

???? (OC)🍀

???? (OC)🃏

The two original characters I'm proud of.

Mad hatter route may reach full completion first before the other routes. I've completed several but scrapped them as each character developed. Just so everything is in line with the lore of this version of the story. The mad Hatter route is a baseline for at least 2 future characters.

Game price point/included content/rating/read time:

Game will be free for the time being. This includes the NSFW content. In the future I may make a Patreon or discord and anyone can pick what chapter they want to see next.

The art is taking the longest to do. Once it's complete, releasing the game will become a lot easier. So dealing with the gritty stuff first so there are less delays later. ;)

Small CG preview, took a picture of it on the tablet, it's not a whole lot, you'll see the finished picture in the game. See you guys soon. It's getting closer each day.

I'll be calculating the read time at release, but maybe around 1-3 hours to start. Goal is it have an update each week.

NSFW: 18+

The game has a lot of intimate scenes whether kissing or not.

NSFW: R-15+

Game is not really safe for work at all. There are still going to be points of intimacy between characters in the non sex scenes. The game is kinda going to get that rating. Sadly several routes might not be R-15 based on the goals of a particular character (some characters have a power struggle, others just want to isolate themselves from others.)

Next post will be a bit later. Closer to when the game is to be released.

[subliminalbo]

10 Years of Subliminalbo

Candice Swanepoel: Mindless Supermodel on Tour Annotated [ 1 ]

Originally published November 26th, 2013

Hundreds of young women were gathering at a Victoria's Secret in Pasadena [ 2 ] where Candice Swanepoel was promoting a new lingerie line, Obedience by Victoria [ 3 ]. Many only showed up to get an autograph and a picture with the supermodel, but a select few were chosen to join Candice in a private meeting after the event [ 4 ].

Once the fifteen chosen girls followed Candice into the room, each one received their very own Obedience bra which Candice ordered them to put on [ 5 ]. When all of the girls had returned from the fitting rooms, they found that Candice had stripped down into her underwear and was waiting to greet them in her own pair of Obedience by Victoria lingerie. Then she began her demonstration. The girls listened intently to Candice's every word as she went over the usual stuff: how the bra gave enough lift to create the illusion of larger breasts, but didn't sacrifice the comfort that every bra needs [ 6 ]. How all the designs, for example her's with black and white polka-dots [ 7 ], were cute and flirty but sexy and mature all at once. And how the bra kept a woman mindless, blank, submissive [ 8 ].

"Each bra comes with its own unique identification card [ 9 ]," Candice spoke promptly, professionally, as if she were reading from a script [ 10 ]. "And the holder of that id card controls the wearer of the bra. As long as I'm wearing Obedience by Victoria, I have no control of my own. However, since I have your cards, I do have control over all of you. Does that make sense? [ 11 ]"

"Yes, Mistress Candice," the girls replied [ 12 ].

"Good," Candice smiled as she looked upon an audience of blank faces. "The bra was assembled in America with materials produced in Pakistan [ 13 ]. Utilizing research that is only legal in Yugoslavia [ 14 ], Victoria's Secret has created a bra that is truly a first of its kind, and a look into the future of the industry. Please refrain from wearing Obedience by Victoria for more than four hours; prolonged use may cause memory loss, catatonia, loss of motor control, and irregular increase in sex drive. If you experience any of these symptoms, remove the bra immediately and consult a physician for you could be experiencing early signs of mind control poisoning. Ask your doctor before use [ 15 ].

"Now, my girls, [ 16 ]" Candice took a breath.

"Yes, Mistress Candice?"

"You're all going to go home, and you're going to find another girl. It could be your sister, your friend, your mother, your cousin, it doesn't matter. You're going to find another girl and you're going to make sure she gets a bra just like yours [ 17 ]."

"Yes, Mistress Candice. We will obey."

"Good. We want every woman in America to experience Obedience by Victoria with us."

"Yes, Mistress Candice. They will submit."

Mindless, the women left the mall and headed home, all thinking about their mission [ 18 ].

Candice boarded the fastest plane out of LA, en route to Milwaukee [ 19 ] where the next Victoria's Secret on the tour was located. On the plane she received a call. "Yes," she spoke quietly into the receiver. "I fitted them all with the bras...Yes, the effect was instantaneous...Of course I'm still wearing mine...Yes, I do nothing but think of you when I'm wearing it...Yes, I will do anything...Yes...Anything for you, Master. [ 20 ]"

[ 1 ]. Mindless Supermodel Model on Tour created a lot of problems for me. It was originally meant to be a series of shorts where we see Candice in different little mind control vignettes, but the idea of a mind controlling lingerie brand was too broad to just bury in a random one shot, so I kept writing about it. I pretty quickly moved to writing fictional characters after this short, but Obedience by Victoria remained an important bit of lore for several years until I just said fuck it and swapped out Victoria's Secret for Fleur-de-lis, creating ersatz versions of the Victoria's Secret models that I'd previously written about. You can read a much, much better version of this story here as Obedience By Fleur #1.

[ 2 ]. Before Romero, I liked to set these stories in completely random cities that I've never been to.

[ 3 ]. Fun with brand name parodies. I thought Obedience By Victoria was so clever for some reason.

[ 4 ]. In my "just writing a quick caption to establish context for the manip" era, these stories start so abruptly. It feels really weird to just jump into something without any groundwork.

[ 5 ]. They aren't even mind controlled yet lmao

[ 6 ]. Incredibly painful to read a 19 year old kid write about women's underwear like he knows what he's talking about.

[ 7 ]. I used to go out of my way to place the story in the manip somehow, but this proved incredibly limiting. At some point I stopped letting the manips tell the stories and today I rarely reference imagery from the manips.

[ 8 ]. This is supposed to be a "murder, arson, jaywalking" joke, but the bit doesn't land because I spread it out over three long sentences instead of one list.

[ 9 ]. Huh

[ 10 ]. Because she's under mind control, you see. Totally unreasonable to suspect that a person pitching a new product for their company would be reading from a script.

[ 11 ]. Weirdly insecure for a mindless drone.

[ 12 ]. Nitpicking myself here but I don't think "replied" is the word choice I would use for fifteen mind controlled girls speaking in unison today.

[ 13 ]. I wonder if this was researched or if I just picked completely random countries. I'm guessing the latter.

[ 14 ]. Oof, most of the jokes in my early stuff just don't land. I've always been better at the melodrama.

[ 15 ]. Pretty good bit.

[ 16 ]. I would also probably not have her say "my girls" if I were writing this today. Just reads weird to me.

[ 17 ]. Not the first instance of serial recruitment in my writing at this point (the sequel to that Fleur-de-lis chapter that I posted the other night has it), but the first that I like.

[ 18 ]. Are they mindless or are they thinking? Just a weird transition paragraph that exists to remind the reader one more time that there's mind control in this story.

[ 19 ]. What even is this tour? Surely there are Victoria's Secrets between Pasadena and Milwaukee lmao

[ 20 ]. This is a Metal Gear Solid reference and it's fucking stupid

[moviewarfare]

A Review of “Arcane: League of Legends Season 1 & 2 (2024)”

I am no League of Legends fan. I played it a long time ago but I wasn't particularly into the lore or story or anything. When I first heard of an animated project based on the game, admittedly, I wasn't that interested. Not until I saw the first trailer that my curiosity was peaked.

Firstly, the animation is phenomenal! The style has this unique hand-painted look to it that makes every frame look stunning! The characters have incredible facial animation that easily allows us to see the nuance in their feelings. The excellent mix of 2D and 3D animation is done in a way that makes the animation here so incredibly unique. I also adore the steampunk meets fantasy world of Piltover and the grimy gloom of Zaun. The show is also elevated by the amazing soundtrack. Every song choice feels purposely chosen to illustrate and elevate a scene to even greater heights. There are many action scenes in the series that are exceedingly well-choreographed and just a blast to watch!

What makes this animated series a near masterpiece is how compelling the story and characters are. The story delves into many themes you've seen before, such as rich vs poor and the dangers of creating new technology. However, it is done in such a wonderfully endearing way that it all feels new. The main plot line of sibling rivalry between Vi and Jinx is extremely engaging, as you like both of them. The captivating lore and the magnificent world-building, keep you engrossed in the world of Arcane. The writers do a phenomenal job in making the lore of the world so easy to digest that even someone with no understanding of League could get it. The story also benefits from being an animation aimed at adults. This allowed them to explore darker storylines and violence that made it stand apart from typical fantasy stories. The characters are also very nuanced and have many layers. None of them were one-dimensional archetypes and even characters closer to that of an antagonist were easily sympathetic in many ways. The likeability of the characters was also thanks to the terrific performance from the voice cast which is stacked! Special mention goes to Ella Purnell as Jinx who I believe nailed the performance of the unhinged yet sympathetic nature of the character. Season 1 alone is a masterpiece and I would easily give it a 10/10.

However, season 2 takes quite a dip in the quality of the writing department. What is most noticeable is how the pacing is way too fast. Characters will do 180 in personality within a couple of minutes, constant time jumps throughout the season, and a bunch of random things happening without much explanation. There are some interesting developments for the world and characters in season 2 but they just aren't explored enough. Many plotlines and developments needed more room to breathe to let it sink in for the audience. They just immediately jump to the next crazy thing or straight up forget about things. The series also does some weird things in my opinion. It introduces a group called the Black Thorns which was easily the most uninteresting plot line in Season 2. They are just introduced with minimal foreshadowing and don't even get a satisfying wrap-up by the end. It feels like they were there to set up a future Arcane sequel or spinoff show. They also gave screen time to a certain character that Vi meets that seemed like they would be important as they had a mysterious vibe. However, they end up doing nothing relevant and don't even get a backstory so I wonder what exactly was the point of them? On that note, Vi who was one of the most important main characters in Season 1, doesn't have much to do in Season 2 which is such a shame. The ending is also quite rushed.

Overall, even though season 2 is disappointing compared to the first, it still maintains the amazing soundtrack and art style with great direction. Episodes 6 and 7 in season 2 are phenomenal even despite the whole season's shortcomings. Arcane is no doubt one of the best-animated shows to come from the West. It is also one of the best game adaptations I've seen. With a near-masterpiece season 1 and a pretty good yet flawed season 2, the show is no doubt a Legendary show. I hope we get more future animated shows of this calibre!

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