#all of that makes this team incredible

[bladehorror]

Yeah I'd say Direwolves are viable

[youvebeengalindafied]

Wicked (musical/movie) was really like “here’s a drop-dead gorgeous perfect beautiful young woman with super high cheekbones, dark dangerous eyes, and waist-length raven-black hair, who has a biting wit, is very passionate about everything, stands up against a fascist govt, wears a midnight-black homemade corseted dress that sweeps along the floor, and becomes really really hot when she goes a little crazy….. and everybody hates her because she’s green.”

[yes-no-maybe-soo]

You know what gets me good? What makes my heart swell and my eyes mist up? What I find so touching and beautiful?

That Sylus — who in his myth was reviled and (literally) demonized by humanity at large, and who even in present day N109 Zone is vilified and largely misunderstood — is so universally beloved IRL. Idk it's just something about the contrast to the way he has been treated his whole life in game that really moves me.

For example how in Philos they would paint murals of Sylus where he was depicted as a bloodthirsty monster rightfully slain by the Sacred Judicator, whereas real humans create gorgeous fanart of him being domestic with his wife, or put him on giant led screens or dedicate breathtaking drone shows to him.

Or how the Philosians would write and tell stories depicting him as a vicious inhumane beast who's death marked the happily ever after for their civilisation, whereas real people write the most beautiful pieces of writing delving deep into what an incredibly human and good character he is, or make up endearing, amusing, and touching headcanons about him.

He was made out to be grotesque to look at by his society. In our, his beauty and his face economy was a point brought up during academic debate.

On Philos, they celebrated the day of his death.

On earth, we will celebrate the day of his birth ❤️

[consultingfujoshi]

absolutely certain that helly is in fact helena is in disguise by this point and it was not a difficult thing to work out frankly but what absolutely knocks me on my ass is the REASON she's down there. after 2x01 we all assumed she was trojan horseing herself to spy on the rest of MDR and dissuade them from causing any more trouble. makes perfect sense right the fate of this company is in her hands. but NO!!! helena with her incredibly privileged spoiled brat outlook on everything, who has been told she's part of the most important lineage that's gonna save the world her whole life, sees a version of herself she heretofore did not even see as HUMAN forging the kinds of connections she has never had once in her life, and you think she's just gonna keep sending her down there and letting her have that? when she, the heiress of lumon and great granddaughter of kier, doesn't? she wants to experience what it's like to have no one expect anything of you, where you can express yourself however you want and kiss people just because you feel like it!! she views her innie as so far beneath her and yet she's so desperate for a taste of what it's like to be her! so much she's willing to KILL HER!! she's down there because she's fucking jealous of her innie!!! girl oh my god!!!!

[vaguely-concerned]

every time gricko semi-mockingly imitates kremy by going 'and then kremy'll be like 'waddadoo waddadoo fellas etc.', years get added to my lifespan and my skin clears

[oyeixcher]

[evilkitten3]

the thing that pisses me off about the sasuke retrieval arc is. there was no reason whatsoever for tenten not to be there. not in-universe and not from a meta perspective. it makes zero sense to leave her out and it makes shikamaru look like an idiot

[rowrowronnie]

hiking time!!

[smellslikesouls]

i don’t understand why people don’t see real life as an actual life series worth analyzing. yeah it’s just a silly april fools joke, just a one shot. but every life series is “just” a minecraft server played played by people who are all friends irl. you can watch ALL of the life series and go “this is just for fun, there’s no deeper meaning here. these aren’t characters, they’re real people playing block game. who cares”

they really aren’t that different. and analyzing things that aren’t really there, looking for a deeper meaning in something silly, is the entire fun of these mcyt fandoms. looking for a deeper meaning is the entire backbone of the creative side of the community. it inspires the art, the writing, everything. it gets back to the ccs themselves, it’s the reason they even bother changing their skins.

it was the fun in the jerma dollhouse for me, going hahaha this is so silly!!! and the ending hits and i go. OH. OH GOD. and real life had those moments!!!!! i just wish the people smarter than me when it comes to analysis looked at it more.

also cleo themself said no one respects them as a winner lol

[swagging-back-to]

worst trope is found family separating as soon as the antagonist is dealt with.

[hana-bobo-finch]

leif and Vi’s dynamic is everything to me……..decades old kinda grumpy zombie moth who suffered immense tragedy and a teenage bee who likes money and has familial problems

[reksink]

More Blood, All for End of Month Bragging Rights Characters Belong To: Isogod, eternaletarstorm, neuroticartist, & RatManArtwork 💚

[feline-evil]

Wrench looking at Literally Anything and Anyone: (Rage. Disgust. Trying to kill with his gaze alone.)

Wrench looking at Numbers:

(Well listen. Ok. This is Wrench we're talking about so still some rage and still some killing-gaze but. Softer....Soft....Reserved only for This One Guy. I know it's subtle, he's Mr Wrench. But look, see hims face.)

[mundy-mick]

Happy new years, everybody.

I'm terrible with words, so allow me to keep this short. When Miss Pauling first killed our PR guy, I thought we were done for. The idea of blogs like these sounded ridiculous and, if I'm quite honest, lame.

But after doing.. whatever this is for a little while, I must say, I'm really enjoying it. I didn't expect folks to pay too much attention to it, and I just wanted to thank you guys for making the past few weeks feel extra special. I know my schedule is inconsistent, and sometimes I miss posts, but rest assured, all your dumbass questions and death threats have been seen and are greatly appreciated.

I hope to see you all for however long Miss Pauling decides she can tolerate my schizoposts. But until the day the respawn machine "mysteriously malfunctions" and I never come back, stay safe and healthy, you filthy animals

[corpocyborg]

(⊙ˍ⊙)

[hanzajesthanza]

my attempts to avoid thoughts of geralt's hanza continue to fail, as sapkowski talks about them in front of my face.

(from manuscript, on the subject of the hero and the quest):

On this expedition, the Hero (Simple or King) is accompanied by others who are stereotypical-canonical fantasy characters, in other words - clichés:

Wizard-Mentor (the aforementioned MERLIN, Obi-wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Allanon, Belgarath, Sephrenia or Moiraine, who supports the hero with advice and help); Faithful Servant (in the case of the King, literally, in the case of the Simple, rather a childhood friend, Sam Gamgee. He serves the plot to recite wise folk maxims and prove that the simple people are the most morally healthy; or to save the ass of his master/friend where magic and a sharp sword will not help, and common sense and a strong, faithful arm will suffice). Good Knight (charismatic LANCELOT, always loyal and ready to fight, sometimes with some dark secret in his life); Worse Knight (always with some dark secret in his life, ambitious like Boromir, in the clutches of Evil, secretly collaborates with Evil, regrets betrayal, undergoes catharsis, perishes); Trickster - Conniver (see LOKI in "Materia Magiczna"**), cheerful, but can cause trouble, which attracts like a magnet; Damsel in Distress, who is saved from danger on the way and included in the team. Usually a princess in disguise. For several volumes of the cycle she does not like the Hero, in the last she becomes his wife.

* Type A = Percival, a hero who does not have power and is searching it, and Type B = King Arthur, a hero who has lost his power and wants to regain it. in other words, Type A = Reynevan and Type B = Geralt :)

** another chapter of the book, "Materia magica, or the Little Magical Alphabetical Lexicon," it's a glossary of various myth and legend. in loki's entry, he recounts some myths of loki and equivalates him with other figures across various traditions: Odysseus, Pryderi, Bricriu, Mordred, Alyosha Popovich, Coyote, Anansi, Maui). then he lists a few fantasy/spec fic characters he categorizes as trickers: Cugel (Dying Earth), Kickaha (World of Tiers), Coyote (Coyote Blue), Peter Lake (Winter's Tale), Moonglum (Elric of Melniboné), Nifft and Haldar (Nifft the Lean), Random (Chronicles of Amber), Saruman (Lord of the Rings), Shimrod (Lyonesse), Silk (The Belgariad and The Malloreon), Gray Mouser (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser), Talen (The Elenium).

my thoughts:

pretty obvious assignments here, for the most part.

regis is the Wizard-Mentor, but, as he soon loses his mystique, his intellectual, philosophizing manner becomes mundane and irritating than providing magical provenance. he advises incessantly, answering questions before they're asked, giving guidance when no one asked. he only appears to be omniscient, and the others may think he's so smart because he's hundreds of years older than them, but is really just a guy, a middle aged man with a troubled youth which he learned from. his advice is not magically guided and for this reason is fallable, mortal, human. maybe the cliché is also played with in that he's a vampire, not a wizard, sorcerer, or priest, "‘I see.’ The poet sighed. ‘Is Regis a sorcerer?’ ‘No. No, not a sorcerer.’" ... as vampires are typically evil and regis is decidedly a force of good. (on this topic, @wampirzielarz once compared-contrasted gandalf and regis and it was super interesting :))

dandelion is a combination of the Faithful Servant and the Trickster. he's geralt's best friend, and doesn't fight alongside him with sword but his presence is necessary to our hero for moral support, that all makes the first part an obvious assignment... and... sapkowski lists a wide variety of tricksters of various moral alignments, but amongst them are some heroes and some best friends of heroes (and anti-heroes). and asides from being geralt's closest friend, dandelion is, after all, a rascal, who uses words and good looks to get what he wants from people. "a cynic, a lecher, a womanizer and a liar." (also, because i think szarlej also fits this double-definition as well, i won't hesitate to give them to dandelion, as they serve pretty similar functions alongside their respective heroes).

milva is the Good Knight, "always loyal and ready to fight" describes her perfectly, and her 'dark secret' was her pregnancy and plans for abortion. (though, the attribution of lancelot... well, maybe this is why some keen eyes saw a potential in yenva). anyhow, the playfulness with the cliché comes from the fact that she's a woman, which is supposed to be surprising that the hero's strongest ally is a woman. i think the "charismatic" attribute is also supposed to be played with here, as milva is simple and not too well-spoken, only so in her cursing. in other words, she's a peasant woman, and not a born-and-bred nobleman. also, for her gender, she is a play on another trope sapkowski mentions a couple of pages later, but i can't go into it now because it's too funny.

cahir is the Worse Knight, though perhaps in reverse, for all of his associations with Evil was in the past and shed like sports colors when he changed teams. he has no betrayal, "I will never betray you, witcher," all of his ‘betrayal’ was before he was even allied with the hero. but of course, for these sins, he "undergoes catharsis, perishes".

the Damsel in Distress is evidentially angouleme, being "saved from danger on the way and included in the team." the rebuking of the cliché, of course, is that geralt is "genuinely angry, genuinely confused, genuinely embarrassed" when she offers her "gratitude" to him. also, that she is no princess in disguise, just an ordinary girl, though she is confused for the princess they're after (who also happens to be another play on the damsel in distress cliché). and again, like milva, i think angouleme is related to another specifically female character cliché sapkowski calls out; but i'll save it for another post.