#also like. as much as i hate eggs its one of the only forms of pure protien i CAN eat alot of greens

[cherimoyatea]

hello hi! ik the fandom mostly favors interactions between LIs & MCs/Readers but i was wondering if you have your own ideas between the LADS boys like friendship headcanons between them? how their dynamic works and which would be the best bros with each other or strongest siblings rivalry vibes between them (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)

hopefully this is alright to request! 🙏🏻

Hi Annonie!

Thank you for your request! I saw the wonderful @irandial already sharing her thoughts on the same request, and I couldn't agree more with her on the boys! But since you asked I'll also drop some headcanons 🤭

I've always imagined what their life would be like if they happened to share a house and how their dynamics would play out, so I'll set the scenario based on your request.

Remember, these are headcanons and just for fun 🩷

❧ The LaDs Men as Friends - Shared house edition

He's the loudest—always getting on everyone's nerves with his antics and pouty demands. Rafayel will block the bathroom for hours with his extensive baths and beauty routines: Since he's basically a fish on land, he's super cautious about keeping his skin hydrated.

Imagine him opening the bathroom door in a bathrobe, with a face mask on and a bowknot keeping his purple bangs off his forehead, as he yells at the other guys: ''I'm gonna burn y'all in your sleep if ya don't stop knocking on the damn door!!'' Then he slams the door shut, locks it again, and puts his Airpods on full blast, while the others continue to desperately hammer against the bathroom door, needing to use the toilet.

Rafayel pretends to be annoyed by everyone in his household and murmurs''These silly humans...'' while also using his evol and wielding his dagger to protect his friends without hesitation whenever they run into trouble. Though they get on his nerves sometimes, he wouldn't want it any other way.

Xavier is in a constant catfight with Rafayel for always eating his cheesesticks behind his back. In general, he's the one who constantly empties the fridge and eats everyone's snacks and food. Even Zayne can't help but let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief, when he finds another empty cookie package in the cabinet—for the third time this week. And its only Tuesday.

Whenever Xavier isn't busy snacking, his friends usually find him either reading a book or napping in the most unusual places around the house, giving them daily heart attacks. Once, Sylus almost spilled his drink when he tripped over Xavier's sleeping form, curled up on the soft, fluffy carpet in the dimly lit hallway. ''Uhh... I'm not quite sure how I ended up sleeping on the floor... it just looked so comfy here and the stairs to the bedroom seemed like too much effort…'' He rubs his neck sheepishly and gets up with a yawn, while Sylus taps his foot impatiently, shaking his head at the silver-blond.

Definitely the ''mom'' of the friend group. He takes care of everyone's well-being while occasionally cracking one of his dry jokes, causing an awkward silence in the room. Surprisingly, nobody feels called out when he scolds his friends for eating too much junk food or staying up too late. ''Rafayel, where are your slippers? The floor is cold—at least wear some socks.'' And the Lemurian? He rolls his eyes and mumbles something under his breath but eventually gets up to grab some socks from his room.

Zayne always has an open ear for his friends. Whenever someone needs to get something off their chest, they approach the Doctor, and he genuinely tries to comfort them. ''Xavier… I don't think Sylus hates you for accidentally poisoning him with your tiramisu. However. Make sure to remember that dishes with raw eggs need to be refrigerated…''

He's the one who would probably get along with everyone, giving off protective big-brother vibes. He mostly watches his friends quietly from the background with an amused smirk, shaking his head at Rafayel causing a scene over someone spilling his paint, Xavier serving a suspicious-looking tiramisu, or Zayne gathering the others laundry from the floor with a frown. ''Doc, are you sure you want to touch that? I remember seeing the fish doing... unholy things with those socks.'' Sylus says with a mischievous grin, earning a dead stare from Rafayel. ''Hold up! I did WHAT?!''

He just loves teasing these idiots.

But Sylus is also the life of the party and always up for a night out with his friends. The guys had a blast at the karaoke bar once when Sylus was drunk enough to wholeheartedly sing Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball. Of course, Rafayel recorded the whole show and teased him the next morning while the silver-haired man had the worst hangover ever. ''Listen, Fish... I'm adding a cat to this household if you don't delete that NOW!''

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Gryffindor's Sword

This isn't really a theory for the books, but this really bothered me, so it's more like a little rant, I guess.

See, I love historical weapons (and historical fashion, but that's not what we're talking about now), and I hate the design of Godric Gryffindor's sword in the movies. And I want to rant a little about what Gryffindor's sword would actually look like if anyone bothered to do a quick Google search.

This ornate little thing:

Is not a sword, it's a toothpick. No way would a self-respecting English wizard-warrior of the 11th century use something that looks anything like that. Not only does the blade look pathetic, this sword isn't remotely functional. Here is a summary of some of my complaints about the design (without talking about historical accuracy):

This thing is tiny. Swords shouldn't be this dainty, they need to have some weight behind them so blows would actually do damage. This so-called "sword" is barely better than fighting with a knitting needle.

The hilt is too ornate, it looks purely ceremonial and not functional. Battle-made swords would usually be simpler. All the ornate details on the hilt make it so it'll be incredibly uncomfortable to hold in your hand, which is the last thing you want in a fight.

Additionally, the all-metal hilt would have a very weak grip with little to no friction. It means that in the middle of a duel, you could find the sword slipping out of your hand if your opponent strikes it hard enough.

The blade profile is atrocious. The edge should thin out gradually to improve the cutting, here we see the edge just, thins out really quickly at the end, without gradual tempering. Even kitchen knives have this gradual thinning. But not this sword, I guess no one needed to cut with it.

And it won't be good for stabbing either, as the point is barely pointy (even in other photos). And even if we assume it's pointy, a blade designed for trusting would be thinner at the point than this one (on all planes). That said, thrusting swords in this period would still be better at cutting than the above atrocity.

This sword lacks a fuller (the sort of cave-in in the middle of the blade). The fuller helps reduce weight and strengthen the rigidity of a sword. Magic can help with both these issues, but, the lack of fuller is a mark of a poorly designed sword.

Well-made swords would usually have what's called a "distal taper", which is that the blade gradually thins on the horizontal plane to reduce weight at the point. This is good for balance and stabbing. This is an example of a distal taper on a knife:

The design from the movies does not have a distal taper and I can guarantee no goblin would look at the abomination the movies called a sword and think it's remotely passable.

So, if we want to talk about what Godric Gryffindor's sword would actually look like?

It'll be something like this:

(11th-century Viking Sword, got popularised in Britain by the Viking invasions)

Or this:

(11th-century Anglo-Saxon Broadsword, existed in Britain since the 5th century in slightly different designs. Yes it is very similar to a Viking sword, it was a common design at the time)

Or even an arming sword that rose in popularity around the mid-11th-century:

(Early 11th century English Arming Sword)

As an 11th-century English wizard, Godric could've had either of the three.

As for the design described in the book and how it could work with this kind of blade:

A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its hilt glittering with rubies the size of eggs.

(CoS, 295)

For the metal, there are two possibilities here:

Harry doesn't know much about swords or metals, I think he could mistake polished steel for silver. Silver is way weaker than steel and depending on forging, another steel sword could cut through it. Pure silver would also not hold its form as much as steel, so a sword design like that of older bronze swords (another softer metal) could be better for it than what was typical for steel swords in the 11th century. Even if the silver is hardened to keep it in shape (which can be done) it would become brittle and break easily. Basically, regular silver is a really bad metal for these kinds of swords, especially if your opponents wield steel. Which brings me to the second option...

The other possibility is that Goblin-forged silver is just magically very strong so it won't break under pressure (like regular hardened silver). Steel swords solve the issue by having some yield to bend instead of snapping, if goblin silver is just magically strong enough that the sword won't snap or the sword is enchanted unbreakable, this would work too.

As for the egg-sized rubies, well, maybe the size of fish eggs? I honestly don't know what JKR was on about here... The sword could have one egg-sized ruby on the pommel (the metal piece at the end of the hilt), but that's it.

If I were to get more specific with the design, I did like that the movies wrote Godric's name on the sword, which is very much possible with a more historically accurate functional sword. Like these Viking/Anglo-Saxon swords from the early 10th century with gold and silver inlay on the blade and hilt (The sword is damaged but it's real):

So his name and maybe some other patterns could be written on the sword in silver and gold, which would look really cool, in my opinion.

Also, you could get even decorative on the pommel and crossguard while keeping it functional, including the addition of more precious metals like silver beyond just inlaying it.

Like this replica of 10th-century bronze Viking sword hilt:

Ceremonial swords (not meant for battle) could get even more ornate on the hilt. Like the Essen Sword gifted in 993 A.D that actually has precious stones decorating its pommel and crossguard:

My vision for Gryffindor's sword

Steel blade or magical goblin-forged silver (doesn't really matter) that is shaped like the blades above. Personally, I'm leaning towards an arming sword design, with blade inlays of silver and gold that write the name Gryffindor along with some other magical imagery of lions or dragons.

The hilt would be made of silver (or covered in silver) and have one large ruby on the pommel and/or multiple rubies like in the sword pictured above along with gold inlays. I also imagine the crossguard ending with little lion heads, kinda like the little dragons on this crossguard (The date on this sword is debated to be anywhere between the 8th century to the 13th century, but they could create hilts like this in the 11th century):

The hilt would have a wrap of leather so there would be a better grip for fighting. No way is Gryffindor carrying a ceremonial sword that he can't use. I think said leather should be painted red.

[murdrdocs]

you should totally write another enemies to lovers w ethan but like fem!reader and him get paired into a project we’re they have to take care of an egg together as if it were a baby? (like those cheesy movies LMFAO) and maybe they constantly argue about it and even try to convince their teacher to get paired into different groups but they’re forced to work together. then one night, reader has been taking care of the egg all day, she decides to go to ethan’s apartment but as soon as she leaves her apartment building she gets a call from ethan!gf (to mess w her) and at that point she’s just running to ethan’s apartment and yeah you can do the rest.

description. you're paired with ethan landry for a silly, 2000s-esque 'baby project', forced to reckon with the troubles of parenthood, and your inconsiderate feelings towards the brown haired boy.

includes. GN!reader, allusions to sex but no smut, reader curses a lot, chad's here :D

word count: 1.6k+

a/n: im so sorry it took me so long to write this but its here now :) also i changed this a bit just bc here we have the fake babies that cry and stuff and it adds drama yk and this was not supposed to be this long but enjoy nonetheless (also x2 this isn't proofread at all and it's written like an extended blurb)

anytime you said your life "was a movie" you were never serious. which is because before ending up in this class, life for you was nothing but usual teenage and young adult endeavors; parties, hanging out, spending entirely too much money.

but now, your life literally is a movie. an early 2000s movie that the production shouldn't have greenlit because it desperately flopped in the theatres and digital release, only to become a cult classic 20 years later.

however, you're stuck in that flopping at box office point, coming in the form of being assigned a project where you had to take care of an egg, then a fake baby, in a class you shouldn't have been in in the first place, and being paired with ethan landry out of all people.

you don't have anything against ethan per se, but you don't like him either. on a scale of dislike, neutral, and like, you're in the lower end of neutral with your feelings towards ethan.

he wasn't a horrible guy, but he just reminded you of the guys back home. the ones that were always unnecessarily rude and help "opinions" that were really just hate speech waiting to be turned into hate crimes. and sure, he hadn't done anything in particular to be compared to those people, but you're better off being safe than sorry.

you're sitting across from him now, a brown egg sitting between you two, and your eyes switching from glaring at the egg to glaring at ethan.

"so ... how do you wanna do the schedule?" ethan asks, fiddling with the sticker on his smoothie cup.

your glare intensifies and you sit back in your seat, crossing your arms over your chest. "i want you to know that i don't wanna do this with you."

ethan looks slightly shocked by your blunt statement, which infuriates you more. and then he says, "...okay?" like he doesn't care. asshole.

you decide to be the bigger person, taking a deep breath before you continue speaking. "okay."

it's silent for a few moments. "now that we have that cleared up, how do you wanna do the schedule?"

you and ethan decide on who should take care of the egg-baby for the first week, until you upgrade to a fake baby. that night when you go home, you send an email that is a mix between begging and demanding your professor to switch your partner.

the week was fine. it could've been better if your professor switched your partner, and if you didn't have to communicate with ethan landry more than you would have ever wanted to. but apparently, people can't always get what they want.

by the first class the following week, 3 groups have broken their egg and failed the first half of the assignment. you sit and listen to your professor lecture each and every one of you about the importance of good child care, and how taking care of the egg was the easy part. as she hands out doll babies in a carrier, and understand how lifelike the not-toy is, you start to realize just how much harder this is going to be.

"who would've known blackmore had this sort of money." chad marvels at the doll in the stroller. he has his hands on his bent knees, his brown eyes shifting to notice every detail about the doll in the stroller.

"it fucking knows how much time each of us spends with it, chad," you complain through a mouthful of burrito bowl contents. you have a little time alone since ethan had class, so you took the time to take yourself, and amelia/janice (you and ethan couldn't agree on a name) to the dining hall for lunch with chad.

"just spend time with ethan. i do it everyday."

your eyes roll so hard that you have to pause and hold a hand to your head. "easier said than done."

chad laughs a bit, sitting down in the seat across from you once again and starting to dig into his own burrito bowl.

"what's your problem with him anyway?"

"oh don't even get me started–" but he did get you started. you detail all of the things that deems ethan to be insufferable in your eyes. his abercrombie model body, his nerdy persona, his "well actually" moments, his need to correct everyone, the way he seems like he actually hates tara and sam, his not-so-subtle superiority complex. chad stops you whenever you start to mention his hair.

"just sounds to me like you're hiding your true feelings behind anger."

you don't have a response, instead opting to check your email to see your professor sending a third denial to switch partners.

you're thinking of a way you can convince her whenever ethan texts you.

'my shift? '

"gotta go," you tell chad, sliding him your tray to dispose of with a grin, feeding him an excuse about being a "busy parent now" whenever he tries to argue.

okay, truth be told, ethan landry wasn't that bad. he offered to take up shifts whenever you even alluded to being stressed about other things, he offered to buy you meals in return for watching amelia/janice for an extra half hour. he seemed like he both cared about passing this project, and you.

"just so you know, i also tried to switch partners," ethan admits with just a hint of shame in his voice, and a light pink tint to his cheeks. but you don't know if that's from his confession or the alcohol in his system.

it's the end to another grueling week taking care of amelia (ethan let janice go) and you decided to celebrate by opening a bottle of wine. you were feeling oddly good that whole week, so whenever ethan came over to drop amelia off, you invited him in for a drink.

which turned into two. which turned into a late night kitchen makeout session.

the alcohol was obviously hindering your thinking abilities because not only were you pressing ethan landry back against your counter with your body and letting his hands roam all over your figure while he kissed you, you also pulled back and stared at him wildly to ask, "wait, amelia's down for the night right?"

ethan smiles big, playing along, "yeah, she's down for the night".

his hands find the end of your shirt and the slide underneath to feel the warmth of your skin. your room was occupied by your daughter, but your roommates were out for the night and the couch was available.

you let ethan lead you there and decide that yeah, ethan landry isn't that bad.

this, is the climactic point in the film. it's so cliché that you can predict the next moments, and you don't like them.

you were walking from your apartment to ethan's, preparing to drop amelia off for ethan to take care of now that he was out of econ. you've done this same walk safely many times before, so you weren't worried about yourself at all. you had your headphones on, playing music at a low volume just in case, and there were only a few minutes left in your walk. when your phone rang, you didn't think much of it. you answered it without checking your phone, a chirpy "hello?" being your greeting.

the voice on the other hand was unrecognizable. "hello." he said it like a statement, not a question, as if he had an upper hand.

"who is this?"

"i'm ... an admirer."

a chill runs through your body and you quicken your pace. "okay? what's your name?" you're looking around, searching for people on the street to witness something just in case. but there's only 2 to 3 people walking at this late hour. what are the fucking odds.

"i go by many names. some people call me the boogey man, others their worst nightmare." he speaks slowly, methodically, with a smooth tone, a direct contrast from the fast shakiness in your voice.

"oh, yeah? why do they call you that?"

"because ... i'm known for gutting people like a fish."

you don't say anything, going to reach for your phone and hangup instead. which, you do. you hand shakes as you go to call ethan instead, but before you can click on his contact you're getting a call from him.

"ethan? thank god, i was just about to call you. some fucking weirdo called me and he was freaking me the fuck out but i'm almost at your pla–"

"you think i'm a weirdo?" the same voice.

you glance down at ethan's contact, blinking, making sure you didn't read it wrong. but it's right.

"... ethan?" you ask softly, your heart thudding intensely behind your chest.

"yes?"

"is that you?"

"uh-huh."

fucking asshole.

"you fucking asshole." the entrance to ethan's apartment building is in sight now, as is the boy himself, standing in front of the building with his phone held in one hand, and a white object in the other. the closer you get, the bigger his smile gets, and the narrower your glare gets.

you stop in front of him, shoving the stroller into his foot and pushing at his chest for good measure. "you fucking asshole!" you repeat, as if he hadn't heard you the first time.

ethan laughs, he cackles, like he just told the best joke in history. the dial tone of ethan ending the call is barely heard over the blood rushing in your ears.

"c'mon, babe," ethan tilts his head as he pockets his phone and the white object. his hands reach for you, and you flinch away the first time, but the second time you let him rest his hands on your waist and pull you into him. he places a kiss on your forehead, then your nose, before pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

"i fucking hate you." there's no bite behind your bark.

"yet you decided to have a baby with me."

stupid fucking assignment.

[the-s1lly-corner]

GENERAL JAX HCS

mix of a bunch of stuff, probably going to be writing random stuff while waiting for requests to come in so i have something to do side note i never actually felt a knot in my neck form, only wake up with them after getting them in my sleep... until today, felt one form right in the back of my neck while i was just. standing and oh my god it sucks so much i hate knots but actually feeling it. develop. right there. sucks more i think anyways this is a mixed bag of just basic jax hcs + stuff that can tie in with other characters or the reader, we'll see since i write these notes before doing anything else

would this really be a jax hc post by the silly corner if i didnt mention the fidget headcannon? literally the hc that i bring up the most in my posts when theres readers who have accessories or tails or what have you?

i think hes going to mess with anything he can get his hands on; usually passing them between his hands or perhaps tossing them around in the air and catching them.. if its something bouncy hes going to be bouncing it along the ground while he's walking.. i think sometimes with other characters, he does try to mess with them out of habit (plus given how he snatches zoobles arm it kind of. shows hes comfortable doing that sort of thing, you know?)

sometimes messes with ragathas bow, or zoobles antennae (though with zooble its more on purpose and to annoy them).. i think you get the idea

speaking of ragatha i think they would be good friends, i mean i personally think if ragatha didnt like jax she would keep her distance from him (though to be fair we still only have the pilot so far + i think ragatha would still be polite if she didnt like him)

as for his dynamic with zooble i think they kind of egg each other on, but on the rare occasion they do agree on something they do so begrudgingly

i think his ears twitch when hes thinking or when hes irritated, not huge movements... mostly little... twiks, you know?

i dont think he really has fur personally, and if he does its really short and smooth... in my opinion he looks like he would be made of the same material as those small squishy animal toys

these ones, i got a handful of them and theyre genuinely so soft and squishy, me thinks jax would feel like these things

on the off chance he needs to cook for whatever reason, hes a terrible cook. like i think he can make one meal but outside of that hes a disaster in the kitchen... also doesnt make a good kitchen partner because hes going to think its funny to hand you the wrong thing when you ask him to pass something

malicious incompetence but hes doing it to annoy you and will probably give you the right thing after a few rounds of messing with you

no one is safe from his antics, assuming he and ragatha are good friends, shes still subject to his jokes at the bare minimum

so.... if youre friends with him youre at least going to go through the same thing

i dont think he would be a good secret keeper most of the time. like yeah sure if its something serious and important i think he would put aside his douchbagie-ness for once and keep it

but if its something outside of that? yeah no you're have more luck confiding in caine, who imo would pounce on the opportunity to gossip

probably shouts random stuff, like "hey caine, (reader) thinks youre (insert outrageous lie)!" just to mess with you. does this to other people, usually ragatha or gangle... sometimes does it to kinger, i think... only reason he doesnt do it to zooble is because they will get his ass, and hes giving pomni a 'grace period' before he decides to drag her into his shit

hes an ass but i dont think he would just jump on someone/j

speaking of, while he can be mean to some people i do think he has his limits, like hes not going to kick you while youre already down or make fun of you for something you cant really control or manipulate you by hanging something over your head (see the secret keeping thing, while he will tease you about more basic stuff if its something serious hes not going to do it imo)

you know?

though i do think hes the type to steal something from someone in order to make them talk to him; especially if he has a crush on someone... hes just a little shit like that

has this LOOK on his face when the person comes to retrieve their thing, and tbh... i can also see him waving it around over their head (hes tall, and if they can still reach it he probably jumps.. gets on his toes.. stumbles away and holds them back ect) just to keep them around for just a little longer

whether this is actually successful in getting with the person romantically depends... personally it wouldnt work for me but hey, some people find that behavior endearing and/or will be able to eventually pick up on what hes doing

does not like being vulnerable, this goes for really anything regarding feelings as he thinks it ties in with weakness (spoiler, it doesnt)... probably has a "eeeewww feelings..." mindset (though might still let you vent to him... will act uninterested but if he really didnt care hed just walk away.. more actions than words, this one is)

rarely talks about how he actually feels about things if the feeling in question is anything less than indifference or amusement... though hes not opposed to expressing anger or annoyance... will let you do what you will with that information...

naturally because of him being weird about his feelings, romantic feelings fall into the "eeeeeewww feelings..." category so hes not going to be blunt, again, actions over words here... and even then the actions here are mostly him messing with the person and trying to get them to spend time with him as a result (even if its not... hanging out..)

[creweemmaeec11]

Dark Horse Painted White PT 2

Part 1

When morning finally came around, villain walked out of their room to find the hero still sound asleep on their couch. They had changed into their pyjamas, and neatly folded their dirty clothes on top of their suitcase, pushing into the side to take up as little room as they could with their things. A perfect guest.

The villain found themselves unable to take their eyes off the hero's sleeping form.

Villain hated having them here. This was their space, their safe haven. Having their enemy invade such a sanctuary made their instincts flare. Hero was *danger*.

Not that the hero looked particularly dangerous at the moment.

They were sound asleep, chest rising and falling to the soft sounds of their breathing. They looked so peaceful.

Vulnerable.

Villain clenched their fists and turned to head into the kitchen. They couldn't just kill hero; it would only expose them. They had to just play along and pray it would be over soon.

It had to be over soon. They couldn't stand this for much longer.

One night was already enough to wear on their nerves. They'd barely slept last night, mind racing with the possibilities. They hadn't left anything incriminating in the living room, had they? They usually kept all work-related things at their hideout, but that didn't mean the occasional thing didn't find its way home. What if supervillain ratted them out? Would a hero believe them?

Villain was too caught up in their own thoughts and twisting stomach to notice the half-asleep hero that had slinked into the doorway.

"Good Morning," the hero greeted pleasantly, though it was clear they were still not awake.

Villain flinched at the noise, spoon clattering against the pan they'd been stirring. They shot an annoyed glance over their shoulder.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" The others yelped, holding up their hands in a show of peace.

They looked and sounded so genuinely apologetic.

Villain sighed, frustration easing out of their shoulders as they rolled their eyes and went back to what they were doing, "s'fine," they muttered, gritting their teeth slightly.

"That smells delicious. What are you making?" Hero questioned, nosing into the room slowly. Across the kitchen, four eyes followed their every move as the two dogs lay on the tile.

"Omelettes," Villain replied plainly. "You can sit at the table; they will be ready in a few minutes,"

"Wait, you made one for me?" The hero asked in surprise.

In all honesty, the villain was surprised they were making the hero breakfast too, but if they didn't, hero would have to get something to eat themselves.

This way, villain could oversee everything. An extra layer of control. They didn't like the idea of hero tending to themselves in *their* kitchen.

"Yes," they replied, not bothering to turn around as they plated the newest omelette.

"Thank you very much," hero said, overly polite and conciliatory, "That's really nice of you. Can I help set the table? I can also help do the dishes afterward-"

"If it pleases you," villain cut them off dismissively, "the cutlery is in the drawer next to the fridge"

"Got it!" Hero chirped, making their way over.

Villain hated this. They hated how mundane and domestic this felt. It made their skin crawl and their stomach twist. Yesterday they'd been robbing one of the cities largest banks and today they were cooking breakfast for a hero in their own house. They tried to swallow the feeling as best they could. They just had to tough it out.

They platted the second omelette and flicked off the stove.

"Nova, Queen," they whistled, and both dogs immediately shot up, "bowls,"

Hero watched in awe as both dogs went and picked up their food bowls, carrying them over in their mouths and hopping up with two paws to place the bowl on the counter before dropping down and sitting.

"Good girls," villain praised, putting some scrambled eggs into each bowl before putting them down on the ground and signalling them to begin eating.

"Wow, that's incredible," hero commented in awe as they finished placing the cutlery on the table.

Villain swallowed the sarcastic, snide comment that nearly slipped out. The hero sounded so *genuine*. Ugh. "Thanks," they muttered uncertainly, laying hero's plate and omelette on the table in front of them.

They hesitated for a second before caving and sitting down across the table, unable to find an excuse not to. "You can help yourself to any drink you want. There's still coffee left in the machine," they said almost begrudgingly.

"Oh, thank you! Water is fine!" The hero assuaged, filling their glass from the tap.

They really were trying to be the perfect guest, and that somehow made villain feel like they hated them that much more. Heros weren't perfect *anything*. It was just more showmanship for the press, or in this case, them. *Fake.* It had to be.

They opted not to reply, continuing to eat in silence.

"This is delicious," hero complimented after taking their first bite.

"I'm sure you've had far better before," the criminal deflected, holding back the scoff that was crawling up their throat.

Their guest furrowed their brows in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"That it- never mind,' the villain replied, continuing to pick at their barely touched plate, "what is your schedule today?"

"Uhm, well," the hero began, looking down at their lap awkwardly, "I was just about to ask you the same question,"

"What my schedule is?"

"And mine. My schedule is sort of whatever yours is. I've been tasked with protecting you, which basically means just sort of following you around,"

"*excuse me?*" villain replied in a tone that was something close to horrified, eyes widening as their spine straightened, "you plan to just-"

"Don't worry! You won't even know I'm there I promise! I-"

Suddenly, villain pushed themselves up from the table, "I need to go reschedule some- everything" they said. The two dogs, who had just finished eating, stood up on cue as well.

"Wait! Really, you don't-" hero began, jumping up and extending a hand after them. Immediately, both dogs began growling making the hero freeze.

"Easy you two" Villain said as they stepped to the side, "and save your breath hero, it's not happening,"

"But-"

"*No,*"

With that, they left, leaving a very guilty and uncertain feeling hero alone in the kitchen.

Part 3

[lavender-bundle-blithe]

BSD + Pokemon Pt. 1 (ADA+PM)

And by this, I mean- like- each character I know well enough, I give them a Pokemon (singular or else I'll be overthinking it all) =w= It's just a thing for myself to scratch that part of my brain. Assigning them a single Pokemon that compliments them. Which might lead to some vagueness.

Other than that! Lets go-!

ADA

Fukuzawa: Kleavor (Not my greatest idea, I kept thinking about "It either has to be about something similar to katanas/swords, or make it cats". Which I cheated at because Kleavor has axes for goodness sakes. If I were to give it the option, I would have given him Aegislash or a freakin *Litten.* "But Lavender, there's Kingambit-" YES. I KNOW. BUT TRUST ME, THAT ONE HAS OTHER PLANS. *cough- fukuchi- cough-*)

Ranpo: Skwovet (Snacks. Just... snacks. Ranpo can deduce cases just fine, but ohs to the woes, he needs more places to stash his snacks. Bam. These babies. But if he wants a Pokemon to enjoy snacking with, Morpeko is the second choice. It's either stash is or eat it, bois.)

Yosano: Blissey (Blissey knows your location. Blissey is approaching your location. Blissey is at your frontdoor. Blissey offers you an egg in these trying times. [ . . . ] Look it's either Blissey incoming or Hattrem incoming, an egg or an smack, pick your poison.)

Kunikida: Indeedee (This one took me a second to figure this one out. But after thinking of a small few, Indeedee was what I chose with the idea of them helping him and his work. The other two were Espeon, Minccino/Cincchino, and Meowstic.)

Dazai: Absol (Now I hate reusing the same Pokemon [I wrote this stuff out of order hhh], but without spoiling too much, while Absol is known for sensing danger, in Dazai's case it would be that they "bring forth" danger. But other than that, if I did go with my unwritten rule, I would have given him Alolan Ninetails because ahahahaa kitsune dazai agenda)

Tanizaki: Hisuian Zorua (Illusionssss. Illusion buddiessss. And to make it a play on words with snow, I made it be Hisuian form because they spawn in the icelands.)

Kenji: Gyrados (I was planning on giving Kenji Sunflora because he is sweet summer child, but at the same time... my boi can hit like a semitruck. Not to mention the cute story that he caught this very weak Magikarp in his village, took care of it, and the next thing you know this kid is giving their [looks at pokedex] "the literal embodiment of tsunami if angry" on a walk. The absolute humor, guys. The *hinjinks*. That or I go with the trend of him bringing a cow to the agency and give him a Miltank.)

Atsushi: Growlithe (Surprise, we have a Growlithe. This is the closest thing we have to a tiger in Pokemon. Unfortunately, its shiny isn't white but yellow. You can decide whether or not this little Growlithe ir a normal or shiny, but in my hc it's just a white tiger variant of Growlithe LET ME LIVE MY DREAM-)

Kyouka: Froslass (All I could remember before looking at the Pokedex entry was that it has something to do with a soul of a woman, and jus- *Gestures vaguely at Froslass, Demon Snow, and the fact that Demon Snow was previously Kyouka's mother's ability)

PM

Mori: Ursaluna (This one gave me MAJOR trouble trying to figure out. My guy's a doctor, but at the same time is the big mafia boss man. The only other Pokemon I could think of were either Bewere, Drampa, or Dragapult, I don't know why I thought those Pokemon specifically. So I just threw everything out, looked at Fukuzawa's Kleavor, went onto the Hisui Pokedex, grabbed Ursaluna, and yeets it at the man. Ursaluna. God-)

Chuuya: Midnight Form Lycanroc (Angry red pupper, emphasis on red. Yeah, I had to, I am not sorry.)

Kouyou: Milotic (Powerful but also very beautiful ◡‿◡ . But at some point, I thought about Lurantis. )

Akutagawa: Mimikyu (This was in my notes before, but yes! Mimikyu. The popularity battle of Mimikyu v Pikachu is similar to Aku v Atsushi. Other than that, Mimikyu was the closest to being compared to Rashomon, with their shadow arm.)

Higuchi: Heliolisk (Unfortunately we are still unsure of Higuchi's Ability, if Asagiri does intend to give her an Ability. For now, though, I had to go off by her appearance. Simply grabbed black, white, and yellow. Looks at all the Pokemon, and decided on Heliolisk. And to be honest, I like it. Dunno if it's just me, but this Pokemon and Higuchi with her sunglasses on? Heck yeahhhh.)

Hirotsu: Meowstic (A secondary option to Kunikida, I decided to give Hirotsu Meowstic because I think the Pokemon and his Ability are similar. In my head, Hirotsu's Ability is basically an impact or what it is explained, "repulsion". And with Meowstic, it holds their physic power back by their ears. But if provokes and have those ears raise up, it'll unleash that power that it "powerful enough to obliterate a 10-ton truck or tanker to dust.")

Gin: Ceruledge (I wanted Gin's Pokemon to match Akutagawa's in some way but have there be blades. Took a look at Mimikyu's typing which was ghost and fairy. In fairy, Iron Valiant. In ghost, Ceruledge. And while, yes, Iron Valiant looks pretty like her, Ceruledge takes the cake.)

Tachihara: Steelix (Is the only reason I give Tachihara Steelix is because he can manipulate metal, and Steelix is... s-steel type? Yeah I'm not that creative. But if it makes ya feel better, I instantly thought of Onyx or Steelix for this guy.)

Q: Banette (One, it's a doll. Two, similar to Q [in a sense-], Banette was previously a doll that was abandoned. I was thinking about giving this one to Lucy, but I think I could find a Pokemon best suited for her. So Banette for Q!)

Kajii: Voltorb (The only reason is explodey bois. Anyways-)

[goodluckclove]

Skylark's Apple Log: Cosmic Crisp

Hi! Scott Skylark here.

I don't really know why I'm doing this. I was having a nice conversation with my good friend Katy about the importance of putting apples in the fridge so you can enjoy a cold apple, and barely an hour went by before she suggested I make a physical (Digital?) log of my insights and share them with the internet. I hesitated at first, but she insisted it was for the best, as people online might only know of me right now as some "sad boy pretty boy".

To which I said "Huh? What? What does that mean?" But right as she started to explain I suddenly decided I really didn't want to know and made some loud nonsense noises to buy me time to leave the room.

Anyways, I'm definitely no food critic. If you give me some cheese, some bread, a hard-boiled egg or two and like 4-6 apples, I'm good for the day. I'm not picky. I'd hate to put some misinformation out there (Discourse! Can you imagine?) so I've asked the very capable Chef Edgar Gallows to comment on what I say before I post it.

Today I'd like to talk about the Cosmic Crisp, which is absolutely in my top ten favorite apples. They're a hybrid bred in Washington in the late 90s. Did you know there are people who dedicate their whole careers to breeding apples? That was my dream job for a while when I was a kid, but I always struggled with science and apparently that type of work is entirely science. Anyways!

When I can have a Cosmic Crisp and some toast for breakfast, I'm a happy guy with lots of energy for the day ahead. And when it's fresh out of the fridge, it's crisp and chill, so no need for a morning juice. I like to use an apple slicer to make nice inform shapes, but those end up pretty thick, so I'll cut each slice to be about half-thickness. Doing this means you get a better bite to enjoy the flavor - and it also makes it seem like you have more apples to enjoy, which is always fun.

Cosmic Crisps are really big. There are bigger that exist - the Hanners Jumbo for instance, which is actually sold exclusively in Oregon where I live! But the girth of a Cosmic Crisp is certainly nothing to sneeze at. It's really fun, and frankly a great option if you're looking for the most bang for your buck at most average supermarkets. Sometimes it gets to be a little overwhelming, though, because I personally can only eat about three before I start getting a little grossed out. But if you're just eating one or two, this is very much a consistently satisfying variety in terms of sweetness and bite.

In my youth I resented the coloring of a Cosmic Crisp, believing that a red apple should commit to the hue. Now I appreciate the look of an apple that is definitely reminiscent of something grown off a tree, compared to a Red Delicious that mainly just looks like a child's crayon depiction of an apple given physical form by some cruel, confused God. And the crisp! Very crispy apple, potentially the crispiest I've experienced by far.

If you choose to enjoy a Cosmic Crisp apple, I highly suggest pairing it with a little bit of peanut butter, or just eating it on its own. It's very yummy.

I don't know how to end this! If you're reading this I hope you see a video of a cute animal on the internet. There are so many out there. Way more than I remember.

Thanks so much!

Skylark

Chef's Note: I think I'm immediately unqualified to check this kind of writing for accuracy. Up until recently I thought all apples were either green or red. Even after being told otherwise I still kind of think that. It's pretty startling to know there is a person in existence who puts more thought into this type of thing than picking up an apple from a bag on the counter and taking a bite.

Chilled apples are pretty good. I'll give him that one.

-E.G.

Hey Songbird Taglist did you think I'd call you all here to read Scott talk about apples because here we are

@kuebiko-writing @cartoonghosts 

@atlasthecactus @aroaceghosties 

@booksntea6982 @xarrixii 

@mushroommanchanterelle @whoevenknowswhatimwriting

@fukurouonthesea

[ruthlesslistener]

Could you talk about the Shade Lord? Especially the apologist part, what needs apologising (genuine question)?

Oh the apologist part is just me joking about how I'd defend LOS no matter what they do, not necessarily because they actually did anything bad lol. And if they did, I'd fight for them all the same bc they're my little meow-meow and some murders are funny (there's a reason why my Destiny 2 sideblog is ahamkara-apologist, even though the Ahamkara as a race are vastly more problematic than the LOS- they're space dragons and I love them). Ofc, there's always those people who think that the Lord of Shades is some kind of evil entity unleashed by Ghost that'll bring about the ruin of Hallownest twice over (usually people who don't realize that the Lord of Shades is CONTROLLED by Ghost- it's the shades of all the dead vessels with Ghost as its Focus), but mostly its just bc I adore them. Though it does have the added bonus of pointing out that while I like the Pale King and the Radiance as characters, I'm ultimately sympathetic to the vessels the most, which is a core point in my ramblings that I fear often gets lost, especially when I get angry about the 'PK is a colonizer and the moth tribes/Radi were the natives he genocided take'- because idgaf about people hating PK, what I hate is how incorrect that was AS WELL AS how it ignores the fact that the Void Civilization came before the Radiance did, which always seems to be conveniently forgotten or brushed over in those arguments. The fact of the matter is that Radi and PK aren't the 'secret heroes' no matter how you spin it, they're monsters that abused, tortured, and manipulated the voidborn- aka Ghost, their siblings, and (maybe) those that used to worship their element. Sympathetic monsters, yes, monsters who are caught in a tragedy, but still monsters. It's the Void that's the victim, and I stand by that in its entirety. Every act of retribution was justified. Even them killing Godseeker- which is the argument some people use for them being evil- because why shouldn't they? She was awful to them, cruel and rude and scornful just like the Pale King was cruel and the Radiance was hateful. SHE was the reason why the Radiance grew in power to become Absolute Radiance. She deserved what she got, 100%. Ghost and their siblings endured a lifetime of torment from the moment they were hatched, they deserve EVERY little scrap of retribution they get- and they aren't monsters for lashing out at the ones who caused the pain in the first place. It's all justifiable

(Also, neither PK nor Radi are my favs. Hollow is, with their relationship to their siblings [specifically Hornet] being my fav dynamic. I only like to explore PK and Radi in depth because of their impact on Hollow's life. So needless to say I'm a void stan through and through, and since the Lord of Shades is all of them, it fits)

As for the Lord of Shades themselves! I think I already sort of covered why I love them so much just in the first two paragraphs- they are all the shades of the dead vessels poured into one entity, with Ghost as the Focus, and thus the Lord of Shades is in essence Ghost (and co, minus Hollow probably) in their ascendant form, as a true Higher Being. Which is in of itself a monumental feat for something that was hatched to die, a godling denied their deific status by beings who could not understand them as anything but death. They're vengence and defiance made manifest, and they were reformed into the shape they are now because they looked into the eyes of their creators and tormenters and said no more. The first step towards their creation, the catalyst for their metamorphasis, was turning the Kingsoul into the Voidheart- very literally rejecting the Pale King's edict and reforming it into a beacon of their own power, accepting their nature and defying their maker. They looked at the very soul of someone who had cast their eggs into the dark sea below, who hatched them into a graveyard and watched them die in the millions, who made them to be slaughtered for his own cause because he thought they as the voidborn were less than alive- and they said 'I reject you. I reject what you said to me. I reject what you represent. I reject your vision, the way you made me to be. I will forge my own path. I will make my own way. I will accept what I am and I will show you right now that I am alive, I am here, I am not heartless and I am not thoughtless. I am what I am. I am the Void. And I will do what I must to save the family that you left behind.'

AND THEY DID IT FOR THE LOVE OF THEIR SIBLING, they did it for the love of the Hollow Knight, who let them fall and left them to die when they were both just hatchlings, who they had no obligation to save and yet rushed back to do so anyways. And they soldiered on through impossible odds, through endless fights in life and dream all while a spiteful, hateful creature hissed at their worthlessness and empowered their worst enemy, so that they could destroy the Radiance in her entirety, before she could be brought back at the peak of her power. The entire REASON that they could become the Lord of Shades in the first place and WHY they achieved that metamorphasis was for the love of their family- and for a vengence long-overdue, to say 'enough, enough!' and end the torment that plagued their kind for so long for no other reason than the selfishness of other gods. Dream No More was a beautiful ending that encapsulated the vessels finally getting peace, but I love the Embrace the Void ending because to me it feels like Ghost (and the other vessels) are reclaiming what was rightfully theirs, by force, from the entities who subjugated them for so long, and taking their rightful place as the major god of Hallownest- a birthright stolen from them by the Radiance, and denied to them by the Pale Gods.

(Also you can very easily imagine the LOS as Ghost being essentially a streamer with the other vessels being their chat and I love that sm. The-Many-Who-Are-One. My beloveds)

So yeah, that's why I'm the Shade Lord apologist. I fucking love them. 1000000/10 god

[lorablackmane]

ISAT Act 5 Missable Interactions

I missed a shitton my 1st playthrough bc I was on that Siffrin mindset during act 5's loop and I realized afterwards I had a save in the meadow b4 everything. So I decided to compile stuff I found I missed 4 others who might've missed things too! Please keep in mind that below will be spoilers for this act and the next, and that there are some concerning things about Siffrin found here that I've labeled this post with a few trigger warnings. Check them before reading to decide if you want to read!

Updated!!!!!!!

Please note the section on the favor tree has new info!! If you don't want to know how a secret boss fight goes please skip the 2nd to last dot.

• Literally every kid in town is terrified by Siffrin now, ignoring him or telling them to go away. You'll walk away from the shopkeeper if you try to talk to him, causing Odile to look at Siffrin with concern. He eats the pain du chocolat in one bite, concerning the pastry maker.

• Says stepping on the banana peel isn't in the stage instructions if u try to use it now.

• Everything that had a smell in earlier chapters now smells like sugar.

• If you interact with the cookies on floor one Siffrin will try to eat one. It's as hard as a rock.

• Interacting with the landscape drawings in the broken egg key room makes them hysterically ask if they'll ever see anything outside this loop ever again.

• A new group of drawings are also here of Siffrin with his face completely blotted out like the friendship drawing.

• The dictionary makes him scream that he isn't taciturn anymore, is he?!

• Interacting with the "grape juice for adults" makes them say they hate alcohol (jlmfr) b4 taking a swig.. only to discover its actually just juice. They remark hysterically they can't even get drunk in peace here!

• Mira's dying plant reminds them of someone, and they remark how there's four happy, never changing plants all together on the other desk before hysterically laughing. Rubs their arms when passing the desks to try to simulate the human contact they'd get in earlier loops from their family.

• Says they'll make all the wishes come true if you Interact with the Head Housemaiden's wish survey.

• Rips the info on the King, if interacted with again they attempt their breathing exercises to no avail then suddenly smell sugar again.

• Looking at the drawings in this office will make Siffrin start thinking about defacing them, but remarks he doesn't have a pencil as he hysterically thinks scribble, scribble, scribble.

• Mocks themself for thinking odile is there if u interact with the checked out book list in the library.

• Gets upset if Interacting with the diary area bc they still can't say the name of their home country. Calls himself a stupid blinding idiot.

• Gets upset at the theater scroll section, stating why read one when you're in one. Tells themself to stop going off script and go if interacted with again.

• Wonders if they'll ever carve again when Interacting with the carving wood. States they'd like to carve the King if so so they can snap him in half if interacted with again.

• Interacting with the cupboard with eyepatch makes them say they're cold, their stomach hurts, they can't stop shaking and a headache is forming from thinking about their mistakes. Then they take the painkillers, one over the recommended dosage for their size.

• Interacting with food shelves makes them ask why their stomach hurts so much and they're so hungry like they haven't eaten in years.

• The croissant cookbook makes them grip their coin.

• The anthology of horror stories makes them repeat the scene with their family, before they mock themself again for knowing it by heart since they have always wanted to never forget

• Breaks one of the statues on the change God shelf in the pottery room.

• Refuses to take the gizmo, stating a fair fight or none at all.

• The clothing closet where Isabeau talks about your cloak makes him repeat the scene though says he's had this cloak forever in shaking text. When Isabeau goes to check the cloak Siffrin says that he doesn't touch them because they're disgusting. They say they're so cold. This time they realize they're hallucinating the others being there when they are going to do the final reply.

• They tell themselves to stop monologuing if they try to go towards the bathrooms.

• You can see the House inhabitants if you leave the final room!! And go back to Dormont to see the party they were getting ready for. The others will join Siffrin out of corcern for his mental state instead of stopping him which is nice. There's a bunch of interactions here I won't note but they're delights.

• Loop is gone, but Siffrin will leave their silver coin where they sat in a custom from his homeland.

Edit: thanks to @cleverretortnotfound for the hint that this changes! Instead of nothing there u find a silver coin. If interacted with he'll remark its the exact same as his own and call out to Loop, then ask if they should call them by their previous name... and Loop reappears. Silently they let Siffrin look them over, and though they don't have any features that mirror Siffrin's own... he knows. Theyre the same person. He takes their own coin out, flipping it before sending it to Loop who catches it without thinking. They look at it for a moment, before saying, "Oh stardust... so, you've won, haven't you? You broke the loops? Defeated the King? Talked to your party? Realized that all along, the reason you were stuck here was because of a stupid blinding wish you made? Awww. I'm soooo happy for you. You got your perfect ending, after all. And now... I have nothing left to say to you. So you should go."

Siffrin doesn't reply, causing Loop to ask why they're there still. What does he want them to say? WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY? HE'S WON!

Once again, Siffrin doesn't reply. Loop laughs, before saying "oh, Stardust! You know, you know I was just like you once! A stupid, aimless traveler, trying to find any reason to keep going! And then, I met everyone! And I felt that finally, I had people i could count on, people I could love! And then, I got scared! And made the exact same mistake you did! Make a stupid blinding wish, hoping I could stay with them! Went through the House, tried to fight the King, tried to win! Did that for so long, I couldn't even give you a number! And then... I couldn't do it anymore. ...You see, not unlike you a few hours ago, I did a very special kind of giving up. But unlike you, who gave up on your wish, and almost destroyed the world in the process... I gave up on my wish, and destroyed myself.

And made another wish instead. I wished it could be over. I wished I could get out of here. I wished for someone to help me. For someone... Anyone, to help me!!! And someone did help me, right? The Universe did! They got me out of here! And trapped me in some other Siffrin's loops instead!!! And it was fine. It was different. It was even peaceful, for a while. I didn't have to stay inside the House, trying to defeat the King. I didn't have to fight, I didn't have struggle, I didn't have to do anything.

(Note: during the last paragraph, during the I wished section up until the scream for anyone to help,, we see stills from the intro animation where Siffrin eats the star. Theres a new still though, a close up of Siffrin crying out before he ate it.)

I just had to watch, and be happy that at least, I wasn't the only idiot out there who trapped themselves eternally in time. I just had to be happy that at least, this time, it wasn't me. And now. And now. AND NOW YOU-!!!

So! Since you won't leave, here's what I'm thinking... let's fight, you and I! Let's have a cute, minuscule, old-fashioned little fight like a bonded couple. Okay~?"

Once again, Siffrin doesn't reply and Loop laughs, "nothing to say, still? Haha... HAHAHAHA!! STARS, killing you would make me SO HAPPY. (note: during this sentence temporarily Loop turns into Siffrin and looks rather... concerning) Are you ready?"

Siffrin tries to speak up, but Loop says they don't get a choice.

The battle commences, with Loop saying let's just get to it. Loop strikes with stars but isn't very strong, they loop back the 1st time you win, the 2nd, the 3rd, and on the fourth the photo changes (will add link to another post with pics later).

At the end of the battle Loop looks away before saying, "you... Siffrin, Stardust, whatever our real name actually is... just kill me."

Siffrin is shocked and asks why. "Why," they say, "Are you stupid? Isn't it obvious?! I wanted to kill you!! So I could take your place!! I wanted what you have!!! Stars, I still do! You... you don't.. you don't want another you walking around. You should just kill me and get on with your stupid life!!"

This makes Siffrin laugh and reply their self-hatred isn't strong enough that'd they'd kill another version of themselves. Loops laughs at that and says he's got weird priorities... then say but what if they're asking him? What if Loop wants this? What if dying is the ending they want?! Siffrin doesn't reply and Loop starts to beg, "Stardust, please, please just kill me!!! I don't want to be here! What else is there for me now?! You've won, so I should be gone!! I can't go back to how it was before, because that past is gone! I can't go back to my friends, because they wouldn't recognize me!! There's nothing else for me to do, no script to follow, no Universe to lead me, I-"

They can't continue, sobbing. "Why.. why did it have to be you...? I could've... I wanted to... if only back then, I... if I had held on longer... maybe then..."

Oh Loop, Siffrin thinks. But don't you get it, he says. Loop asks what is there to get. The reason he succeeded, he replies, but Loop still doesn't understand. They take Loop's face into their hands as they say Loop was the reason they succeeded! Without them, he would've given up too. Because they were by Siffrin's side they continued going. Yes they didn't tell him everything, yeah they didn't know what to do... but knowing they were here and he wasn't alone...

They tearfully reply he's lying, but he says he's not. They shout again Siffrin is lying, but they reply again they're not! They try to scream it again, but siffrin stops them by saying, "Loop. Mira sends her thanks, by the way. They all do." Confused Loop repeats the word thanks, adding "...to me...?"

Siffrin laughs, and reminds them they helped the others get to the King. That they sent their thanks for leading them to Siffrin. For helping them save him. Loop can't reply, and Siffrin says, "See?"

"Stardust... why couldn't it have been me...?" Loop asks, to which Siffrin replies they don't know. Maybe it was the script, maybe it was the Universe, or maybe... maybe it's no one's fault. Loop is silent once more and he replies, "I'm sorry, Siffrin."

Finally using Loops real name. Then adds, "And thank you, Loop. Without you, I would've given up a long time ago. Thank you for helping me, this whole time."

Loop doesn't respond and Siffrin goes, "Loop, we can-"

Loop cuts them off, "Siffrin." He flinches as they continue, "Please, you're going to have to talk to them, from now on. No more keeping how you feel from them. We both know where this leads. And if one day, no matter what you do, everyone's paths and yours diverge... you'll have to learn to be okay with it. We cant... we can't do this again. Hold them hostage, against their knowledge, against their will, just because we're lonely. Learning to talk to them... learning to let go... it'll be hard. It'll feel impossible. You might think you'd rather die than share how you feel. After all, isn't bottling things up the reason you managed to break the loops? You didn't have to tell them anything until the very end, and it turned out fine didn't it?"

Siffrin is silent, then attempts to say but, but if I talked to them earlier, then maybe - then gets cut off by loop, "Yeah, dummy. If only you had been strong enough to talk to them, maybe this whole story wouldn't have happened at all. If only... oh well. It doesn't matter now."

Loop starts to disappear. Siffrin asks where they'll go now? Loop sadly replies, "Oh, stardust... I don't know! I'll join you so we can become one? I'll Die? I'll stay under this tree forever? Does it matter?"

You can choose between it does and I guess it doesn't. I won't update this with the other, I'm sorry but this is taking a toll on me, so I'll atleast tell you what "It does!" Leads to.

They laugh, then say Siffrin's sweet. "Aww, don't worry, Stardust. Somehow... I'm sure I'll see you again. You... and everyone else. Mirabelle, Isabeau, Odile, and Bonnie. I need to accept their thanks in person, don't I? That's just basic etiquette. And I'll need to give you back your silver coin eventually!"

Siffein agrees, and Loop continues, "...hmm. I'll see you all again soon enough, Stardust. I promise! I super promise! I super duper promise! So don't forget me, okay?"

The screen fades, leading us back to the gang. They welcome Siffrin back and ask if everything's okay. He says he thanked Loop, to which they're relieved. Odile says she was hoping they'd bring em back so she could thank them in person, and the others agree though Isa says they looked shy so maybe they were too embarrassed. Which is too bad because he had so many questions, and so he hopes they see them again soon. Bonnie says they wanted to know how Loop glows and how it felt, to which Mira chides them saying you can't ask someone how they glow. Bonnie is flabbergasted, making the others laugh.

Odile adds she hopes Siffrin told them they can see the gang anytime. Sadly Siffrin smiles before saying he did, and how they too hope Loop says hi again soon. The others note Siffrin looks sad while saying this to which he replies he was thinking of Loop. The others tell them they'll have to tell the gang more about them then soon. Like how they met and why they're a star. Also how they knew about the loops. They then go back to the final room.

• The best artist ever has something new in the epilogue.

Souvenirs

Silver coin

B4: grips it in his pocket.

Epilogue: remarks that it's been with them through it all and feels like it could've been used for something. Backstory no longer unlockable, but can be used at the Favor tree.

Drawn card

B4 epilogue: says it's a traveler walking to their death with open eyes, rips it apart.

The end: looks at the card and just says "it's you!"

Epilogue: says it's a traveler starting a new journey, the card is labeled the fool.

Bright flower

B4 epilogue: tears off all the petals then discards it

The end: says it's still here.

Epilogue: you still have the flower, he says before deciding that it's theirs now!

Friendship doodle

B4: Siffrin's face is blotted out, no reaction to viewing this..

Epilogue: their face is no longer missing. Unknown whether this was a hallucination on their end or not.

Clay

B4: presses it between their hands to try and help them with their breathing exercises.

The end: squish, squish they say.

Epilogue: Clay they say, before making a star. 

Piece of glass

B4: uses it to self harm by piercing it through a bit of the back of their arm multiple times. Says stars afterwards, can't tell if being sarcastic and calling the dots they made that or screaming the word like a curse as usual. (Updated: if used a second time Siffrin says they're making more tiny stars. Concerning)

The end: they say hide it, hide it don't make the others worried.

Epilogue: they become scared and startled, saying they need to be careful. Then they toss it before they can hurt themself.

Broken doll

B4: fixes the clothing on it, if u click on the cupboard it's from again tells it it'll see the end if it's the last thing it does.

The end: turns the doll so it can see everything.

Epilogue: they hold it close as they look at the sky, saying they both made it.

Crumpled poem

B4: genuinely could not read this the first seven times but using the capture reveals after reading it Siffrin repeatedly says they want to go home.

Epilogue: they read it, then say they'll never go home again, but maybe they can make a new one. They can't wait to see if they can.

Mirror picture

B4: no reaction. Says its of them and the actors despite no one being there.

Epilogue: they grip it tightly before tossing it, saying it's in the past now. That they're fine, they're fine! And if not they will be soon.

Long thingy-thing

B4: tosses it, saying it's not needed anymore.

Epilogue: they say it's their long thingy now.

[mineralfinder]

infodumping a few fun facts about the puella magi (madoka magica) multiverse, specifically one each from antimaterials, the Magia Record game/show, and wraith arc, then a few from null magical girl

spoilers for all of those, of course

yknow how, untransformed, they can swap their soul gem between a ring form and a faberge egg form? apparently, if two people hold each others’ gems in egg form and swap back to ring form, they’ll also swap bodies. the only way found to reverse this is to get them out of range then revive them, for some reason (probably because it happened once then never again)

magic is generated by emotional energy changing phase in a manner similar to a redox reaction. i got no clue how energy going from a higher to lower frequency is in any way similar to a redox reaction, but that’s apparently how it works and also how grief seeds clean soul gems

emotional energy can, somehow, gather in large enough quantities to create disasters in some way, which is mitigated/prevented by wraiths, which absorb this energy and convert/condense it into a stable form, specifically grief cubes

finally, null magical girl introduces tons of explanations on the metaphysics of the setting. the soul is a fundamental particle called a destino that creates the future and path by consensus with other souls, generating energy as a byproduct. this forming of consensus is actually the process of going through relationships and generating emotions, eventually culminating in humans evolving into a species known as homo magica, which imprints human relationships (like friendship or sympathy) as data onto the universe to download for infinite meaningless cute relationships, ie playing a game of pattycake and immediately forgetting about it. theyve evolved so much for this that they cant feel internal emotions and literally paralyze any normal human with cuteness. also they destroy planets and colonize stars to live and expand forever but thats less important because its specific to one universe which is entirely contained within one(?) persons soul who happened to become every soul in that universe since they got a wish when they were an embryo and made a wish to divide and propagate because thats a cells directive. those homo magica also made a railroad through time. the universe reproduces by making black holes, and has an index holding the symmetry that existed before the big bang and therefore allows infinite energy and the ability to alter fundamental constants, but doesn’t use it because it wants to maximize entropy to make more black holes, which is why it hates souls and acts like theyre parasites. this is a paradox, since times without destiny instantly maximize entropy and fizzle into nothingness. also there are infinite timelines/timestreams in the universe. the incubators already knew every single law of the universe and found out the only way to beat entropy was to use magic, so they selectively bred humans into existence, which caused them to outcompete neanderthals into extinction because humans became stronger magical girls because they could think of things that couldnt happen in a logical universe. the fact that this universe is also inside a single persons soul gem proves that magical girls age like normal, since a girl in her 20s aged up from being contracted as a literal fetus

there are more things but my brain only wanted me to post a few

[solarbird]

Let’s talk a little about the recently-noticed hatred of in vitro fertilisation coming from Trump’s MAGA base, because while it’s being treated as new, it’s not actually new. It’s only recently risen back up to visibility – ahead, even, of their hatred of contraception – thanks to Trump’s success in overturning Roe v. Wade using his Republican-packed Supreme Court.

I’ve seen a lot of people publicly wonder why the Christofash are so against IVF, given that their whole procedure is about “more babies,” and they say they actually want “more [white] babies.” I’ve also seen people suggest that it’s solely about controlling women, and, well, of course that’s kind of true, because so very very much of what they do is about control over women.

But while there is some “separating procreation and sex is bad” thought out there – particularly amongst far-right Catholics – it’s actually far more consistent than that. At least, in its origins and early discussion.

It is, in fact, the direct result of them finding out more about IVF. They found out that multiple eggs are fertilised at once, with the most apparently healthy being implanted, and the others kept frozen. They then asked themselves a couple of… I hate to say it, but reasonable questions:

If every fertilised egg is a person, why doesn’t that apply in cases of destroyed fertilised eggs left over from IVF treatments? Why aren’t we condemning the destruction of human life that happens as part of IVF?

If you hold their professed beliefs – and some of them actually do – then the answer is obvious. They naturally then came to that obvious conclusion, one that’s entirely reasonable for those who have decided against all reason that a fertilised egg is in fact an actual whole person. They decided that yes, this is the same thing, it is a person, and no, IVF should not be allowed in its current form because yes, it is murder.

All of this is, again, nonsense. But it’s a rare bit of consistent nonsense from them, and you can see how it follows from a certain point of view.

And as they came to this conclusion – some decades ago now – they knew it would be impossible in the near term to even approach it, politically. Certainly not with Roe v. Wade the law of the land, which even to those with a focused interest in IVF was a far, far bigger issue to tackle.

Besides, the people involved in this – the Beverly LaHaye crowd were involved, but not just them – actually did empathise with people trying to have children. The goal, that was fine; the method, however, was not.

So they started a campaign to try to “save” what they started calling “snowflake babies.” It was a campaign, a recruitment effort to find volunteers who would have these leftover zygotes implanted, and then carry them to term as their own. Married heterosexual women only need apply, of course – their secondary worries about IVF included thoughts that it would somehow let THE HOMOSEXUALS have children, and they were, naturally, stridently opposed.

But honestly? If someone wants to get pregnant with a leftover IVF-fertilised egg, great! Go for it. I hate the whole “married heterosexual cisgendered women only” part of course, but the rest? It’s fine! Knock yourselves out.

At the time, it almost sounded like them trying to take positive action themselves for once, rather than just driving hate against others. I even allocated a little bit of hope that maybe it marked the beginning of a healthier trend.

Alas, it did not. But at that time, it couldn’t be ruled out.

Regardless, none of this ever went away. Bush II threw them a token amount of money in his first term to promote the idea, there are some small organisations still promoting “embryo adoption,” and the term “snowflake babies” still shows up once in a while.

Really, though, they see it as a stopgap, or even harm reduction. At its core, their fight is still to define every fertilised egg as a full human being with not just full rights, but more rights than anyone carrying it.

So those aren’t backup or redundant fertilised eggs, those are “snowflake babies,” and therefore cleaning the dish containing them is murder – no matter how many actual, real new parents and actual, real new children IVF procedures help create.

Accordingly, IVF must go, for the heartache of would-be parents pales to nothing next to the God-given inalienable rights of…

…a single frozen cell in a dish, which matters ever so impossibly more than any real child ever could matter to any of them.

Now you know how they got here, and you know that this isn’t a fad, and that it will not be something they easily give up. And since this whole line of thought is absolute batshittery to anyone not buried deep in the inner nooks and crannies of their bizarre cult, hopefully you have a better idea how to use this particular bullshit against them.

Good luck out there, and good hunting.

75 days remain.

[electrosweaters-arts]

PLEASE- PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE ME YOUR HYDE X ADAM HEADCANONS! I HAVE BEEN OBSESSED WOTH THIS WEIRD CRACKSHIP FOREVER SO PLZ GIVE ME YOUR HEADCANONS

FINALLY THE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW PERFECT THEY ARE FOR EACH OTHER <3 GAHHH I TALK ABOUT THEM SO MUCH ITS HARD TO EVEN THINK OF WHAT HEADCANONS TO TALK ABOUT

Fucked up that you can get banned from tumblr for saying what Adam and Hyde are doing to each other but I will try

First of all, their ship name is Creationshipping <3 @lonely-space-egg came up with it and I'm obsessed with it thank you Peri

They're in an open/polyamorous relationship and Hyde is also dating Utterson, hi Utterson \O. Adam and Utterson are very good friends <3

Hyde loves when Adam holds him but usually he won't ask to be and will instead just start trying to climb up Adam until he picks him up.

Adam is incredibly encouraging of all Hyde's indulgences, they both encourage each other to act without worrying what others think and to Adam? Hyde can commit a few felonies, as a treat. It's cute

Hyde initially avoided telling Adam that he was a scientist since he was afraid Adam would take it badly due to his relationship with Victor

Adam loves animals but animals HATE Hyde so he makes sure to keep them away from him for both their safety. He tried to keep a pet rabbit once and Hyde had to get 30 stitches

Adam is one of the only people Hyde has spilled his entire life story to, along with all the trauma of his childhood has Jekyll and nuances of his relationships with his family and friends, and all the pressure and stress and guilt that lead up to him creating Hyde in the first place. He actually surprised himself with how quickly he opened up to Adam but he just seemed like he could understand on a level no one else could, and he did <3

Hyde has a constant fear of abandonment and sneaks some of Adam's clothing out with him whenever he leaves so he can sniff it if he's feeling lonely. Adam noticed and started leaving out gym clothes for him.

Adam sometimes bends down to Hyde's level in public and whispers something that makes Hyde burst out laughing, falling on the ground and everything, making a scene.

Hyde has trouble sleeping because his form causes him to have a ton of increased adrenaline at all times, but Adam's tired he lets him hold him while he sleeps and Hyde spends pretty much the entire time awake and wide-eyed staring at the wall.

When Hyde does sleep he is a BED HOG, he somehow takes up more space than an 8 foot tall man and sleeps with all of his limbs out. He also takes all the blankets only to then ball them up underneath his feet.

Sometimes Hyde just wordlessly plops his entire body weight onto Adam and they lay like that for hours not saying a word

Hyde was a bit uneasy at first finding out about Adam's interest in religion but he actually ended up being an incredibly good source of comfort whenever Hyde would spiral due to his religious trauma

Adam likes to sing little songs to Hyde when they're alone <3

Usually when they fight it's a result of Hyde getting too riled up or overwhelmed and he storms off somewhere, only to come back later once he's calmed down and plonk down like this so they can actually talk about it (doodle by @internetwerewolf )

More specific to CC but Hyde buys all of Adam's clothes for him and pays for pretty much anything he needs, partly just to treat him right and partly just because he doesn't want him leaving to go work all the time

And some for Jekyll-sided Creationshipping <3

Jekyll likes to trace his fingers along Adam's stitching, usually he does it absentmindedly while theyre just cuddling/talking but sometimes he gets completely lost in thought studying them. He finds them beautiful and they're one of Adam's biggest insecurities but he's allowed to touch them <3

Adam teases Jekyll way more than he does Hyde, he likes how overblown his reactions get to it

Jekyll really likes the deep pressure stim Adam holding him gives when he's having a meltdown. they are so autism4autism

^ also Hyde does this.

[transmascutena]

these are the episodes that have the fairy tale prince story at the beginning: 1, 3, 8, 13, 16, 31, 33 (the visuals are different here, and i think the voice is too, but i'm not certain), 35 (starts out the same but goes on to show what really happened as revealed in the previous episode.)

lots of rambling about this with no real conclusion under the cut:

i've always kind of assumed it was a little arbitrary when they chose to reuse this scene, and usually it feels like it's simply there to take up more time in the episode, hence why it's there in some of the more filler-y ones (even though i hate using that term for the show.) of course the repitition in itself is thematic, but why at these specific times? obviously it has to be in the first episode, and it makes sense to have it in the third as well, to remind people and to show its importance, but also because utena's desire to be a prince is more relevant than usual in that episode, and is the first time we really see it outside the context of the dueling game. it makes sense that the recap episodes have it too, 13 because it is a recap and utena's backstory is important, and 33 because both the story and that episode are very important for utena's arc. 33 is especially interesting because it's the first time the scene changes, reflecting that utena might be starting to think about it differently. or think about it less, maybe, since the visuals of it are missing. and then the last time we see it in 35 makes a lot of sense too, since we've just gotten the true story which recontextualizes the whole thing.

this just leaves us with 8, 16, and 31. all of which are nanami episodes. if they wanted the story repeated to the audience more times, why not have it in episodes centered more around utena? like 9, the first time we get more context to utena's backstory? or 11 and 12. maybe 25, where akio reveals that he is the prince? or 30 where utena starts to question her devotion to the prince? why in nanami's episodes?

the first two are the body swap episode and the cow episode, and those could be written off as needing more scenes to pad the time out, and it not mattering too much since they're the sillier ones anyway. but her tragedy? i feel like there has at least has to be thematic relevance in that one. although, it does have several other scenes that seem to just be taking up time, like the one where we have to look at touga standing in the shower for a full 18 seconds. you could say these are all episodes that explore the theme of princehood, but i think that's a little bit of a stretch, and is only be true because it's a theme that shows up in every single episode of the show in some form anyway. these are not particularly special as far as that goes. as an example, i think it's a way more prevelant theme in episode 6 than it is in episode 8, both of which are first arc nanami-adjacent episodes. i can't see much reason for one to have it over the other than just. filler. but i want to read more into it so badly.... is it just that nanami and utena are parallel to each other? but then, not all the nanami episodes have it. is it in the cow episode because the cowbell and the ring are parallels? i think they could be, in the same way that people have pointed out the parallel to the earrings, but an even more obvious parallel is between utena's ring given to her by akio and nanami's own dueling ring given to her by touga, and we don't get the prince story in episode 10. does it mark episodes particularly important to nanami's arc? ehhhh, i could see that for cowbell of happiness and her tragedy, but curried high trip is not anywhere near as important as, say, the egg episode, or, again, episode 10.

i really wish i could come to a conclusion other than "it's there to fill up time" because that's so boring, but i can't really find much evidence to support any other reading. if you have other thoughts on this, please share them with me

[umbra-borealis]

Little Toxin Masterpost. No ref sheet yet but for every like this post getst I'll leave a fact about Toxin and his parents below! Retweets count too!

Facts below the Read More!

Fact #1

Toxin's parents are Shadow and... Scourge!

They're a close family that lives isolated because they all hate being around people for too long.

Fact #2

Toxin goes by he/they pronouns and is intersex like both his parents. Yes, both, it's a no brainer on Shadow since him being alien tends to go hand in hand with otherworldly... situations but Scourge requires some more context. Keep liking the post and I'll share that too ;)

Fact #3

Okay okay, Scourge context!

Scourge has fused with Chaos in this AU making him a water elemental. On top of that Scourge's mother was a mimic octopus pretending to be a hedgehog to trick his father, whom I've also re-written and given the name 'Cobalt', into marrying her to connect their kingdoms. When she was found out she fled, leaving her two sons behind, one of which was Scourge and this technically means he's already a hybrid. His affinity for water is genetic, he was practically born to be homies with Chaos.

Scourge didn't inherit the camouflage ability like his brother Sapphire did, no he got the funky gender shenanigans instead and with no one to tell him stuff or compare himself to, he opted to tell everyone he's cis and run if they ask sussy questions. Shadow is the first person he told.

Fact #4

Shadow 'carried', as much as you can call it that side his alien species is of the egg laying variety. (No I will not go further into detail) He's part of a race (that's essentially Black Arms and The End from Forces combined and expanded upon) called 'Nova Luna' and his species generally has traits such as digitigrade legs and crystalline growths on their body of varying shapes, colors and sizes. (I have art of this coming very soon)

High ranking individuals pose as fake moons, hiding their colossal bodies to influence a planet from a distance. Shadow however has turned his back to them for good after having met Scourge. Toxin and Scourge are the best things that ever happened to him.

Fact #5

They had no idea this would be possible, but Shadow had no issues carrying and Toxin hatched about as normally as a little toxic green alien hybrid pup can. Needless to say they were relieved to see a hedgehog and not some horrible mismatch of their DNA with a ton of genetic issues. Toxin was a healthy pup, if anything he was causing his parents problems instead.

Fact #6

Toxin is in fact, venomous! He's not lethal but a decent bite from him as an adult can paralyze you for a couple hours and a small nip is enough to partially paralyze/sedate the area. Scourge found this out the hard way after Toxin hatched and got nipped in his hand. They had to teach him in his toddler years to not use his teeth to solve every minor inconvenience.

Fact #7

Toxin's abilities are mostly Chaos Energy related. While his parents are fire and water elemental's Toxin appears to have an in-born talent to control raw energy by itself, which is incredibly dangerous! :D

Shadow and Scourge are only two out of seven Guardians who each have an element they master and controlling an element is just handling electricity cables while controlling the raw energy form is the equivalent of grabbing an exposed wire and hoping for the best. There's no buffer in the form of an element to focus energy in, on or through. Why Toxin has this talent is unknown... to most.

Fact #8

His shoes were absolutely a gift from Shadow and an updated replica of his own. Toxin was gifted the shoes when he was 18 and does regular maintenance on them ever since. Its important to him emotionally but not just because it was a gift. It allows him to keep up with his parents in speed and he has many fond memories of learning how to use them with their help.

Fact #9

I know the shirt he's wearing mentions a vape, but he doesn't actually use them. Most he does is smoke the good old fashioned way and even that is sparingly. Because of his alien DNA he's ridiculously fast at healing any injuries or ailments and isn't very addiction sensitive. He'd be lying if he didn't do it to look cool though. He's an edgelord. (Toxin is a cartoon, it's not my aim to romanticize or endorse anything. He'll be fine but us humans wont be, so with that said, don't harass me over art okay? Cool)

Fact #10

Toxin's personality switches between calm, reserved, barely talking at all and absolutely unhinged. It depends on who he's with. Shadow definitely brings out a calmer side in him while Scourge is the type of chaotic dad who teaches his kid curse words and pranks. He's a good guy though and knows when to be serious.

Fact #11

He considers Sonic and Knuckles to be his uncles, even if they're not at all related. They were the first people to give Scourge a chance and support his growth into a better person after all. They would've done the same for Shadow and when Toxin came along they would do anything from babysit to teaching the young hedgehog how to use his abilities. Toxin gets along great with both of them but secretly prefers Sonic, he'll drop just about anything to grab food with his favorite uncle.

Fact #12

The Nova Luna have a hierarchy based on minerals and as they age or improve in skill there's a chance they can 'evolve' into a different rank. Toxin is an elusive Emerald to them because their whole deal is their obsession with the Ancient's Chaos Emeralds. Controlling all that power would make them all powerful and be capable of controlling the galaxy. The thing is, none of them have ever risen higher than the Ruby rank. Toxin however is related by DNA to someone of said Ruby rank, as well as someone directly responsible for guarding and controlling at least one of the Chaos Emeralds in the present day. That combination of the perfect circumstances caused Toxin to be born with the elusive Emerald rank.

Fact #13

Toxin being this rare of a creature makes him priority number 1 to the Nova Luna and since I have no intentions of writing his story just yet since it's pretty deep into the AU I just barely started writing, I can go ahead and say that he does get taken and spends at least a year in servitude/training to the Nova Luna.

Fact #14

Of course has trauma from his time there, but he did learn a lot about himself too and managed to cling to that knowledge for dear life. Any progress he made in skill level would come to bite the Nova Luna in the ass super hard in the end. Once reunited with his parents, Shadow and Scourge help him process everything he's experienced as they too have experience with trauma.

[alpaca-clouds]

Why I hate the concept of player-sexual characters

Okay, you know what? Let me talk about this. Because it really irks me. Like, it really irks me. I cannot express how much it irks me, to be honest.

I love BG3. And BG3 is doing a lot of stuff right when it comes to queer representation. Not so much in regards to any other form of representation (How is it that there is only one none-white character among your teammates? Why is there literally no body diversity at all? Why is there no fucking combat wheelchair?), but on terms of queer rep the game is doing very good. I mean, literally, most canonical relationships you interact with are queer. You meet a lot more happy queer couples than happy straight couples. Which is nice. And while I could've done with maybe one canonical trans character, you can at least play your player character as trans, which is fucking nice. So yeah, we are getting there.

But for heaven's sake, I will never, ever see player-sexual characters as bi/pan representation. Because they are not. Their universal sexual attraction serves not to define them as characters in their identity, but just for the player to fulfill their own power fantasy in whatever way the player desires. The fact that the characters do not care about what gender the player character has, is not really tied to the character or their story.

Which is why I like it so much more the way that Bioware did it with Dragon Age: Inquisition and some of the later Mass Effect games (is this true for Starfield as well? I have no idea). Where the characters do have a canon sexuality that influences who you can romance and who you cannot romance.

Like, I am in general not a big fan of the Dragon Age games, with the exception of Inquisition, because boy, I got invested into those characters and part of the reason is this. Like, holy hell, I cannot explain to you how invested I got into Dorian and his entire story. Like, back then I was still in egg-mode and I played the game with a female character - but I then did a second playthrough with a male PC just so I could romance Dorian.

Their sexuality is tied to who they are as people.

And sure, yeah, fine. Basically BG3 goes about sexuality in the way of: "The world does not care about it, so neither should you." Like, there is so many queer couples, some have kids that might be their biological kids, because magic, I guess, and nobody really bats an eye. So, I guess something like with Dorian, where part of his story was dealing with a homophobic dad would not happen here. Still, you know, with their supposed bisexuality not playing any role at all, it feels... hollow.

Because it does really feel like this part of them only exists for the player - not as part of their characterization. And I would feel a lot better about it, if it was.

I think it feels partly so offensive to me, because I am a bisexual trans dude and lived as a bi woman for so long. And as that my bisexuality has often been seen by men as something that they can consume in one way or another to act out their personal fantasies. So, player-sexuality/bisexuality in games being used for the player to act out that kinda fantasy feels... wrong.

How could Larian have done it or do it in future games? Well, pretty simple.

Bring in former relationships of different genders, let the characters comment on finding other characters (both in your party and out of it) attractive, allow the non-romanced characters to hook up together or hook up with other NPCs. Make their sexuality part of their story.

I totally would be fine with the characters all being bisexual. Sure, its a bit boring, but I also totally could buy into "in this world bisexuality/pansexuality is the norm" as part of the worldbuilding. But then show it through their interactions outside of being willing/able to hook up with the player character.

Though admittedly, this is in general one of my biggest issue with the writing on the game: Rather than having the characters talk with each other about stuff (outside of the idle banter in your party), they talk to the player character about how they feel about each other. You know, I have seen a lot of comments about how the ending feels unrewarding because apparently (I am closing in on the ending, but I am not quite there yet) after everything is said and done everybody just goes their own way, not acknowledging each other at all. But I think it is a problem in general.

Like, I get that each scene in which the characters interact more significantly than awkwardly standing in front of each other is a ton of work, because you gotta motion capture it - and also rendering it on the system make the workload on the hardware you are using a lot bigger... But it definitely would help the characterization.

To come back to Dragon Age: Inquisition (look, it is the one game I played that worked a lot with this), I had a general feeling for how the other characters related to each other, like, what their relationships were like. I knew how Cassandra felt about Solas and Varric. Or Sera about Cole. Sure, not all character relations were as well defined, but there was a lot happening there. Which here... I mean, I know how Shadowheart and Lae'zel see each other and how that evolves over time. I know how Karlach and Wyll feel about each other. But for example, there is never a scene where Karlach and Astarion argue with each other, even though they are moral-wise fundamentally opposed and probably would argue. Like, when you learn about the ritual and Astarion goes like "I totally should do it!", none of the other characters has an opinion on him planning that, let alone confronts him about it. Or where Gale gets annoyed with Karlach's approach to solving problems by just beating her axe at the problem. Or, like, Halsin and Janeira hanging out with each other, talking about druid stuff. Because outside of single cutscenes and the idle banter, the characters just do not interact a whole lot.

And I think that is a shame. Because they are already fun, engaging characters. But they totally would be more fun and engaging if they had a life outside of their backstory and their relationship to the player character. (And mind you, if you play an Origin playsthrough this does not change, because whatever character you play, still is the player character.)

Allow them friendships and romances outside of the player character. And be it just by having them awkwardly stand together and talk in front of the same tent at camp from time to time. lol

When you have that, their sexuality also would feel real - and not just like a device to propell the player's power fantasy.

Also, for fucks sake, just give us some aroace characters. Q-Q

[rederiswrites]

Hi, I've only recently started following you so apologies if you've talked about this before or I'm misinterpreting, but did you say in your recent health post that you have me/cfs and have actually improved past being bedbound? I ask because my partner has had me/cfs for over a decade and despite having very good doctor luck and trying out all sorts of community tips, the best we can seem to hope for is stabilization through extreme rest/inactivity; improvement sounds fairly extraordinary. If you have even a direction to point us to for options that'd be awesome, thank you!

Wow, okay. This feels like a big responsibility, in a way! But I really want to help any way I can.

First, my official diagnosis is fibromyalgia, but in a way, this is because that's the diagnosis I asked my doctor about, and nothing more scientific than that! I do also fit all the diagnostics for Chronic Fatigue, as do many with fibromyalgia. Increasingly, people are beginning to suspect that these and other syndromes are related, if not quite the same thing. In all cases, it's sort of a diagnosis of exclusion--that is, they can't find anything wrong with you mechanically. There's very little a doctor can "fix". My hip doesn't hurt right now because of injury. It's not injured.

Yes, I've had weeks and months when I could only be out of bed/recliner for a few minutes at a time, when standing up made me dizzy or created heart arrhythmias that were hugely uncomfortable and made me have coughing spells, tingling and numbness, etc. I had massive muscle weakness, crippling fatigue, constant headaches, constant pain that moved between "continuous physical and mental drain" and "totally debilitating; can't even think". This fluctuated for me, so for example my health is almost always terrible for some portion of the winter months of January, February, and March, and then eases up a bit for late spring.

Gonna create a break because there is no way to talk about this in quick soundbites without distorting things horribly.

I've done a lot of things over the years that would help a lot at first and then only a little over the longer span--removing gluten from my diet was the first big "breakthrough", and after my diagnosis I tried a couple of drugs. Duloxetene was miraculous in its effect, but I barely slept a couple of hours a night and finally had to give up when I started being just completely unhinged from fatigue. Gabapentin was great for the first few weeks, and now helps...some. It's hard to say exactly how much, because the only times I've gone off it have been because of gaps in medication coverage, which never lasted past the "wow going cold turkey is fucking terrible" period.

This past February, my best friend, who had been urging me to try the keto diet, bought me a (rather expensive!) bottle of BHB powder, which is a synthetic form of one of the ketone bodies your body produces for energy when you starve it of glucose (this is what ketosis is. You starve your body of glucose until it starts breaking down fat for energy creation). So I said, fine, I'll try keto for a month. I can do most anything for a month! I removed all carbs from my diet and started taking the BHB powder once or twice a day.

The results were huge and instant. Keto was a huge pain in the ass, because while there are still a lot of great things you can eat--nuts, eggs, meat, berries, pretty much any veggie that isn't a root crop--most of the things most of us eat daily rely partly or entirely on starch and grain. But I kept it up because I suddenly had far, far more energy and my pain and inflammation went way down.

I don't think keto is THE solution, though. I do think that trying it for a month is something a lot of people might benefit from, but I hate is as a lifelong diet. I am currently eating low carb, but considerably more fruit and root veggies than you can eat and still be in ketosis. But I was keto for eight months. What I think happened was that the keto diet lowered my inflammation levels a ton, which was why I tried it--the research that suggested it had this effect. Combine that with the BHB, which gave my body an energy source that bypassed whatever was wrong with my glucose metabolism processes, and I got a big leg up.

As with the other things I'd tried, the huge gains eventually leveled out. But they gave me two things--breathing room, and hope. You know, I think, how hard it is to have hope. You get so you're not sure you should even try! You think, maybe hope is causing me more pain. Maybe I should be focused on grieving and acceptance. But these moments in time, however brief, when my body functioned as it should and things were OK really drove home to me that somewhere in me, there was a body that was actually perfectly capable of normal function! If I can take a stupid little pill and suddenly be fine, even for a little bit, then there's a way!!

So I used that breathing room to dig deeper into the research. And eventually I encountered people who said that had recovered from these conditions. That they'd gotten better, and now functioned as normal, healthy people--even athletes. And of course I resisted that information, for reasons I probably don't have to explain to you. The doctors all say there's no cure. Hoping for a cure is exhausting. And if there's a cure--well, that comes loaded with a lot of anger! All this time wasted, all these doctors who couldn't do shit, all the suffering...what if it was avoidable?! It's a lot to work through.

But there were a lot of these stories, once I started finding them. Raelan Agle on Youtube is a pretty good place to start, and once you're there, you'll start seeing other people in the sidebar. And these people all used different paths to wellness, many of which sound absolutely ridiculous and woo woo at first! And yet here were a lot of people from all over, many of whom weren't selling anything, saying they got better.

But there were threads that were common to many of them. Diet was common, although which specific diet didn't seem to matter so much as cutting out junk and eating nutrient rich food. Exercise mattered but was rarely the first step. Medicines and supplements were almost never big players, even though everyone tries them. But mental changes were a huge thing for many if not most people. How they conceptualize and describe these changes varies a lot, but the themes of calming our sympathetic nervous system, addressing our fears, visualizing a life for ourselves where we're healthy, and most importantly believing that we can be that person, came up a lot.

I don't know what will work for other people. For me, diet was an early key, but I think learning to relax, convincing my nervous system that I'm really okay, and doing work on that has been the most lasting gain. And once I believed I could be better, it was easier to make a lot of the structural changes that we're already told will help--get a little movement in each day. Get some sunlight. Try to have a regular sleep schedule. Eat well. Stay hydrated. Once I knew that all these things might lead not just to "slightly less awful" but maybe something actually good, I was vastly more motivated to work on them.

I don't know if your partner can recover. But I know that people do. So as much as hope is painful, I suggest you keep looking, and I hope for the very best for you.