#all that stuff is just for the sake of fun speculation

[insomniac4000]

Useless Hotline Crush- George Clarke

George Clarkeey adjusted his headset, a mixture of nerves and excitement bubbling under his usual confident exterior. Across from him, Max Balegde lounged in his chair, grinning mischievously as he scrolled through the show notes for this week’s episode of The Useless Hotline.

Their guest? None other than Y/N, a rising star in the YouTube and TikTok world, whose hilarious skits and uncanny impressions had skyrocketed her to internet fame. George had mentioned her more than a few times on the podcast, enough for the listeners to pick up on his admiration and maybe a little more. The speculations of a crush had been building for weeks, and now, she was about to be sitting across from him. George was feeling the full weight of their playful teasing, he knew that Max was not going to let him off easy either and it started just how George had expected.

“Alright, George,” Max said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Are you ready to meet your favorite internet sensation?”

“Oh, shut up,” George muttered, but his cheeks turned pink.

Max laughed and leaned into the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to the incredibly talented, ridiculously funny, and dare I say, George-approved Y/N!”

The studio door opened, and Y/N walked in with a big smile, waving at the cameras and settling into the guest seat. “Thanks for having me! Big fan of the show.”

“Big fan of you,” George blurted out before his brain could catch up. Max stifled a laugh as George’s face turned beet red. “I mean, uh, your videos. Big fan of your videos. Let’s get you a drink, I know I could do with one.

Y/N’s laugh was warm and genuine, easing some of George’s nerves. “Well, I’m flattered. And honestly, George, you’re pretty funny yourself. Your impression of that influencer with the fake apology? Iconic.”

“Oh, thank you,” George said, his voice slightly higher than usual. “Coming from the queen of impressions, that means a lot.”

Max raised an eyebrow at the exchange, his grin widening. “Alright, enough flirting. Let’s get into it. Y/N, how did you get started making content?”

Y/N leaned forward slightly, her enthusiasm shining through. “Honestly, it started as a bit of a joke. I was in uni, absolutely broke, and my friends and I would mess around making little videos. One day, I did an impression of our lecturer that was so spot-on, they dared me to post it. I did, and somehow it blew up. From there it just kind of snowballed really.”

“Snowballed is an understatement,” Max said. “You’ve got millions of followers now. What do you think sets your content apart?”

“I think it’s a mix of things,” Y/N replied thoughtfully. “I try to keep my humour relatable, you know? Like, we’ve all been in awkward situations or dealt with people who are… let’s say, a bit much. And I love poking fun at those universal experiences. Plus, I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my skits. I’ll redo them a hundred times if I have to, no one needs to see the hours of footage on the cutting room floor,” she laughed.

“That’s dedication,” George said, his admiration clear. “Do you ever feel pressure to keep topping yourself?”

“Absolutely,” Y/N admitted. “It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and the pressure to go viral. But I try to remind myself why I started was to make people laugh. As long as I’m doing that, I’m happy.”

“Speaking of laughs,” Max interjected, “we’ve got to talk about your impressions. They’re uncanny. Do you have a favourite one?”

Y/N grinned. “Oh, that’s a tough one. I think my favourite changes depending on my mood. But people seem to love my impression of the overly peppy yoga instructor.”

“Can we get a little sample?” George asked, leaning forward eagerly, he knew exactly what she was talking about but it was for the sake of the audience who hadn’t seen anything, plus there was a part of him that was really excited to see her stuff in person.

“Alright, but don’t judge me,” Y/N said, slipping effortlessly into character. She clasped her hands in front of her chest and adopted an overly serene tone. “Okay, everyone, let’s just breathe out the negative vibes despite your life falling apart and breathe in the overpriced smoothie and retreat I’m about to sell you which you will definitely need after this.”

George and Max burst into laughter, George clapping his hands together. “That’s brilliant. Honestly, you’ve got the tone and everything down perfectly.”

“Thanks,” Y/N said, laughing along with them. “It’s one of my go-to’s because it’s just so fun to exaggerate. Anyway how do you know how perfect it is? I didn’t have you down as a yoga expert.” George’s face then went red.

“Alright, George,” Max said, turning to him with a wicked grin. “Your turn. Do an impression.”

George groaned, though the smile on his face suggested he didn’t mind. “Fine. I’ll do my influencer apology.” He cleared his throat and put on an exaggeratedly solemn expression. “Hi, guys. I’ve made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment. I’m here to take accountability, even though I don’t really mean it. Please don’t cancel me, because I’ve got a brand deal coming up.”

Y/N was practically doubled over with laughter. “That is terrifyingly accurate. The pause before ‘accountability’ was perfect.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice,” George said with a wink. “What about you, Y/N? Have you ever had to make an apology video?”

“Thankfully, no,” she said, shaking her head. “But now that you’ve done that impression, I’m kind of tempted to make a parody one. Just in case I ever need it, you know?”

“We’ll co-write it,” George offered. “Guaranteed viral hit.”

Max leaned back, watching the exchange with a knowing smirk. “You two are dangerous together. I can see it now: Y/N and George take over TikTok. The internet won’t know what hit it.”

Y/N laughed. “Hey, I’m down. As long as George can keep up with my filming schedule.”

“Oh, I’m ready,” George said, his confidence returning. “Let’s make it happen.”

The rest of the interview flew by, covering everything from Y/N’s dream collaborations to her favourite TikTok trends. By the time they wrapped up, the chemistry between her and George was undeniable, leaving Max plenty of material for teasing in future episodes.

As Y/N said her goodbyes and left the studio, Max turned to George with a sly look. “Mate, you’re not even subtle.”

“Shut up,” George mumbled, but the grin on his face was undeniable.

The comments had noticed too;

Did anyone else notice how George kept stuttering a little at the beginning like he was nervous?

George finally got his dream guest!!

So we’re all in agreement that George is smitten, right? Can we make this a thing? Because I need them to collab again ASAP!

Max teasing George is literally the only reason I’m still alive. But honestly, George’s soft spot for Y/N is kind of sweet.

Two weeks later, the studio buzzed with the usual pre-show chaos. Today’s episode was one the listeners had been eagerly anticipating: a lie detector test. George and Max had hyped it up for days, promising spicy questions and no holds barred.

As the machine was set up and the cameras rolled, Max rubbed his hands together. “Alright, George, are you ready to expose your deepest, darkest secrets?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” George said, settling into the chair and strapping on the sensors.

The first few questions were tame. Max asked if George had ever stolen anything (“Yes,” and he passed), if he’d ever lied to a guest (“No,” and he passed), and if he thought Max was the funnier host (“No,” and he failed, prompting uproarious laughter).

Then came the question that made George’s stomach flip.

“Have you ever kissed a guest on this podcast?” Max asked, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

George’s answer was immediate. “No.” The machine’s green light confirmed the truth, and George exhaled in relief.

Max wasn’t done. “Do you want to kiss any guest?”

George froze, his mind racing. He forced a laugh, trying to play it cool. “No.”

The machine’s red light flashed.

Max’s eyes widened, and he leaned back in his chair, howling with laughter. “Oh my God, George! Who is it? Who do you want to kiss?”

George shook his head, his face burning. “I’m not saying anything. Next question.”

“You’re no fun,” Max teased, but the damage was done. The comments section exploded when the episode went live.

"It’s obviously Y/N. The way he acted when she was on the podcast? Dead giveaway."

"George, we’re onto you, mate. Just admit it already!"

"Max, bring Y/N back and grill George in real time. We need answers!"

George tried to ignore the speculation, but it was impossible to miss. And as much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t stop thinking about Y/N’s smile, her laugh, the way she’d lit up the studio. Maybe…just maybe, the comments weren’t entirely wrong.

There had been a couple of messages swapped here and there since the podcast appearance but nothing else, the way Max, Chris and Arthur were going on about it you would have thought they were getting married, but a few messages was more than George was ever expecting.

What he wasn’t expecting however was a message from her when the episode went live.

“Who’s this guy you want to kiss? It’s Isaac isn’t it?” The message teased.

“Why, jealous?” George’s heart thumped in his chest as he sent the response, he was getting really bold now, hopefully it wouldn’t scare her off. He stared at his phone for a while and his heart started beating fast as instead of a message his phone started to ring, why was she calling him? He glanced at the screen and froze for a moment before answering. “Y/N! Hey.”

“Hey, George,” Y/N said, her voice light. “My notifications have been blowing up with people tagging me in the comments of that video and the other one still asking for that collab. I know we mentioned it briefly but I was wondering if you were up for it and maybe we could plan something?

George perked up. “I think it’s a great idea. Your skits and impressions are amazing—I’d love to work on something with you.”

“Awesome. Maybe we could brainstorm some ideas together?”

“Yeah, for sure,” George said. “How about lunch sometime this week?”

There was a brief pause before Y/N replied, her tone teasing. “Lunch sounds nice, but how about dinner instead? You know, make it more of a proper meeting.”

George’s heart skipped a beat. “Dinner works too,” he said, trying to sound casual. “When are you free?”

“Friday night?” Y/N suggested.

“Perfect,” George said, his excitement barely contained. “I’ll text you the details.”

As they ended the call, George couldn’t stop grinning. Max would never let him hear the end of this, let alone Chris or either of the Arthur’s but for once, he didn’t mind.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

One of my teachers believes megalodon is still alive, what should I tell him? It's the usual "Well, you can't prove it's not around" sort of argument

Oh brother... well, he's definitely wrong, because proving that megalodon isn't around anymore is incredibly easy! It's as simple as, "how come we don't see tons and tons of discarded megalodon teeth that date back only a few years, or even a few centuries and millennia, and we only find fossilised teeth?" See, megalodon tooth fossils are very common, and that's because the meg like all (most?) sharks shed their teeth as they grew new ones. If the meg was still alive we would see those giant teeth, even if the sharks themselves were "hidden" then eventually those teeth would wash up ashore after several years. But we never find them! Nor do we find lots of whale or large fish carcasses with massive bite chunks on beaches, or even living whales with battle scars left over from narrowly escaping the jaws of the meg. We could speculate on the giant squid thanks to sperm whales having fighting scars from them, but there's no similar phenomenon for the meg! The government can't hide EVERY tooth and carcass.

Oh and then there's also the more general stuff. "We've only explored 5% of the ocean we don't know what's out there" that mostly applies to the deep ocean where life is scarce. The megalodon lived in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and was a predator of the topmost layers of the ocean, most likely. It's also theorised to have given birth close to the coast. In the coastal and shallow parts of oceans we would've sooner or later spotted them. "What if it just evolved to live in the deep sea" Such a large, specialised animal that was dependent on coastal waters for breeding? In such a short amount of time, while its prey was going extinct and the climate cooled? Unlikely. The meg ate whales and large fish to support its humongous size, where does one find such prey on the bottom of the ocean, I wonder? One does not. "Maybe it evolved to filter feed" wh- Then that's no longer the megalodon, is it!!???? There are real, actual super interesting and cool filter feeding sharks that need our attention and protection, and if someone's willing to completely ignore them for the sake of a stupid argument about their beloved megadeath murdershark still existing, then that's pretty sad. At that point you can calmly whisper, "it's okay, shhhh, you can let her go. It's okay. You can miss her, but you need to let her go."

Ah, if you're going to attempt to talk to your teacher about this, I do recommend you don't get snarky like I do about this matter, because that tends to get people on the defensive. No one wants to feel like they're being made fun of (very understandable)! I'm just personally very dumbfounded about people who willfully ignore science in favour of going "I wish this cool giant gigamurder killershark was still alive so I'm going to think that way now"

[dizscreams]

Hii new follower here And I just wanna request a Jack Champion × reader having a low-key relationship like having a couple rings, wearing the same clothes and posting low-key pics of each other on their ig but not confirming it. But one day they show up at the premier of Avatar together and that just confirm that there are indeed together.

Sorry if this is too long HAHAHAHAHA and thank you!❤️

ty for the request, sweetheart! I ADORE THIS AAA!! 🩵

Lets Give ‘em a Show — Jack Champion ★

PAIRING: Jack champion x fem!reader

SUMMARY: everyone already suspects you two are together but it gets confirmed when Jack brings you as his date to the Avatar premiere!!

A/N: okay this is set when Avatar 2 was already filmed and it was abt to come out. Cause that’s when interviews started happening and he already started filming scream 6 I think and yeah I think it just makes more sense when you know the context lol 😭

It wasn’t a secret you and Jack were close. Ever since it was announced that he would be in Avatar The Way Of Water he had gained attention, so that led to curious people finding his instagram. Some people who were trying to keep up with the new avatar and the new cast and others who just thought he was pretty.

And since Avatar 2 was just a few weeks away from coming out in theaters, Jack was more active on instagram. For both promotion and for fun. They didn’t have to scroll very far to find you on his instagram, you were practically in every picture. Now, you weren’t an actor or anything you were just a friend of Jack’s, or that’s what he referred to you as towards strangers at least. There wasn’t confirmation that you were together it was just assumptions and theories from people who didn’t even know you guys.

It was a fair assumption, you both spent almost every day together and the pictures you guys posted were definitely more than friendly and fans even speculated you guys had matching rings. But to be honest it was way more fun to tease everyone by taking pictures and videos that made you seem like a couple and then continue to deny it to people. Maybe you guys had more fun with it than you should’ve especially since you were actually together, but nobody needed that confirmed!

The calmer things you guys would post would be simple stuff. Stuff “friends” that have known each a long time could get away with. That didn’t stop people from getting suspicious though.

liked by misstrinitybliss, masonthegooding, and 114,231 others

jackchampion I’m back home with @ y/nnn763 !

view all 201 comments

y/nnn763 had fun tonight! ❤️

| user527 Cute!

| user1222 👀👀

liked by jackchampion, jamieflatters, misstrinitybliss, and 117,347 others

y/nnn763 @ a cafe w the one and only @ jackchampion

view all 345 comments

jackchampion It was yummy

user6727 Are u guys on a dateee?

The more “scandalous” stuff you guys would post would be things that would definitely make people raise an eyebrow when you tell them you’re just friends. Looking at those pictures always made Jack laugh. He loved that he was able to show people you were his even if it wasn’t confirmed to the public, they still knew.

liked by jackchampion, misstrinitybliss, baileybass, jennaortega, and 80,651 others

y/nnn763 halloween :) @ jackchampion

view all 287 comments

jackchampion We look so good 😎

| user0067 THE ARM? JACK?

baileybass I love this!

user7777 the way he’s looking at her 🥹

liked by misstrinitybliss, ynnn763, and 96,468 others

jackchampion She made me match with her 🙄 @ y/nnn763

view all 130 comments

y/nnn763 you looked cute though

| jackchampion You did too :)

misstrinitybliss Aww cute I want some now 🤍🤍

user552917 sooo we’re just gonna ignore their comments orr

| user9173 RIGHT CAUSE I KNOW YALL SEE THEM

In every picture either of you posted there were comments about you both, even if one of you wasn’t even in the picture. At this point Jack wasn’t sure if he kept posting you to show you off or if it was for the sake of the bit. No, It was definitely to show you off. That was his favorite thing to do and he couldn’t wait for the day you guys finally announce your relationship so he can post more romantic pictures of you both.

His biggest worry was that he wouldn’t be able to take you to the Avatar premiere with him. He knew you loved him, that wasn’t why he was scared of asking, it was just that neither of you really talked about revealing your relationship. He figured you were both content with how things were now. With perfect timing you entered the room, “Hi,” you said peaking your head through the door.

“Hey baby,” your boyfriend greeted you with a smile, “C’mere I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” he said opening his arms and you crawled on the bed and sat on his lap while he wrapped his arms around your waist. “What’s up?” You asked curiously, it didn’t sound like he was breaking up with you so you weren’t too worried. “Y’know how the Avatar premiere is coming up?” He asked while fiddling with the hem of your shirt nervously. “Mhm” you hummed with your head slightly cocked to the side.

“Well..” he looked up at you, “I was wondering if you’d want to go with me?” A grin took over your face and Jack let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. “You serious?” You asked excitedly.

“Uh huh, I’ve been wanting to show you off for a while now, you know that.” He poked your stomach and you let out a small giggle in response, “I was just worried you wouldn’t be comfortable with it.. we haven’t exactly talked about going public or anything before,” he continued and you nodded in acknowledgment. “Well, I’d love to go with you,” you told him and gently played with his curls.

“Good.” You both grinned and he kissed your cheek sweetly before speaking up again, “Plus all those people who already think we’re dating will finally get to breathe. They can get the answer they’ve been wanting for so long.” You chuckled in response, “Let’s give them a show then.” He laughed and kissed you softly. “Let’s give them a show,” he repeated.

It was the day of the premiere, finally the day came. This was Jack’s big moment and he couldn’t be more excited. He finally gets to watch the film he’s worked years on AND bring his beautiful girlfriend with him. How lucky was he?!

He dusted off his suit and shifted his balance from one foot to another nervously. It was about time to go on the carpet where the world would see him and his cast mates in all their glory. They’d also get to see you, they’d get to see you and Jack hand in hand and Jack wanted to scream. He was both very nervous and very excited. “Your hands are sweaty,” you told Jack looking up at him. He chuckled, “Yeah I know, do you wanna let go?” You shook your head, “No,” you said softly.

You were then told it was time for both of you to go on the carpet. Jack took a deep breath and while your hands were still interlocked he led you to the carpet. There were a ton of cameras and people in front of you telling you to ‘smile!’ And ‘look this way!’

You both did what you were told and you could feel Jacks hand slightly shaking. Then someone told you it was time for just Jack to be on the carpet and you nodded and before you walked away Jack whispered to you, “Are you okay?” You smiled, “I’m fine, I’ll see you in a minute.”

You stood kinda on the sidelines as you watched Jack smile and look pretty. Then it was time for his interviews and obviously you couldn’t be there right next to him but you knew he’d be fine. You watched as he walked up to where he was supposed to go and start answering questions.

“So, Jack can you tell me who you’re here with tonight?” Damn, right off the bat, he thought. “I’m here with my girlfriend,” a bright grin adorning his face, “This is the first time we’re really telling people about us so it’s really exciting. It’s also just an exciting night in general since the movie is finally going to be seen and yeah I just can’t wait to watch it.” He nervously laughed at his rambling and continued with the interview. Answering stuff about his character and the movie. He could hear his own voice shaking and he hoped the microphone didn’t pick it up.

You were talking to Bailey and Trinity as Jack finished up, until Bailey was called to do an interview. Jack made his way over to you, “Hi,” he kissed your head. “Hi, are you alright?” you asked him. “Yeah I’m good now,” he gave you a genuine smile and started talking with Trinity as you stood beside him, you could tell his nerves were finally calming down and you were glad. You went on your phone and you found a picture you took of your boyfriend before you guys went to the premiere. Why not post it? You clicked the post button and Jack nudged you slightly.

“It’s time to go watch it,” he said flashing you with a cute toothy grin. One that you’d see on a child when they get told they’re getting candy or a new toy. This meant a lot to him it made sense he was so ecstatic. You beamed at him, “It’s showtime.”

y/nnn763 avatar premiere with @ jackchampion I’m so proud of you ml :) ❤️

YAYA!! I got totally carried away with the instagram pictures and stuff and went down a rabbit hole. I could make a whole post on instagram posts with Jack 🤭 but yeah I think I made it a little different than the request and I’m sorry! <33 not too proud of it but I hope you enjoy regardless 🫶🫶

[witchknightblack]

Posting these as I haven't before (on Tumblr), but for those interested in V5 and aren't opposed to the sporadic need for homebrew. I write some Storyteller's Vault stuff.

Blood and Country was my first and is basically "But what if rural vampires?" as well as a completely relaxed and not at all emotional, personal fuck you to White Wolf's god awful lore around Australia, which comes in the form of werewolf-hunting Aboriginal vampires.

Call to Lineage = a bunch of loresheets related to vampiric lineage.

A Life of Blood = quality of life homebrew stuff. Ever expanding document.

Unliving Cities = a "how to build your cities" book with tables, and breakdowns of the ways in which certain laws/sects affect WoD cities.

Baali Apostates = the Baali, but in V5, they're spooky and parasitic in a way that makes their threat appropriately uncomfortable.

Tzimisce Reshaping the Clan = another passion project of just re-writing clan Tzimisce in V5, because sadly they were done dirty, including speculative lore continuation, discipline changes, loresheets, loose Revenant rules, etc.

Currently working on a new supplement for diablerie, because it is my absolute favourite thing in WoD ever, and the temptation to eat other vampires for the sake of personal power and pleasure is just so fun!

[drdemonprince]

ok so i can send you the fanfic story if u want but now it feels like everyone is making fun of me and im getting called parasocial and ur saying stuff i dont understand i was just trying to have some fun

and yes I have a crush on u and lots of us do but this feels sad now like it’s started something else that I didn’t even want to start or to be out there. indont understand the oppression and objectification and stuff if i did that then im sorry. i feel bad but also can send you the story i wrote if u dont make fun of me.

im sorry if i made you feel gross. sucks being a gay autistic boy in this city sometimes.

Oh honey, this whole dustup is ultimately not at all about you. I don't know you and I haven't read the fic, and neither has almost anyone else contributing to this conversation. We're talking about parasociality, hero worship, objectification of "famous" people, real person fic, and a number of other issues largely in the abstract, and from our own highly emotionally charged positions on the matter. None of this is about you, how could it be, until getting this message none of us were even sure that the rumored fic was real or not.

It's hard being an Autistic man whom so many people have so many feelings about. That's all I'm fucking saying. If hearing a few people speculating about you (all while knowing nothing about you) feels this frustrating you can imagine how it might feel at an even larger scale.

I don't have any problem with you writing the fic or sharing the fic wherever you personally want to. As one creative to another, I know that following your artistic calling is a messy passionate business. I've written Grimes fanfic for fuck's sake. I get how it goes. Not appreciating people's reactions to the work is definitely a part of the artist's burden that is most difficult to navigate in this day and age, but it's not a reason to stop creating or a sign that making what you want to make is wrong. I'm mad at the broader cultural phenomenon of pedastalizing even remotely notable people not the act of making weird art, I do that too.

[hellspawnmotel]

Two questions:

1: Thoughts on Deltarune Toriel and her relationship with Kris alongside what her ultimate in the story will be like? Personally, I think we may get a lot of development with her if she joins us in the chapter 3 Dark World, but that’s just me.

2: Thoughts on also what Asriel’ stole in DR will be like? Considering how much of a fan-favourite he is and how Toby’s definitely aware of that, it feels we might good some subversion thrown out with him, whatever that may be like. Love to hear your thoughts on this as well.

um..... honestly I don't have that many thoughts on either of them as characters in deltarune, haha. as I've said before, I'm not really into making theories for its own sake and most of what I do is just speculating on really vague stuff, based on dialogue and themes- okay so maybe I do make theories LOL I just like doing analysis better, but I really don't have anything new to say about toriel or asriel, that hasn't been said before......

..........except, I'm not totally convinced that asriel actually exists? in deltarune?? like he exists in the lives and memories of the characters obviously, but on a meta level I don't know if he has like. a character file, a sprite, etc, if that makes sense. I dunno, I sort of suspect that might be why kris can't reach him- nothing actually exists outside of hometown and the dark world, because that's all that needs to exist to make the setting of this video game. I kinda hope that's not true because it would make me pretty sad and I'd love to meet an adult asriel, but I can also totally see it happening! on the other hand, that idea has been done before in so many other settings that involve a metanarrative or "fake"/artificial location (I can think of at least three off the top of my head) and I'm sure toby also knows that so he might not go for that angle, or do a different kind of twist on it. after all dess also "doesnt exist" within the game proper outside of other characters referencing her, same as asriel, but she's clearly a physical entity in the code. it might be that rather than not existing at all, asriel just hasn't been "built" yet because it's not time for him to appear, if he's going to. so like- he exists within the story of deltarune and he's just off having fun at college, but outside in the next layer that sits in between the game world and our world, where gaster is doing whatever, he doesnt. gaster (if we're to assume it IS him behind everything) hasn't made him yet. yknow. or hasn't acquired him. toby still has custody. I hope that makes sense

[genshinnrambles]

[4.0]: A Theory On Rhinedottir, Alchemy, and the Meaning of Sin

“One thought may end all calamity, and there will always be thoughts that may transcend time.” -The Meaning of Aeons “Separate the dust in the flames with joy, and extract the exquisite from the crude. For all in the universe comes from a single source, and all things may be derived from a single thought.” -Cinnabar Spindle

I’ve been wanting to do some Rhinedottir speculations for a while. With the new Ancient Colors world quest in Fontaine, I think now is a good time to propose a theory about this mysterious member of the Hexenzirkel, her approach to alchemy, and the reason she is a “sinner,” especially within the context of one of the Archon Quest’s central questions: what does it mean to be “born with sin”?

SPOILERS: Up to Act II of the Fontaine AQ (just Primordial Sea stuff), and Ancient Colors.

Although Rhinedottir is never mentioned by name in Ancient Colors, all of the signs of her are there: Mamere’s identity as an artist, Elynas’ otherworldliness and similarities to Durin, and the differences between the Melusine’s perception of the world and our perception of it (or their aesthetics, which we will touch on later). Ancient Colors is trying to remind us of Dragonspine and, if you were playing during this time, Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, and I believe it is doing so because it is key to the secret of the Primordial Sea and the prophecy of Fontaine.

We’ve heard Rhinedottir’s perspective only twice so far, and that was in the Windblume festival from this last year and in Cinnabar Spindle’s lore. Though we still don’t know much about her, she does identify herself as a “mother” of many children, and that she is raising the only son she has left. This, of course, is Albedo. 

We also know that she is considered a "sinner" at the center of the Cataclysm who unleashed "an army of shadowy monsters" onto Teyvat, but we have very little grasp of what exactly is meant by "sinner," and what if any consequences this label has had on her since then. Although every Hexenzirkel witch will undoubtedly be very important to uncovering the truth of Teyvat, Rhinedottir presents a particularly interesting case as the only one whose activities may have caused cataclysmic destruction, as opposed to Alice's general mischief and strange sense of humor.

It’s almost nothing to go off of, but I hope to demonstrate in this speculative theory that it’s more than enough to arrive at some answers.

Psychoanalysis 101, Round 2 

To better explain what Durin, Elynas, and Rhinedottir’s other children are, we need to use an analogy rooted in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of dream interpretation. This is a super TL;DR version of it and way oversimplified, but if you’re interested I wrote a more detailed theory about the significance of dreams in Genshin that has a full explanation of it there. (Also, it should be said that these were just Freud’s theories, please do not take any of the following as an accurate description of the human psyche and how it works. We are just having some fun for the sake of media analysis.)

Freud thought that dreams are the mind’s means of expressing unfulfilled wishes, and that the psychological purpose of dreaming is to “fulfill” those wishes. In A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, he gives an example of this through a little girl’s dream where she was sailing on a lake: this dream was born out of an unfulfilled wish in her waking life, where she had to stop sailing on the lake despite wishing to continue. Hence, “I wish to sail on the lake” becomes “I am sailing on the lake” through the dream.

Further, Freud thought these unfulfilled wishes are “forgotten” in our unconscious mind when we are awake, censored by the ego to protect our conscious mind, but that at night this censorship is weakened. This is what allows a dream to occur while we sleep. 

These unfulfilled wishes are often more complicated than a childish wish to keep sailing on a lake. Think about it this way: a wish is, at its core, a thought in our head, or a desire. What do we do with the thoughts we don’t like, the ones that are unbecoming of us or are unacceptable to fulfill? 

We deny them. 

Specifically, we repress them into the unconscious, where they are forgotten. Thing is, even if we temporarily forget these thoughts, they won’t just disappear from existence - they fester in the unconscious, waiting to be expressed. The dream, therefore, is the unfulfilled wish/repressed thought’s attempt to cross the boundary from the unconscious mind into the conscious mind - to be acknowledged, or indeed remembered.

“Unfulfilled Wishes”

Making sense so far? If so, try to think of Teyvat like this: everything that is visible, everything above ground that the light touches and that can be perceived is like the ego and conscious mind. All of these things are what you’re aware of, things that you “know” and can make sense of, things that you understand, things that fit into rules and laws and order.

Now, think of everything in Genshin that is “unseen” and “unknown”: the Abyss, the spaces underground, forbidden knowledge, things that are “not from this world,” from beyond the firmament…these are like things from the unconscious mind, the repressed thoughts that we deny in ourselves because they may reveal a truth we are unwilling to face. These things are comparatively chaotic in nature, things we’d rather avoid, or things that we wish to forget.

We know that Elynas’ and Durin’s bodies are composed of matter that’s foreign to Teyvat, and that this is a major reason why they are incompatible with Teyvat and cause its destruction. This would make them more similar to a repressed thought, something that we don’t understand or know, and attempting to understand it destabilizes our sense of self, our “truth.” It follows that their home, the Abyss, is most similar to our unconscious mind, and Teyvat is most similar to our conscious mind.

Elynas: Before I was born, I floated in the cosmic darkness. It was cold there, and lonely. I was so sad, then, and I would often cry.

So, as their mother, who or what is Rhinedottir in this analogy? Well, we can be a lot more specific than calling her a “sinner.” In fact, she’s a dreamer, and alchemy is the medium through which she “dreams”:

This was a story from long ago...  Unborn life, unfulfilled wishes,  Tragic dreams at the edge of the universal darkness that could never come true, Indwell my body, and descend unto this world.  Then, my lovely children,  Like rainwater flowing into creeks, and plants growing towards the sun,  Go unto a lovely place, and display your own beauty there with pride.  This is a memory, a memory that a child named Durin had of his mother… "Thank you, Mother, thank you."  "You gave me wings to soar and a mighty form."  "Mother, I wish to go to a land of lovely songs,"  "I will tell them about you, Mother, and about everyone else."  "I shall tell them that the place where I was born is beautiful." -Festering Desire

Rhinedottir’s children, then, are like thoughts or ideas that she is bringing to life, or “making conscious,” by moving them from the Abyss to Teyvat. It may even be the reason why the sword from The Chalk Prince and the Dragon is called Festering Desire in the first place - it’s a reference to the idea of repressed thoughts, wishes, and desires festering in the unconscious.

Should the analogy hold true, it provides some insight into what her intentions may have been in creating her Abyssal dragons. But before that, we need to take a little detour into Enkanomiya and brush up on some lore.

Denouement of Sin

Eboshi: However, the heavenly order seemed to not wish for those who remembered all this to remain on the earth. We searched and searched for a road of return, but there was none to be found.

Remember these hologram-looking dudes? They are the Shades of Tokoyo, also known as Sinshades. They are described as afterimages of the former citizens of Byakuyakoku preserved by Istaroth’s favor, specifically those citizens’ most powerful emotions, and they are only visible during Evernight:

Eboshi: Due to the phenomenon known as Sinshades, the “past,” “history,” and “truth” of Enkanomiya would endure even if left to their own devices. Eboshi: As such, great effort was expended, not that we might remember, but that we might “forget.” Lady Sangonomiya was of this view.

Like a dream, Sinshades only appear at night, and they are a kind of embodiment of history or “truth” that Watatsumi Island has chosen to forget, representing the thoughts and emotions of those who once lived in Enkanomiya. Using Freud’s theory of dream interpretation as a framework, Enkanomiya then functions as Watatsumi Island’s unconscious mind. 

Put another way, if all Sinshades are the result of strong emotions preserved in time through Istaroth’s favor, then those emotions are like thoughts, and that would make the Sinshade a “physical” form or expression of those thoughts. So, when we call the afterimages the “Sins of Tokoyo,” we are in effect calling them the “Dreams of Tokoyo,” because they are the thoughts and emotions of Enkanomiya given form, and that’s what dreams do: they convey thoughts and feelings through a series of images. 

Through the Sinshades, we see an implicit association with the concepts of dreaming and sinning in Genshin’s worldbuilding, and through them we understand that they are not so different from one another.

A Brief Note on Aesthetics

Jakob: Look at your feet. Blood, flowing like a river, fertilizing the very dust of the earth with their filthy fat.

It may have struck you how various Melusine perceive reality in a way that greatly differs from the things we see, as if at times their perception was “flipped,” if not somewhat strange. By the end of Ancient Colors, it’s clear that this is due to the Melusine being born of Elynas, who is not from this world. A similar phenomenon can be seen in both Durin and Elynas, the former imagining itself dancing with the people of Mondstadt before it “woke up” from this dream to Dvalin’s fangs in its neck, and the latter realizing that the things that it finds fun are destructive and harmful to the people of this world.

This is a part of the commentary present in several world quests and commissions in Fontaine that deal with “aesthetics,” or one’s own sense of beauty. Aesthetics are principles that differ on both large and small social scales, varying between groups of people and between individuals (see Salsa’s and Ubu’s aesthetic disagreement), and they can change throughout time as values change. In other words, they are informed by perspectives.

For example, think of what we know so far about the Primordial Sea. Neuvillette wonders how the Primordial Sea could be capable of giving life and then “suddenly reversing itself” so that it instead “devours life,” but this is just his judgment of what the sea does, and ultimately his perspective. Many others view the properties of the Primordial Sea differently from him: to them, the prophecy is comforting because it signals a “return,” or a “homecoming.” To take it a step further, Neuvillette may be making an assumption by stating that the sea has reversed itself. Perhaps this is just how the sea is, perhaps this is its “truth.”

Verenata: The "truth" will not be limited or constrained by the eyes and perspectives of the viewer, and won't be distorted by what is in their heart. It objectively exists, and it just is...like the white sand, like the bones of seastars, like the waves that crash and pound...those are "truth."

Now, imagine that you are staring at a 3D object from a 90 degree angle. If I ask you to describe the object from where you're standing, you'll be able to accurately tell me about what roughly half of the object looks like, but you won't be able to accurately describe the other half of it without help from someone standing on the other side of the object.

But how can you be sure there even is another side of the object, or that it's any different from the one you see now? From your perspective, what is already visible to you may seem sufficient to describe the object in its entirety. In other words, your perspective becomes your "truth."

It is only through considering additional perspectives that we broaden our own understanding of reality and expand on our "truth." However, broadening our perspective is usually not a comfortable experience, as is typical when we engage with ideas that differ from our own. Part of expanding our "truth" requires us to shatter our current understanding, pick up the pieces, and reassemble them into a shape that makes space for these other ideas and their "truth."

For example, when we confront Jakob at Elynas' heart, he describes the rushing currents beneath our feet as Elynas' blood. To the player, who has been swimming around in that for a couple of hours by that point, this idea is macabre and horrifying. However, when we consider Jakob’s perspective, his “truth,” it also expands our understanding of Elynas as a being that is somewhere between dead and alive, sleeping if you will, and that he is more than capable of waking up from his slumber with the appropriate stimulus. Another example is Canotila, who saw the wasteland in Rene's Book of Esoteric Revelations as a peaceful forest. When we consider Canotila's "truth," her aesthetic sense doesn't change the way we see the wasteland, but it does show us something equally important: the way that we experience the wasteland is not the only way it can be experienced.

If we return to the other ever-present metaphor of alchemy as a form of painting, we can see that Rhinedottir’s aesthetic sense greatly differs from what is acceptable and compatible with Teyvat. But, just like Mamere, she paints regardless of whether her paintings are understood by a greater audience. In time, Teyvat's "aesthetics" may change again, and perhaps her "art" will be received differently when that time comes.

Concluding Thoughts

(A pool full of Water from the Primordial Sea. Countless sins were born of it…)

So, that is why I think Rhinedottir was deemed a sinner. She sinned by “dreaming” up these chaotic life forms that were not from this world, bringing them into being through the Art of Khemia, and telling those chaotic life forms that they were beautiful, too, that the ordered and lawful world of Teyvat just needed to realize how beautiful they were. Maybe Rhinedottir was dreaming of a new world, one where her children’s wishes could be fulfilled, where they could exist with everyone, and maybe creating that world required the destruction of this one. You could also think of her as someone who has introduced “external variables” into Teyvat, which, hmmm..:

“...No matter how many times I derive it, the result remains the same, though this result is not expected... Unlike the world depicted in these ancient texts, there will be no more new civilizations born... Unless we consider introducing "variables" from outside the system... If it was that sort of power, there might be a chance…” -Enigmatic Page I, Book of Esoteric Revelations

In this way, her “children” (thoughts) were all “born with sin,” or are born from sin (dreams). If Rhinedottir is a dreamer, then alchemy is the way that she dreams: it allows her to give forms to these thoughts. And if you buy that, then there are some serious implications to consider from this whole notion of Fontainians being “born with sin,” and just what exactly the Primordial Sea might be. Definitely something to think about while we wait for 4.1. 

One last point that is more of an aside than anything else: Rhinedottir’s only remaining child is Albedo, but through this lens we see that he is not just the culmination of the Primordial Human Project, the creation of a human through the power of alchemy, but also the only known example of Rhinedottir’s “ideas” that coexists with Teyvat as it is now. As for her known extant grandchildren, they have integrated with Fontainian society and don’t seem to cause them any trouble. I wonder if she knew something like that could happen?

But…that’s just my take on it so far. What do you think?

(also, fun fact: there is a parallel storyline to this one unfolding in Honkai Star Rail right now as it relates to being deemed a “sinner” for creating life, and another parallel storyline in Honkai Impact 3rd about creation and rebirth and “returning home to the sea” and I just love when Hoyoverse connects their games like that) 

EDIT (9/8/2023): Touched this up a bit and made some grammatical corrections. Thesis is the same, some added support and re-phrasing was done to better convey it.

Sources

A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud

[echojulietfoxtrot]

I'm only going to be ranting about Deadloch for one more week - sorry and bear with me - but holy shit how smart this show is. I felt so pleased with myself for thinking I'd seen a big twist coming, and all along it was double bluffing me like a sucker, letting me think I was so damn clever while it ran rings round me.

Even cooler is how gradually it's led me from the kooky crackpot smalltown whodunnit I signed up for, with just a dash of gallows humor, to the stark, angry story of the many faces and tendrils of misogyny it was all along.

Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of humor and fun to stop it slipping into indigestible grimdark, but stuff like the interrogation scenes this week were not remotely fucking around, and all the moving parts that started finally fitting together and closing in around Dulcie & co felt like watching a huge, dangerous Rube Goldberg machine made of sexism start moving slowly and surely down the final track towards a bunch of neatly stacked dynamite.

And maybe I'm naïve, too, but I'm just the right level of thrilled about all the tension and drama, without really being worried the conclusion is going to leave me feeling shitty or cheated or purely bummed out, because it's so smartly dodged or subverted so many pitfalls to get here already.

All this from the writers of a 15 minute Youtube comedy cooking spoof???

I mean don't get me wrong, I loved it - Katering Show is fantastic - but this is an absolutely insane glow up, on par with Charlie Brooker moving from mean little spoof tv guide listings to San Junipero.

For God's sake, do not sleep on this show, and if you can catch up the 7 eps in time to speculate on the finale, even better.

[vinnystarman]

EDDSWORLD LORE ANALYSIS BUT I'M ABSOLUTELY DERANGED!!!!

"Wait this thing has LORE????" Yes!!! IT HAS LORE

I just rewatched eddsworld for the 2334idfk443th time in a row and realized I haven't seen (not that there isn't I just haven't seen) people talking about the fact that the series seems to have a really weird (and quite frankly fragile) canon, this goes to some minor details like differences between the stages of the series (retro, classical, legacy and beyond) and other stuff like how I think we actually kind of know what in the actuall hell was Tord even doing in those 8 years between his original departure and the end in eddsworld legacy BUT I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF before we start I want to make some points clear for the sake of clarity:

☆ I will be talking about the series and it's characters specifically in the context of the series, for example: I know why Tord the irl person left the series but I would be speaking only about Tord's (the character) departure, the same goes to any other irl event that had an impact on the series

☆ keep in mind this is only what I think (even though I think i'm absolutely right about everything) so if you disagree in any of my points that's absolutely fine!

☆ I will be speculating about future stuff so take all of those bits with a grain of salt because i'm a great observer but (unfortunatelly) not god so I can't acurrately see the future lolz

so…. how do we start?

well… we could start strong by one of the most interesting points I thought about!

as ridiculous as it sounds, i'm pretty convinced that Tom always knew about Tord's laboratory! and I have proof of it actually

one of the most solid proof I have appears in the episode "The Snogre" to be fair, that episode is gonna come up A LOT in this so you might want to re watch it first :3

in the minute 1:57 Tom apears with a "snow tank" that he uses to defeat the snogre, later, him and Edd have this exchange:

How'd you build that snow tank so fast?

Snow tank? (the snow falls off the ACTUALL TANK TOM CASUALLY IS OPERATING???)

this tank has the (i don't know how to call it so let's just say) serial number "CDT-01" which at the time was a nice little nudge to "moving targets" since it's the same tank the guys use in that episode but in this post "The end" world it should be noted that the "CDT-01" tank also appears in the minute 3:25 meaning up to that point the only way to access the tank was getting into Tord's laboratory and figure out what to press to get it (This tank might also be the one portrayed in movie makers but it's most likely that they are the same tank since they have the same serial number and in moving targets, this tank is stolen from Paul in that same episode AND THIS IS RELATED TO SOMETHING ELSE THAT I'M GONNA SAY HERE SO IT'S NOT A PLOT HOLE OK? BARE WITH ME)

the second one is that the lab was in Tom's room aka Tord's old room, this is the primary reason why Tord came back anyways, to get back to his laboratory (OR IS IT)

This is what I think happened:

Tom found a really suspicious button behind two frames (or one) maybe when he was moving his stuff into it and painting the walls (I highly doubt Tord had blue walls on his room), made a little mess trying to figure out what the actual fuck was going on, realized what it was and decided not to tell the guys because well… as we can see they LOVE pressing buttons and Tom knew it was gonna end up in catastrophe and shut his mouth because of that

that aside of ourselves, my second point:

The real reason why Tord was so hostile to Tom in the end wasn't (or at least not exclusively) because of his rivarly with him but more so because Tord wanted to capture monster Tom!

what do I mean by this? well to understand my point we need to understand how (i think) Tord and his army were operating at that time:

The red army as a whole has only been described once at this point in time and it was in the episode "Fun Dead" in the second 0:08 by the news lady as "Armed vigilantes" that were controlling the Zombie situation (that they [even though accidentally] caused) this meaning that as for now they aren't seen as a threat, on the contrary! They were helping the population! and maybe i'm giving Tord too much credit for this but I bet THAT (beeing seen as vigilantes and not some terrorist group) was intentional, you see, Tord is smart and a little manipulative, the most "evil" thing to do was letting the zombie infection run free and then take control of the post apocaliptic, in shambles world but he didn't, Why? you may ask; because he is more treacherous than Judas, that's why, maybe i'm looking a little too much into this but if this is the route he is going he would need more than one threat right? this is where monster Tom comes into play, I DON'T KNOW WHY ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER ASKED IT BUT WHY DID TOM BECAME A MONSTER RANDOMLY IN POWEREDD? I know it was hinted before that maybe he is half demon somehow??? BUT LIKE… MAYBE I'M DUMB BUT THAT'S WEIRD. And as the scientist he is (why don't I see more scientist Tord fanart?) Tord asked himself the same question, we know that because when we took a look into his laboratory we saw that he was studying monster Tom as it's shown in the end part 2 in the minute 2:42 (THIS GUY'S LAB IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK) this indicates that it isn't crazy to assume he was trying to take Tom out of his senses to get to monster Tom, because as we can see in that same episode he is wanted by the authorities for a large amount of money, probably because they got caught doing some sketchy stuff so, in an attempt to hype up his organization's reputation once more he tried to cause another problem for them to solve

this is what I think happened: Tord somehow knew about monster Tom and realized he could use him not only as another way to make his organization look like heroes to the public eye but also for studying (and maybe experimentation but not really sure since at that point Tord already had that weird chemical that gave life to stuff and converted people to zombies) he assumed the way to get to the monster was making Tom furious so that's what he tried, that's why he was specially hostile to Tom, that's why he was so surprised when Tom left the house (because i've seen people assume that was his objective but if it was then why did he looked so taken aback?)

continuing with Tord my next point is: We kind of know what Tord was up to all along and i'm not so sure he created the red army

WHAAAT???? VINCENT YOU ARE CRAZY FOR THAT ONE!!! WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT TORD DIDN'T CREATED THE RED ARMY? THAT'S LITERALLY HIS TRADE MARK!!! HE IS THE RED LEADER, EVERYWHERE HE GOES THE RED ARMY SYMBOL APPEARS!!!

well yes, that is true but just because he later on becomes the red leader it doesn't mean he created the red army as it is.

let me explain: in the episode "moving targets" not only do we are shown Tord's fondness of militaristic activities but also in the minute 6:12 we see Paul and some unnamed enemy base guard (that i'm pretty sure had a fanon name but I completely forgot oh well) and you may ask "ok so what?" ... Sir that's Paul, this openly states that before he joined the red army, Paul was with this other random army which if you look closely has a suspiciously similar design to the red army's uniform, not only that but again, in Tord's lab we can see a picture of 4 people (minute 2:42) and these people are: Tord, the enemy base guard marked with a big X (maybe he's dead or simply left the army), Paul and Patryck, this meaning that Tord knew them from before, now, as always, here is what I think happened: After his departure in the episode 25ft under the seat, Tord at some point found the enemy army from the episode moving targets and considering how the gang messed them up they weren't in the best conditions, so at some point between the episodes movie makers and space face Tord takes control of this army and makes it HIS red army, this could've been by force or (what I see more plausible but who knows) joined the army as it is and began working his way up until he ended up leader of it CONTINUING WITH TORD BECAUSE HE IS A SNEAKY BASTARD (i love him i hate him so much) WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIS LAB??? Tord's laboratory even though solves some questions it opens up even MORE questions like these: HOW DID HE KNEW ABOUT MONSTER TOM IF HE ONLY APPEARED IN POWEREDD AND THAT EPISODE AIRED LONG AFTER HE LEFT?? WHY DOES HE HAVE BARRELS OF THE WEIRD LIFE-GIVING CHEMICAL FROM "THE SNOGRE" AND "FUN DEAD" IF THAT ALSO HAPPENED LONG AFTER HIS DEPARTURE??? WHY DID HE INSTALLED A SECURITY SYSTEM IN THE HOUSE???

WHAT DOES THE MAP WITH THE NOTE MEAN???

well I have answers for 3 of those 4 questions, so, hear me out on this one: Tord kept using his laboratory even after he left. THIS SOUNDS CRAZY AND IT IS BUT HEAR ME OUT.

in the end part one, even though he was let in by edd Tord tried to sneak into Tom's room anyway, and he did it in a way that showed that maybe, just maybe it wasn't his first time doing it and if we look at it from a strategic perspective it's basically the perfect place to hide something like that.

it's a place that no one would search him in because well... at that point it had been years since he left, it's just a normal house where three friends live, nothing suspicious going on with that so if he had his laboratory right there it would be convenient... Really convenient, this is the reason he has stuff from stuff he couldn't have possibly had from before, that's why he had time to build his giant robot, he had all the time he was living there and also when he wasn't, that's what he knew about monster tom. that's why he had pictures of his army friends, that's why he had the chemical, because he never truly left.

this would also make my first idea even more possible because Tom wasn't even surprised to see Tord's laboratory in his room and Tord wasn't surprised either to see Tom there, this meaning that maybe somehow they had seen eachother before, maybe while Tord was sneaking in or out and Tom in an act of friendship decided to not get Edd or Matt involved for their own good

AND NOW, LET'S STOP SPEAKING ABOUT TORD FOR A MOMENT BECAUSE I NEED TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT EDD.

IS FUTURE EDD GONNA PROTAGONIZE THE COMICS MATT SPOKE ABOUT IN HIS UPDATES VIDEO?????

I HAVE PLENTY OF REASONS TO THINK THAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE BRIEFLY POSTRAYED IN WTFUTURE BECAUSE IF WE TAKE AN ACTUALL LOOK AT THE TEASERS MATT SHOWED THEY SHOW A FUTURISTIC CITY WITH DRONES AND SOMEONE WITH EDD'S DISTINCT HAIR AND FUTURE EDD'S COAT ENTERING A BUILDING THROUGH THE WINDOW SO IN MY OPINION WE ARE GOING TO GET EVEN MORE INSIGHT ON HOW'S THE WORLD DOING UNDER THE RED LEADER'S LEADERSHIP WHOHOOOOO long live cola

that aside because I got overly happy when I remembered that

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE LOBSTERS.

in the episodes "the surf and turf wars pt 1 and 2" we are presented with a new problem, for the ones that haven't seen it or don't remember, in the episodes, Matt gets turned into a lobster monster by a chemical with dubious origin, we actually have a name for this chemical! it's named "NM-8" and ok, this is maybe a far FAR stretch BUT I CAN'T POSSIBLY BE THE ONLY ONE WITH THE THEORIE THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE THIS CHEMICAL IS AN ADVANCED FORMULA OF THAT LIFE-GIVING CHEMICAL OF TORD'S I say this since both substances have similar effects, and according to this, in the same episode, the barrel of nm-8 ends up there anyways because while transporting the chemical THAT IS WIDELY STATED THE ORIGIN OF IT IS HIGLY CONFIDENTIAL NO QUESTIONS ASKED the ship hits a bump and when the captain asked "what happened" is sent to the brig because he broke the rule of not asking questions, this leading to the barrel falling overboard and ending up in the beach where it's found by Matt and the episode continues

who would need such level of secretism? who would need that much confidentiality? well I have certain people in mind, if we think about it from a narrative perspective it would make sense for the chemical to be property of the same guy (or guys) that made the other chemical to be responsible for it, maybe in some elaborate scheme to finally get back at the world after the giant robot fiasco and hey, maybe it was impossible before but now with the Tord Youtooz? WITH TORD APPEARING IN MATT'S VIDEO AS AN INTERRUPTION WITH THE STYLE OF A STOLEN TV SIGNAL???? IT'S PLAUSIBLE AND IT WOULD MAKE A LOT OF SENSE! but as always that is only speculation, I can't see the future, just theorize and communicate what I think and let's be honest, the next episode will probably be about the guys cleaning up the lobster mess (WHICH IS AMAZING AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE) but always remember, Tord ends up taking the world in the future anyways so stopping him right now, whatever he is up to is not really an option unless someone comes back from the future to help

AND THAT'S ALL SORRY IF IT'S MESSY, I STARTED WRITING THIS AT 3 AM AND HAD TO WRITE IT IN SEPARATED MOMENTS SO YEAH THE CONTINUITY IS NOT GREAT AND ALSO ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LENGUAJE SO YEAHHHHHH

[peculiar-potato]

raaaaaaaagh teaser image for the among us animated tv series dropped and I just have to scream about it and analyze it a little bit

(Source)

My ramblings under the cut:

I like the art style! It’s a bit different, I was expecting something closer to the game style/style of images they post on social media and stuff where it’s very clean with sharp lines, but I think this works really well for what it seems like they’re trying to do here. I like the lineart and the kind of texture everything has? It adds a lot to some of the other stuff I’m going to talk about here.

First of all, the atmosphere. Again, really kinda different from what I was expecting, but in a nice way! I was expecting kinda like a clean, cool-toned, space-age look, but this gives me a lot more like run-down office vibes and I am HERE FOR IT.

The warped ceiling tiles? The dirt and grime? The bent blinds over the window? The burnt out light by the window and different colored fluorescent lights like one of the bulbs was replaced? It feels like I’m in some old corporate building that hasn’t been properly maintained in years, which is so different and so fun from what you normally see in a spaceship and totally matches the vibes of (at least what I headcanon to be) a sketchy space corporation.

I also love all the little details here.

The little food window and vending machine so the cafeteria is actually a cafeteria, the pizza with who knows what kind of toppings on it (why is it green?? I’m so curious), and the fact that everything is held up with duct tape- even the fire extinguisher? It’s so fun I love all of it.

This is also actually a really faithful adaption of the map. Like, I know, of course it is, but I know things have to get changed a lot for animation sometimes and they did a good job of keeping it very similar.

I am going to be that guy and point out a few differences but just because I think they’re neat and interesting!! Not at all bad!

(At least between this and the classic game, I’ve never played Among Us VR)

First of all, the trash task and wires task actually swapped sides, on the map, the wires are on the left and the trash is on the right, but here it’s flipped. I also can’t find the download data task, unless it’s supposed to be the tv? Probably all just aesthetic choices but kinda interesting!

There’s also the big food window and the door, but if you look at the orientation of the walls of the room, it actually checks out! The door and window would be against the left wall, where you wouldn’t actually see it looking from the angle in game.

The vending machine isn’t there in the game, at least on the Skeld map, but that’s ok the beans deserve their snacks! I did notice there’s kinda a panel behind it so I’m counting that as the panel that’s on the right wall next to the download task being there (even though it’s definitely too small to be that). That and the wires are actually on the slanted wall, but again, I don’t care, this is just me pointing out every difference like an I-spy challenge.

Also the cafeteria tables have stools now instead of benches, and I kinda like that! I also like the stripe of kinda a maroon-ish color added to the tables and stools, really kinda ties together well with the walls and such. And the floor, thank goodness they did something about that floor for the animators’ sake. I like the original floor design but I know firsthand just how hard that floor is to draw, especially at an angle.

I don’t know how to really speculate on the party stuff other than I’m intrigued haha. Maybe it’s like they’re celebrating taking off and surviving or being the only crew with no impostor attacks or something (of course that’s implying a lot about the non-existent lore) and then everything goes wrong? Maybe the red is pizza sauce or ketchup and we’re being misled for the funnies?

I’m kinda hopeful about the humor here, with the “we’re not dead” banner and stuff, I’m really hoping this will be something I’ll enjoy too as an adult and the vibes I’m getting from this are encouraging. Like maybe a kinda workplace dark comedy?

I’m also sososososo curious about what we’ll get in terms of characters (I WANNA SEE THE BEANS SHOW ME THE BEANS) and worldbuilding and lore here, eeeeeeeeeeeeee

Ok, I’ll stop for now, but you know I’ll be following this very closely lol.

tldr: not entirely what I was expecting but I like it and the direction it’s going a lot :))))))

Edit 2/3/24- just noticed there’s no emergency meeting button??? Is it under the pizza?? Has it not been installed yet?? WHERE IS IT 👁️👄👁️

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

what the fuck is the Wire Mother book. Sociology has lore now?

oh boy okay

so you remember the Divergent books? the YA boom of the early 2010's? The Wire Mother was one of those series. they turned the Harlow's monkey experiments into dystopia factions.

yeah. i know. bear with me

The first book, The Wire Mother (2010) is pretty standard YA dystopia fare. There's this girl named Leo Groves (the Leo's short for Leonore) who lives in the court of the Cloth Mother, a city where people live in comfort and camaraderie and a general vibe of hold hands around the campfire and sing, except for the people who die at random. This is accepted with unsettling what-can-you-do calm from the main characters. (Eventually, it's revealed that's happening because only a 1/5th of the food served in the city is real, so most of the people are dropping dead of starvation but their bodies are quickly hurried away as to not kill the vibe, so no one worries all that much about it).

Which could have been cool speculative fiction! A handy story about desensitization to violence or complacency or something. Unfortunately, this was 2010 YA, so the concept is quickly kicked under the bed in favor of. yeah. A love triangle. Leo, being a special little narratively significant thing, finds her way to the mysterious other city on the other side of her hometown, the court of the Wire Mother. And when she's there, she meets a boy. Coil 54810.

Coil goddamn 54810.

That brooding son of a bitch. His last name is 54810 because the concept of last names and family doesn't exist in the court of the Wire Mother, only functionality, so 54810 is just the number of Coils there's been in the city. He's not a clone or anything, it's just the amount of people who've had that name. It's like being named Jeremy 54810. Killer of plot pacing. Swoopy of hair. He would have deserved to be named Jeremy.

God, anyway, I'm talking a lot about this. Anyway: The Wire Mother is exactly as good as the average YA dystopia book from the time period. It has some high points (the Cloth and Wire mother are cool ominously looming entities, and the main antagonist Jane-Mary has a level of batshit mad science energy to her that makes her the most fun villain in the series) and some low points (the forced Romeo and Juliet references. the forced romance. It is so clear that Benjamin St. Jobs, the other guy in the love triangle, doesn't stand a chance, but we have to keep who-will-it-be-ing for so long anyway. And Coil's a dick), but it mostly just balances out.

There were three more books in the series. There was supposed to be four, but. Well

Anyway. Book Two, The Wire Mother: Hounds' Toll (2012), actually kind of slapped. It went to more tragic and horror-influenced places than the original book. One thing I'll give Angela Lee (the author) credit for: I don't think this was a sequel for the sake of having a sequel. I think that the series was always supposed to be a pentalogy.

Some of the stuff in this book has still stuck with me to this day- I have to hold myself back from adding ominously ringing church bells in so many of my projects. Also, it really filled out Leo Groves as a protagonist- I could take or leave her in the first book, but I started to genuinely like her by the second. And the stuff they do with Stellarose Ardent, her best friend turned rival... God, I could make a whole post about Stellarose Ardent.

this book series is good, readers thought. surely the third book will be as good if not better

THE THIRD BOOK WAS HELL. The Wire Mother: Ordained Voltage (2013)...I think it did everything wrong. There was a reason that there was a two year break between the first two books, and book three being out only a year after Hounds' Toll really shows.

It's incredibly rushed. Leo barely gets to do anything. Stellarose is killed off in the most unsatisfying way possible. And while it seemed like Book Two had neatly put the love triangle to bed, no! It claws its way out of its grave!! To torment me specifically!

The only good thing we got out of this car wreck is Anesthesia 3, lab rat girl and apocalypse maiden extraordinaire. I adore her. She's got real Fish Inside A Birdcage vibes. Everything else, though? Horrors.

But readers held out hope. At least the characters ended up trapped in an interesting setting at the end of book three. The merciless, multi-layered prison of Tithonus, the central antagonist of the series. It seemed like that was a good set-up for a prison escape storyline. Those have to be entertaining, right?

Somehow, some way, no. Book Four, The Wire Mother: Endless Sentence (2014) is not just bad. I could forgive bad. But it is bad, and it is boring.

so boring that I'm not even going to waste my words on it. It's a school night. I'm not staying up to describe that thing. The only interesting thing about it is how it could manage to be boring while being an homage to the fucking Stanford Prison experiments.

And that was the end of a lot of people's hopes for the Wire Mother series. Only one good book out of four isn't a great track record, you know? A lot of readers were willing to put Hounds' Toll down as a one-off.

Then, in November of 2014, the preview for Book Five, The Wire Mother: Quantum Claws came out. It was three chapters long. And people lost their shit.

First of all, it was good. Maybe as good as Hounds' Toll. Maybe better.

But more than that, it was a break from the relatively grounded, safe, company standard dystopia of the series. Because this bad boy was going to be about time travel. Tithonus, in his evil plans to live forever, had built a time machine and activated it just at the right moment when the plucky heroes were about to kill him once and for all.

Which seems like something that would be a train wreck, right? If this author can't handle the easy-to-please tropes of prison breaks and romance, what business does she have trying to handle a time travel story without completely fucking up the series?

And maybe that would have been true. But the first three chapters were insanely promising. They were refreshing, original- they got time travel. We were able to get characters like Stellarose and Jane-Mary and Turpentine back after the story cast them aside so soon. And it promised to really examine what Leo Groves meant for the book's world. So, hopes rose again.

Unfortunately, we'll never know if it would have been good or bad. The fifth book was never published. We don't know why. It was just promised, for months and months, and then. Poof. The updates stopped. It was gone.

And it haunts me. If you haven't stopped reading by now, you can probably tell that. The fandom was like a fraction of the size of the Divergent fandom, and I don't know anyone IRL who's read these things. I don't even know if I can or should recommend them.

But sometimes something doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece to burrow into your brain and not let go, I guess ASJSJS

[manicpixieyandere]

FNaF DBD Chapter Speculation

Characters and Cosmetics

As we're sure you've heard, FNaF is coming to DBD after YEARS of being requested! We thought it'd be fun to look at who the potential characters coming to the game could be, and their cosmetics as well (that's the real fun part).

First, who do we think is gonna be added to the game?

Considering this crossover didn't get green lit until the success of the movie, we're gonna say it's all movie based.

Safest bet is:

Killer- The Yellow Rabbit

Survivors- Mike and Vanessa

They make the most sense, they're the main antagonist and protagonists of the movie respectively. Obviously excluding Abby, but we doubt they'd ever add her. There are no little kid survivors in DBD.

Now onto potential cosmetics!

This is mainly just stuff we'd like to see based on previous games as there isn't much cosmetic options present in the movie. Mixing the games and the movie is a smart idea to entice and excite fans of the franchise anyway!

The Yellow Rabbit:

Springtrap

Alright this one was obvious. Of course they're gonna do this. How could they not?

Freddy Fazbear

It is an interesting dilemma that the name sake of the franchise is so unimportant. So it wouldn't be surprising if Freddy got a skin. The skins are still canon to the Entity's realm as well, so fret not.

Clown Springtrap

Probably his most iconic costume from the AR game! But maybe we are biased, clown characters are always the best.

Mike Schmidt:

Game accurate purple shirt

You know the look, look at that pelvic thrust!

PURPLE GUY?!

In the same vein we got the iconic guy who is purple but isn't actually purple guy.

Foxy Bully

The event that started it all. Maybe? Probably not actually. But it certainly was a messy event! Both for the lore and William's business!

Vanessa Afton Shelly:

Ok just gonna put in now that we are extremely biased for Vanessa. Besides the DCA, she is our favorite character from the games and movie! Security Breach was an amazing concept that was unfortunately executed poorly. It's a shame Vanessa and Vanny never really got their chance to shine.

Game Accurate Security Guard

Game Vanessa, what more is there to say? White girl jumpscare!

Vanny

Now it'd be hard to give her the full suit, players would think she's a killer. But maybe they could give her a mask, similar to Cassie's in Ruin. This mask would just be a head only accessory. Mainly meant to go on the game accurate outfit.

Rainbow Hair And Pronouns

In the AR game when Vanessa was going by "Ness" she was described as having rainbow hair streaks. It is a shame this was never in the game. Please girl, come slay. Kill that old man William with your pronouns, hair dye, and definitely lesbianism.

Charlie Emily:

Another separate character costume. Charlie was the very first female protagonist in the FNaF franchise and really the first in depth fleshed out character we ever got. So fuck of course she deserves a spot! The original novel trilogy is what led to so much of the lore we have today. Sure the novels had their weird moments, but Charlie was a stand out amazing character. We miss novel Charlie, this would be a great way to bring her back!

That's all we've got for character and cosmetic ideas! We assume the map(s) will just be an indoor pizzeria layout of some kind. But as someone who fucking hates indoor DBD maps it'll be a pipe dream they add an outdoor Fall Fest map to tease The Secret Of the Mimic. That'll never happen though so ignore that and chug salt.

[myplasticadversary]

I have thoughts about sheatles George and Ringo.

I don’t know if it’s better if all the Beatles were into women or if it’s just girl Paul and John but for the sake of my ask I’m operating under the assumption George and ringo were bisexual or straight. I believe it would be interesting if Ringo specifically was straight because I can only imagine her as dressing the butchest and thus having a lot of the media going after her a lot. If she has a relationship with guy-Maureen it would probably be subject to some controversy because Maureen was so much younger. If the relationship was public knowledge there’s probably be some lunch table convos amongst teen boys calling Maureen lucky similar to guys who hear about a teacher sleeping with her student and calling the student lucky. At the same time I think she’d probably receive a lot of criticism and hate because she wasn’t conventionally attractive and since the whole lovable oaf thing isn’t really applied to women she’d be even more left out of conversations. In this world I don’t think people would look back on stuff like Get Back and see her as being the only adult or the mediator I feel like the opposite would happen.

People would probably criticize her for not pulling her own weight in the band and her unwillingness to be confrontational would be twisted into her being lazy.

I think George would be kind of infantilized by the media, obviously because she’s the youngest. Her depiction as being the baby of the group would probably be even more played up by the media.

There’s the story of how George lost his virginity to a prostitute while John and Paul were in the same room, and I’m trying to think about how that situation would play out in this universe. I think John would still make fun of her for being a virgin and Paul wouldn’t make fun of her as much, although I still think she’d join in occasionally to please John. In this universe it’s possible that the whole prostitute thing doesn’t happen at all and she loses her virginity some other way.

In any case regardless of her actual status I think George would be really played up as being virginal or pure or something. If she got with guy-pattie boyd in this universe there would definitely be a lot of speculation as to whether she’d saved herself for marriage. Considering she’s the quiet Beatle the media would probably switch rapidly between propping her up as a good example and being a prude. Her quietness in generally would be more criticized and considered rude. It would definitely come up when people talked about her relationships and stuff and there’d be a lot of commentary on how she unfairly treats guys (aka doesn’t respond to their advances). And of course in the later years when all the cheating stuff happens she’d be labeled a whore.

I don’t think eating disorders were really considered a thing in the 60s but I also feel like her body would be subject to a lot of prodding and she’d be subject to a lot of comments again switching from being praised for how thin she was and people accusing her of anything from starving herself to drugs for her appearance. Of course she was using a lot of substances for a long time but even before she started it would be a thing tabloids were putting out.

Since she’d had so many comments on her body/facial hair in the 60s, in the 70s she’d become anti-shaving, but it would ultimately be pretty lackluster because she wouldn’t put much effort into promoting it. Unlike John and Paul who would have a lot of discussion surrounding their place in feminism George would be forgotten because to be frank she wasn’t that invested in it in the first place

Mm yeah, I can definitely see girl George getting a bit of a Karen Carpenter treatment in regard to her body type and wallflower portrayal. And regarding her politics I do imagine her stance being a bit "men and women are basically the same, people make too big a deal about sex and gender and I don't define myself that way", with her and John probably also having more pronounced friction over the fallout with Maharishi for that reason.

I feel like Ringo would be the straightest of the bunch but in a way where lesbians greatly appreciate her swagger and she doesn't mind the attention. And I think she would be pegged as Team Mom for a number of reasons, first being that she's the oldest and then her appearance being the most "frumpy" and desexualized by straight men, as well as being the main provider of emotional labor. Among culture critics there's basically two big camps, one where the girls who aren't Paul are all worthless because they're not attractive to look at and not skilled enough to justify being onstage, and one where Paul is assumed to only get by on her looks (and sleeping with George Martin) while her bandmates have to have actual talent and personality, and a lot of folks stand to profit on resentment between them.

Honestly I think a big part of why I find Beatles yuri so compelling is that juxtaposition of them being sold as a package deal and divided to compete for male validation, all while growing up and figuring out who they are and what they mean to each other. One thing I am a bit stuck on though is who's the first and last to get married, because I don't think John would've had Julian here as settling down for her would spell the end of the band, and maybe Paul would be more eager to be a wife and mother because she's already seen as the more "legitimate woman" and knows how to make it work for her. But then they wouldn't have that whole thing of John trapped in suburban hell while Paul is swinging around the counterculture that drives John toward Yoko. Hmm...

(Also I think they might've done the "topless in Las Vegas" deal that the Liverbirds turned down and then spent the rest of the 60s getting accosted for "being bad role models to young girls" and so feel compelled to defend the decision in the name of sexual liberation despite internal disagreements over it)

[thousand-winters]

Darius for the ask thing.

Hey there!!! 💖

How I feel about this character

I LOVE HIM SO DAMN MUCH. HE'S THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND THE LIGHT OF MY DAYS. HE SINGLE HANDEDLY HEALED MY DEPRESSION AND-

Okay, that's not it but I truly get such fuzzy feelings whenever I see art of him, I adore him.

He's SUCH a good character with SO much potential and I think it's a huge shame that most of that was left implied and couldn't be explored in the show itself. On the other hand, the fact they actually implied it and we're left with a lot of implications about who he is and his past makes him particularly interesting and fun to delve into because while part of it has to be speculation, there IS basis for it! Which is my favorite way to speculate, when I have basis for it, and as such, Darius is a gold mine.

His design is 10/10, he was catching eyes as soon as he appeared and I love that for him. His voice? Excellent, I love how he's lowkey bitchy half the time, he's everything in this world. And gods, he truly is such a "wants to pretend he doesn't give a damn but unfortunately for him, he gives so many damns" kind of character, they made him in a lab for people with good taste to obsess over /lh

I feel like I could talk hours about him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I don't really ship him with anybody, honestly. I tend to find some posts with him and Alador sort of funny but I think the situation there with their strained and broken friendship is far more complicated than people give it credit for, plus a lot of people just treat Darius in that ship as the arm candy Alador gains by realizing his mistakes which is... oof.

I don't actively ship it but I think Dariraine and Dariraeda is quite sweet. I find too that people who ship those tend to care more about Darius as a character and not as just a trophy so I like those far more. Darimila is similarly cute, though since that one is a lot of the time motivated by the idea of making Luz and Hunter siblings, I'm more meh about it.

One thing about me is I'm not immune to cute fanart but I don't necessarily ship the stuff in question akshfjkdsg

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Oh, this one is hard because I like his dynamic with SO many characters. The familiar relationship with Hunter is great and at this point it's probably too obvious what my stance is on that. Now... HE'S SO FUN WITH RAINE. And there's SO much in his dynamic with Eberwolf as well.

But then we can start tapping into other potential dynamics and... Eda? They're both cut from the same cloth, they're so interesting together. Lilith! Now that one is more complicated since they evidently weren't close at all through all of those coven years but I like to think about them. Favorite bias.

I think to give a non too vague answer, I would go with the Rebel Trio because they're so good. Post HM fics were peak with the three of them + Hunter, SO much fun.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Technically not unpopular around the circles that actually care about him as a character instead of talking shit about him because it's easy, but since the hate for him hasn't stopped even now...

I think one of his main character traits is that he's caring. You can see how driven by emotions he is; I'll never tire of pointing out how he loses it when he thinks Eberwolf and Hunter are in danger, and those are two separate scenes despite how little screentime he gets. He cares SO much and it can momentarily put his logic out of commission. He's not cold or abusive or mean for no reason. He picks up Luz nonchalantly and makes a little snippy comment but he doesn't throw her around or anything, he sets her down gently. He rescues the Emerald Entrails when he doesn't even know them and could perfectly turn a blind eye to that. He's a rebel, for gods' sake. He wouldn't be if he didn't care about others, and it's not only his loved ones.

This is a terribly kind man. That he's not super open and claiming out loud how much he cares doesn't mean he isn't, it just means people have failed at media literacy.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Oh, my gods. So. Much.

I wish he had more screentime, for one. I wish we'd had his relationship with Hunter develop onscreen rather than through little hints, because while that work, so many people like to pretend that didn't happen. I WISH we'd had more Rebel Trio screentime because that would have been so fun. I wish we had seen more about his grief about his mentor, because Any Sport in a Storm alone shows you just how much he hasn't gotten over that and it's been more than 10 years since his death??? My man is Not Looking at his grief. He's not acknowledging it. Darius, please...

In general, more screentime would have been so good for people to stop misunderstanding him so badly, or at the very least it would make easier to say to prove them wrong without them being "well, the characters didn't look at the screen and spelled it out for me, so it didn't happen 🙄"

From this ask game

[icharchivist]

Hi Icha!! I haven’t been able to read your liveblogs bc spoilers. What do you think of Veilguard so far? You loving it?

Some of my friends have said it has kinda crappy writing so I’m a bit worried, but others have said it rocks. I’m curious your thoughts on it 👀 on the writing and story from a fan perspective!

oh god, hi! hey!

Ofc, i put it under spoilers for this exact reasons so don't worry about it ^^

Personally i really love it. For /me/ personally it works like a charm, i adore the characters, the plot is pretty engaging, i think the roleplay is really cool, and i can't not adore it when it basically confirms all the theories i've had for ever lmao

for some more details

if it's like, "crappy writing" about how things are said or why they're said (basically content vs theme), i think the themes have been extremely tight and consistant so far and it sets my brain on fire. In term of "do you think the characters are cringe/the plot badly structured" that will be up to you on that one. I'm blinded by the lit major of "if it's thematically consistant i'm so in it". That said i still am far from finishing the game so i don't know if it carries to the finish line.

also i don't think the characters are cringe or talk badly or anything like that, but also take it as a layer of "i'm not an english native and i have always heard people say things i found cool were cringe mostly due to the language barrier" so who knows

I really love them though, the themes that unite them together are some of my favorite themes in fiction and it's been making my heart burst. Again, very personal. very "tailored for me."

I really love the gameplay and the exploration is really so much fun. Again it caters to Me in particular because a lot of the things they decide to explore are things i wanted to see more of.

The story itself is fun and i was legit speculating some of the major elements of it for years, so the vindication takes over everything for me lmao (overanalysis wins!) so to me it works out.

I really only have one issue with the game so far and it's that it has difficulties with what is carried over from the prev games (which doesn't happen a lot, but some things did make me raise some eyebrows)(except Solas but that's another point). I know a lot of people who really just want back the "feeling the consequences of my past actions" will be doomed to be disappointed. I am a little, but i am so content with the new stuff that i'm cool with that.

I think also whether you like or hate Solas will also play a lot on your enjoyment of the game because the game goes really hard in trying to make you relate to him. a huge win for me, most normal Solas fan, but i can certainly imagine that if you don't care much for him this will be complicated.

Ironically my other issue is that i think it would deserve a little more of a bite? like, no one is really mean, even me playing an elf in Tevinter has only my character talking about how tough it is without feeling it at all. The companions are all precious and they get along well, and i like that! but i do miss not having a massive bitch just being mean for the sake of being mean in the party. LIKE DONT GET ME WRONG there's The Horrors, but i'm not talking about "horrifying stuff" bad, i mean "losing 10 approval with one companion because you said "can i help" to someone" type of bite.

oh wait, third issue: less codex entries. It's a crime against me, the bitch who has all the codex on pdf form to read as light reading. but i think that's also just a me thing.

I also think a part of the enjoyment can be judged by whether or not you read Tevinter Nights, because a LOOOOT of characters from Tevinter Nights come back for the game without exactly lengthy introductions later on. Which i think would come off as bad writing for people who haven't read the books because suddenly you have those people with already set dynamic just talking to each other around you without really knowing what's up.

but since i read TN, i love seeing all of them back, and it gets into what i really love about the game that i was really lacking in DAI in particular, is the fact it really feels like everyone has a life outside of you. They have their own histories between one another you haven't been privy to and it adds up.

(and yeah in general i think it's like. If you read TN and liked it, you'll like the game. If you read TN and didn't like it, you probably won't like the game. if you didn't read TN take your gamble.)

also my main recommandation is to not just speed fast travel from one place to the next while barely stopping by the HQ. there's limited-time cutscenes and conversations in the HQ that can unlock when you go there and they help so much making the world feel this alive.

Like i genuinely don't get how some people are already done with the game when there's legit so much that keeps unlocking if you do other things than the main quest itself yaknow

To me it's a step up from dai and DA2 in all the ways that matters. It does however kinda mix both of those vibes so i think like. if you didn't like dai/da2 the game may be rough. It still has some elements that do really remind of Origins though.

I still need to see if it sticks the landing but as of now, i genuinely couldn't be happier with the game.

But well that's my POV as someone who's fav game already was more DAI than DAO (i adore DAO to pieces of course but it doesn't feed my brainworms nearly as much) and who was already in a position to be receptive to the game because i did The Homework:tm:

I know you're more fan of Origins so i genuinely can't tell you just how much you'd appreciate it

but yeah personally

👍 having a blast

[thefalloutwiki]

First, a more serious one: To all staff "What do you consider to be the hardest part of your job on the wiki, and what is your favorite part of your wiki job?"

And now, here's a fun one I've been asked in an interview before: To all staff "If you were an object, what object would you be and why?"

Answers Below the cut!

V13Kobold: The hardest part of my job is actually when someone disagreeable comes onto the wiki just to cause problems. Not that I can't handle it, it's the arguing/complaining/trolling (aggressive) that gets to me sometimes. The best part is the community, as cliche as it is. The sharing of interests, advice, and ideas overall is fun. 🙂

An object? Honestly, I'd be a Gecko (I know that's a creature) or a Deathclaw Mounted Head.

Findabair: The hardest part is keeping up with new content, the best part is the gratification from having properly sourced articles.

RurinGas: The hardest part would probably be just keeping up with all the information that comes out! While to a casual glance, Fallout might be about 8 or 9 games and 1 TV series, there are littler-known games and releases that are all constantly ticking away and releasing new content, it's a challenge to keep track! and thats just all the proper stuff, let alone our mod and community spaces too! My favourite part however would probably be the chance to do something creative, to find a problem and immediately think "Oh yeah, I can fix this brilliantly", it's like a jigsaw where everything juuuuussssttt slots into place perfectly, and you can just crack your fingers and lean back with a drink and think to yourself "good work"

Hrmmmmmmm..... For the sake of fun, I'll limit myself to Fallout objects xP I think I'd like to be a bottlecap. You get traded the world over, get to see the whole nation from a random person's pocket, and see all sorts of things. And, in the possible event you get made into a bottlecap mine, you go out with Passion! (And, In my experience, take someone down with you too. Whoever put the bottlecap mine in Starlight Drive-in is a fiend!) MeatServo: The time pressure often involved if something breaks and genuine, applied problem solving. Aren't we already objects in a way? Rubbinmahbelly: Probably trying to get DPL tables working the way I want. There's a reason 9 time about of 10 I ping Rurin and have her so it. Best part is interacting with folk and makin really good friends. A funny statue of a dog in a hat. NarratorJack: The worst part of the job is the more technical aspects of the wiki, My favorite part of my job is just talking to community members and shit Probably a computer, I like computers. AstralAbraxas: The hardest part I think comes to putting the pieces of the fallout puzzle together, sort of speak. Connecting the dots to make previous speculation into real or working content for the wiki. Is that the Loveland frog I see? Probably! But because it's not confirmed in writing anywhere, it remains speculation. Jersey Devil on the S12 scoreboard? Yes! And now I can say for a fact it is, because now they're in the game! Little things like that to be able to discern between using real world knowledge/content and things confirmed in some way by in game content is always a welcome challenge and something I love to discuss. If I were an object, I'd want to be the Brahmin Plush! He's so cute! KateAces: Keeping up with new content is a challenge, making sure it’s correct and complete is important and a very fulfilling feeling when it’s done, honestly the best feeling is seeing people use the site or hearing that it was helpful for someone.

I’d be a pre war neon sign, maybe even one that names a town like Novac