#also the file itself is like....

[sushivisa]

Eurovision 2023 songs personified

Personal notes and doodles below!!

I was gone for a while because over the course of 4 or so months (since eurovision songs had been being released) I was doing this! I tried to make all the designs last time in 2022 but uh. It was really disorganized and I didn’t get through them all XP. So i tried to streamline the process and it worked!!! It took a LOT of my time out of my usual day but it was fun!!! I love lil design challenges like this!!!!!!

Also here are a few doodles among the way! I also have a lot of trivia on these characters as actual characters and also headcanons on what would translate from the actual song contest to whatever this would be but that may be for another time lmao

[dkettchen]

I do enjoy dressing her entirely in canon outfits/cuts and the occasional top she's borrowed from nami and being like ye canon!sanji sure does own a pair of 3/4 pants with ballerina loafers he sure did wear that before with his whole cishet man ass and we didn't bat a single eye at it

[psychomusic]

oc time again! + her town & culture (heavily inspired by pre-roman italic populations)

she is suri sauthon (she/her). her story is linked to my swtor imperial agent, tar'x, but most of her life except for the one year away where she meets him, is spent in a town in the mountains of mirial.

despite mirial being cold and desert, and many cities developing underground, her town flourishes thanks to a force nexus, venerated in the form of an ancient, sacred, alive crystal. the ecosystem of that mountain depended on what "the horned crystal" was capable of giving them, but mirialans couldn't live off of that alone, so they developed trade and some rudimental technology, even if oftentimes it was bought thanks to the highly profitable trade of a plant used to make medicines that slowed down aging and had overall healing properties.

note: everything that's generated by this nexus has these healing properties BUT they have to be processed, except for those who bathed in the waters of the cavity under the crystal - the "real" nexus, but not the worshipped one. the waters were sacred but they were not thought to be miraculous, unlike the crystal, who instead was thought of as the keystone of the ecosystem: without it, everything would fall apart (and that is partially true: the cavity was the "real" nexus but thanks to the crystal, also strong in the force, the properties were spread all over the mountains). those who bathed in the cavity's waters - so, all of the town, who had a sort of baptism there - could eat the plant, make whatever food with it, and not only that plant, but everything generated by the nexus, that, again, had similar properties. this allowed people to live up to normal life-spans without advanced medicines or, much, really. to those who didn't live there, though, after the processing, had incredible effects, slowing down aging - for those who took it regularly - and making people able to live up to half a century more than the average]

originally, there were four tribes of nomads that lived thanks to horned farm animals that decided to settle down into one bigger town and other smaller settlements, to live off of transhumance. this division of the tribes stayed into the political and social organization: every person belonged to one tribe specifically, and had slightly different rituals and culture. for examples, each tribe had their own priests and healers, with different techniques and traditions. the town, tho, was guided by a group of people in the high priesthood, a position you could reach only by having earned the trust of all tribes. those high priests had many roles: they guided the people into sacred processions common to all the tribes, they managed the trading with outsiders, they did the maintenance of the temple of the summit (the one that functioned as casket to the crystal) and created a special liquid to offer the crystal that helps it grow.

this particular temple was important because 1. it was very visible, from every angle of the town, and it became an important identity symbol; 2. it stored the venerated horned crystal; 3. it had the altar where sacrifices were made for the crystals. that altar had a hole connected to the cavity, that allowed the liquids to reach the underground; 4. it had various symbols: statues representing each tribe + the high priesthood, and typical mirialan tattoos carved into the wood of the trees that served as columns for the temple, symbolizing 8 values that who dared to enter HAD to have; 5. it was on the way to an important lake (called "mother lake" because the lake the town was built around to depended on the waters of that other lake) where they traveled to in important processions; 6. it was said that a the wizard who unified the tribes made it with its magic, making the plant grow to hold the temple's roof. this wizard was, actually, a force user, obv.

BACK TO HER THOUGH: she's daughter of one of the high priests, who was in charge of managing the trades with outsiders, and lives in a house on the mountains with her mother and him. her parents are from different tribes (that's one of the things that earned him trust from the 4 tribes): when a child is born from two different tribes, they don't pick one to allign to, but they're usually linked automatically to the one with more relatives in it (in her case, the father's tribe: she had many uncles and aunts on his side while her mom only had one sister).

later, though, she got quite tied to her mother's tribe due to a mysterious illness that only her mother's tribe healer was able to cure. she spent 4 years (from 10 to 14 years old) living with the healer and learned her secrets. to better study, she wrote them down. when she returned home, she studied to become a priestess with her father. at 22 (the average age: you can't become priest before your 20s), she was supposed to take a test and become a priestess, but the healer of her mother's tribe died and the tribe asked her to take her place. she couldn't technically do that, but both tribes estimated both her and her parents and she was allowed to become both. she then decided to try to become a high priestess, and became one at 25 (a quite young age). being part of the council, she tried to convince the various tribe healers to unite their knowledges and write them down, and eventually made it. healers still remained tribe based but they now had an "upper, inter-tribe level" similar to high priesthood.

years later, the sacred horned crystal is stolen from the temple by some Hutt mercenaries looking for a profit. given the trust she has earned from all the tribes and the fact that her father is the high priest that deals with outsiders (and she's been hearing stories and advice about it since she was little), she is the one tasked with getting it back. without the growing crystal, the keystone to their ecosystem, the village would have lasted only a few years. in hrr quest, she meets imperial intelligence agent tar'x laran and, as they "solve the mystery" and fight to have it back, they get closer. they'll get married and have a daughter, Vegoia (who's the only one who actually will get to the plot of my story. this was all background)

[diskusaurus]

Someone uploaded the First Exclusive Video (TM) from the streamer on Reddit and man watching it feels painful in many ways. It's also the definition of extra content that you could've posted on Patreon, but who am I to judge this TV-level production? They do clack the slate in the beginning and tell what scene and take of Ryan sitting around they're filming! Also some six dollar Whataburger mouth noises! Woo!

(Here's a link to the reddit post for those interested)

[spearxwind]

chipping away at a big project that i started months ago and still havent finished... idk when i will finish it but hopefully itll be worth the wait and the effort augh

[zytes]

neucypher

[odysseys-blood]

take this thang anywhere you want (original)

[autumngracy]

Not me creeping up to the wordcount of the fourth longest book ever written

[tamamorikun]

I wanted to talk a bit more about the general banter and things that Moe points out in the DLC, especially in Mashita and Daimon's offices, so I took some screenshots of the background cgs ! My other writeup was long enough and I tried to focus on the plot itself so I'm doing these on a separate post. Also any other tidbits that Moe mentions I found were fun or interactions, since I love learning little things about the characters when they're not spirit hunting.

Spoilers under the cut, I suppose, not much about the actual plot of the DLC though!

At the Kujou Mansion:

She mentions that his bed is big enough to fit 3 of her. Also, when she comes in, she mentions the sheets are messy and still warm and she thinks he must have been sleeping there recently... but later you learn that he's been missing for about a week... and that Banshee was in the mansion and had gone to the bathroom when Moe came in so... uh, Banshee was sleeping in Yashiki's bed? yeah.

Not even that relevant but the lightbulb in Yashiki's room is dead and it has been for a while, Banshee says it's because all the furniture and such in the mansion is very old, so it's harder to find replacements. I wonder how long he's just been living in a dark room 😭

Yashiki also just leaves the door of the mansion unlocked all the damn time, apparently. Banshee says that he always forgets to lock it and that's how he comes and goes all the time.

At the park with Tsukasa:

Tsukasa mentions that he's never been to an amusement park in his life before or gone on any sort of rides. Poor kid... all he ever does is study.

Moe doesn't like mint!

No one questions or scolds Moe at home even though she comes back so late. She mentions that it may be because she has many siblings (doesn't specify how many, though) that her family isn't overprotective at all, and also that they probably don't expect much from her in the first place since she has bad grades. She prefers it this way though.

At Mashita's office:

It's in the basement of a building in front of the station.

When checking the rack, Moe does point out the red shirt is kind of flashy for what Mashita usually wears, so she's surprised to see he'd wear something like that too.

Moe is curious about the shelf full of alcohol. Shou tells her that Mashita seems to really enjoy drinking, and that at night he often drinks expensive looking brandy served neat. Moe is still surprised he'd keep alcohol out in the open in his workplace like that.

When checking the table, Shou mentions it's rarely used because customers don't usually come to the office. He explains that since most of his clients come from Yasuoka referring them, they often meet outside instead. Moe wonders if he really needs to have an office then.

Moe asks him what kind of shows Mashita watches when checking the TV, and she's disappointed to learn he only really uses it to check case related tapes. She was hoping he'd be really into something like reality tv or animal shows, something that wouldn't fit his image.

The kamidana on top of the shelf, a mini household shrine, was something Moe insisted he put in his office. Since he works with spirt cases and all, the shrine is meant to protect him and ward them off so they don't curse him. It's cute that Mashita listened to her and actually did...

There's a massive pile of cigarettes and cigarette boxes on his desk. We knew he smoked but it really seems like smokes A LOT.

I did mention the picture of him and his senpai he keeps in the drawer with the alarm, it was taken 5 years ago and he's smiling in it. Moe points out he's wearing a police uniform, the kind that police box officers in small neighborhoods do. So this was way before he became a police detective, he really was just a rookie then (He's 27 now, so he was only 22...)

Shou seems to still feel really guilty about what happened in the Red Riding Hood case, when he was possessed and attacked them, so he also sees this as a chance to help them and repay them for that. He also really wants for Mashita to acknowledge him and make him a proper assistant instead of just having him clean around.

At the park with Shou:

Shou mentions that he started to work part time at an Izakaya because he wants to get his dream motorcycle, a 750 cc one. (I looked that up but I don't know much about motorcycles in any language so I'm not sure what that means lol...). Moe asks him to give her a ride along the Shuto expressway one day since there's a rumor that a giant horse shows up, but he of course tells her no.

They find a rusted battery in the field and Shou mentions that the grass around it isn't growing due to soil contamination, and Moe immediately teases him about it since she didn't expect him to know about that. He explains that the type of battery they picked up is an old kind that would have mercury in it, and he tells her to not lick it. She gets mad but guesses it's payback for trying to tease him.

At Daimon's clinic:

We get a BG for this one too!

According to Moe, Daimon's specialization is surgery. So he's a surgeon! I don't remember if that had ever been mentioned before.

When checking the record player, Moe says that most of them have foreigners on the covers so it's most likely all old western music, though she doesn't know much about it.

When checking the guitar she says that Daimon has mentioned he was in a band before, and she wonders if he ever plays for his patients.

At the park with Daimon:

I did mention this in my summary, but Moe thinks about why Daimon dresses like that, with his shirt unbuttoned and part of his chest exposed, despite him having frail health. She wonders if that's the rockstar style.

Moe is not very good with snakes and freaks out when Daimon seems to pick one up, but it turns out to be just a snake shedding, and she remembers it's apparently good for luck with money and excitedly takes it when Daimon offers it to her.

Daimon is really smart and knows a lot about different subjects but he sure seems to go on tangents about it at the worst moments. He brings up the Monty Hall problem and the first time he just tells Moe to trust him, but later when Moe refers back to it and calls it Monkey Hall problem he proceeds to try to explain the whole thing... while they're still in a dire situation. At least Moe cuts him off before he can.

He also translated the archaic Japanese for Moe because she had no idea what most of it meant and just turned to him for help. Very cute. (And also helpful, because I wasn't familiar with most of it either lol...)

Moe and Daimon overall were such a fun combo! He takes her seriously enough that they openly discuss theories and he's willing to listen to her, but he's very gentle and knows she's a kid and scolds her sometimes. And even though Moe says she feels he's treating her like a child, he's really reasonable. It was great! I just love Daimon in general and I'd love to see him interacting more with the other mark bearers as well...

Also at the end, when she goes to visit the Kujou mansion to see Yashiki after he's recovered, Mashita is also there. Gee. How strange. I wonder why.

Moe getting nervous when Mashita clears his throat and stares directly at her, pausing for a bit... only for him to actually thank her. In a roundabout way. And still being condescending. But that's just how he is.

Also after Yashiki praises her, Mashita says something like 'Don't praise her too much, it'll get to her head and she'll get into something dangerous again." and one of the reply options is for Moe to be like "who was it that saved you again?" and he just clicks his tongue. Moe wins this round! That's about it! This ended up also being long as hell again but... if I had added it to my 'summary'... would've gotten even longer. I hope we get more DLC with little character tidbits like this!

[butchsophiewalten]

Man this is so random but this theory is stuck in my head and I wanna see how other people feel about it because I don't see people talk about it a lot (I have no clue if the link will go through properly since I've never put a link in a ask box)

https://www.tumblr.com/art-w0rm/667910993425350656/theory-time

Oh god not this theory again. I really truly try not to be mean to people for no good reason on this blog, but this theory is literally one of the stupidest fucking things I've ever seen in my entire life. I don't talk about this theory because to me it's like the walten files theory equivalent of that tubby custard mechanically separated chicken post.

Most of the time I genuinely don't even consider it worthy of my time, because it's nonsense, but this is a very nicely worded ask, and I really don't mean to dedicate any of the vitriol I hold towards this theory to You, poor anonymous person, so I will deconstruct it. I will go through the theory point-by-point and deconstruct why I disagree with it.

First up, this:

Showbear is not a character in The Walten Files anymore. Showbear was fully retconned and is never going to appear in the series again. He was effectively just a cameo of ThunderingStatic's (one of Martin's friends) OC, but when The Walten Files blew up and people started assuming Showbear was Martin's character, Static decided to withdraw his character from the series and focus putting him in other projects.

Martin talked about this on Twitter forever ago, but I wouldn't be able to find that tweet now. But here's a bit from the interview he did with KnowYourMeme back in 2021 where he talks about it:

Now this:

This is just stupid to me? Like a complete logical incongruity? I barely even know how describe what is dumb about this because I can't even fathom how anyone draws this conclusion from this information. How is it strange for a man to say 'if my wife isn't home by the time she said she was going to be, let me know, in case something happened.'????? Why would Rosemary be out cheating on her husband with her fucking daughter with her??? If Rosemary was cheating on her husband why would her whole life collapse when he went missing? If Rosemary was cheating on her husband why would she show up at the restaurant every day after he disappeared asking if anyone had seen him and hoping to find him alive??? Why would she make paintings of herself and him together after he disappeared????? What the fuck are you talking about?

Ok now this:

Whatever. This is maybe the most coherent part of the theory, to me. I definitely agree that Sha evokes a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' sort of aesthetic, but I do remember Martin saying something in a Twitter Q&A at one point about how that wasn't actually intentional, and that Bon was the character he actually meant to seem unusually predatory. I looked for a while and couldn't find a screenshot of that, but I did find this one where he says the thing about Bon:

So whatever. take that with a grain of salt.

I don't even know what to say. here. Whatever. sure she was rolling in the hay

yeah Rosemary is asking if she's still beautiful because she cheated on her husband and not because she was chopped up and stuffed inside a big animatronic sheep. I think this is correct and is the True Deep Lore.of the walten files. I'm sure this doesn't have anything to do with the recurring motif of the double-meaning behind the word Beautiful either.

I don't know why it's weird that the lost lingering spirit of a mother would be calling out to her only living child. I Don't know why that needs additional explanation involving this batshit infidelity conspiracy theory.

Sha's chest is also ripped out

So is Banny's, honestly? Just a little less?

ok now this:

I guess I can't disprove this except that I think this is dumb. I think this is a really incredibly stupid logical leap to make. Y'know I really meant to go into this levelheadedly and very calmly go through every point and talk about why I think it's Decisively Disagreeable or whatever but I can't. I really can't. I just cannot keep my patience with this sort of thing.

You'd think if there was an infidelity aspect here it would've been lampshaded in some respect, at all, in the old /sophiewalten findjackwalten page text. Where it's literally Sophie talking to Jenny about what she remembers about her family.

Especially if the idea is that Sophie is meant to have been there. You'd think something like that would have come up here. Not 'she was nice and a good mom until my dad disappeared and her mental health started getting worse'

[illdothehotvoice]

Learned Felix hates pizza today. I get it now.

[pagesofkenna]

A character who is thematically green coded, with tech and/or nature motifs as a character that I would say of course you would say that if you said you liked their archetype

what is it about slapping a green palette on literally anybody that makes me immediately love them

[flowering-darkness]

Oooh 🔒 — @edencantstopfallininlove

Hello Eden!! Thank you for sending this in! I hope you’re doing okay~

(source: this post by permafrown)

send me a 🔒 and I’ll tell you a character who I WOULD F/O if I locked the fuck in (to their source) and why! - For this lock, I will say Grusha from Pokémon. Now, this might spark an outcry of “Astral you’re already super into Pokémon!”. And you’d be right to cry out such! But, my interest is quite well-tied to specific games and regions - Kalos, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Reborn (despite that being from a fangame). Paldea and its characters (and Pokémon) are nice, but.. I just didn’t get the same attachment to Violet as a game than I did Y or Pearl or Ruby. My selfship with N is something I feel I can have exist and progress as it does because N shows up so many times in his games, as a rival to the player. The Gym Leaders and Elite Four, however, don’t hold that same prominence in the overall story, and so it feels like any “plot points” of a selfship with Grusha would have to be established or developed “off-screen”, so to speak, compared to how you progress the game when playing it. And I don’t really like doing that, unless I’m able to give my self-insert a lot of lore in her own right (for example Lorenza, though she does also now have several ships set more within the main story of FFXIV than my one with Zero). I may well be able to draw upon the plots of the anime and manga to add in more story, but.. that requires me to actually watch and read those, which I’m not sure I can be motivated to. So, all of this is why he (and also Rika, for the same reasons) will likely remain on the crush list forever.

He is cute, though.

I hope that this was alright as an explanation! Thank you once again for sending something in~

[dullahandyke]

also re looking at the laptops of ppl in front of you in lectures, its actually doing wonders for my perceptions of the average computer user's tech literacy. im so used to circles on here being like 'and of course we're all on firefox with these 6 extensions and digging the algorithms out of our operating systems' meanwhile today in a lecture i saw someone with a lenovo driver pinned to their taskbar. ???

[giftplane]

i had a FEELING that faces of grief was going to be about rosemary. i still think it will be.

[the-oracle-of-the-lost]

finished reading the Caretaker novelization! overall i think it was pretty good – particularly the bits from Janeway & Tuvok's perspective. (there was a bit i might go back to screenshot about how Janeway refused to sleep in her bed the first night in the Delta Quadrant because that was too close to giving up and yesssss. that's exactly the kind of Janeway scenes that i want.) i also surprisingly enjoyed Tom's bits despite not being that fond of early Tom but i think his self-hating nature in the early episodes comes across much better in prose than onscreen.

my only real problem with the book was that i swear once a chapter there was a weird comment about a character's race. nothing horrible but just things like using "the Indian man" as an epithet for Chakotay and describing Harry as having a "Buddha-like face". like i know this was written in the 90s but c'mon...