#also a bit of a tangent but on the note of events

[wutherwaves]

hiiii no need to respond I just wanted to thank you for your services, with the guides and posting about events and allat here :) it's very useful to me

[sixosix]

hiii i fear tumblr may have ate my ask so i'll say it again just in case--if not im so sorry please ignore this i don't mean to rush you or anything :')

wanderer, candy(does that count?), fluff!! :D

(oh oh also can i be 🪐anon/saturn anon? if not thats fine! i just thought i'd ask since i think i've been sending asks consistently enough to identify myself ^^)

notes wc 800; HII your ask wasnt eaten, i was just taking a long time writing the requests LMFAO. of course u can be saturn anon!!! welcome welcome to the blog (this ask was sent a month ago and i am very much late. idek if anon is still active here…) tbh i wrote this and just went with the flow HAHA

5K EVENT SPECIAL | EVENT MASTERLIST

You unceremoniously dump the pile of imported goods on the table, causing quite a scene in the silence of the House of Daena. They scattered about, and some even clattered onto the floor. You grinned proudly at your friends’ dumbfounded stares.

Tighnari was the first to speak. “I’m assuming you had fun on your vacation in Inazuma?”

“Do you even have money left?” Alhaitham asked, quite incredulously. The most emotion you’ve seen from this month.

It took you a moment to respond, and you felt momentarily distracted by the strange sensation of being watched. “Well, no,” you said eventually. “But I bought all this for you guys! Be more grateful, will you?”

Kaveh clapped his hands. “This is incredible! I haven’t gotten the chance to try any of these local delicacies from Inazuma!”

You nodded approvingly. See? Was that so hard? “Yes, I know. Aren’t I such a good friend? You’re welcome, all of you.”

Belatedly, they mutter their thanks.

You went on a tangent, reciting the food sales pitch you memorized from the sellers, feeling remarkably intelligent. They didn’t have to know that, half the time, you were the personification of a lost tourist/foreigner/idiot in Inazuma and just decided to play it safe and keep most of the souvenirs as food.

They segregated their wanted share and thanked you again. They left you some of the candy, which you had no qualms about eating for yourself. As you all fell into the lull of a conversation, the feeling worsened, and you’ve had enough.

You turned to your friends. “He’s been staring at me for about 30 minutes now…”

They each cast their discreet glances.

“Are you scared?” Kaveh asked worriedly.

“Look at that look in his eye!” you said. “I’ve seen that same look in Rishboland Tigers!”

“He’s not going to eat you,” Tighnari sighed. Well, he wouldn’t know that. Only Alhaitham has met Hat Guy, and he seemed to be amused instead.

“Violence is not permitted in the Akademiya grounds,” Cyno said seriously.

“Maybe it’s not you he’s looking at…?” Tighnari tried.

“Cyno, switch with me,” you ordered.

Wordlessly, he obeyed. The group watched in disbelief as Hat Guy’s gaze simply moved to where you sat next. He wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“Maybe he’s interested because it’s a candy imported from Inazuma,” Cyno supplied thoughtfully.

“That’s a good point. I’m surprised you didn’t make a p—”

“Don’t you mean—” Cyno held up the box that displayed the Inazuman Electro symbol on the front, “shocked?”

You hung your head. You spoke too soon. “OK.”

Tighnari watched your face for a long moment, but it didn’t feel as charged as the guy sitting a few tables away. “You don’t seem to hate the attention,” he concluded at the sight your giddy smile.

“No, I really don’t,” you admitted sheepishly. “He’s smart, and he’s handsome. Of course I’m interested. I just wish he would be a bit more normal about his flirting—if he’s even flirting. Should I give him some?”

You didn’t wait for an answer as your chair scraped backward and you faced Hat Guy directly.

“Make sure it’s just the candy you’re giving!” Kaveh called out.

“I see that Sparks are flying,” Cyno said.

Walking over while you held his gaze was excessively awkward, but it was worthwhile seeing Hat Guy’s little smirk grow like he was pleased you were taking his challenge. It was a bit of a problem, however, that he was undeniably attractive. If he was cute from afar, he was drop-dead gorgeous up close.

“Y/N,” you said, in place of a greeting.

“They call me Hat Guy,” he mused. “Those from Inazuma?”

“Yes.” Suddenly embarrassed that the bullshit you were spewing was picked up on by the guy who everyone was pretty sure was born in Inazuma. “Did you hear me?”

Hat Guy shrugged, plucking one candy from the pile on your hands. “You did pretty well. But I only have one criticism, and I can tell you bought most of them from the same place.”

Ah, you did do that. He tore off the plastic and popped it into his mouth, expression turning sour. “The best ones come from the locals. You should’ve asked the kids,” he advised.

Mouth dry, you said, “Yeah, I should’ve.”

Everyone told you that the mysterious new student—Hat Guy, you now learned—was prickly and slips off when someone approaches him. His birthday was apparently a very thrilling event—in the case that everyone had to hunt him down to give him his cake.

“Want a tip?” he asked, head tilted and looking entirely pretty. His tongue rolled around as he ate his—your candy.

“You seem to know best.”

“Take me with you next time.”

[meanbossart]

Ask compilation: I'm Starting To Think That This Drow Guy Is Kind Of An Asshole Edition.

Probably a Ranger in the hunter subclass. I actually intended to multi-class him as fighter/ranger at some point and make that his official class, but I haven't had time/quite figured out the best build that would still suit him - Ranger makes a LOT of sense with his backstory, arguably more than fighter, but he's still supposed to be a magic-less brick-house with 19 strength who hasn't handled a bow and arrow in 10 years, so I'm not sure where that leaves us LOL

A lot of people have suggested that Berserk Barbarian would fit him well, but I think that implies a lot of other characteristics that do NOT suit him at all so 🤷

HE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE CRECHE, and honestly it made the game feel much more immersive to pick one path and stick to it like Halsin suggested, even if I did have to endure the shadow cursed lands without the shiny mace 😂

Probably for the best, it'd be a real shame if the story ended there just because he didn't like Vlaakith's attitude.

But yeah Lae'zel (who, for the record, I adore) never stood a chance in his playthrough. Sorry baby girl.

I'm either uninformed or we have different definitions of what constitutes a crush, but sure I'll play in this space LOL

He's both jealous but also kind of aloof when it comes to things like that. It's yet another symptom of his arrogance, where it seems unfathomable that anyone who has him would be genuinely tempted by someone else. He doesn't mind a normal amount of glance-stealing and flattery, even playful flirting to a degree, but if there's persistence or if his partner seems to seek another person out for things he thinks he should be providing, he feels threatened.

Also, he has a difficult time discerning that "deep emotional connection" does not equal "romantic interest". So, at least immediately after the events of the game, he's more likely to be made insecure by his partners forming deep bonds with others than any throwaway expression of physical desire or fleeting infatuation.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

Let me preface this with the (hopefully unnecessary) disclaimer that this murderous dark-elf's opinions are not my own, and that I very much purposefully made a bit of an asshole character because I find that entertaining.

And now that you're hopefully primed for what's coming - DU drow is pretty damn judgemental of people's looks save for the rare times when they give him a good impression right off the bat. He notes people's appearances and makes preemptive assumptions about them without even realizing it. He definitely does not equal beauty to value or prowess (in fact he will very much still mock of you if you seem too concerned with your appearance) but he does prescribe things based on looks.

I don't think he'd take issue with what you're describing, It sounds like a pretty average body, but he would assume that person is weaker and less fit to "keep up with him", basically. Which kind of diminishes interest.

As far as to what he finds immediately attractive, he definitely prefers people who seem physically fit (not more than himself though - gods forbid). But, the caveat to this whole tangent is that once you get past initial impressions, he could definitely come to be sexually attracted to pretty much any type of body attached to the person he's in love with.

Thank you! There was no main event, just the building up of resentment over time and the opportunity she saw opening up when the Chosen's plan came into motion. She definitely didn't always hate him though, they had a fairly close relationship until his obsessive behavior and arrogance became an issue.

Thank you!!!

They call him the/that drow, dark elf, or "big drow" if there's more than one present. In private they might facetiously call him Bhaalspawn if they get tired of referring to him by race.

I'll be honest, I forgot whether or not I found it in his playthrough LOL but if he did stumble across that would be VERY funny. He'd be like "look at these idiots and their fake murder god. What kind of dimwit would worship carnage as a religion. Hey Shadowheart get a load of this-"

HAPPY YOU ENJOY HIM! I think his unique situation overall with having been such a overwhelmingly horrid person and forgetting all about it is my favorite bit. That's kind of vague, I know, but I often think of dreams I've had where I committed a crime or did something horrible, and that immediate feeling of relief and disconnect that follows immediately after waking up. That's kind of what I imagine it's like for him - he knows of the things he did, but he doesn't really. In theory it's all true but that's a truth far too fantastical for anyone to conceptualize even if it's put right in front of your face.

That, tackling the guilt (or lack thereof) of something you genuinely don't feel like you've done and the intricacies of it, that's a fascinating state of mind to explore. I love how many directions you can take that.

For me, having a character who is not good, but is not necessarily pure unadulterated evil, makes for a lot of complex thought experiments and contradictory values. DU drow has a lot of those - things he believes and abides by absolutely except for this specific instance, being contradictory is a pillar of his character and it can be a little challenging to keep up with it - but I'd be lying if I said I don't deeply enjoy that aspect as well all the same.

THANK YOUUUU It took me so long to figure out how to draw Astarion in a way I liked, I'm so relieved that others enjoy it too 😂

Shockingly he did succeed it and was immediately put-off by it, lmao. They wouldn't really develop much of a relationship for a while after that, so at that point DU drow just figured he was trying to get something from him and wrote him off, much as he did with everyone else with the exception of Shadowheart.

He didn't meet her at the Tiefling grove! I didn't even know you could meet her before-hand for the longest time. But he did super, duper kill her at camp of course.

He managed to hide the body and everyone else was none the wiser, huge blood bhaal-sigil on the ground aside lmao. He was a little shocked but didn't feel all that bad about it, kind of resigning to that primal feeling of satisfaction at a job-well-done that overwhelmed him instead. He decided she was too weak to survive out there and he had just spared her the trouble.

[hybbart]

Hi! I absolutely adore your work, I was wondering if you have any advice on getting your ideas and au's out there? Sometimes it feels like no matter how much you post/try to connect with others it's impossible for any posts to break out of the little tumblr interaction bubble

Well, I'm not really the person to ask this, cause any popularity I have at any point is almost entirely dependant on my current hyperfixation, and I'm not one to care much about it.

Mostly I have a good enough appealing and safe art style and good enough sense of humour that's easy for people to like even if they don't especially care about the content, and draw often enough that I don't get forgotten.

My current stuff is fanworks, which have a built in audience, so you're always going to be seen as long as you tag it properly. Especially if you're actively participating in the fandom. I also have the benefit of being obsessed with a rather popular duo like ranchers.

Basically, the notes I get are very predictable and temporary, and not really based on any intentional work. I'm good enough for casual followers to pay attention to as long as it's stuff they recognize. I'd say like 80% of my notes are from casual engagement who aren't really going to do much besides a like and maybe reblog just because they were told they have to reblog artists or they're using the site wrong.

I guess what I mean to say is, having those notes is nice and appreciated but at the end of the day I also have a pretty small little bubble. There's just a wall of passers-by around it making it seem bigger than it actually is. It very quickly dissipates when I draw anything out of the ordinary that I can't put a bunch of popular tags on. So, I'm not really the person to ask about that sort of thing.

That said, I guess all that might sound a bit cynical to most people even though it isn't meant to be, so I guess some actual tips might be in order.

Skill. Art's about communication and expression, which like anything is better done with a larger toolkit and knowledge. And also especially casual engagement just enjoys things of higher quality. Raw ideas aren't usually enough to get people to understand or care unless they care about you. To be blunt, sometimes people just aren't good enough or are too niche for a general audience. That's nothing to be self-conscious or miserable about, it's just something you have to be self-aware about enough to accept that you're not gonna attract people who aren't invested in you. If that's something you want to change by becoming better then you have to intentionally do so, talent is a lie.

Passion. It's obvious when your heart isn't in it regardless of skill level because art is about communication. And passion's what drives us to do better, it's hard to develop and spend time on work you don't really want to do. If you're enthusiastic other people will be more likely to join you in your enthusiasm. If you don't care or are burnt out people will notice. If you're doing things just to get attention people will notice. You have to want to create what you're creating.

Good ideas. To be blunt a good idea that interests people is just going to be more popular than a bad one that doesn't. Sometimes something that interests you doesn't interest a lot of other people, that's why you gotta make peace with caring more about quality interaction over quantity, and being more self-aware.

Making friends. Finding people who are as enthusiastic as you about something is going to go a long way, and people who aren't as enthusiastic are more likely to become enthusiastic or support you if you're friends and you can annoy them in their DMs with 3 hour tangents about your favourite thing. Honestly once you have someone you can do this to you stop caring about the other stuff. Art's about communication, like I said. Participating in events is a great way to make friends, but so is just reaching out to people you like.

Being friendly. This one's pretty simple. If you're a dick people aren't going to take the time to get invested in your project even if it interests them.

Being accessible. This covers anything from literal accessibility to having clean directories and tags, to anchoring/themed extra engagement. 'Do you have any questions about [character]' is going to get more engagement than 'feel free to ask me anything about my au' even if there's less questions to ask because it's less broad and puts less of a burden on the asker to come up with a prompt. It's easier to be broader later on when you have already put out a lot of information and people are more invested.

Being concise: Basically very few people are going to read this goliath of a post compared to a short, information dense, clear post. When I post art I try to avoid too much text, because I want the art to be the focus of the post. When I post writing I put it under a cut so it doesn't consume someone's dash and write something clearer above. The reason writing is going to get less engagement is because it takes more time and effort to engage with than a picture. People who aren't already invested aren't going to sift through 10 paragraphs of loose info. This goes for art, too. One piece is going to catch the eye easier than 10 unrelated sketches or a long form comic. This doesn't mean don't make this content, but be smarter about how you present it to take into account how it engages people.

Tagging things. Don't abuse tags or put irrelevant tags, but finding out what tags are frequented that apply to your art helps. There is definitely still an inconsistent limit of tags that tumblr's search actually pays attention to, so put the most important ones first. I usually put warnings first and foremost and put personal categorization tags last. Being consistent with tags lets people find stuff on your blog easier and makes you show up in a search more frequently, so you're easier to find for people who use tumblr in different ways.

Time of day. This one's finicky to figure out and can change but if you post when there's more people online... well, more people are likely to see it. Apparently other people follow like hundreds or even thousands of blogs and don't even look at everything on their dash, so for those types of people posts might as well not exist unless it's at the top of their dash. This also helps when popping up in more popular tags' most recent when people are actually looking them up. This doesn't affect posts as much as people think but it does enough to be visible. I frequently post things at like 1 am when no one's on so it doesn't get notes until later on and through notifications.

anyways, i hope something in there helps. If not, well... crap.

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 047 - What My Granny (Weatherwax) Taught Me

Now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms!

Lozzie’s back, friends and neighbors! And this month, we’re sitting down to talk about everybody’s favorite coven - the Witches of Lancre, from Discworld. Longtime fans of the show have heard the works of Sir Terry Pratchett (RIP) and the wisdom of Granny Weatherwax quoted many times on the show, but what other lessons might the Lancre coven have for us over the course of their many odysseys, quests, holidays, and general mucking about? (Tangents include which fantasy character is Legolas’ hot grimy dad, why certain tourists are so bloody annoying when they go abroad, which Discworld quote made Lozzie snarf tea out her nose, and what Bree and the sainted Sir Terry’s origin stories have in common.)

If you love Discworld, this episode is for you. If you’ve never heard of Discworld or are only passing familiar, consider this your introduction. Bit late for the Glorious 25th of May, but all the same - Here’s to Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love, and a Hard-Boiled Egg! 

The Witches of Lancre 

Equal Rites - Wyrd Sisters - Witches Abroad - Lords and Ladies - Maskerade - Carpe Jugulum

The Tiffany Aching Saga

The Wee Free Men - A Hat Full of Sky - Wintersmith - I Shall Wear Midnight - The Shepherd’s Crown

(GNU Terry Pratchett)

Upcoming Events:

Sunflower Witch Market - https://www.facebook.com/events/191005147387320

Free Spirit Gathering - https://www.freespiritgatheringmd.org/ 

CritWitchCon 2024 - https://criticalthinkingwitches.com/events/ 

Follow Bree and Lozzie on Instagram at @breenicgarran and @bihexualhistory. Visit the Willow Wings Witch Shop on Shopify and check out this month’s featured items. Make sure you also visit the Redbubble page for even more cool merch!

Check my ⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠.

Proud member of the ⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

Intro & Outro – “Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance” Host-Read Ads – “Danse Macabre – Violin Hook” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

[its-my-barbeque]

Started thinking about the implications and now I have a theory: The reason why General John MacNamara is so different in TGWDLM and Black Friday is because of who is telling the story.

We know the narrator for TGWDLM is Pokey. Its a retelling of the events and he is in control of what we see and hear - its why the characters cant hear the instruments but we can. This is also backed by the title number and Emma specifically (but that's a post for another time).

In Black Friday, we don't have confirmation on who the narrator is but tis safe to assume one of two options; either the ensemble (Tom, Becky, Lex, etc) or Webby. In this case, we're leaning towards Webby as there are interactions that would be difficult to see otherwise - ie the presidents office before the start of 'Monsters and Men'.

In regards to MacNamara, we know the Lords have history with him. During 'Made in America', while Wilbur is the one who calls out to him, in the captions its credited to Wiggly. This could be attributed to him being a General for PEIP, but there was a little too much malice in the ost for me to believe that's the case. While we don't see it happen, it's clear that MacNamara has not only impeded the Lords progress, but has actively stopped them - probably on multiple occasions. Additionally, he is a Warrior of Light: he can wield the Blade of Truth and has helped Hannah and Lex (Webby's chosen vessels) on multiple occasions (Orb Weaver isn't out yet but that is the synopsis so that would make the pervious point true on two sperate accounts). And even if he isn't a Warrior of Light, the enemy of my enemy is my friend - he is at the very least and ally of Webby.

Now for how that affects his characterization;

In TGWDLM MacNamara is a bit more aggressive and sporadic, even to a silly extent that can seem a bit much at times. He has wide eyes, he's constantly moving, and goes on tangents. Then, despite his title of General, he is easily defeated and absorbed by the Hive. Why is that? Well, because Pokey is the narrator. I wouldn't push it so far as to say its propaganda against PEIP ("look at how silly this so-called military is. even their general is weak! they couldn't be a threat if they tried"), but it absolutely carries a mocking tone. Pokey wants you to laugh at MacNamara, not take him seriously.

In Black Friday, however, MacNamara carries a very different tone. He's calm, collected, knows exactly how to handle almost every situation. In this one, you could actually believe that he is a General and not just some guy with a gun. This can be attributed to Webby being the narrator. She agrees with his values (note 'the value of the human heart' dialog vs 'The Witch in the Web' and how Webby treats Willabella) and, as stated previously, is allied with him in some way. Webby wants to paint MacNamara in a good light, and have you see him as a hero.

[yrthr]

☾ PERFECT PLAN ? ; PARK GUNWOOK

gunwook masterlist / zb1 masterlist ; wc 0.76k

➛ genre / trope ; shy cofident ➛ warnings ; cursing , mentions of food

“ PLEASE. “

“ no. “

“ PRETTY PLEASE ? “

“ no. “

yuqi shook your arm back and forth using her whiny baby voice while you gave her a judgemental yet unimpressed look.

she pouted , letting out a small puff of frustration as she laid her head on your shoulder.

“ i’m not that mean , plus i’m waiting for him to make the first move. “

“ yeah by the time he does we’d might as well marry each other and have kids. “

you looked down at her , “ i’m down. “

the bell rung. the end of recess.

yuqi chuckled sitting back up straight and putting both of her hands on your shoulders , giving you her best serious face that she could muster up.

although that just made her look like an angry cat.

“ my dear child , i might separate from you once again to enter the gates of hell which you may know as chemistry. i trust thou will know what to do when the time comes. “

yuqi gave your shoulder a firm hard pat before picking up her things and leaving your classroom with a ‘ cya ‘

“ … what the fuck yuqi. “

after she left it got you thinking… should you carry out this elaborate yet stupid plan.

both you and yuqi were aware that the class president , and seat-mate , gunwook had a massive crush on you.

to be fair , he wasn’t very good at hiding it.

it started from casual talk when you became seat-mates then texting , passing notes and cute doodles during class , copying his homework , him borrowing your items , you borrowing his jacket to sleep on. [ he tried to discourage you from this activity but he couldn’t help but take this chance to admire your features as you slept. ]

overtime you noticed the small little details such as him blushing whenever you accidentally brushed fingers or the frequent glances he’d give you.

this was confirmed when another one of your friends , gyuvin , asked gunwook in which he went on a full tangent on his small [ big ] crush on you.

you easily fell for the class president too , just that you were way better that hiding it.

after weighing the pros and cons you decided to go through with the plan , after-all the worse thing that could happen is embarrassing yourself and having to drop out of school to not show your face in school again.

plan recap : ask who is crush is , he wouldn’t say who it is , you reveal it , confess and he confesses and boom. easy.

you took a deep breath mentally preparing yourself for the incoming events. which just on queue , the wooden doors slid open revealing the man himself.

“ hey ! you didn’t go to the cafeteria today soo i got you a small snack. “

gunwook pulled out a egg and mayo sandwich , offering it to you.

you smiled thanking him placing the sandwich on your desk.

“ also i have to ask you something. “

“ yeah ? “

“ do you have a crush ? “

you saw his eyes slightly widen and the way his shoulders tensed up a bit. a small blush coated his puffy cheeks and he started fiddling with his fingers.

‘ he’s more shy than i’d thought he’d be ‘ you thought , fighting the urge to giggle.

“ yeah , its you. “

gunwook looked at you with a sudden surge of confidence , he maintained eye contact his body now leaned back onto the chair with his arms crossed. [ although the blush still remains on his face ]

that.. did not go according to plan.

“ wait wait do you not feel the same way ? oh shit i’m so sorry ! gyuvin told me to just say it whenever the day comes but like oh my god why did i listen to the guy ?! “

“ no ! i… do feel the same way it’s just , wow , i didn’t expect you to be so straightforward. “

his face instantly relaxed as he let out a few embarrassed yet amused chuckles.

“ so… you like me too ? “ he asked all smily and giggly seemingly unable to revert back to a resting face.

“ was it not obvious ? actually yours was way obvious. “

“ no it wasn’t , i hid it well. “

“ oh please the whole school probably knew “

the playful banter continued and underneath the tables his hands reached for yours , intertwining them in a perfect fit.

“ OH MY GOD LOOK GYUVIN THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS ! THEY’RE— “

“ JESUS SHUT UP YUQI THE HALLWAY ISN’T SOUNDPROOF. “

“ SHUT UP LET ME HAVE MY MOMENT. “

“ ITS THEIR MOMENT ? YOU’RE JUST CREEPILY STARING AT THEM FROM THE WINDOW. “

“ YOU’RE DOING THE SAME ? “

divider by @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

©️ yrthr 2023

[starmocha]

Hi there. I'm back with theory #3 for Sylus' myth. Which....might be less evidence-heavy than the first two and really just me talking out of my ass. I started writing at midnight because that's just on brand clown behavior of me 🙃 ANYWAY...

People who haven't read Rafayel, Xavier, and Zayne's myths, please tread carefully, because I will touch upon them briefly and allude to events in their myths.

Quick recap from first post:

Theory 1: Sylus and MC must have been destined lovers in a past life, but due to whatever conflict, Sylus decided to break his bond with her for her protection and accept any punishment that comes with it, which could mean to be ruler of a place he has no desire for, an imprisonment of sort.

Theory 2: Destined lovers, but perhaps a third party interfered out of jealousy or spite. Could Sylus have been caught and framed of a crime and been literally imprisoned, thus forcing him and MC to separate?

So...I half-joked in a post that my new theory is that Sylus sold his soul to the devil. Or, you know, maybe he is the devil himself. This is partly stemmed from the Long-Awaited Revelry trailer, which has the word "demon" over a shot of him and later in the same trailer, one of Sylus' companion forms is aptly titled "Otherworldly Visitor". Make of that as you will.

And with the new trailer for No Defense Zone, we see that Sylus' right eye glows in a demonic way, similar to his in the LAR trailer. Even the atmosphere in both scenes seem a bit supernatural. Now....I didn't want to go there, but, um................do you suppose he is an incubus? 😭😭😭 The shot after "demon" has the word "desire," which can have a sexual connotation.

For those who don't know, an incubus is a male demon who preys on women sexually.......it would explain his kinky behavior in NDZ 💀 but I digress.......

Some of the first lines we hear from Sylus:

"Even if you wanted to sell your soul, you still have to find someone who can pay the price."

"Want some help? Yes? No? Maybe so?"

These lines reinforce the idea of "deal with the devil". In the new theme song, Visions opposées, the singer also sings this line: "Mais c'est le prix à payer" (But that's the price to pay). It could just be figurative, or it could hold some literal truth, because I found it interesting how that verse overlaps with Sylus' scenes. I doubt it's a coincidence since the devs are so good at planting seeds.

From the chorus, in order, we hear:

[MINOR RAFAYEL, XAVIER, & ZAYNE SPOILERS]

"But that's the price to pay / o'love" - Rafayel, God of the Sea, is separated by MC. His price? His civilization.

"Stars will always shine / But with pain" - Xavier and MC are separated (side note: I don't have the second half of Xavier's first myth yet, so I can't elaborate too much. But I've seen enough references to understand the scene depicted in the MV)

"Though separated / Hearts cling on" - Zayne (The Foreseer) is separated from MC in many lifetimes. The memories of their love are tied to the jasmine flowers even if they forget.

[END SPOILERS]

"That's the price to pay / Yet lovers endure forevermore"

This is the verse that plays over Sylus' scene. What is his price? Does the following verse mean that he and MC must always endure something? Hardship? Misfortune?

When the chorus repeats a second time near the end, all of the above verses coincide with the intended love interest. It absolutely can be argued that all four love interests paid a price for their love, and not just Sylus. This whole tangent was brought up to follow with the whole "deal with the devil" aspect. As stated previously, I wouldn't be surprised if the devs and songwriters intended for the lyrics to have layers upon layers of meaning in relation to the stories.

Also take into consideration the lyrics from the song in Sylus' first official trailer, Tangible Shackles:

The outlaw again celebrates this encounter in fate It's time to break the seal they set in mind It's time they will have to pay the price

To me, though, in this song, the verse sounds very vengeful. It sounds almost vindictive, as if someone must be punished for whatever wrongdoing done against Sylus.

Watching the interview for Visions opposées, it seems the LADS team has shared enough of the intended stories for the songwriters to understand and pen the songs we hear. I trust that there will be complete clarity to the lyrics once we're able to understand Sylus' myth.

Love is the privilege of mortals

A gift the gods covet in vain

Astra, you ass, is that you

Now remember the first official trailer for Sylus? Yeah. Long-Awaited Revelry. Do you know what "revelry" mean? 'Cause I sure as heck didn't and kept wanting to read it as rivalry

revelry. noun. a situation in which people are drinking, dancing, singing, etc. at a party or in public, especially in a noisy way. — Cambridge Dictionary

To put it simply, "long-awaited party," which with the new knowledge of the timeline of scenes shown, we can clearly see a scene of MC entering a ballroom where Sylus is at in the trailer.

What type of party is this? Long-awaited? Maybe an engagement? In the MV, you can catch a brief glimpse of guests in the background watching MC enter. It seems almost like Sylus is waiting to show her off. The dance they share also seem intimate, and Sylus' expression is very soft and tender.

Previously, I alluded that it looks like MC and Sylus' wrist are bounded by a thread, similar to the Red Thread of Fate, but afterwards, I had my doubts, and if in keeping with the theme of being trapped, perhaps they were actually cuffed? I have previously mentioned that handcuffs have shown up often in the trailers.

To be cuffed together makes it seem like it wasn't a choice for one or both people. Kind of pondering if maybe MC might have sold her soul to Sylus, thus becoming bounded to him?

I have also made a lot of references to the myth of Hades and Persephone previously (still holding onto it with every fiber of my being tbqh), BUT for the sake of this third theory, let's revise the above scene to mean...

Sylus, a demonic creature, is trapped on the dark side while MC is a mortal on the light side (mortal realm). He knows their love can never be, so he forces whatever bond they made together to break, setting her free to remain in the mortal realm while he remains trapped in the Underworld.

Interestingly, Sylus conjures up a gun, pressing it to his chest where his heart would be. And he makes MC shoot him. ....thus breaking their bond? Or killing him idk man

This appears to be the following appearance of him after he is shot in his chair:

I'm sorry if this seems out of left field and my mind works in a weird way, but.....the scene above kind of made me think of the Roman/Greek myth for Cupid/Eros and Psyche. Rather, I was thinking of the scene where after her jealous sisters manipulated her and planted seeds of doubts, Psyche betrays her husband's trust and broke her promise to not view his face and learn of his identity. She carries a dagger with the intention of killing him.

In the aforementioned myth, Psyche does journey into the Underworld during a final trial set forth by Cupid/Eros' mother, Venus/Aphrodite. Other than that, there might not be many other correlations I can make in regard to the scene depicted in Visions opposées.

Speaking of Cupid (Roman name, but aka Eros in Greek mythology), however, it's also worth noting that Cupid was described as a "demon of fornication" by some mythographers. Take this part with a grain of salt since this was due to adapting the Roman myth for Christian usage. I do, however, vaguely recalled in some Greek/Roman myths, Eros/Cupid was viewed as devious by the other gods due to him being able to make both mortals and the gods fall in love depending on his whims, be it out of mischievousness or malice.

So....Cupid....God of desire....erotic love.............that earlier incubus comment I made?? 😭 This part I am definitely pulling out of my ass. 💀 Let's just wrap this post up. 🫠

If we look at the myth from the angle that Sylus is a demon, then....

Theory 3: Sylus is a demon who has come across MC, and for whatever reason, she is desperate to make a deal with a demon, thus bounding herself to him. Perhaps over time, Sylus grows to adore her, but maybe MC betrays his trust, whether it be intentional or at the manipulation of others? Could he have tested her when he made her shoot him? Was he willing to die for her, even if it's at her hands?

Uhhhh.....yeah. This theory seems more far-fetched. 🫠 Well, thanks for your time! If any of the crumbs I've presented stirred any theories from you all, I'd love to hear it! Bye. 💕

[memoriashell]

another year, another birthday tweet...i actually really (mostly) liked this year's message, so i prioritized working on it asap. lol. one day i'll get around to doing some of the ones from the previous years, but not today. also bc twitter is a ticking time bomb and i am doing my part in archiving content o7

disclaimer, i’m not fluent in japanese, so i’m not claiming that this is perfect or potentially not without misunderstandings. i’ve also included some translation notes to clarify some things that i felt needed clarification and to offer explanation as to why i reached the conclusions that i did.

i'll also have everything under the cut for easier accessability! sorry if there are typos it is almost midnight as i schedule this up for tomorrow >.>

--

大和田

「あぁ？誕生日だぁ？ Ah? [My] birthday?

やめろや、恥ずかしい。Quit that, [it’s] embarrassing. **

オレは日本最大最狂最悪の暴行チームの頭だぞ？I’m the leader of Japan’s most biggest, craziest gang, you know? ***

こんな事で喜んだ姿を見せてられっかよ……けど、まぁオメーらにだったらいいかもな。 [I’m] not sure if I can show how happy I am [for this sort of thing]...but, well, maybe it’s okay [to show that emotion] if it’s just you guys, right? ****

兄弟からも『本当の強さとは弱さを見せられる相手を持つ事だ』って忠告されたばっかだしな 」 “True strength is to have somebody to show your weaknesses to.” That’s the advice that Kyoudai gave me.

//

** やめろ generally is translated as stop it, but the や emphasis at the end gives the idea of this being a little more intense, which is generally on point for Mondo. To try and get across that it’s more than just a normal stop it, I decided to translate it as quit it instead. 

恥ずかしい just generally translates as being embarrassed or that something is embarrassing, so contextually you could read this as “Stop that, it’s embarrassing [that you’re celebrating]”, or “Quit that, I’m embarrassed [that you’re celebrating me]”. I went with the former because in the overall context that one made the most sense to me, but I think it’s probably okay to read it either way.

*** Okay this one was a bit of a doozy to try and make sense of, because 最大 is biggest, 最 is most, 狂 depends on context but one of the more common ways is to describe someone who is crazy enthusiastic about something, and 最悪 is for worst/terrible. It didn’t seem like there was an easy way to translate this without it becoming a mouthful and also not really making much sense, so I tried to compromise in the translation. 

As a bonus fun fact, since I cross referenced it trying to figure out how to translate,  最大最悪 is used for infamous: the biggest, most awful [most tragic event in human history] line in DR.

The other issue with this line is that uhm. I am hoping Kodaka just accidentally made a typo? 暴行 (boukou), I am hoping, was supposed to actually be bousouzoku (暴走族), which is the term used for referring to Mondo’s gang/deliquent activities. 暴行 is a word that can be associated with violence, but specifically SA. Sorry that I have to bring this up. Anyways, I tried to google to see if there was perhaps some slang I was missing (including the チーム/team from the original tweet), but that really only gave results for things related to sports teams and SA. Considering that as far as I could tell, no one on the JP side said anything about it, it might be something just lost in translation? But even searching the term on twitter didn’t seem to suggest that it’s a term used commonly so I don’t think it’s like a fan abreviation for bousozoku >> boukou. Anyways this god awful tangent aside, I’m working with the assumption that we’re talking about biking!!  Please know I was this close to giving up on this tweet because I did not want to have to explain this mess.

**** Okay so like this part is pretty straightforward, but I figured I’d give a few note anyways:

The first part of the sentance here technically is skepticisim about being able to show delight, but hesitates to say that it’s okay to do so. The following sentence builds on that, which suggests that he believes that showing happiness over celebrating his birthday would be weak, but because he takes what Kiyotaka has said as advice, he presumably takes it into consideration. 

It should be noted that 相手 is usually translated to like companion, partner, or company (singular), so I considered translated it as friend but, I opted to leave it a little more vague and use somebody instead. It seems intentional that it is supposed to be a very narrow translation instead implying that this is something that should be conveyed to anyone/everyone. In conclusion, the train of thought is something like: I’m a gang leader >> It’s embarrassing to be celebrating birthday’s >> I can’t show that emotion.

Then with the following sentence: There’s strength in showing weakness >> It might be weak to show emotion but that’s okay >> I can show that emotion around some people.

[osgoss]

My BKDK Band AU (part 1)

Aka my self-indulgent Drummer Bakugou x Bassist Izuku

First things first, Izuku probably learned how to sing first and became part of a choir before he learned to pick up an instrument. He always wanted to play in a band as a kid, and he'd join katsuki's rehearsals just to watch him play.

He only takes interest sometime in his graduating year of high school, when his music teacher (toshinori cough cough) points out how interested he looks while watching katsuki and his band rehearse for a class project. Izuku pretty much throws around excuses as to why he never really learned how to try, from choosing choir first or finding the guitar too complicated, and 'ahh the drums were always kacchan's thing not me' or just not having the talent to play an instrument. Intrigued, Toshinori points out the bass guitar, which isn't as flashy as a guitar or drums or even piano, but certainly just as important as the other instruments, and how learning it would be easier ("what with less strings and less complicated chords, you know?"). For a moment Izuku thinks, a bit hopeful, but then immediately shuts down because he 'wouldn't really have the time to practice it now, and assuming bass guitars are about the same price as an electric guitar, I don't really have that kind of money right now haha'. And then Izuku's final reason would be that he would never dare to outshine or much less step on the same stage as Katsuki Bakugou, the famed drummer.

Toshinori then goes on a tangent of how drums and bass most often than not go hand in hand. While pianos and guitars and singing take care of the melody and tones, drums and bass are important for both the tempo and rythm of a song.

The next time they meet, Toshinori is giving Izuku his old bass guitar, and thats the start of Izuku's journey to learning the bass!!! Personally I like to think Izuku is on the higher notes when it comes to singing, and so bass would also be a refreshing start for him!

As for Katsuki, he's always adored the sound of Izuku's singing voice despite never admitting it. Yet I like to think he has a core memory of them when they were kids, and Izuku sang to him to cheer him up. He never really visited the other's choir practices or rehearsals, but whenever there was a school event or Izuku was asked to sing, Bakugou would always listen intently. In fact, he might've even developed a certain hate for his own voice, with how loud and gruff his voice is, ever since he was a kid. This was the main reason he chose to pick up an instrument, too. He wanted to shine just as much as Izuku in his eyes anyway.

Oh and the reason why Bakugou got a head start on learning the drums was because he had a gameboy as a kid and liked to play rhythm tengoku ALL the time. He got so competitive over it, too.

When Toshinori announces that Izuku will be a part of the band for the project, Katsuki freaks the fuck out. They have this fight for a while, a few weeks before the presentation of their class project, ykno classic bkdk misunderstanding yowza <33 what with Bakugou feeling intimidated by how much Izuku is growing, while also having the slight fear of never hearing Izuku sing again (he feels stupid for it, but never admits it out loud). He does his best to make him give up or discourage him and tell him "you're better off using your ugly nerd voice", which of course Izuku takes the wrong way (can you blame him tbh), and yet Izuku finds himself challenged but hopeful. He doesn't want to throw away the chance (and the guitar) that his teacher gave him. The chance to finally be on the same stage as his childhood friend, to shine just as brightly and beautifully.

They still do rehearse together despite this, and through all the struggle, there are times when their practices turn out better than expected, and in these times, Izuku isn't sworn off at as much.

And then a big fight goes down between the two of them, and they're both angry and arguing because they're running out of time, and Izuku still can't get one part correctly. Bakugou has always been a perfectionist at heart, and Izuku has always respected him for it. But for the first time, Izuku feels just how far apart they are in skill, and he hates it. For now, all he can do is appologize and say "I'll do better" in any semblance to reassure the blonde, but they both know there's just too much at stake amd too much missing. Izuku spends the rest of the night practising until his fingers get blisters.

In the end, Izuku couldn't back out because the other bassist wasn't any better at the bass than Izuku was because he'd thought the greenette wouldn't be replaced at all. In the end, he couldn't perfect the segment he'd wanted to in time, not even on the night before the presentation, no matter how many band aids he used to wrap his blistered up fingers.

On the day of the presentation, Bakugou was driven to a boiling point, repeatedly starting the song over and over until Izuku got it right. Not having a single care about the audience of parents and teachers bellow. Only when they'd finally asked his mother to coerce him to play the song one more time, in full, and in a way Bakugou didn't want to, had Izuku realised just how much their relationship had deteriorated. Playing a song as a band had never felt so restricting, feeling as if your bandmate was your enemy. Feeling as if the people you were playing with didn't want you there at all. For Izuku's first experience on the stage, he was crushed to bits. Turned into a no one. A deku.

When he goes back to the music room to retrieve his(toshinori's-) bass, he finds the strings purposefully cut and left on display, and it doesn't take him a second to know who's behind it (most likely one of bakugou's 'friends' to send him a message). "We can always replace them," Toshinori reassures, "it would've been a real problem if they messed with the back." But the damage had been done, and the message was received.

(To Be Continued...)

"Toshinori-san, do you think I have what it takes to be a bass player?" The question catches him off guard. He takes a moment and then moves to sit beside the younger boy. "Hm. Well, you do have a bass in hand, don't you?" He makes eye contact with the other. "Doesn't that make you a bass player already?" And the boy bursts into tears.

They all pass and graduate despite the kerfuffle of their last project, and Izuku decides to go into a deep dive into learning the bass over his summer break.

Phew!! Wow, this took a lot longer to edit and write ngl, but it's my first written AU!!! YIPPEEEE!! This was actually meant to be a crack AU, due to an ongoing meme in the bands communities where bass players and drummers often get a long well and end up being 'shipped'. So i thought it'd be funny if bkdk was like that, and surprisingly, my brain just decided to brainworm the HELL out of it. So here we are! I'm definitely already working my way into making part 2 so u don't have to worry about that! Hope yall enjoyed reading!!!

[zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u]

Kuya- Is character developmentTM necessary?

(NOTE: I have not played every event nor watched all intimacy rooms. If anyone has additional info, please let me know!)

Soooo idk if anyone in NU Carnival tumblr also follows fanartists on twitter, but there was a lil bit of drama over some character criticism amongst some midsized fanartists (I say midsized cause they're moderately known in the English-speaking fandom, but MUCH smaller than more popular anime or kpop fanartists). And 2 things- I really like all the fanartists that were involved so I hope it doesn't become a long lasting fight. I know big fandoms can get in a lot of fanwars (coff kpop), and would hate to see how relatively mature NU Carnival has handled things, turn into fanwars over small stuff. Get fights over the gacha system pricing, sure, but not over opinionsTM on fictional characters. Anyways, that's a twitter problem. Tumblr fandoms, although they can get into fights too, the NU Carnival tumblr analysis people seem more chill and I haven't seen any public fanwars yet. But also there's also fewer people active on tumblr.

AAAANYWAYS. The point of this is my response to their arguments. Basically the discussion was over whether or not Kuya had any character development. And I say- with a cast of 12 lead-ish characters and not everyone getting the spotlight all the time, there will be some screentime sacrifices made. But I would also like to propose- is it absolutely necessary for EEEVERY character to get "character development"? And is it necessary for every character to get the SAME kind of "character development"?

Let's take a side tangent at Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko is infamous as the poster child for character development. And while that works for Zuko's character, it would not be right for EVERY character to follow his pattern. Specifically for some characters such as Uncle Iroh. Or they deserve to have smaller scale or slower character development, such as Aang or Toph. I'm not saying Aang or Toph don't have character development, but they don't have the massive 360 changes that Zuko does. And that's because they don't need it!

Now let's move over to NU: Carnival. I'll bring up Garu/Karu first. I'm not sure if everyone realizes this yet, but Karu is probably the best character who is starting at the beginning/bottom of his character development arc. He's got lots of issues and none of it is solved yet. Their role is also being a victim of the plot- stuff has happened to Garu/Karu and they've got no agency yet. We can also predict that Karu is going to eventually lower down his walls, accept or overcome his trauma, mature from his delusions of grandeur, become actually powerful, and experience ~character development~. Garu doesn't have as many problems with Eiden or the rest of the clan, but he also lacks empowerment and maturity that he's been slowly building up since Eerie Escapade. For them, because they are starting their story completely unsolved and at the bottom of the barrel, "character development" is necessary- especially now that we have hints on how much of a victim they are of the plot (essence/gemstone experiments) and how crucial they might be to solving things. And that can't happen if they've still got amnesia and blacking out from trauma.

But what about Kuya, whose the point of this whole discussion? The 2 sides of the twitter argument were- Kuya has stopped progressing and is boring and a bitch vs Kuya actually has a lot of character development. How about another perspective? Well, let's take a look at where Kuya is starting and what role he plays. Realistically, he starts out being a villain archetype, he's Huey's former right hand man and super close to the lore. Half the time Kuya is saving the day or creating the chaos, and the other half of the time, he already knows the answer and is providing the exposition or mystery/backstory reveals, or has personal experience/connections with whatever mystery they're encountering.

"Development"-wise, he's the oldest character whose gone through the most changes over time, except in the past. Yeah he's a total bitch and still emotionally constipated. But he's been like this for 200, maybe 300 or 400+ years. In fact, he was worse 100-200 years ago. So what does this mean for present-day Kuya with Eiden's clan?

a) Kuya is not at the start of his character development and he does not need major character development, like Garu/Karu or Dante or Yakumo or Edmond. He has already done the bulk of his character development in the past, and is now changing very very veeeeeeeeeeeeery slowly simply due to time and he will keep changing at his own much slower pace than everyone else.

c) Kuya's main role is also the extremely powerful being who has answers to almost all the lore. Yeah, there's still a LOOOOT of things he doesn't know or learns along the way, but 90% of the time, he's so experienced and smart, he figures it out (except for the playing cards, which kickstarts his interest in Eiden). For example, figuring out the night crane in Silver Miracle or the Tanuki in mystic banquet or the time shenanigans in Astral Duo and he already knows whats going on in Frozen Echoes. (Rusted Nations is a bit hard to compare since it's mostly flashbacks to past Kuya). He's just so bored of knowing the answers, or being able to easily figure out the answers that he fucks around with people. Heck, there's a small possibility that, if Journey to a NU World is canon, that means Kuya is so OP he's basically Jobu Tupaki from EEAAO or Monika from DDLC, and he knows the actual game developers.

If we think about it in terms of gaming, Kuya has maxed out and finished the game. He is super powerful and has nowhere upwards to go. The only thing he can do now is doing Lost Relics, filling out the pokedex, sidequests, and exploring after game content. Or playing the sequel, which would be equivalent of universe hopping to Eiden's world. Another example- you've solved over 200 puzzles and the difficulty level never changes. Your character development was in puzzles 0-150, and when you encounter puzzle 201 but it's STILL that easy, eventually most people will get bored. That's what Kuya is like.

I don't have a fancy conclusion or anything, but yeah that's my thoughts. If anyone has corrections or their own interpretation, I'd love to hear it!

[pawschamp]

VOL 8#2/CH35: “double team” appreciation

i’m a huge fan of the way nightow encapsulates a certain thematic or specified topic in each chapter, almost making each chapter its own arc with the way a character can change in just a few pages. as an example to appreciate this, i’m using chapter 35 aka “wolfwood doesn’t shoot” chapter aka one of my favorite chapters in the entire series.

warning, this is not a thought out essay, this is just the insane ramblings of a guy that likes trigun and wolfwood. there will be tangents, there will be derails, but overall, it’s a 4k insight into where my mind goes when i read these chapters. 

TW WARNING: wolfwood’s backstory pictured (child experimentation, child harm), blood, death

SPOILERS WARNING: mentions of vol 8 events

for consistency sake, i’ll be using overhaul’s translation. 

this chapter throws us into the familiar perspective of wolfwood. the readers have been in his shoes, we’re made to understand his thoughts since the very beginning of maximum, considering max started from his perspective. his ordeal and his internal struggle was made clear since the leonef arc, but this chapter serves as a checkpoint of where he is now, paralleling almost to chapter 11 where it had began with wolfwood’s dream + where his internal conflict were first laid bare to readers.

it’s also good to note that this chapter is in vol 6, the vol that takes place after the midvalley/hopper arc. this entire volume consists the internal dialogue of essential characters and where they stand with vash; the first chapter being meryl, then wolfwood, legato, knives, milly (a bit of vash), and then an open ended one, but it leads into vash’s flashback -- obviously, each chapter progresses the story itself too, but the main focus tends to be the thoughts of these characters. i really appreciate nightow writing an immensely thoughts driven and relatively quiet (in terms of action) volume after the heavily action packed previous volume. he does this well in the chapters themselves, knowing when to lead the reader into quiet so we can all feel the scene much more intimately. these chapters become more emotional because we’re settled with each character individually, we lean into their fears, their worry and concerns. the fact we get so little of vash and his thoughts in these chapters aside from the flashback makes him feel distant and lonelier (which, considering his immense guilt of remembering july, it feels purposeful.) 

vol 10 will always be my favorite vol but vol 6 is certainly up there... i think it was masterfully put together and nightow’s character writing is one of my favorite parts of trigun. the introspection is such a core part of trigun itself alongside the action and i just appreciate the overall pacing of it and how it eventually leads into vol 7 where we return to vash, to the conflict between the brothers, and then into the harrowing 7 months of destruction on no man’s land where the kind of peacefulness that settled in vol 6 no longer exists for a long time in the future chapters. 

anyway, to the chapter now

from the dream alone, we can tell there’s a progression of wolfwood’s risk taking heart beginning to open. from all the time he’s spent with vash and what he’s witness after the leonef arc, he’s starting to change internally, he’s no longer the same as he was at the beginning of trigun. the dream provides a what-if situation, where wolfwood kills off the eye of michael (vague individual, but probably chapel again?), freeing the children.

side note, but it’s particularly sad to me he says “i can never come back, but at least y’all will be safe now.” in an universe where a happy ending could be provided for the orphanage, there still wouldn’t be a happy ending for wolfwood. he can free the orphanage but even the destruction of the eye of michael wouldn’t free him from the man he’s grown into and it’s telling of just how little he believes he deserves to go/have a home. 

but the dream then panels to knives and his fear of someone/something other than himself is shown. as i mentioned earlier about how this parallels to chapter 11, in that dream, it showed how wolfwood can’t return to the kids because of the blood that stains his hands, a dream he gets after having killed rai-dei and confronted by vash about his role. 

he still feels this way considering his mentioned thought of “can’t return” anymore, but the dream shifts focus to knives because the threat of him looms closer now more than before after having witness vash transform in the previous arc -- and it’s clear him being a first hand witness has influenced his fears considering knives is using his ability within the dream. 

overall, wolfwood has sooo much on his mind at this point; he saw vash transform, he came face to face with the rest of the gung-hos, met the strongest gung-ho, seen the price of betrayal with his own eyes (though b/c it was carried out by legato, it doesn’t necessarily hold the same weight)... he’s also done his fair share of trying to get others away from danger, notably when he speaks to meryl in the previous chapter, and tries to ward her away now that she’s seen first hand of vash’s strength, seen below from the chapter right before this. he’s relatively passive in his interactions with meryl so it’s insane how his behavior in ch 35 contrasts with this. 

kind of a side note but i’ve always enjoyed this interaction between wolfwood and meryl. this is the first time they actually got to converse and he’s actively reading her and giving her advice; it’s advice he’d give to any average citizen, he’s always been an advocate for regular folks to turn their back so long it can keep them safe, but his advice here definitely felt a little personal considering how he’s gotten to known milly and he Knows for certain that this just isn’t the environment for her. the way he says “This isn’t the place for that cute partner of yers” as a reason to push Meryl to turn away always gets to me, because while there may be an implication for meryl to hightail out of there to protect herself, the discussion ends at wolfwood telling meryl to back out for milly. being with milly in the previous arc, he knows the lengths and sort of reckless, self sacrificial nature that milly has; she who refused to back out constantly, even after having expressed she was terrified, she still stayed, so wolfwood knows that if meryl leaves, then milly would too. he prods meryl, reminds her there’s another life aside from her own she’d be risking if she stayed. 

after he wakes up and leaves the bar, he runs into zazie who just drops off a message from knives, as though to taunt him any further lmfao... it’s relevant that zazie shows up here considering wolfwood’s recent meeting with the rest of the gung-hos. zazie in particular is a complacent neutral party amidst the conflict, willing to see things through for knives / legato as long as the worms can be left alone.

one of the funniest lines ever to be delivered to wolfwood, “You’re a scary one. Almost like Bluesummers.” i laugh every time i see it. 

but anyway, as stated by wolfwood, he recognizes that the point in conflict has reached far enough that what he does doesn’t necessarily matter anymore. sure, he’ll still keep to his job, but vash is going to end up at knives doorstep no matter what, especially with his recent recollection of july. wolfwood recognizes the minor part he plays, he recognizes how small he is amidst the overarching battle between the twins. i think this realization influences his dream too, being that he had rebelled and felt hope that the orphanage would be left alone, but still, the orphanage can’t avoid the fate that would fall on humanity as a whole. regardless, they would be caught up in what knives does.

then we get to this insane flashback, this Gorgeously illustrated first meeting between wolfwood and knives that haunts me every day of my life. i just want to appreciate this page for a minute, art wise... the tubes forming the composition throughout the panels, trapping wolfwood, encaging him despite him being the one standing over knives. i like how that’s emphasized with the overlap on the top panels and the gun he holds is so small in the bottom right panel. in the bottom left panel, it’s a perspective shot from wolfwood’s eyes, the gun trained onto knives chest (i think compositionally, it just looks cooler which is potentially why it isn’t aimed at knives’ head, but i can also think wolfwood might’ve lost the resolved to kill knives already from fear alone and thus, his gun was lowered.) 

also i feel like not only did knives’ presence halt wolfwood but the medical equipment strung to knives might’ve triggered a terrible memory for wolfwood too, considering his experimentation. 

above is from ch. 50. 

but the focus of this flashback is in knives’ otherworldliness and how despite wolfwood managing to get so far to be face to face with knives, he could not pull the trigger from fear alone. and wolfwood has this humane reaction every time he comes close to death which is a resurgence of a will to live; he feels it in this moment with knives, he feels death closing in on him despite him being the one with the trigger at his finger and knives against the ground. 

above from chapter 6.

from the knives flashback, we can see the lack of choice that wolfwood had at that moment. the lack of choice in the mission given to him, the lack of choice in being able to shoot at all. it solidified him into the position where he is today and quelled the rebellion he dreamt of. 

from his nightmares to the meeting with zazie to this flashback, remembering knives and his presence and comparing that fear to vash, him remembering the last time he felt that fear from vash at all... although he’s always known vash to be an “other” from humans, when faced with the actuality of it, he starts to think more on their differences and kind of distant himself mentally from vash? by calling him a monster and “the one who can save humankind”, honing in on his inhumane side. he knows vash, but wolfwood is thinking from the memories of knives, he’s thinking from his feelings of fear in that moment with vash, and he probably feels so small, not capable of anything beyond doing his job. as a reminder, this is what he thinks during that scene, similar feelings to how he felt with knives imo although vash’s anger is transformed into outer and inner, almost like he’s trying to kill that anger he holds to upkeep his resolve to not kill.

and in the moment of deep pondering, with brilliant timing, vash calls out to him.

no matter how many times i see this page, i explode with so much emotion. to stay on topic, this panel of vash sitting leisurely on top of a rooftop has a lot of elements to it. the moon he blew a hole into shown right behind him, an ever present reminder of his destructive powers which wolfwood, no doubt, is remembering it distinctively in this moment. but i loooove love how this page contrasts the one with knives. this scene following is just parallels to wolfwood's memory of knives and while in his confrontation of knives, wolfwood was trapped in both a physical and internal sense. the positions being different too, where wolfwood hovered over knives but still remained below in a hierarchical sense while now, vash is above him physically and wolfwood looks up towards him. considering wolfwood's thoughts so far, the positioning is reflective of that. but considering their space, the openness, outside, the expansive sky behind vash alongside the moon, there's so much freedom in where they're both standing. wolfwood is constrained beneath the thoughts he has, his worries, but he has freedom to move around vash and yet wolfwood chooses to go up to meet him.

now i can derail and go a little insane over their expressions here, IDK. im VERY vw-pilled, so excuse me, but VASH'S LOOK TO WOLFWOOD?? "You're a bit of a night owl, huh?" it’s just a plain observation really, the casual nature in how he converses with wolfwood, something he’d recognize over the course of their journey... this also isn’t the ONLY time they’ve met under the moon, they did so in multiple bullets too. gay ass moon couple... whatever... i’ve also seen people note that vash is fake smiling here and perhaps. some days, i can believe that because he is just so goddamn sad during this time, but i also like to think it’s genuine. maybe prior to seeing wolfwood, he was neutrally observing the on going events in the town, but the moment he saw wolfwood strolling about in deep thought, he’s just like “oh, wolfwood! :]” Just being a little happy to not be alone for the night. 

it’s a small detail, but i like how nightow incorporates these side missions into the chapter’s arc and the overall theme in little ways. because it’s been these yin-yang brothers that’s been making trouble since the last chapter and in this moment, vash watching these two brothers bringing down mayhem on a peaceful town.

alongside this page, we see wolfwood’s steady approach, vash’s back turned to him as they chitchat before wolfwood quietly

positioned the same way as before, the gun held to a twin that’s positioned lower and wolfwood looks down. 

aside from how beautiful he is, i like how wolfwood holds a resolute gaze. he probably feels he has the upper hand, Knows it in some way because vash is seemingly defenseless. if he wanted to, he can shoot. 

meanwhile, vash just Looks tired. not necessarily sorrowful, to me, he just looks exhausted. from the many clues later in this chapter, i think the reader can clue in that vash definitely knew wolfwood pointed a gun at him. whether it’s sorrow, a sense of betrayal, or nonchalance is unclear. i think vash might’ve knew wolfwood wouldn’t pull the trigger and if he had, i think vash would’ve felt resigned to it. vash understands the reason why wolfwood kills; in all his instances of killing, it’s been for the sole purpose to protect. when he killed rai-dei, it was to protect vash. when he killed gray, he was doing his part in protecting vash’s home which vash had entrusted to him. there’s tons of thoughts that goes through wolfwood’s head when he does kill and what it means to him personally, but to vash, wolfwood has never killed for a selfish reason so when wolfwood points a gun at him, if he has intentions to kill, there would be a reason that vash understands considering his own beliefs on protecting humanity. i think at the end of it though, he knew wolfwood wouldn’t shoot him.

and wolfwood doesn’t pull the trigger. his hand doesn’t shake, there are no sweat marks on his face, he’s not afraid at all. with a soundless mind, he decides not to shoot. it’s important that we get wolfwood’s thoughts because it’s not as if he has any particular doubts in his own abilities. to wolfwood, if he put a bullet through vash’s head, he may die, he may be immobilized to be easier to kill, etc etc but ultimately, he chooses not to. just prior to meeting vash, he was already riddled with the memory of his rebellions amounting to nothing, so if he had “killed” vash (just like how he had “killed” chapel before), he’d still have to face knives and he’s already experienced once what going against knives was like. he can’t do it, wolfwood wouldn’t be able to kill knives and there would be nothing to ultimately gain from killing vash. 

naturally, i think we can also conclude the “reasonable” reasons aren’t the only things keeping him from shooting vash. it’ll be mentioned later, but what wolfwood thinks vs what he does can be fundamentally different because sometimes, wolfwood Just isn’t fully aware of how he acts, doesn’t know it. i think that’s part of the reason we don’t get his thoughts here when he lowers his gun, because he doesn’t know, he doesn’t understand why he can’t shoot vash either. if i had to reason it, it would be what i said before and that’s how i view how wolfwood might reason it, but that isn’t all of it. <-- this thought will be continued later.

i always found it funny how vash looks back because i’m sure he sensed something was weird about how quiet wolfwood was and how nothing was happened, so he just looks at him like “???”

wolfwood hits him with the reminder again of what to keep his focus on, as he usually does, and it’s ironic of him to say “It’ll be pointless if ya get yerself killed before ya meet him.”, having pointed a gun at him literally 2 seconds ago. 

anyway, as the story progresses, the yin-yang brothers has started to blow shit up and vash, ever so involved, runs after to stop them. wolfwood, diligent, runs after vash. 

i don’t have a lot to note but i like how vash is called a pretty boy. he is the prettiest boy. the page after this, they basically try to run him over, but vash sidesteps just in time to avoid that and turns towards the car to shoot at them. turns out though, the brother hopped off the car and appeared behind to hurl these sharp thingies at vash’s vulnerable back. please read the next 3 beautiful pages carefully

this sequence is just So well done. it’s very simple to bring back the hard ass table that wolfwood had woken up on and smacked his hand hard against at the start of this chapter, a purposefully strong table made to withstand drunkards... but it was pulled into the fight, to cover that split second to defend vash before wolfwood himself makes it to him. it’s important to note that vash doesn’t even look at wolfwood here. he’s not the least surprised, he’s still keeping his eyes directly on the tank. he does briefly look at the enemy behind him on the previous page for one panel, but i think that glance may have been targeted at the table wolfwood threw. i say this because vash moves fast and if he had wanted to target the yinyang brother behind him, he would’ve shot him already. 

the both of them focus on the targets they’re aiming at. vash with his gun can’t break the armor of the tank and wolfwood’s punisher isn’t made for a single target unless he wanted to pulverized the dude with bullets and his aim won’t be precise with the punisher either. they’re mainly talking to themselves on this page, but the fact they don’t even say anything to each other, only giving a single glance before...

changing positions immediately -- understanding where the other had lacked in, understanding what they themselves would be capable of doing and what the other could not... like.... wolfwood quickly changing the punisher’s form to activate the torpedo to take care of the armored up tank and vash quickly getting aim on the yinyang brother the moment he turns around. in just fighting together, it communicated everything we needed to know about their teamwork. and taking into consideration how they’ve been fighting alone for their entire lives only to flawlessly come together as a team despite that... they’ve developed a trust on each other, a trust i think vash is relatively aware of at this point, but wolfwood hadn’t realized it.

i’m saying that because of his expression here lmfao 

i think wolfwood can be pretty slow on realizing things for himself. i think for vash, he’s already built a recognition that wolfwood was going to be following him, that wolfwood would be there to protect his back, and i think that feeling stems from personal trust, considering how often wolfwood has done that for him already and i think a bit of that is also vash being aware that wolfwood has a job he’s upkeeping to protect/keep an eye on vash, so he’d expect wolfwood to upkeep that too.

on wolfwood’s end, he turns back to vash immediately, realizing that he had left his own back unattended. wolfwood knows vash, he understands the kind of person he is, but he was still anxious because of all the thoughts he held up throughout this chapter. i don’t think wolfwood’s trust in vash was purposeful prior this chapter and really, there wasn’t any particular scene that showed him trusting vash outright because wolfwood has always moved pretty independently throughout the arcs. it tended to be vash putting his faith in wolfwood instead while wolfwood himself was still trying to figure out where he stood with vash. but through battle, through the nonverbal communication and through instincts, i think that provides a lot of context of how his trust is ingrained instinctually and how despite what he states, what he thinks for himself, he internally already knows otherwise that he would never be able to harm vash, that he has already deeply sided with him.

when the fight is over, vash immediately disarms himself, thanks wolfwood, and his back is once again bare, turned towards wolfwood, vulnerable and full of trust. it’s intentional in how vash shows his trust towards wolfwood and wolfwood, processing, realizing that in full... how despite all of his worries, his fears, pondering about how this monster was going to save humanity, he’s ultimately just looking back at someone who’s grown so close to him. and i think this page is wolfwood coming to realize what his relationship with vash has become. overall, this chapter just feels like the moment when wolfwood has come to be honest and frank with himself on where his allegiance lies. in the previous arc, midvalley came at him constantly about who he was betraying and i think wolfwood was like “what the fuck is he talking about” for a good portion of it up until this chapter. 

a lot of what wolfwood had to tackle that previous arc was where he stood in the crossfire. being a gung-ho after having killed “chapel” and stolen his spot which in turn led him to working under knives directly which led him to become vash’s guide, merely a job to be his guide until it no longer was just a job. he has a lot in common with midvalley, both being assassins, both having a heart that lied elsewhere and not in line with knives or legato. they both acted out, betrayed before, and midvalley himself mentioned how the twins were beyond them, higher beings while they were mere insects, or something along those lines... which wolfwood basically echoes similar sentiments here. when midvalley died, he most likely saw a reflection of himself. when he comes before midvalley’s grave, he thinks on that, the “can’t make a stand, even with those fangs of yours”, thinking of betrayal that comes about in his dreams. he knows for certainty that he wants to protect the orphanage; beyond that, i don’t think wolfwood believed he sided with anyone at the beginning of chapter 35. it’s a realization he makes steadily throughout the course of it and only when he’s back to back with vash does he realize he’s already sided with him whether he wanted to or not.

the chapters in vol 6, from all these different perspectives, they all end up concluding something new about vash, something they realize from what they’ve observed of vash in the previous arc and in person. meryl recognizes that vash’s fears and shame won’t stop him from shooting his gun. legato recognizing the significance of if vash could collect all the coins that becomes prevalent in chapter 80s. knives realizing that vash is already in the process of dying due to the black hair. milly seeing vash’s muddled up expression, the smiling facade he holds automatically when he doesn’t know what to do and gets a glimpse into the loneliness he feels.

the significance of wolfwood coming to terms with his feelings of vash makes his actions in vol 8 all the more meaningful and comprehendible. granted, i think throughout the previous chapters, we can all sense this sort of change in wolfwood and how much he cares about vash and all that... but i think the trust that wolfwood solidifies in vash goes beyond personal sentiments. after all, i think wolfwood having saved vash in vol 8 is because he trusted vash would be capable of saving humanity and that trust was enough for him to risk his own life... despite being afraid of dying, despite not being Ready to die, despite his own personal doubts and uncertainties and the echo of rebellions falling into ruins, he still went forth to save vash for the sake of humanity and he trusts that vash, despite his lonesome for those 7 months, would be resolute enough to stop knives. --> i’m saying “for the sake of humanity” because that’s just relevant with his thoughts in this chapter. him freeing vash has multitudes of layers that’s both personal and selfless to the fault, but that’s for another post.

and the final light hearted page in this chapter, where they chit chat a bit casually. i feel like every time we see wolfwood in his off time, he’s always eating something/discussing eating, which is kind of cute. he’s on top of his meals!! and of course, one of the best panels for millymeryl, the utter destruction and devastation in that house and meryl looking like she definitely Did not sleep from the chaos (and probably due to her own nightmares too) while milly is refreshed... they’re the cutest ever. 

anyway, that was the last page so that means this chapter is finished! the way this chapter went full circle in regards to wolfwood’s thoughts, how all of his worries eventually led to a resolution to his feelings about vash... i think wolfwood’s point of view is always a gift to explore because his thoughts sometimes conflict to the resolution he comes to, especially when it comes to vash. wolfwood never had a presence like vash in his life, never known someone so different but still so similar to him. it’s all very new, so i think wolfwood’s circling thoughts, confusion, and the eventual choices he make when it comes to vash is a precious insight that i’m Very grateful towards nightow for.

i don’t know how to conclude this, but that’s all i have to observe! i hope it’s understandable what i mean when i say this chapter feels like an arc of itself and yet, it’s still so perfectly entwine with the rest of the plot. wolfwood’s thoughts here are not foreign, his development doesn’t come from nothing; it’s all a steady progression and i think it’s valuable for all the decisions he ultimately makes in the future chapters.

[pippin-katz]

you may or may not be the person who needs to know this, but you're the only person I can think of to share this with, and if I don't tell somebody, I might explode:

so there are some similarities btwn Merlin/Arthur and Alex/Henry, right?

and like

Alex : Merlin :: Henry : Arthur

right?

so isnt it weird the both Nick & Bradley James are Libras, while both Taylor & Colin Morgan are Capricorns? and both pairs have a three-year age gap? and while they share the same signs, the 90s babies/RWRB pairs have their birthdays at the end of the month before their 80s babies/BBCMerlin counterparts...

just so many weird coincidences, and I had to share it with *somebody*! thank you for listening/reading!

Dude I feel you on needing to tell someone something or you’ll explode; that’s my life lmfao

Now regarding what you’ve shared, that is really fucking weird! Those are some pretty specific details for them to share. I’m not a huge astrology person, but maybe there’s just something about that pairing that works? Especially when they’re close in age?

Post Writing Note: This spiraled so far out of my hands that it smashed my plans for the day. I've been writing this since 9:30AM and I'm now finishing at 4:20PM. You have been warned.

Taylor and Nicholas

What’s crazy is that Colin and Bradley’s dynamic off screen is similar to Nick and Taylor’s.

While Alex is a loud and outgoing character, Matthew mentioned in an interview that Taylor is actually on the quieter/more reserved side most of the time. I was a bit surprised, but if you pay close attention, he actually does seem like he’s quieter than Nicholas. It's more noticeable in the draw-off video and their little promos with the teapot. He's definitely enthusiastic, but in a different way than Nick, who acts like he just took a shot of concentrated caffeine.

But you can also see it in the friendship quiz if you look for it. It's there in the way that Nick is more... I'm not sure how to describe it- maybe scatterbrained? Or ditsy? I don't mean that as an insult by the way.

It's like he has pent-up energy and wants to be entertaining for the camera, so he initiates most of the jokes and sarcasm, while Taylor is kind of just chilling. He definitely makes some jokes, but the ratio between which of them is the first to say something that starts a joke is heavily skewed towards Nicholas. He also randomly forgets what's going on, and goes off on tangents where he bounces from one thing to the next.

I looked and looked for GIFs, but I couldn't find some of the moments I'm talking about, so I'll just write them out:

Nicholas gives Taylor 10 points, and he's like "wait, wait, did I get it right?" and Nick's like "yeah" before immediately remembering that he got it wrong even though they had just had the conversation

Nicholas gets a question right and he says "point for Taylor" and Taylor is like "no, for you" and Nick corrects himself with "point for Nick", then jokes and points between them like "you're Taylor, I'm Nick, okay, got it"

Taylor asks the bonus question about the major sporting event in Indiana, and Nicholas starts randomly listing names, like "the Big Game, the Big Football Game, the Bowl, the Indiana Bowl, the Great State Champion Lacrosse Game of Indiana" instead of stopping to think or letting Taylor give him the hint you can see he's been waiting to say between laughs

Nicholas randomly starts being sarcastic or hyperbolizing his behavior when talking: - "Taylor is the one American person who knows where London is on a map." - "I believe you competed in [the Cooper's Hill Annual Cheese Race] yourself, didn't you?" - "I'll give him a point." Taylor laughs because it took a couple tries to get the right answer. "The points, they are bountiful and plenty. We don't have to be stingy with them."

Nicholas describing a corndog by holding an invisible "weird thing that goes on a stick" and pretending to eat it while going "nhgnhgnhgnhg" as he spins it.

He also reacts more to Taylor getting questions wrong than Taylor reacts to him getting questions wrong. There's the whole bit about the "chip butty" and "English fry-up" that leaves Nicholas acting all annoyed, whereas Taylor sort of just starts immediately helping him with hints when he gets something wrong.

Basically, Nicholas probably has some form of ADHD and it seems to manifest as hyperactivity. Nicholas being so hyper and enthusiastic is ironic considering how quiet and calm Henry is as a character. It's such a drastic contrast between them.

Taylor is much more chill. He's definitely hyper around Nick, but there is a difference in them. Notice how Taylor just watches Nick do his silly intro, but Nicholas starts making movements with his hands and expressions during Taylor's. Also Taylor was talking completely normally until then, when he ended up doing the point at the end.

Similarly, Nick is the one who starts chanting USA, and Taylor joins in. We obviously see the difference when they each summarize the film. Nick is basically a hamster in a ball speeding across a room with how he tells it, and Taylor simplifies it a ton and delivers it monotone; yes, it's a joke, but it still highlights the contrast.

Bradley & Colin

I'm using past tense with Bradley and Colin because we only have videos of them from over a decade ago, so they've definitely changed since then.

The thing is, Colin was funny and vocal, but there were a lot of times where he got quiet, and he always felt more reserved, in the sense of there being more to him than what he's showing. He seemed to have a lot of layers to him that you didn't get to see unless you actually got close to him, if that makes sense.

I wouldn't call him quiet, but like in the video diaries and interviews of him and Bradley, he always seemed much calmer than him.

Colin was always very funny, but he was also self conscious. During one of the behind the scenes quest videos, Bradley talked about how he and Colin would create songs together, but whenever he wanted to show someone, Colin was dead silent. Bradley actually turned to him as was like, "What, is it stage fright?" and Colin is like, "I don't know what you're talking about." in a way that clearly shows he's deflecting the question because he's nervous or embarrassed. Bradley pointed and was like, "And that right there is a perfect example of what I mean".

Merlin is very bright and outgoing (at least before he develops depression in later seasons 🥲). He basically had no shame about most things. When he met Gwen while in the stocks and covered in food, he acts completely normally, like there's nothing weird about it. Obviously, this boy waltzed into Camelot and called the fucking prince a prat to his face. He was really bold and openhearted. Colin always felt more closed off, even though he wasn't always quiet.

What's crazy is that Arthur is much more refined and serious than Bradley. It's not to say Arthur is never silly or unserious, because he is, but his default mode is very composed because he's a prince and later a king. Bradley was like a fucking hurricane behind the scenes. He was know for driving everyone a little crazy because he was so hyper. He got his video camera taken away cause he was apparently being too annoying to the rest of the cast and crew.

Wrap-Up

Here's similarities I thought of in a rapid fire list, including what you said and what I covered:

The brunettes are both the "quieter" or "calmer" of the two.

The blonds both play a prince.

The brunettes both play a character who came from a place of humble beginnings.

The brunettes' characters are both usually the one to start the insults/banter.

The blonds are the more vocal of the two about their affections and admiration for the other.

The blonds are both Libras.

The brunettes are both Capricorns.

The age gap is the same for both pairs: 3 years.

I am going to make an entire post dedicated to the similarities between Bradley, Colin, and Merthur, and Taylor, Nicholas, and FirstPrince, because I have more, but it was getting more into the characters' so I'll save those for later.

What was that you were saying about needing to tell someone something or you would explode again? Nah, not me, could never have that problem. I'm so normal about this.

Thank you for sharing, I have no idea what to do with this information, but I am glad I have it. It will now haunt me 😂

Thanks for reading!! If you enjoyed this essay & would like to support me, you can give me a tip on my Ko-Fi! ☺️

[radical-boy-kisser]

Hihi!! this might b a bit long, sry 4 that :))). how do we/I tell if I'm a system? I've been doing A LOT of research specifically on osdd 1b, bc I fit most every symptom, but I don't like self diagnosing. on the other hand I don't have the resources to get diagnosed. I can list symptoms in comments if u guys need. but yeah we r really confused rn. sorry I keep switching in between I and we pronouns. Also we feel like my child hood wasn't traumatic enough to have osdd so I feel like we r making it all up!! anyways sorry this was a bad tangent! hope u hv a nice day :)))) /nfta

Hello!! Thank you for reaching out to me, but I will preface my answer with this:

I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL!!!!! I AM JUST A SILLY LITTLE GUY™️ ON THE INTERNET!!! PLEASE TAKE EVERYTHING I SAY WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!!!!!!!

ALSO! ITS OKAY TO BE WRONG!! IM NOT TRYING TO SAY YOU ARE OR AREN'T A SYSTEM, BUT JUST TO ANYONE READING THIS WHO THINKS THEY MIGHT BE A SYSTEM AND IT TURNS OUT THEY ARENT THATS OKAY!!!!!!! YOU DISCOVERED SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF ANY WAY!!

Anyways, as a system I can list some of the symptoms I experienced before realizing I was a system and some now and if you relate to a suspicious amount then maybe that's your sign!! (Very very sorry if this is not enough/what u asked for 😭)

Also, self diagnosing is perfectly valid in this situation! Self diagnosing is valid when you don't have the resources and do proper and extensive research on the subject, and even more so with DID since so many people don't diagnose it, with some outright refusing to!

Here are some of the symptoms I experienced before realized I had funky people in my head :

• Gaps in memory, such as not being able to remember what happened the entire week, or even that same day. Especially more so for stressful/traumatic events. (Also just straight up not being able to remember most of your childhood. Again, assuming you're a system, you're not gonna think you had enough childhood trauma because DID is meant to make you completely forget that ❤️)

• Feeling like a completely different person. The first time I actually noticed I switched, it felt really intense and whenever I'd (wasn't ME, obviously, but I'm using "I/me" for the sake of simplicity) try to recall myself, it'd be a different person with a different name and physical appearance and such, and the name "Max" felt so distant and as if it didn't belong to me.

During the first times I'd switch when it first developed, I'd feel like someone different during that time, but I'd usually not notice/forget about it later

• Identity crisis central

Now, here are some of the symptoms we now experience knowing we're a system:

(We still experience memory gaps and such obviously. Also, not trying to say our symptoms just straight up switches after we realized we were a system, these are just some we have realized are symptoms of DID and now look out for)

• Seeing messages, tasks done, notes written that I have absolutely no recollection of doing

• Not feeling like myself, but also no one else in particular and it's like "who am i" (blurring)

• Disassociation. HEAVY disassociation.

These are all the things that I could think of right now, so I really hope this helps!! I know DID and OSDD-1B aren't the same thing but I really hope this helps!!! (i don't know much about OSDD-1B because I completely forgot everything I learned abt it 😭)

But uhh ya that's all hope you have a nice day as well and good luck on your discovery journey! (Or not! Idk if that phrase goes both ways I'm sorry!!)

Edit : Also pls reach out to other systems please don't take just my take/view/whatever on it 🙏 ty

[sleepvines]

can you go into a whole tangent about rain world naming pretty please. :D

I wanna hear your thoughts!

SURE THING! (spoilers below) (also this isn't a proper essay so I get to be messy 👍)

So first of all. Rain world naming conventions seem to follow a somewhat consistent pattern, but the pattern varies.

Let's divide them up by types for iterators specifically: Type A names are those that involve a number, measurement, or count of objects. Type B names involve concepts and actions. Now we can list all the known iterators (since iterators started this tangent) in those categories.

Type A: Five Pebbles, Seven Red Suns, Sliver of Straw (Implied 1-count), Epoch of Clouds (implied time measurement)

Type B: Looks To The Moon, No Significant Harassment, Unparalleled Innocence, Chasing Wind, Pleading Intellect, Wandering Omen, Gazing Stars, Secluded Instinct

There's a few things we could gather from this, notably that "Type B" names are more prevalent, at least in this list. Sometimes these particular names are characteristic of their owners, such as Gazing Stars holding a fascination with ascension, while Secluded Instinct is optimistic and excited about the future. Which to me thematically opposes the whole mission statement of iterators, and thus it's a bit of a hidden (unusual, taboo) instinct to have hope. Other times these names seem ironic, as seen with Unparalleled Innocence's apparently mean spirited nature. Looks to the Moon feels like a happy accident with how fitting it is, since she's the Local Sector's "Big Sis Moon" and her peers look up to her. There's a possibility they named her Looks to the Moon because their city would be resting on top of her can which would have it face the moon.

To note, Moon and Wandering Omen are both older superstructures. "Type B" names might be tied to more antiquated models of iterators, but there's not much evidence to support it. Something my roommate @acewarden (incredible brainstorming & lore discussion pal) mentioned offhand is that Five Pebbles goes by Erratic Pulse as a communication alias, and that if the name seniority thing is true, he could be trying to seem older and more experienced. But again, that's conjecture.

"Type A" names are a bit of a mystery, but could be tied to a date, an event, a location... In particular I'm reminded of ancient Nahua naming conventions, which you can read about here. Keep in mind this article includes old excerpts/quotes from a missionary, so there is some dated and insensitive language, but it has examples of what I'm reminded of:

Names referring to particular time units/periods/seasons eg Maxihuitl (“Five Years”), Xopantzin (“Venerable Raining Season”)

Anyhow, the article supposes that these names not only marked the day a naming ceremony took place, but the potential fortune of the individual being named due to the date. I have to wonder if there was a similar reasoning for these "Type A" names. some Nahua names related to a day on a specific intersection of their calendar cycle. In Rain World, THE Cycle was an unavoidable and religiously significant aspect of the ancients lives, I don't see why they wouldn't also construct their naming scheme on a similar principle.

In fact I definitely see aesthetic influence from ancient Mexica art in how the ancients depict and dress themselves, and it's not unlikely the developers pulled from it for their inspiration. Take these for example:

Side note just for me, I have a sneaking suspicion the way dates are logged in Rain World is similar to some things I noticed while looking into the Mexica Calendar but maybe that's a reach. I won't dive into it here EDIT: I couldn't find anything satisfactory so I'm dropping that theory

Now we can take a look at the Echoes, which were once ancients. Since they were the ones to build iterators in the first place, their names would inform their super computer's names. Of course. (of course.)

Note the difference in these names, they are either in two distinct parts and/or reflect a "positional" intermediary term. Ancient's canonically had a very complex and hierarchical naming scheme, with many variations of honorifics and titles that were always formally addressed in their complete entirety, but for echoes we get the base names. (Also note I'll use a ; to break up the names so they're more convenient to list.)

Echoes: Nineteen Spades; Endless Reflections, Four Needles under Plentiful Leaves, Droplets upon Five Large Droplets, A Bell; Eighteen Amber Beads, Six Grains of Gravel; Mountains Abound, Two Sprouts; Twelve Brackets, Twelve Beads among Burning Skies, Distant Towers upon Cracked Earth, Rhinestones beneath Shattered Glass, Eight Spots on a Blind Eye

Note that we see vastly more "Type A" names! Additionally there's a prevalence of size or measurement related terms that emphasize some kind of grandiosity. Things like Abound, Large, Endless, Plentiful.... I believe that, while the literal counts (Five, Six, Eight, etc.) are indicators of something specific, the adjectives here sound like they serve a fortune bearing and/or self-aggrandizing purpose. lol.

One thing I do notice is that some families? groups? in the ancient society (as outlined by the pearls) have numbers or concepts tied to them. Such as the house of Eight or the house of Braids. One ancient is noted as being "of pure Braid Heritage" However these are not included in the base name, and are instead tacked on as a separate title, indicating the names themselves are not of familial origin.

Let's break some of these Echo names into their constituent parts. (With color)

Red being the measurement itself, orange being the object that conveys the measurement/units of measurement, purple being an intermediary term, green being a secondary location/object noun, blue being what I'll call the "grand element."

Six Grains of Gravel; Mountains Abound

Twelve Beads among Burning Skies

A Bell; Eighteen Amber Beads

Distant Towers upon Cracked Earth

Four Needles under Plentiful Leaves

You could argue "A Bell" is instead read "A Bell" but I DIGRESS!

Not every name has a measurement association, but they do consistently have some kind of object. I'm led to wonder if some names are earned or altered later in life. Maybe they have absolutely nothing to do with a calendar cycle and instead reflect the status, history, and hierarchy of the supposed individual. Come to think of it, that would make sense. Nineteen Spades; Endless Reflections recounts they had progeny, and well, what are children if not a reflection of an organism into the future? Twelve Beads among Burning Skies says that they were "an angry fool." I find Six Grains of Gravel; Mountains Abound evocative in the sense that, maybe as an individual they are "Gravel" but their family/accomplishments/legacy is so bountiful it's considered mountainous. But that's a stretch.

I would be remiss not to mention my favourite ancients. The following are Pearl excerpts of their full name and associated titles.

"In this vessel is the living memories of Seventeen Axes, Fifteen Spoked Wheel, of the House of Braids, Count of 8 living blocks, Counselor of 16, Grand Master of the Twelfth Pillar of Community, High Commander of opinion group Winged Opinions, of pure Braid heritage, voted Local Champion in the speaking tournament of 1511.090, Mother, Father and Spouse, Spiritual Explorer and honorary member of the Congregation of Balanced Ambiguity. Artist, Warrior, and Fashion Legend." ((Deep Magenta pearl, Shaded Citadel))

And my all time favourite:

"It is with Honor I, Eight Suns-Countless Leaves, of the House of Six Wagons, Count of no living blocks, Counselor of 2, Duke of 1, Humble Secretary of the Congregation of Never Dwindling Righteousness, write this to You." ((The rest of this one is really funny, please read the Deep Pink farm arrays pearl if you have time.))

To come full circle, to me, iterator names sound like they're composed of only half of an ancient's name. Make of that what you will, I think it says something about the two way parent-child relationship between ancients and iterators. A more diminutive/simplified name for their creations? Likely. A shortened name for a respected figure and venerated grounds? Also likely. Shrugs.

All this to say that without access to more concrete concepts from the ancient's society, we're left with a lot of guesswork. Still super fun to pick apart, though!

[a-libra-writes]

Hello hello! I’ve read your Mordecai posts and THEY’RE SO GOOD!!! I was really wondering if you could please write for Sedgewick! I’ve taken an interest in him since I’ve started reading the Lackadaisy comics more. Maybe the reader is like his secretary or an assistant? Sorry if that’s not much information you can go off of but I really like what you’ve come up with so you can do what you want with it! Anyway, take care and thank you!!!

🏔🪨 been thinking abt Wick ..... had some ideas with this one..... lots of masc+femme options plus overall GN ones. Note this is romantic HCs!

So, how you work alongside Wick depends on your gender due to the times. For a lady, you're an additional secretary who specializes in finance or social engagements. For a lad, you're a consultant in his company for anything from finance to local geology. He took a liking to you right away, both for your personality and looks (though the latter he keeps to himself). If you'd rather not be a subordinate, you can still be a third party consultant or planner of some kind.

You start to realize how much he overworks himself, and perhaps you're just as bad! Before long you're keeping long hours with him in the office, or having to stop by his manor to catch up with some big project. On one hand, he hates keeping you so much, on the other, well. It is nice to have you around so often, and you really help him out when he's frazzled.

It flusters him more and more when you lean over his desk to point something out, or bend over across the room to pick something up. He feels pretty awful about that last one; once Lacy caught him and snapped her fingers loudly in front of him to get his attention.

Because you two work so much together, you get plenty of opportunities to talk - especially when he wants to avoid certain paperwork. He loves listening to you rant about this client, just as he loves going off on his own tangent about that investor. You both start to give nicknames to the difficult ones. Then he listens to you talk about your plans when you're off work, what your family is like, your interests. He could just listen to you talk all day ... many times Lacy has come in to drop off paperwork and you two are still talking, and her boss looks totally starry-eyed.

(I mean he often looks at you like you hang the moon, sooo...)

Wick really wants to invite you out, like. Badly. He hates being cooped up with work, he prefers socializing face to face out in the world. But ... is that appropriate? If you're femme and work for him, this especially bothers him. He ought to make it clear it's strictly platonic, but, uh. It isn't. If you're masc, it's easier to invite you to a simple outing, but ... there's the whole definiately-not-platonic feelings --

(Yeah, a cute guy brings up a loooot of feelings Wick's repressed since boarding school. Oops.)

He settles for lunches because those seem the most innocuous. You start to wonder what his thing about afternoon sandwiches and coffee is all about, considering he keeps forgetting to eat while working (and don't worry, you always bring something back for Lacy!)

When he dozes off at his desk, you like to put a coat or blanket over him ... or just gently nudge him awake and tell him to go home. Wick really prefers to drop you off if it's late, not wanting you to walk or take public transportation at such a late hour also he can show off his car a bit.

When he passes out on the desk, you'll put a blanket or his coat over him. A few times he's been half awake, and it both startles and embarrasses him. If he could, he'd blush to his ears. Wick would really prefer you didn't see that "sloppy" side of him, but come on. It's unavoidable, and he's probably done the same when you've fallen asleep in your own office chair (except he likes putting his own coat over you).

At least once or twice a month, you have to accompany him to work events and gatherings. It's important to schmooze and make connections and all that; if it's not your kind of scene, at least you get a reason to dress up and eat absurdly expensive food. You better believe Wick is looking r e s p e c t f u l l y, even if it's the dozenth event you've attended together. He likes picking you up at your place, as if this is a date and not a charity auction.

... Though, you're often mistaken for his date if you're femme. And if you're masc, sometimes he has to borrow cufflinks or gloves ... yes, he's a little more than giddy to wear your things.

Normally he's a social butterfly, but Wick finds himself frustrated when he's mid conversation with you and he has to stop to visit with some group of investors or fellow businessmen. You excuse yourself, but his eyes still follow you across the room.

While he often compliments you when it comes to him, sometimes Wick worries about it being too much. What if you take it the wrong way? How much is appropriate? While in this era a boss could get away with chasing after his subordinate all he wants, Wick shudders at the idea of you thinking of him that way. And if you're a man, he certainly worries you might think ... well, sometimes he's sure you reciprocate, but he can't just ask, so ...

It's all a jumble that falters the normally relaxed man's confidence. He tells himself he'd be content if you just wanted to be friends. He certainly wants to be friends, at least - he wants you to like him, not merely tolerate him because you're a subordinate or colleague.

On that note, you get lovely presents and generous bonuses at the appropriate times of the year. The birthday and Christmas presents are especially thoughtful and expensive - but of course, Wick doesn't think of the cost. He's totally comfortable presenting Lacy with her gift, but suddenly gets nervous about your's. Yes, he's that obvious ... You'll get flowers or expensive whiskey after closing deals, or maybe just because. Trying to convince him gifts are unnecessary is a losing battle, because as far as Wick's concerned, it's one of the safer ways to show his affection. Though, if it's the cost you're worried about, he'll bug Lacy about what's a good ""normal"" gift (because no, Wick, a $30 floral arrangement 'just because' is not normal! Nor is a $50 lunch!)

If you're femme, Lacy is losing her patience and just tells him to ask you out already. She'll bring it up with you, too - hell, she'll lock you both in a room together because all this doe-eyed mooning and pining is driving her logical brain nuts.

If you're masc, it's a little more tricky. Lacy starts to pick up on the odd vibe between you two, and how Wick seems almost ... mopey when you're away or getting friendly with some other man. She has suspicions, but she can't ask directly. So she makes sure to rearrange appointments so you two have more time together, to make sure you're seated together during dinners and events, and calls you for help, only to suddenly remember something and leave you two alone.

Generally Wick is frequently worrying about his feelings being reciprocated, though with a lady he'd be more open about it and trying to gauge if you're comfortable. Again, he'd really want to remain friends because he admires your expertise, interests and personality ☆