#also i'll give her a bg later on

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

I KNEW IT!!! I knew that one of the two episodes left of the year had to be a holiday one aha!! *LE GASP* does that mean the last one will be sonic 3?

*nods* respect 👏

A Christmas special with TARI, oooh! and noticeably a shorter one too, huh. alright, let's-a GOOOOOOOO

(the following is my live reaction:)

aww, look at Tari being adorable (see that's how you get me, have my favorite characters do cute little hops and my life is yours)

bringing back the side characters LET'S GOOOO

CLENCH omg you're back I hope you can stay for the whole episode

ooooh tari's christmas list just dropped. hmmm let's see...

Saiko = KFC Theme Guitar (honestly slay) Mario = Spaghetti Necklace (whether he's going to wear or eat it, he'll enjoy it regardless) Kaizo = Scythe Polish Luigi = Gardening Kit SMG4 = Body Oder Spray (my man can't catch a break, "he stinks" canon) Belle = Nintendo Switch Case SMG3 = Dog Grooming Kit (for Eggdog awwww) Melony = How to draw Manga book (nice callback to "SMG4 and SMG3 Shop For Cursed Items" episode for Christmas shopping) Whimpu = Glasses Repair Kit Boopkins = Body Pillow Cleaning Kit (...) Bob = Karaoke Machine (that's actually sweet considering he is a rapper and the obvious choice would be a gun or smth, tari's a good friend) Rob = Corn Keychain

the cliche superhero transition *wheeze*

can I just say I love the fit Mario has on

1920's spaghetti?

i did not expect to see Sonic 06 (foreshadowing, eh?) and as a sonic fan, i gotta respect the hustle

now, i know it's supposed to be disgusting and you obviously have to put gross things here to convey that but... there's that eye imagery again.... *flashbacks ensue*

oooh Christmas party! I wanna see that!

aww tari did get clench a glove, maybe she didn't want to spoil the surprise too soon

also let's take a moment for that board in the bg:

"Random Text Here Shameless Advertising Happy Birthday smg4!" then something signed by a "Fan"

gotta love the small details

gonna be using this as a reaction pic for now on

Mario, don't you guys have a basement? pretty sure no one will grab the bag in there

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OMG OMG THERE'S NO WAY THIS IS REAL THEY ACTUALLY USED CANTRO'S OUTFIT DESIGN FOR THIS EPISODE THAT'S AWESOME DUDE (am aware that the Team used the model before in a previous ep but it was only shown for a few seconds, this is BIG)

new merch, eh?

...i'll take your entire stock

Oh Tari, it's okay to say no. Four did ask if you had time

beautiful commercial....wha? Bob, da hell are you doing? oh the usual

charity? understandable, have a good day

PFFT HAHAHAHA that grenade bit somehow got me

oh Four somehow teleported outside, chair and all

*wheeze* the way they just latch on the back of the cop car like that

BOOPKINS? ...yeah I should've seen that coming. and he's on a toddler seat too

question for the people: is UNO a board game? if not, then boopkins, you got it wrong buddy

RIGHT NOW?! boopkins she's got her hands full

GEEZ even I'm getting stressed

gonna be real here: it was actually a good choice to have the plot at a faster pace just so we could feel Tari's stress rapidly building up

oh hey Meggy's matching with Mario (love that for the M&M siblings) but Saiko, girl, please get yourself a coat :( you're gonna freeze

OH GOD Tari, i need you to breathe please! all of this is stressing you out, it's okay to say no

...oh no

i can't look dude, i know Tari's technically fulfilling everyone's wishes but this isn't the way to go :(

C'MON TARI, HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT IN TIME PLEASE

NO NO NO *flips table* oh poor Tari

OH NO CAN I GIVE HER A HUG PLEASE? *shakes my laptop screen* LET ME INNNNNNN

WTF NO SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS

TARI DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE VOICES IN YOUR MIND, YOU ARE A GOOD FRIEND

...three? let me turn the brightness up

yeah that's Four's model but for some reason has Three's voice and line.... huh... (I'll come back to this later)

dude, i literally had to pause and leave the room

fuck you got me tearing up. Team, is that what you wanted from me?

no tari, it wasn't your fault :( you didn't ruin anything

YES TELL HER, SAIKO

STAWP I'M THIS 🤏 CLOSE TO FULL-ON SOBBING WTF

FAMILY IS FOUND 👏👏👏

...wha? Three?

wait, this whole episode was you were retelling what happened to Tari, to Eggdog?

...that actually puts things in a whole new context (I'll talk about it later)

*gets hit by the book*

AY Congrats to Mango for your art being featured in the end credits! 🎉 what an awesome Christmas gift from the Team honestly

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

This was a fantastic Christmas special! This really punched me in the gut (but in a good way). Everything, as always, was amazing. Excellent job, Team!!! Too bad Clench couldn't be in the whole episode.

Oh Tari, my girl :( I felt the emotional rollercoaster along with her and I just wanted to give her a giant hug.

Me 🤝 Tari → people pleasers with a dose of abandonment issues

Tari, I've been there and I promise your friends aren't gonna leave you. What you can offer, what you're able to, that is worth something. It doesn't need to be material, just being a part of their lives is enough. No matter how big, because to them, it could mean a lot more than what you think.

It's what I've been struggling too, that the people who have approached me only wanted what I could offer, but not as a person. And it takes time to heal and open up again to people who are worth opening up to, but you'll get there.

So, to remind you (yes, the one behind the screen): you are enough. We are enough. What you do, means a lot more to other people than what you think. You'd be surprised how much a second of your presence means to people, and they value that. It's why it's okay to say no when you aren't able to, they'll understand if they truly do care for you. I promise, time will come around for you to find the good ones.

That's why I love this show. It isn't just a "silly meme show", it's so much more than that. Yes, it does have its funny moments but it can be emotional, dramatic, exciting. And even relatable. That's the point of stories. Like I said countless times before:

Every story, no matter how outlandish it seems, is grounded in reality.

That's why I'm glad this was one of the last episodes of the year, to bring it all back that it's a story that we all can relate to in some way. That we aren't alone. Grab each other by the hand and take one day at a time.

Oh boy, sorry for that emotional stuff. Just wanted to bring some comfort 💙 With that, I'm gonna bring back what was the most interesting of this episode: SMG3

It wasn't until the very end that we realized this whole episode was Three retelling Tari's story not only to Eggdog but also to Terrance.

(If I remember the layout correctly, right in the same nook above the fireplace is where Terrance's photo is placed)

So, yes, he is reading a bedtime story to both of his sons. (just gonna cry in the corner for a second) He's such a dad 🥺

Anyway, i shall put my theorist goggles on:

Back in the part when Tari was too late to buy the Crew presents and the voices in her head were bashing her for failing, we have SMG3 for some reason come in:

To be clear, that's Four's model (notice the lack of chip of the cap) but Three is the one saying: "And I thought I was evil..." Other than being the narrator, Three wasn't in the story, so the question is why?

The obvious would be that the Team simply made a mistake and forgot that they placed this in. Ok, sure, that's if it was on accident. But what if they did it on purpose?

As Three stated in the episode "Trash Friends", he truly believes he's "the worst version of SMG4"

Think about it: the basic roles for them are Four as the hero and Three as a villain.

If Three was ever in an episode all of a sudden is because he is the negative force of the story. Recall back to the episode "Meme Hunters" when Three was forced to be "the conflict" of the episode.

Now, it may seem harmless but to him, he was afraid to be perceived as nothing more than "SMG4's cheap and worst copy"

And also in "You Used to Be Cool", people have noticed when he does lay back a bit from the usual villain/rival role and bash him saying, "This isn't you."

Hero or villain, you're seen differently by everybody

Then there was the whole "moral of the story" part:

Ofc, it's a whole thing that Three refuses time after time that he's not friends with the Crew

Now with the context that we have, we just got a peek into Three's fears/insecurities. Basically: if he opens up and accepts that he has friends, they might try and take advantage of him. So, what should he do? Close himself off, be an asshole, and deny, deny, deny.

Despite risking literally everything, INCLUDING HIS OWN LIFE, for them, he's doing this to protect himself from emotional harm when he's the most vulnerable.

There's indeed a trope that villains, especially redeemed ones, would have a sense of empathy of some kind. They know what's like to hit rock bottom, it's why they can empathize with the people who least deserve it, like Tari. (Even with Four back in IGBP.) So yes, as much as this is a story about Tari, it also relates to Three.

How can you have what you want when you're the one holding yourself back?

Three: "I also need love, understanding, and tenderness." [IGBP movie, Spanish dub] Three: " I just want the USB in that spaghetti in your stomach so I can use it to gain fame and love that SMG4 has too much of, okay?!" Mario: "...Is that it? Silly SMG3, you could of just told Mario instead of suppressing your inner emotions and your fear of being forever forgotten." [Trash Friends]

I mean, look at the last episode, he was so happy to know he got fanart.

The pressure he has, the role he has to play, what he's perceived as. It all affects him. Sure, he doesn't care that he's not perceived as the standard definition of a villain but he is really as human as he can be, with fears and desires.

Another way to see the "failure" part of the episode is that Three could never see Four in a negative light. Sure, Four has made terrible mistakes but past the YouTube Arc, Three has never seen Four as a villain (again, the role of the hero thing). Four is flawed just as he is, but since he's the one telling Tari's story, he replaces Four with himself in the narrative.

It's not confirmed it's because he cares about Four in this instant but it's obvious he has done it on purpose. All because that's the role he plays, one he absolutely fears, "an evil and worst copy of Four".

(For all we know, he might've altered some other things in the story we haven't even known about.)

AND the fact that he's telling it like a bedtime story to his son(s) as a warning, so they don't go through what he went through when he was younger (his whole parenting of reminding them that they're loved and appreciated for even the smallest things)

So, long story short: me 🤝 Tari 🤝 SMG3 → underlining abandonment issues

I've been noticing that a lot of points from past episodes are starting to resurface again (like IGBP) and I do hope we get to bring back what's going on with Three. Then, we might get Three having the same conclusion that Tari went through: as much as he wants to deny it to protect himself, he'll realize that it's okay to be vulnerable and have friends.

And he'd be surprised how much of what he did was valuable to them. That what he seeks is already right in front of him. After all, he's already part of the Crew :)

He would just have to let himself avert his view and see the truth.

[petalkitshadow]

Hi there! Just devoured the entirety of PKS within my past few vacation days after stumbling upon your twt account and absolutely loved it (my current favorites are Splashfoot, Darkstar, Echosnout, Squirrelwhisker, Petalpaw herself ofc, and Nettlepaw!) if I had to choose my favorite things about it, one would definitely be just how alive riverclan and thunderclan feel- you have a very strong sense of characterization, even if it's just for bg characters.. I would die for Squirrelwhisker (1/2)

Thank you so much!!! I apologize for not answering right away - I got a lot of comments on the newest chapter (many of them positive, thank you all!!) and I got a bit overwhelmed trying to reply to everything. But I read all the comments I get and appreciate them, I promise!!

I really enjoy building the community of RiverClan - not just the major stuff but the little minutia of it. What hobbies cats have, how they spend their down time, what cliques and friend ground there are, the gossip and rumors they spread, etc! It's fun thinking about each cat's individual life, how they all have stuff going on even if we don't get to see much of it - Like Voleflight and Rainfall being exes, Duskwater being really excited and gossipy about Splashfoot and Troutclaw. It's fun to occasionally give Petalpaw (and the readers) a glimpse into some other cats' lives, like when she meets with the ThunderClan apprentices at her first gathering! That TC apprentice gang is close to my heart, especially squirrelwhisker, I love squirrelwhisker!!

As for your questions!

Nonbinary cats - I see Petal and Perch both being nonbinary. It just feels right to me.. i think theyre a butch 4 butch lesbian couple haha. Redthistle of ShadowClan - she appears as an apprentice in the gathering chapter, but i got her gender wrong by accident! So that kinda led to me seeing her as transfem, and genderfluid. She uses mainly she/her, but he/him and they/them work too. I planned a few cameos for her later in the story to expand on this!

As for the family tree - not yet, I'm still working on it!! it's also very big and unwieldy and hard to upload. But I'll share a fun fact for you all! In the PkS 'verse, Frostdawn is a descendant of Mapleshade, and Splashtail is a descendant of River Ripple! I thought that villain and hero switch-up was quite entertaining, haha

And finally, If they survived OR were in her place, Petalshade's brothers would be named Larchfreckle and Patchwing! I kind of have an AU of an AU in my head, the PkS good end where the kits survive and mapleshade gets to stay in riverclan. she frecklewish and reedshine kiss and also beat up appledusk <3 its more so just a fun thing i have in my head, not something i'd ever actually write though. It has much less conflict and is very much an "everyone is happy" scenario so i dont think it would be very interesting to read about haha

ok thats it! Thanks so much for your message, longer asks like this always make my day <3 <3

[premamelody]

funky

imma add to this more later but essentially murder drones but what if it was indie rpg insteaddd.

earthbound was cycling in my mind recently so i thought of rpgs inspired by it and was like "hey md can kinda be a fire jrpg in that."

boom. you can technically call it md but eb bc thats what i was kinda thinking the entire time but eh.

ofc the mc has to have a bat. its law. dw thats not the main reason, i feel like she'd have that chilling around. also stains from working with stuff on her shirt from like oil or dust or smth. btw yeah she still has her jacket but only puts it on to leave, i'll design that at some point. also scene x punk x emo bc woohooo wooohoo woohooooooooo. i considered adding cybergoth but i think i honestly forgot.

but for n i thought it would be funny if like. all the mds were like. interns or smth. "murder interns murder interns!!" type of thing. like thats the lie they're told is that they're just new members of jcjenson sent to copper 9 to rid of drones and that they'll one day be able to have a position (lies). so under their coats are just basic business outfit wear. i probably will barely change j considering she already fits this. so n just has like a generic polo shirt with khakis (yes i looked this up) underneath i thought that would be so funny.

but yeah the story doesn't really change toooo much. well the general plot, the scenery and bg lore of the life on copper 9 may or may not be different >:3. what i gotta have enemies that aren't just mds somehow. i think i have planned that the absolutesolver on their previous arrival screwed around and made many life that was killed by the core explosion come back to life in a sense as like zombies or smth. mother 1 core.

also take neon lime hair uzi. it was the fill color i used before giving it the actual color but i kinda like it. i think uzi will kill it in green hair maybe with a black fade at the top :333

[daydreaming-robot]

My thoughts for the Murder Drones Series Finale

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT

I'm gonna start this here with being honest about the runtime. It's short, that's all. I was thinking that it would be almost 40 or 30 minutes because it's a series finale. But having it about 20 minutes isn't something new(from my experience)

The reunion with Uzi and Nori was short, but needed, with Uzi having a chat with her mom in the silent scenery of space. And the way to beat the Solver is to permanently separate the solver from it's host by taking out the core and destroying it. Only for N to accidentally hit her with the landing pod.

Nuzi is canon. I'll be honest, I'm not much of a Nuzi shipper, that's all. But seeing the two admit their love to each other and hug each other while descending into the planet while on fire is honestly beautiful. Also I love their logic; save the world first, do all the corny awkward robotic dating later

V IS BAAAAAAAAAACK MOTHERFUCKERS. Throughout the series, I started off disliking V. But as the series progressed I started to appreciate her character development. And I felt heartbroken upon seeing her supposed death on episode 6. So upon seeing V throw hands with J, I SCREAMED my lungs off seeing her again. And I like that she has a pet sentinel now

J admits that she was also tricked by the Solver was surprising, but still worked with it. Why tho. Her loyalty eventually became her downfall after losing to her former teammates

Uzi has her own singularity bomb(that's what I call the [NULL] thing)

If there's one thing I love the series for, it's the horror. I'll explain in a separate post lol

THE FIGHT SCENE OMG THE TEAM AT GLITCH IS COOKING IN THE KITCHEN. The nightcore music as Uzi and Cyn fought is something I laughed at cuz it reminded me of my childhood watching Creepypasta AMVs with nightcore music in the bg. It's not something bad but it gave me a nostalgic punch in face

"Nobody traumatizes these weirdly hot robots but me!" bi Uzi bi Uzi bi Uzi bi Uzi

The defeat of the host Cyn imo is very satisfying. Uzi destroying the outer shell of the core to reveal the singularity is a clean transition. But then a monochromatic singularity formed between the two as Cyn tries to get it back in her body in order to survive. And Uzi's quick thinking was to... eat it. It worked for a bit because Cyn LITERALLY MELTED IN FRONT OF UZI. But it caused her to pass out as her body cannot handle two cores in one body for a brief moment

Uzi now has a yellow and purple ombre eye color after she has fused with the Absolute Solver

I like how Khan had a feeling that's still Nori after she scrambled off, which make sense considered she was pronounced dead up until episode 7

Her saying that she's now a "Damaged OC" is hilarious and personally call out to all artists and writers because we gave our oc traumatic events character development that they're traumatized in the end lmao

I love how the teacher, throughout the entire series gave zero fucks about what's going on around him

I love in the ending scene is a parallel to the pilot episode with her giving off a presentation to her class. The difference being that N and V are now attending the class and her parents being at the door supporting her

I love how N is improving on his artwork, with V being supportive

Uzi flexing her newfound power to scare the shit outta her class mates is a classic parallel to her showing off her railgun in the pilot, never get old Uzi, never get old

The post credit scene, with Uzi glitching out and the Solver talking to her gives off the feeling that Uzi isn't safe yet. Especially with the look on Uzi's face throughout the scene, she looks exhausted, and she looks like she isn't all there at the same time

Anyway that's my thoughts on the Series Finale of Murder Drones. It was a rollercoaster all throughout

[sabrerine911]

"Big Wolf Lady and Harper braid friendship bonding" WIP (BG1) Featuring my non-tav Beth Ravencoft and young Jaheira SO, WE FINALLY GOT MODS ON CONSOLES! Decided to start an experimental test run, trying a few out, having all the party members has been an incredible experience. I also got the double xp mod running so I can reach the lvl 13-20 content sooner than Act 3 XD As far as Beth goes, im running her with Body 4 cause it fits her way more(she is not as curvy/big thighed as she should be but I'll take what I can get and she looks good an more accurate ingame overall) AND I decided to give her the Jaheira Hear Braids on the back and they look great on her considering the Race she is from( norse half-giants basically) NOW, Talking about the piece. Beth would be considered an unnatural abomination by Druids and even some higher tier clerics. Even from her setting. But with that said she is very close to Jaheira and later Halsin when she ended up in the BG realms. Beth and Jaheira have this friendship thing, where Jaheira(even if techincaly way younger than Beth) acts like a mom to her XD That doesnt really change in the events of reunion in BG3. They still sass eachother and are very fond of eachother.

[regretful-nights-regretevator]

Alright, i've been quiet for quite a while, so y'know what!!

While i'm in the procedure of getting my shit together and work on bios, might as well write some resumes for the characters in the AU!!

Bive has been driven to insanity trying to find a cure for her lost arm

DrRetro is a doctor who's officially liscensed, but in danger due to her super-secret role in the story

FleshCousin is actually sentient but barely talks (Whenever it talks, it just says a bunch of nonsense), and trying to mimic others to try and fit in

Gnarpy is a metal singer who turned away from universe-conquest business and is considered a traitor in their homeplanet

Infected is a part of Gnarpy's metal band, and is the bassist. His illness was cured when it became it's own self. Will get back to it later!!

Jermbo is Jermbo. Ok but fr he is DrRetro's lil assistant that was found near an abandoned factory.

Lampert is an employee at Lokea (the name of the location in the AU). Was friends with Infected before his illness, who took a part of his memories with them. Lampert wishes he could be friends with him again, so he tries to hang out with him more, hoping they could be friends like the first time.

Who the fuck is Linus

Mannequin Mark is BITCHLESS and decided to create his own husband. With a lot of cement, he was able to create Wallter. All he needed was him to be sentient and alive. But how? He doesn't even know, he's looking for a way to bring him alive.

Melanie is working with DrRetro for uhmmm SPOILER reasons, all i can say that she's very poly with Mozelle and Infected :3

Mozelle is still the princess of hell, and she's gay. The end. (Her concept is a wip)

Poob is very aware of what's been happening, and tries to distract themself from reality by partying and drinking

Pest doesn't give a single shit about Dr Retro and what she's doing in the bg this time, he's just a loner. Has to deal with Poob's bullshit all day.

Pilby is a stage actor, and their mom and them are very much reunited. They're friends(?) with Pest, and they're also very aware of the truth about what's been happening.

Prototype's parts were found by Scag, and she assembled his pieces. Trying to find out about the truth behind the people who made him. (spoiler: he was designed as a war machine, but none of the robots they made gave a shit about world domination, and Prototype was an abandoned model.)

Reddy is Reddy.

Scag is a mechanic, and is helping Prototype find out about who made him.

Split is Bive's wife, who owns a resort previously owned by her parents. She is very mother-coded, as she has her own adopted child.

Spud! is aggressive towards gnarpians, and is looking specifically for the gnarpians who ruined his life, including Gnarpy, who only helped for his kidnapping.

Unpleasant is the sentient being that used to be Infected's illness. She became Infected's roommate, until Poptart mysteriously disappeared. Infected blamed Unpleasant and kicked her out of the appartment, leaving her homeless and not having any skills in anything. She was found by Jeremy, and now he's taking care of her at his place. Also they go mwah mwah :3

Wallter is Wallter.

Folly is the mastermind behind the whole story. I'll get to that another day :3

And that's it lol!! This took a whole hour to type, not joking LMAO

[rainbluealoekitten]

hey so i don't know you at all, but i saw on an old post that you did an IB eng lang+lit extended essay,,, and if you have ANY tips on choosing a topic for that i would literally appreciate it so much,, i have to choose my topic in the next 24 hours (procrastination </3) and i have vague ideas but no clue how i could structure them or what kinds of topics the IB prefers :/ literally any help, via dm or answering the ask, would be so so helpful ((( but no pressure ofc :] )))

omg hi babes, i'd be super happy to give my advice and i hope i'm not too late?

ok so you know the 3 categories i'm assuming? idk what your school is like but if you need more guidance on the ee in general, go to philpot's step by step guide

when you're told to pick something that interests you, DO THAT. you will spend MONTHS on this topic, researching and writing for hours upon hours, so you HAVE to be invested. even if you love love a topic, you might still struggle for a variety of reasons (my tips on this later on). regardless, you are on tumblr engaging in fandom and media for a reason. WHAT is that reason? what compels you? what themes, character dynamics, settings, motifs compel you? what shows, what books, what films? what about in lang and lit class? do you like ad analysis and the societal implications? do you prefer minute details that make a movie just so so good (e.g. lighting)? did you watch the dead poets society and you've been reading poetry aloud ever since?

the ib requires you to write about an "acclaimed" literary or non literary work, which gives you a LOT of choice. you could write about doctor who, for example.

i'll explain my process when i was picking my topic.

i have always liked greek mythology (like a LOT) and my favourite figure is akhilles. i decided i wanted to do something exploring his relationship with patroklos, but alas! i could not look at the iliad as it was not written in english originally, which didn't fit into either cat 1 or cat 2. so... why not the song of achilles? it's well known and acclaimed, plus would be more fitting for a dp level of literary analysis. but how to explore the characters? well... what else was i interested in?

what makes a character a hero?

this was the central question. i ended up changing the specifics of my question a million times which... don't do that. eventually, my question was (more or less), "how does miller conform to and subvert the characteristics of a hero through characterisation?" (that was not the question. i promise that the actual question was a million times better).

NOW. my extra note.

before you start researching and outlining, here is something i recommend you do before starting, based on my own issues. now, i did get a predicted (knock on wood) A, but after way too much deliberation.

make a list of your strengths and of your weaknesses. consider literary analysis vs diegetic and non diegetic sound analysis (idk if that's even what it's called but yk). consider time management skills. consider outlining skills. consider research skills. what do *you* need in terms of help and support from your supervisor? what do you need to do to help yourself? for example, i should have forced myself to pick a question from the start, before even starting research. this is an issue i have in other subjects too, and caused me a lot of grief for my history ia. i also asked my ee supervisor to help me come up with a realistic, step-by-step schedule bc i struggle assigning myself deadlines.

for the second part of your ask, structure is going to be super dependent based on your topic and category. i recommend reading examples similar to your topic (don't waste time reading ad analysis if you're doing poetry aha). i did mine with bg info on the classical view of heroes, then each bp was a different aspect (first conformity, then subversion). i have a friend who wrote hers on a feminist film and her bg was about feminist theory, with mentions of that time period, which then informed her fairly standard-structure analysis.

let me know if this helps in any way at all, and don't hesitate to reach out again if needed! i wish you the absolute best with the ee and dp more broadly :)

[tvckerwash]

okay I watched restoration and I'll probably analyze it more in depth later when my brain has processed what I've watched but here are some of the thoughts I had while watching (I stopped live blogging part way through so some things may be out of order lols):

okay first thoughts: we’re at a convention, and dylan is some sort of director for some super unpopular thing. ngl that’s a pretty harsh downgrade from journalist/news correspondent. 

hi kai. she seemed to be more like her s15-s17 characterization than her bg/chorus cameo characterization for the 30 seconds she was present (which I remember really disliking)

wash is in the hospital as prisoner 619b…bros did the UNSC arrest him again?!?

“I’m not even sure I got his voice right this time.” okay so restoration IS another simulation

the director being a therapist when the counselor is right there lmao

bros no way they got elijah wood to voice sigma again??

is that the counselor I hear on the PA system??? that’s what the subtitles said anyway. but anyway BROS HE ACTUALLY FUCKING LIVED LETS GO (but why is his ass not in jail??????? there’s no way he managed to get a job, let alone one in a UNSC hospital, but if this IS a simulation which I think it is and epsilon himself admitted to making mistakes already then I’m okay with that development ig)

NO IS DOC A FIGMENT OF WASH’S IMAGINATION NOOOOOO MY MANS IS FINALLY LOSING IT FR

“Listen to me! You’ve gotta listen to me!”

479er??? I’ve always had the hc she was arrested w wash and the other pfl personnel at the end of s6

“Our mission men—and blue” caboose is trans confirmed

“Don’t feel bad afterwards. I forgive you. I know it’s not your fault, I’m sorry this is happening to you.” omg caboose not dunking on tucker is what he presumed to be his final moments.

SARGE GOING TO SAVE CABOOSE <3

oh okay I predicted months ago before the 2nd trailer came out that at least one of the bgc was going to die and I was right! I thought it was going to be caboose but rip sarge (and doc) 

I’m really disappointed that wash didn’t get to do more tbh. the meta was HIS enemy but he was regulated to comedic relief  :(

also wash jumping off a cliff to activate the recovery beacon is :/. bro was literally a recovery agent he should know how to activate it to summon lina like she’s a deployable unit in uhh. ways that were NOT that.

did not expect tex to come back but okay, also tex/lina fighting together feels like fanservice but mmmmmmmmmmnh. 

awww tex and church get to be together again, dying together as one like they did at the end of s6. TEX SOFTLY HOLDING CHURCH’S HAND YES!!! WE LOVE SOFT TENDER TEX IN THIS HOUSE!!!

damn the “wash and lina having their trauma and traits swapped for no reason” thing is. hmmm  don’t like that, have never liked that. I tried to see if I had any posts on my old blog about this topic bc I remember talking about it in the past and I sort of do? eh whatever tldr; lina is the one haunted by the past and wash is supposed to be the one giving the emotional speeches but hhhhhrng. will definitely be talking about that more later even though I thought the scene was super sweet (also ct!!!!!!! my girl!!!!)

I don’t like that they were all separated and that grif was going to leave, these mfs were forced together in a shitty box canyon at the start of the series and I feel like it would’ve been better if instead of being forced together they all chose to stay together but it is what it is.

“Bow chicka bye now.” bros it’s over…

okay ngl it was pretty rushed pacing wise and I’ve got so many bones to pick (mostly about wash bc ofc) but speaking as an ending to the series I think it works. it all started in a box canyon which was later revealed to be an elaborate training simulation, so it’s fitting that it it was revealed very early in the run time that it was all a simulation, and it all ended in the box canyon they started in. I thought the themes of feeling guilty and being able to forgive oneself were very interesting (might get into that more later as well…) so yeah. 

it’s flawed, but for such a long running series that had originally been intended to only be a few episodes, I think it ending with tucker telling us it’s over and to go home is honestly the best way they could’ve done it. all the other times the series had “ended” it was done in a way where it worked as a standalone end for the series, but it was always open-ended enough that a continuation could be made if they wanted to. 

there isn’t going to be a continuation this time, the story is over, but just because the story has ended doesn’t mean that we can’t make our own stories. red vs blue will live on so long as there are people who want it to, which feels pretty on the dime doesn’t it?

[allisonperryart]

More Carol art - this time: our first look inside the Applebee's Carol's secretly hanging around in episode 1. What can I say? Our girl loves Applebee's!! While I also helped out a bit painting this exterior, ultimately what made it into the show was more our first art director @ellemichalka's work and later @amandawinterstein's for different times of day, so I'll let them post that lovely art themselves! Not gonna lie, never sure what order to post all this work in, so thank you to Alex Myung (who designed these BGs) for always posting first to give me some idea of what to post next, ha ha! Thanks for looking, and watch Carol and the End of the World on Netflix! Showrunner: Dan Guterman BG design: Alex Myung Art direction: @ellemichalka

[integer-0verflow]

okay so you told me to ramble in ur inbox and i take this opportunity i much need. okay so hugh grant once starred in this film back in 1987 called "Maurice". It's based off of the book published 1971 and written around 1913 (the auther probably didnt want it out while he was alive because of how itd affect him in his career and you'll see why later). It was written by E. M. Forster btw. The book is bascially about this guy named maurice hall finding out he has a crush on his classmate clive durnham. the setting for this is 1910, england. that was backghround info btw, i'll drop a brief rundown before getting onto the actual thing i want to talk about. so in short, maurice dates clive for a little while (clive makes the first move btw) and they break up a little after college cause they saw their friend go to jail and it scared clive (very sad, maurice was very broken up about it, poor baby.) clive went after politics cause his dad was a politician too btw, and he was scared how itd affect his life if anyone found out he and maurice were dating, while maurice on the otherhand was willing to give up everything for clive. later in the film, maurice meets clive's gamekeeper, and he ends up dating maurice and running away with him, while clive gets married to a nice lady, but he doesn't really love her the way he loved maurice. more bg info b4 i get to the scene cause you need to know this before i say the detail. ufhgufh clive was always scared to show physical affection (or like have sex with maurice) because any hint of romantic and/or sexual relations with another man was punishable by law at the time, but maurice was literally so head over heels for him he didnt really care. ofc, maurice did respect how clive felt. one of the scenes was where maurice came to clive's room in the middle of the night and kissed him and literally just left out the window (this was after they had a fight as friends. clive had confessed, maurice was like "bro wtf dym" and literally just took off but he later on realized he does like clive that way so he came to clive saying hey i like u but clive was like bro stop pretending ik u dont feel that way and ur js saying that 2 make me feel better BUT ANYWAYS) so a diff scene is where a while after maurice and clive seperated and he's staying the night at one of clive's guest bedrooms the game kepper comes to him in the middle of the night I. GO. CRAZY FOR THIS. WHY???? BECAUSE ALEC (the game keeper) LITERALLY DID WHAT CLIVE DIDNT THE SECOND HE SAW MAURICE. HE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO INITIATE PHYSICAL AFFECTION OF ANY SORT TO MAURICE AND HE LITERALLY CAME IN THRU HIS WINDOW LIKE MAURICE DID TO CLIVE. CLIVE I UNDERSTAND THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND TIME WAS SCARY TO BE GAY BUT ALSO THE THINGS ID DO TO DATE A PRETTY BLONDE HEAD OVER HEELS FOR ME CLIVE I COULD CHOKE YOU???? so yeah, clive ended up homophobic out of fear of what would happen to him and when maurice told clive he was dating his gamekeeper and that they were gonna run away together clive was like bro didnt i already tell you dating men is icky YEAH WELL STFU BRO THEYRE LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU COULDNT BE AHHHH

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE RAMBLE I ONLY JUST REALISED I HAVEN’T CHECKED MY INBOX IN MONTHS I’M SO SORRY!! I’ve added this to my list of things to watch/read, it sounds like something I’d really like :-)

[vera-king-hrfl]

Heat of the Night part 3 (thank you @crowwolf for the title, it fits!)

This is still going to be sweet and cute for a while, but y'all know me, I'm a fiend for drama, so there's some foreshadowing in this one. 😈

Also, we're not doing the typical BG everyone is pansexual thing here. Don't get me wrong, I love that and most of my stories are that, but this one is written with more of a 1980s Earth mentality toward homosexuality, so some of the upcoming drama will surround that attitude. It's not in this one, and I will include warnings in the future when it does come up. ❤️

Cal hangs around the house the next day, making breakfast, doing laundry, and cleaning up the place a little. Living with his sister is nice, but they are both rather messy people, so there's always a lot to clean up on their days off. He’s sitting at their little dining table with Lia, eating while she giggles over Baldur’s Mouth, the local tabloid rag, telling him all the juiciest gossip about rich people they'll never meet.

"Oh, now this is interesting." She sips her coffee, eyeing Cal and waiting for him to ask her about it. But her brother knows Lia's game; the little tiefling loves chattering on about anything and everything, and can’t hold back for long, so he just smirks and finishes his toast before resting his chin on his hand and staring at her.

The standoff doesn't last long, as he'd expected, and Lia finally hmphs. "Oh alright, fine. Do you remember Lucretious?"

Cal nods. "Mhm. She used to run the extraplaner circus..."

"Yeah, that's her. Well, apparently she's opening an art gallery not too far from here next week. We should go and support her." She perks up and grins. "Hey! You should show her your stuff. Maybe she'd like to give you a bit of wall there."

Her brother snorts. "Pffft. I'm not good enough for that. We can go, Lucretious is a sweetheart, but keep your trap shut. I'd just embarrass myself."

Lia rolls her eyes. "You are so good enough. Your drawings are beautiful, Cal. But fine." She gets to her feet and grabs her bag, and Cal entertains a brief hope that maybe she'd forgotten about the previous evening. He's not that lucky though, and she continues as she roots for a trolley token. "I'll leave you alone about the gallery, if you promise to call that guy today." She grins at Cal's flinch. "And don't think you can avoid it. I memorized that number last night."

Cal huffs. "Meddling brat. Fine. I said I would call him, and I will. Just don't be a pest about it."

"Alright. I look forward to hearing how it went. Just remember, we have dinner at the tower with Rolan tonight. Then you can tell us both." Her grin widens as Cal groans. He loves his brother, but the older Arch Mage and professor is skeptical about anyone trying to date his siblings, and has a tendency to cause scenes. He'd been fine when Cal declared his preference for men, but the young tiefling hadn’t really dated anyone in a few years, and he expects the third degree about anyone he goes out with. So he just waves his sister off and goes to do the washing up while she leaves for work.

Later, he's sitting at the table with a sketch pad in front of him, doodling and stressing. The pink napkin is on the table too, and his eyes keep drifting to it, breaking his dubious concentration. Finally, he sits back and scrubs at his face with both hands before looking at the thick, charcoal decorated paper. All the anatomy studies he'd been working on that morning were quite a bit darker than he was accustomed to doing. It was a challenge to leave enough white space to really define the lean muscles on the tight, limber torso... but the way the light hits that nearly black skin... he looks at the napkin again. There is no way that man will ever let me see him like this.

Finally, after annoying himself to the point of courage, he picks up his communicator and slowly enters the number on the pink paper. He stares at the thing as if it's about to attack him for a second, then sighs and hits send, standing up to pace as the tone plays in his ear.

"Vendui?" The soft voice is familiar, but Cal doesn’t recognize the greeting.

"Uh... sorry, I'm looking for Ryldinn."

He hears the smile, while causes his own lips to twitch in answer. "You have found him. Is this Cal?"

"Yeah it is... we met last night at the White Swallow." He winces. Obviously Ryldinn knows that, you idiot; he was there. But the rather sexy accent is more noticeable now than in the noisy club, and it's throwing him off. As does the pretty little laugh that follows.

"How could I forget? How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. And you?"

"Bwael, yes, wonderful, now that I hear you. Have you had chance to decide whether to see me? May I think that is why you call?"

Cal has to sit down at that. It’s like a dream, the lovely man seeming so eager to see him again. He holds the device away from his face to clear his throat before answering. "Yeah, it is, um... if you want to. Where would you like to go?"

"There is a café near to my home. Evae Aloun. Do you know it? Right near the Upper City gate. What time would you like to meet? I am not busy today."

"Uh... today? I mean, yeah I know the place. I have dinner with my brother around eighth bell, but anytime before that would be great."

He hears the adorable smiling sound in the soft words again. "Very well. I shall be there at the third. I am happy for this, Cal. Will see you there."

They say their goodbyes and Cal ends the call, staring at the comm for a moment before tossing it next to him on the sofa and sitting back, pushing his hair behind his horns. He glances at the clock. Just after first. He has time to get ready, but he’s not sure if he's prepared to see the beautiful man again. Some part of him still thinks this must be a mistake, or a joke of some kind. Maybe Ryldinn had been dazzled by the flashing lights in the club, or something...

He groans and stands, going into his room to spend an inordinate amount of time agonizing over his appearance. He settles on a short sleeved shirt and some decent jeans, then stands in front of the mirror to fuss with his hair and tug at the shirt to try and hide the little belly that he'd grown in the last few years of single life. Finally he sighs and rakes the dark locks into a ponytail, grabs his keys and money, and leaves the house to catch the trolley.

The time he left at should have brought him to the cute little café a bit early, but a delay in the trolley service makes him several minutes late instead, and he hurries down the sidewalk, hoping that Ryldinn won't be upset. He doesn’t see the man at first, when he reaches the place, and his stomach sinks for a minute as he considers that perhaps Ryldinn had grown tired of waiting and left. Or maybe he'd never meant to come here in the first place. Cal sighs, looking around for a minute.

"Hi."

At the soft sound, Cal spins to see his date standing behind him, smiling. "Oh... hi Ryldinn. Im sorry I'm late, the trolley..."

The drow chuckles and takes Cal's hand to lead him to a table outdoors, near a corner. They sit, and Cal wracks his brain for something to say. "You look nice," is all he can come up with. It's true, too. The pretty little man is wearing loose soft pants that cling precariously to his narrow hips and an expensive looking vee neck t-shirt with some modern art piece printed on it, cropped just enough to skim his waistband. Delectable little peeks of his silky grey skin show when he moves to wave the smiling dwarven waitress over, and it's all Cal can do not to stare at him. Ryldinn is even more gorgeous in the sunlight, his hands, arms and face gleaming, though his big eyes are hidden behind dark sunglasses. He'd left his shimmering hair down too, and he sweeps it back after the lady takes their order, resting his chin on his hands to look at Cal.

"Thank you. You look quite good yourself." Ryldinn isn’t lying about that, and he's thankful for the glasses that let him inspect the handsome tiefling without seeming like a creep. He can sense Cal's apprehension, and doesn’t want to scare the man away. But he looks anyway, appreciating the way his chest and strong arms push at the fabric of Cal’s button down shirt. Astarion was right, the beefy young man is undeniably Ryldinn’s type, and he'd been captivated by him the moment he'd walked into the bar the previous night. Said tiefling is possibly blushing now, though its hard to tell with the reddish shade of his skin. Ryldinn can’t see very well anyway, in the bright afternoon sun, but it's impossible to miss the shy grin and the way his burning eyes flicker over Ryldinn in a similar appraisal, and then dart away nervously. The drow smiles, pleased that Cal seems to like the way he looks.

Their drinks arrive, and Cal adds milk and sugar to his coffee while Ryldinn blows on his own decalf espresso. "Do you take sugar?" The tiefling offers Ryldinn the container, but the dark elf shakes his head.

"No thank you, Cal. You sweet enough for the both of us." He's rewarded with another cute little flush, more obvious this time, and decides to make small talk to put the man at ease. "So," he says, sipping carefully at the hot cup. "What was wrong with the trolley?"

Cal shrugs. "Just the usual mess. I guess some rich politician got murdered early this morning and they're doing an investigation. They rerouted all of the cars to another street."

A thin white eyebrow raises above the rim of the glasses. "How shameful. What is the city coming to?" There’s a dash of irony in his voice that Cal can't quite place, but he puts it down to the accent, or perhaps the rumored violence of his former society made the man more immune to things like that. "Do not worry though, I would have waited longer."

"Uh... heh, alright." Cal is actually enjoying the company now, relaxing a little now that they're here and Ryldinn seems to be openly flirting with him. He thinks maybe there's a possibility that the drow does actually like him. He certainly seems to. "So, um... what do you do? For work, I mean."

Ryldinn leans back in his chair and runs a hand through his hair. "I am a procurator at a specialty book shop in the Upper City. It's not that interesting, really. I just find books for people who want them, but the owner is kind to me, and I get to meet interesting people. What about you?"

"Nothing that posh, I'm afraid." Cal chuckles a little. "I'm a mechanic. I work for a friend of the family fixing whatever needs fixed. Including these rickety trolleys, when the company decides they're on the verge of falling apart. But if you do rare books or whatever, maybe you know my brother, Rolan."

Ryldinn sips his coffee again. "Mm, I've never met him; the boss usually entertains the more important clients. But I do believe I have found some things for him. It must be interesting having an Arch Mage for a brother."

Cal grins. "It’s stressful, actually. He's... well. He's a bit cranky and pompous, and very protective of me and our sister. Do you have family here?"

"Oh my. I hope he's alright with us seeing each other. I wouldn't want a wizard mad at me. But no, I don’t have any family." The last sentence seems to cool Ryldinn’s expression a little, and Cal hurriedly moves on, thinking that may be a sensitive subject for the man.

"Oh, he'll disapprove at first, I'm sure, but he'd disapprove if I was dating a Grand Duke. It's fine. Besides. I'm enjoying this. I haven't been on a date in a few years, and certainly not with someone so..." he blushes and buries his face in his cup, hoping he didn’t go too far.

But Ryldinn just smiles, sets his cup down, and lays his hand on the table, palm up. "So what?"

Cal swallows, looking at the offered hand for a second before gently taking it, curling his rough fingers around the slender dark ones. "I'm going to be honest with you, Ryldinn. When I first saw you I didn't think... well I thought you were just being nice, or teasing me because I'm new. I've only really been "out" for about a year and I've never dated a man before. I don’t really know how all of that works. But I do like you and... I think you're very beautiful. I just couldn't imagine what you saw in me. Astarion did say I was your type, but he was being kind of... I don't know. I'm just really nervous."

Ryldinn nods, squeezing his fingers a bit and seeming to consider. Finally he smiles. "Don’t worry about him. We've known each other for about fifteen years, and though he can be a jerk sometimes, he's the closest thing I'll ever have to a brother. So he's a little... protective as well, I suppose. But, Cal... I'm not... I have not dated anyone in... well I've never actually had a boyfriend or anything like that. But life gets lonely, you know? So, if you are willing to give this a chance and see where it goes... I do find you very attractive as well, I will admit that, but there’s something else about you. I cannot really express. I am more good at reading your language than speaking it. I am getting better at it, but my boss speaks drow, as well as Astarion, so I don't practice as much as I should."

"I understand you perfectly, Ryldinn, it's alright." He looks at the soft hand in his for a minute, digesting Ryldinn’s statement. He thinks Cal is attractive, along with whatever else he's noticed that seems to please him. "Yeah, I'm willing to give it a chance. Not only because you're good-looking. You were just really nice to me. You're the first guy who's really shown any interest. I just... I want to get to know you better."

Ryldinn smiles, and they chat for quite a while, about their work, local events, casual things, until the shadows start to lengthen over the café and it's time for Cal to go get ready to spend the evening with his siblings. Ryldinn stands when he does, and Cal hesitates for a minute before gently taking his arm and leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. The drow dimples, pleased. "I am busy tomorrow, but perhaps I could see you the next evening? The view of the sunset from the bluff outside the city is lovely."

Cal grins. "It’s a date. I'll call you later to work out exactly where and when. Um... this was nice. Thank you."

[llycaons]

ch8-11

this flashback is so similar to what I watched....glad the anime was so faithful and it IS good but I'm hoping to get through it fast

this feels so realistic to plenty of women honestly. like damn...he's alright I guess. hope he doesn't die. I guess I'll marry him because we need more hands around the house and he's alright. she's very practical. in a lot of ways I enjoy that they don't make her and ari like, star-crossed lovers or anything. she's chilling. it is a little sad tho...like I hope she did actually want it, you know?

thors's plan: I have got to get these sweet idiots out of harm's way IMMEDIATELY. I will take as few as I POSSIBLY can

HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE ALL HIS TEETH YET...OH I'M GOING TO CRY...he's just a baby...

stop....in 15 or so years he'll say that he's never been happy a day in his life. does he remember any of this time? does he remember being excited to see the ocean like this?

obviously this is horrible but 'christ-boy' made me giggle

I actually don't remember why floki outsourced this job...was it really because this is a secret assassination and he doesn't want to lose any of his men?

anyway say what you will about askeladd but he's not afraid of getting his hands dirty. he literally killed the king himself and sacrificed his life to protect his goals. insane move. I respect it. esp since he seemed to really try to protect thorfinn, in the end, and was honestly rather kind to him in his final words. a terrible man, but not without his good qualities and his weird kindnesses

awww, he's a parenting a rambunctious child <3

thors's only fault as a parent was the spanking. we know that's wrong, thors!

HEY JUST LIKE THORFINN DID IN CH1

thors is sodumb here 😭 he's lucky he didn't break yvla's neck

WITH THORFINN IN HIS LAP, TOO

how this must hurt thors, to know his son was dragged into such danger, and that he has to give him a weapon to defend himself...

much like his son, thors is incredibly badass when fighting. however unlike his son he's also hot shit when he's trying to save people's lives and being self-sacrificial and being a responsible village leader. s2 thorfinn's in an awkward transitionary period so I hope later in the manga he ups his badass pacifist game. and/or his DILF game

WAIT this is just like les mis. valjean's commitment to good works and peace after many years of violence and forced servitude!!!!

notice how fictional women don't really do this....probably bc historically women didn't tend to make their life's work murder and the loose equivalent would be like, privileged women becoming social justice activists. like white women abolitionists, maybe? it's not really the same tho.

HE'S SO COOL...and he didn't even kill any of them, just temporarily paralyzed them

okay he fully broke both of this guy's arms but it was self-defense so it's fine

throwing an oar to the guy he threw overboard...too kind!

thorfinn and ari are so excited in the bg...he's SO cool...

[lomappreciationblog]

Can't Look Back: Quest Discussion (Part 1)

So like I mentioned in my last post, I'll be talking about this quest! Geez, it's been a while since I did one of these, but this IS a really good story.

It's one of those stories that isn't connected to a bigger narrative - it's a one-shot story, in the book that is LOM. Reflecting on this quest, now, I though, I realize it shares a lot of themes with the Star-Crossed Lovers Arc, and is sort of a miniaturization of its story. I'll discuss this point some more later.

"Can't Look Back" is pretty memorable for tackling a pretty heavy story and for giving Mephianse a very human story. Most people probably play "Reach for the Stars" before this quest, and so have the impression of Mephianse as this theatrically evil mastermind who sought a way to bring down the stars in a fairly comedic quest that's basically a huge prank.

But this quest is very different, and while it does feature some students, the focus of the story is Mephianse and his brother, Nakratos.

From the very start of the story you're already a lot of information even with a few lines of dialogue, namely that Faeries are involved, Nakratos's wife is dead, and whatever he did was related to his response to her death.

It's quite fitting that the bg theme for Fieg Snowfields is titled "Evanescent Memories" with this quest in mind.

Mephianse does stop his dramatic monologuing to acknowledge the player and he speaks with a rather teacherly concern, addressing the player as a young traveler and warning them of the "ice witch" - whom we of course meet later on, as the character Crystalle.

The choice of words sounds a bit harsh, and considering that Mephianse teaches alongside Kathinja and Thesenis (who the Characters Tome calls an actual witch of reincarnation), it's a little clue to tip off the player that Mephianse might have strong personal feelings regarding this situation.

Being nosey main characters, we go after Mephianse, of course.

The next story beats takes place at Mephianse's camp with his students. It is really sweet that the students, in their own way, are trying to encourage Mephianse to not give up on trying to find Nakratos again. I assume the students came along because they were curious in the Faerie treasure, but they do sound close and respectful of their teacher, too.

Meanwhile, the MC: casually boogies on down to the Underworld whenever one feels like it lol.

And you can meet ACTUAL dead NPCs that way too. We really are the Mana Goddess's most special boy/girl lol.

Jokes aside, at the core of it this quest is a discussion of grief and responses to it. Nakratos lost his wife, and his response was not to move on, but to either meet her or bring her back to life - but in doing this, he himself was lost, and this quest is untangling Mephianse's grief to it and making the teacher see the truth.

This is a really cute interaction though, and shows that Mephianse does really care for his students.

You need to talk to them some more to prompt the quest to proceed, which again gives some more information.

Oh, he is scared of them, but probably not for the reasons this student thinks.

At least one student is tired of the field trip.

Oh dang, I just realized, I never brought Bud or Lisa to this quest, I wonder if they too react to the quest.

Mephianse, I know you have strong opinions on Crystalle but telling ALL your students she's an ice witch is kinda mean.

I'm guessing the mentions of an "ice witch" and that she apparently froze Nakratos and turned him into an ice statue is to serve the purpose of making Crystalle sound like a Yuki-Onna, the snow woman yokai from Japanese folklore (and she sort of is, since Nao Ikeda designed her with that in mind, but I think I'll discuss that in a separate character art post). The whole "turning into an ice statue" even sounds similar to the habits of the Pokemon Froslass, who is also based off the Yuki-Onna.

While there are stories about some sort of good fortune happening to someone who treats a Yuki-Onna right, a lot of stories about them portray them as dangerous creatures who freeze people, push victims down snowy valleys, trick them into holding their children only to cause one to die by exposure, etc. etc. As a personification of snow and winter, these stories are meant to warn people of the dangers of the cold and frost, so it's not a surprise a lot of stories involving them have them making victims out of humans.

I wonder if LoM was banking on that cultural association to make a player suspicious of Crystalle and make one think she might be the boss fight even...but as with a lot of stories in LoM, not all things are as they seem, and Mephianse's own issues are clouding what really happened.

That got long, whoops. But I do love a good build up of expectations and then a subversion, all because a character accidentally misunderstands - or willingly misunderstands what happened.

I realize looking at these screenshots that Mephianse initially talks about Nakratos being dead already, but then he suddenly refers to Nakratos having a "whole new life" - again, tipping one off something isn't right here.

And away we go as the nosiest main character in existence! But that'll be for part 2, when we get to see Crystalle in person and start figuring out what REALLY happened.

(apologies for the longest ass posts, there is no way for me to talk about LoM's events without rambling :'))

[4004notfound]

ok RIP i am very late but without further ado let's get it, i'm ines and this is kim noeul who tbh was a poor, easily forgettable girl in hs and now is one of the preeminent young novelists in south korea! under the cut here i'll get into a little more but pls like this and i'll def hit u up for plotting!

ok so first of all: pisces sun/taurus moon/aquarius rising

now onto like bg stuff so she's born to two teenaged parents right

and what's wild is her parents genuinely really love each other and like get married and noeul has a little sister who's like 9 now which is crazy

also bc a 16 year old girl named her like her actual name is noelle not noeul but like she's let everyone just assume it's noeul bc it's easier than explaning that her mom thought noelle would be a trendy name

but anyways having two teenaged parents doesn't like set you up the best financially so she lived with her parents and grandparents for a while when she was growing up and evenutally her parents moved out of her paternal grandparents place only to be living in a shitty half basement apartment with noeul bc like again how far can two high school grads from poor families with a whole ass child get in seoul

and tbh like bro noeul loves her parents but she DEF kinda resented them for being poor growing up and like so combined with this hatred of her situation paired with being a smart girl with a lot of drive she worked REALLY hard to get into shinhwa

only kinda realized that getting into shinhwa didn't mean a ton in terms of social standing bc u know she's still fucking broke and tbh rather than bullied i don't imagine people particularly even took that much notice of her bc she kept to herself a lot with like insecurity bc she was v obviously poorer than everyone and stuff and probs had a few friends but not a lot

tho lmao wildly and fully relating to her secret despite being this smart girl who worked hard to get her scholarship and school was v important to her she got pregnant right at the tale end of her last year at shinhwa and actually had to delay going to college the following year bc u know PREGNANCY

and there's like a lot of stigma that comes with being a single mother in korea and shit so like tbh did she want to keep her daughter? yes of course but like she didn't have the financials bc atp it's her, her parents, and her little sister living in a shitty little apartment and she literally shares a room with a 3 year old at the time, and then like she wants to go and better her life and stuff and it's hard to do when everyone judges you for being a single mom and it's not fair on the child so she makes the hard choice to give up her daughter for adoption and then go back to school

and like ok she goes to ewha womans and she does well there too bc again very determined to do well in life and all but like i think giving her daughter up fr had a sense of guilt, regret, and honestly depression that she never really expected so like she struggled with that and she ended up writing this story about it for a creative writing class and her teacher was like "hold up this is kind of good have u ever considered writing it into something more?"

and with her teacher's help and encouragement she did just that and ended up writing what would become a very popular novel about a young woman who gets pregnant, gives up her child, and navigating life through the tragedy over it. tbh it's kinda in the style of kim jiyoung, born 1982

and even cooler u know later it gets turned into a movie that's scheduled to come out later this year and fr like idk shit turned her whole life around like writing about the biggest misery and regret of her life gave her the money she always craved and a bit of notoriety and everything is cool and all but like on the other side of things people fr think the story is just a novel and are like "wow how did you come up with the concept?" and for obvi reasons like noeul is def more comfortable with letting them thinking it's all fictional

and yeah so ngl life has fr turned around really recently for her and it's really nice but like rip now the dawn of realization is setting in that like... people are gonna expect another novel and how is she supposed to provide that like...

[dullahandyke]

Ok ok ok dgs case 3 time wooo!!

Btw loving the sherlock Holmes openings to all the chapters. Cool

Also love ryuu and susatos little travelling outfits... he has a hat :)

Also also I'm not really one for period dramas so maybe this is a common thing but I like how colourful it makes London look instead of the whole 'Ye Olde World Had No Colours Ever' like I went to London once and it didnt look as nice as this

The gavel slamming sfx whenver it says the date and place is so awful tho... grating on me ears

Office is cool as fuck tho. Gears moving yayyy totally not ominous bgm yayyyyy I feel like the gears r probs just an imposing set piece but itd b really cool if they were used in some way. Probably couldnt quite pull off a great mouse detective but like they're fairly tall I imagine there are Things up there that you cant quite reach that could be evidence in some case or another

He appears... I like his clock gimmick a lot but mael stronghart is a bit of a pisser of a name. I'm gonna keep calling him hart vortex because vortex is cool

'We're never happier than when we're standing around doing nothing' SO TRUE RYUU KING!!!!!

Birds in the bg... so that's what's on the gears theres a bunch of birds nests. :)

We have asougis arm band now.... :( waaaaa

I love susatos little encyclopedia so muchhhh I've said it before but we need to get her wikipedia. I know that considering game 2 things its popular hc that she becomes a lawyer later in life but I think she would really really enjoy herself as an encyclopedist or a librarian

'Theres something soothing about the clocks precise rhythm' ok well that's not a particularly autistic sentiment but I'm saying it is. Ryuu autist for life!!!

'We spearhead every revolutionary new technology in the world here in London' sure jan

'The sun will never set on our great empire' DECOLONISATION BEAM ATTACK!!!!!!!! If I see the end of the British empire in my life I will be a very happy man indeed

Vortex asking if ryuu is willing to commit to everything asougi planned... ominous

'If you get this man found innocent I'll let you be a lawyer' unsuspicious! Let's go for it <3

'If theres no defense then the defendant will get the max punishment automatically' surely that's not how that works

Omg I can ask susato what to do... yessss shes an assistant proper!!!!

Oh I was expecting the old bailey to be a bit more grand. Looks a bit piss

NOT THE TOP OF THE MORNING TO YA 😭😭😭😭😭 and the written Irish accent...

Tho given what I know of megundal the fact that he Does have such a noticeable accent is a bit of character... like hes so much dressed to the nines and the man with the money that youd think he would have ditched the Irish accent. When does dgs happen again? After the famine, before the rising? Youd imagine hed give up either the accent or the posh aesthetic given how badly they clash - outfit prevents him from fitting in with 'fellow people down on their luck', accent prevents him from appearing entirely affluent

[letoscrawls]

Idk if you're still into Dune so forgive me for asking this: A long, long time ago way before I read the Dune novels, someone I used to follow here (now inactive) wrote that Duncan/Sheeana was their OTP and that there was Miles/Sheeana/Duncan love traingle. Tbh, I haven't read Heretics of Dune yet but I thought Duncan/Murbella was a thing? Tv Tropes and the Dune Wiki don't give detailed accounts of said relationships

No worries, i don't think i'll ever get over dune, i just don't have enough time to talk nonstop about it sdhfdshhdsf

If you don't want to be spoiled i'll just give the short spoiler free answer here: Sheeana and Duncan might have been a thing, Duncan and Murbella are definitely a thing, a very werid toxic codependent thing, Miles/Sheeana/Duncan is probably a fragment of that person's imagination because Miles is old af and Sheeana and Duncan are literally children in heretics and i think in their 20s/30s in Chapterhouse, also Sheeana is probably never seen with Miles if i remember correctly lmao.

Ok so basically *HUGE SPOILERS* proceed at your own risk!!!

i think it's hinted that Sheeana and Duncan could have been a thing at the end of Chapterhouse because they leave together, and also they were supposed to get together and make very powerful babies, that was the plan of the bene gesserit but does anyone ever follows the bene gesserit plans in dune? not really lol

Then Duncan was imprinted (YIKES) by Murbella at the end of heretics but he manages to do a 180 on her and he imprints her as well so in Chapterhouse they are stuck in this very codependent toxic/weird relationship, they had some babies that the bg took away from them, they kinda can't stand eachtother but they can't stand apart either; at the end of chapterhouse Murbella decides to fully become a bene gesserit and thus frees herself from that weird sexual spell she had with Duncan. He's heartbroken and since didn't want to stay with the bg anyway he leaves with Sheeana. But i remember during the story Sheeana was also on a mission to get information from Duncan, so she would often have meetings with him and they did share a deep bond somehow. I haven't read brian herbert's books so i don't know what happens later, but i think they were probably going to have some sort of relationship in the final book.

I have never heard of a Miles/Sheeana/Duncan love traingle though omg that sounds very random, considering Miles' old ass lmfao. But no they don't have any kind of relationship ever, Miles was watching over baby Duncan in heretics if i remember correctly and i don't think he ever had interactions with Sheeana because she had a whole other side plot going on in Heretics, also i can't stress enough that she was a child DJFHSDHFH

I think the closest thing Miles had with anyone in the books is a one sided interest from Lucilla, she mentions a couple times that she wanted to imprint him or something, idk i think she was just horny for old man Miles and that was so real of her