#also there is a link in this one too? weird. it goes to a lab talk!

[thanergetic-hyperlinks]

Tamsyn Muir's writing beyond The Locked Tomb

Y'all, turns out there's lots of imagery and themes in TLT that Muir was already playing with in her earlier fiction. A lot of it is easily available online, in which case I'll link to it. (The short stories that aren't can also be easily read if googled, to be quite honest—that's how I read The Deepwater Bride and Why the Mermaids Left Boralus). • The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time (2011)

5K. Short sort-of-cozy romance (?) with (you guessed it) a time travel loop. Explores a very queer potential relationship. CamPal enjoyers might find a similar sweetness.

• The Magician's Apprentice (2012, Lightspeed Magazine)

5K. This is the one that stopped me dead on my tracks. It features an older, male mentor figure called John (a “very ordinary man” with “dark eyes”) who introduces the young, female main character to magic that has a terrible cost—and to literature such as Lolita. This excellent post by @familyabolisher does an incredible job of analyzing the very deliberate intertextual links between TLT and Lolita.

• The Woman in the Hill (2015, Lightspeed Magazine, originally for Dreams From the Witch House anthology of Lovecraftian horror by women)

4K. Possibly my favorite! It's a straightforward Lovecraftian horror, centered on the image of the woman (is it human though?) trapped in an unnatural pool inside a cursed cave. Chain imagery too. It does something different from Alecto, mind, but you can see links, ways of playing with facets of a strong central image. It's fun to consider how reliable the two narrators are. Here's an analysis and afterthought from Reactor Mag.

• Chew (2013) 4K. Zombie abuse and cannibalistic revenge story ft. an uncanny woman revenant, told from the eyes of a traumatized German boy. I was strongly reminded of Harrow's conversations with the Body. Tamsyn gave an interview on the themes and her intentions. Interesting to read in light of Alecto, I think, although I don't think she's going the same route in TLT: “the idea of post-war rebuilding connecting to rebuilding the body of the zombie; a Frankenstein who once rebuilt doesn’t act as planned or desired. […] I love cannibalism […] it’s innately spiritual […] any afterlife she goes to, he’s going too.”

• Apothecia (2014, published on Tumblr and tapas.io)

Short webcomic where an alien monster tries to corrupt the ruthless human girl who holds it captive. Musings on responsibility and murder, mention of child abuse. The alien's speech patterns remind me of a Resurrection Beast. You get wonderful dialogue like “Murder is a profession. Job. Employment, you tiny leg dog. There you are, walking along. Walk walk walk. Now you are a walker. Good job. Special child. Murder is like this.” Art by Shelby Cragg.

• The Deepwater Bride (2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine)

The opening line is: “In the time of our crawling Night Lord's ascendancy, foretold by exodus of starlight into his sucking astral wounds, I turned sixteen and received Barbie's Dream Car.” Need I say more? Extremely fun. A novelette where a young queer girl from a clairvoyant family struggles with an apocalyptic event while being annoyed by another very plucky girl. Lots of descriptions with nerdy marine zoology terms. Close in tone to Gideon. In the background, someone dies EXACTLY like that one death at the end of Gideon, which makes me wonder what happened to make Tamsyn interested in this particular image. I also liked that Tamsyn is aware of Nightwish. No link, but you'll get a PDF immediately if you Google.

• Union (2015, Clarkesworld Magazine)

5.5K. Very weird, extremely Kiwi story about a town that gets sent lab-grown wives by the government, but they're not made the usual way so they're Weird and people have feelings about it. Fascinating and eerie description of non-human (in some people's eyes, sub-human) women (?) who cannot be observed to have recognizable feelings or thoughts, yet have some sort of inner life. Quite touching, very uncanny.

• Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower (2020)

Short novel (~200 pages). Very funny. I was reminded of Coronabeth because the whole plot is “princess finds herself branching out into decidedly non-princess-like activities”, but other than that—this is a fairytale for adults about people who make eachother worse. No particular links to TLT but a very fun read with some gut punches. Extremely Tamsyn through and through, what with the dubious morality and all.

• Why the Mermaids Left Boralus (2021, in Folk & Fairy Tales of Azeroth by Blizzard Entertainment)

Set in the World of Warcraft universe. Haven't read this one yet, will report back lmao. As with The Deepwater Bride, no link but I easily found a PDF of the entire compilation. It's illustrated!

• Undercover (2022, from Into Shadow, Amazon Original Collection)

Haven't read it either. Will edit once I do.

[pagannatural]

2.13 Houses of the Holy

- Religious plot begins in earnest. Sam is Able and Eve and original sin and also Christ dying for those sins. He is Dean’s disciple. Dean is Cain and Adam and the Holy Spirit and God. Their conflict is destiny/blood/family vs free will/choice/love, the pure vs the tainted vs the merely human. The muddy non-dichotomous nature of love and of good and evil.

So far the question of the brothers saving each other and the world has been self-contained: only Dean can save or kill Sam, and in doing so, himself. In other words only Sam can succumb to evil and damn his brother or retain his humanity and his brother. Their struggle is religious by definition. Religion in supernatural is characterized by the trinity of good, evil, and human, and the brothers are twin souls who need each other to stay human. Sam needs to overcome his shame and belief that he isn’t chosen, that he doesn’t belong; Dean needs to overcome his guilt and belief that he can never be enough. The threat of them losing their humanity and free will is literal as they will learn they’re destined to become vessels, but they don’t know that yet.

- Dean is lying on the motel bed listening to “Hair of the Dog”. Right when Sam walks in these lyrics are playing in his ears:

Heartbreaker, soul shaker/I've been told about you/Steamroller, midnight stroller/What they've been saying must be true

These lyrics pertain to Sam and his fate. This song was chosen very intentionally, it’s shown on Dean’s iPod screen. It’s foreshadowing. And Sam is Dean’s heartbreaker soul shaker.

Sam stands there next to a partition decorated with burlesque silhouettes of women, watching Dean’s body being shaken on the bed. It’s kind of a weird image. Dean looks like sleeping beauty the way the bed is lit. Or like a main course.

“You’re enjoying that way too much, it’s kind of making me uncomfortable” Sam says while looking up at the wall behind Dean exactly like he did when he was trying to avoid staring at Dean’s ass in an earlier episode. Very heaven-help-me.

His discomfort seems like attraction. I want to break down this scene because it’s played as a joke, like it’s funny that Dean is so hedonistic, but he’s essentially just using the massage function on the bed. He’s fully clothed and he’s listening to music, just chilling. He’s bored. So the joke is either that this isn’t really that intimate and yet Sam is so uncomfortable for Some Reason that he’s having a hard time looking straight at Dean, or that Sam really has walked in on an intimate moment and he responds by staring and going up to Dean all flustered and asking him to stop. Either way, Sam is watching Dean experience pleasure, and gulping because of it.

It highlights that Sam is uninterested in sex, and food, and pleasure in general, and it bothers him that Dean is. Sam later calls it Dean’s “sick habit” and tells him he’s like one of those lab rats that pushes the pleasure button instead of the food button until it dies.

I noticed recently that even in the pilot, Sam is shown kissing Jessica and acting loving with her, but the shot of them in bed has them apart and Sam facing away from her in his sleep. It’s Dean who ogles her in her underwear. Sam has been shown clinging to Dean, sleeping facing him, checking him out, and chastising him for his womanizing. The one woman he kissed was for Dean’s benefit. Sam’s relationship with his sexuality is consistently shown linked directly to Dean. Maybe exclusively to Dean at this point.

After this exchange, Sam goes into the bathroom and washes his hands for Some Reason. Because he’s feeling unclean?

-interesting how the killers’ houses shake like there’s an earthquake before what they think is an angel appears to them- the second guy is even lying on his bed when it starts shaking. Dean is on his shaking bed when Sam appears to him at the motel, like Sam is his angel.

-Dean says Sam has him on lockdown. So Sam insisted that Dean stay back for his safety. He’s looking out for him, always asking Dean to stay safe.

-Sam believes in angels and god because of the monsters they hunt, Dean doesn’t believe in angels or god because of the monsters they hunt. The difference in the way their beliefs developed is that Dean believed in angels as a small child until his mom burned to death and he learned monsters are real, whereas Sam was certainly never encouraged to believe in religion and had to find something to cling to in the chaos and uncertainty of how he was raised. Sam felt unclean or like something was wrong with him so he tried to separate himself from the monsters. Dean believed he wasn’t good enough so he chose not to believe in a god that was a disappointment and that he believed he would surely disappoint.

- Sam tells Dean he prays every day, which Dean didn’t know. He acts like this is some kind of betrayal. I think the betrayal is literally just that he didn’t know and he wants to know every single thing about Sam.

-Sam collapses after seeing what he thinks is an angel, and Dean gets on his knees to put both hands on him. He keeps touching him when they’re walking out. He hauls Sam to his feet bodily.

This frame is so good because Dean is glaring at the angel statue and Sam is looking up at Dean.

Sam wants to be chosen by an angel. He thinks that would mean he’s good. He felt left behind and second-best by his dad, and felt that Dean would choose hunting and John over him for much of his life. He realizes now that Dean chooses him.

-Dean makes sure the woman he saves is okay and has a cell phone and tells her to call 911 before he runs after her assailant. He cares more about the wellbeing of the victim than he does about catching the bad guy.

-when Sam says “you were right” Dean gives him this look that’s so full of love, it’s plain that Dean doesn’t care about being right. He just sees his little brother in pain and wants to make it better.

-Sam sits down so that he’s looking up at Dean during their conversation. He has tears in his eyes talking about wanting to be saved. Dean tells Sam “I’m watching out for you”

Sam doesn’t doubt Dean’s dedication to him and desire to protect him. But doesn’t think Dean can save him, and more importantly he’s afraid he can’t save himself. He sees Dean as fundamentally good and strong but he also harbors judgment toward Dean for needing him. It’s protective for Sam to not need anyone, which is why his arc deals with the isolation of shame. Religion can’t save him because it doesn’t make him believe he is good, and because ultimately it leaves him alone.

-Dean tells him that he witnessed “God’s will” the way that the perp was just killed in front of him. He’s letting himself hope and giving Sam hope. They’ve both seen so much chaos and evil, they need to believe there’s good and meaning in the world. Dean’s doubt challenges his beliefs about the world and himself, and it’s his words that give Sam the hope he needs.

-episode is about lost souls and purpose. A series of people who the show depicts as lost are given a sense of meaning and belonging to something bigger than themselves, but the problem is that they don’t question it—they simply obey, acting as if without free will. They’re wrong, but they’re happy and full of certainty. Sam and Dean are lost too, but they’re unable to have blind unquestioning faith. The result is that they do good: Dean protects and shows kindness to a woman who was attacked, Sam facilitates a way for a spirit to be put to rest. But they have doubt, which means they also have fear. And they’re left knowing that they have themselves and each other. It’s meant to be complicated and frightening and painful because that’s what it means to be human, and that’s where love and compassion live.

[mrcrowblargs]

Death Stranding 2: Episode 7 part peko

Lots of crazy things happened last session and I'm still not sure what the craziest was.

I got the bunny hat from data scientist and it is SO funny it changes Sam's idle, shout, and action lines to Pekora's tics. Just walk around and he goes peko peko peko

I knew wearing through at least one cutscene would be worth it. I think I chose the best option. Could a depressed, grieving man be this cute?????

I liked the motherhood. Despite the guns, the Doctor was fully like, Sam you're a mom you're welcome here. Very compassionate.

But also, red weapons are a red flag! That's Higgs' guys' colour! Turns out there's a weapon factory churning them out for all to use and they want me to smash it up.

The Magellan got a bit of a flooding problem. Getting the repair materials was uneventful if a long order, I guess they want to encourage the player to use the transponder to hop to the distro and take the long way but I was like nah, I'm gonna take the long way and make deliveries.

But first, a relaxing dip in the hot springs! Dollman floats and swims too. And there's an option for Sam to put a bucket on his head. Sure, why not!

And then I got promptly Thermae Romae'd over to Heartman's Lab, where the Hydrologist tells me that I just proved her theory about hot springs being linked through the tar currents and I have to use a PCC if I want to find and then dig more springs.

It seems weird to me given that it functions like the transponder jump system but I'm guessing it might come in handy later if the chiral network goes whacky and other fast travel methods become unusable.

Got the Magellan cleaned out!

More roads and rails

NEBULA I WILL FIGURE OUT YOUR SECRETS!!! I thought there were just the two until comparing screencaps but there's THREE. It's eerie how much the last looks like an eye.

oh yeah there was that whole weapons factory thing. Guess I should take care of it. The truck doesn't seem fond of the sand but the trike handles it fine and it's pretty chill riding along the dunes while Sam cooks in that porter suit.

OF COURSE HIGGS SHOWS. I should have fucking known it would be a mechanized threat at the factory but I prepped everything for humanoid and ended up having to stealth around a bunch of the creepy floating bots. They hang from BT-like strings that make them look like marionettes.

Going crazy over Higgs remarks on Sam switching his rope for a stick and then Higgs says he's gonna use a rope to strangle Sam endlessly just asphyxiate die revive repeat augh! As if Sam wasn't already in a deathless hell. but YEAH like, they've switched stick and rope, but have the roles switched to? "to connect and and protect." I mentioned in another post how sticks can be aid tools to regain independence/mobility, and I've said many times how too much rope and be strangling which Higgs proved LITERALLY

Hello baby samurai????? It sliced up Higgs a bunch and then disappeared leaving me and Sam like whAT.

Anyway that was heavy stuff. Let's do roads again to decompress. I was a few hundred shy of completing a paver and there was a terrorist camp nearby so I figure why not see if they got what I need. Do a little shopping. and I found a cargo called The Pizza Chef's Misanga. and im like HMMMMM that pizza we delivered to the Data Scientist had guns as a "side dish." What's going on.

"I don't like this" is basically my mantra for this game. The misanga opened the bunker. No answers to calls.

EXCEPT TWO OF THESE FUCKERS!!!! Oh I was SO glad I picked up a stick while shopping at the terrorist camp because I had otherwise left all my weapons behind. Oh, and Pizza Chef has two of Higgs' weapons fabricators here.

hey dude... you okay man....

PIZZA ATTACK

WHAT IS WITH THIS GAME AND PIZZA

Sam nearly got his ass beat but they madea great pizza together? Sam inhaled the whole thing (and I think a second) which tbh doesnt surprise me. Turns out Pizza Chef was being held captive and wants to restore honour to his pizza biz, and he needs the man who delivers to do it. In return, he's teaching Sam pizza-do fu and giving him pizza based weaponry. yes it's ridiculous.

but hey, everyone likes pizza.

One thing getting to me is we've had a bunch of cool cutscenes of characters having epic fights but, not much to do as a player? I dunno they're fun to watch but like, the weapons factory would have felt more impactful if Higgs had left his mech goons behind to fuck with Sam. or let us fight alongside these characters in gameplay. Like it would be super cool to have Tomorrow make ageing strikes on enemies and then finish them off. Fight side by side with the samurai. I guess I'm eager for another big catcher or Neil battle since those are the sam-centric ones so far.

[guilty-gear-hot-take-hellhole]

tw: extension of the zato hateability discussion, using too many words to say something that could have been summarized in a single paragraph probably, extremely worrying implications that i've purposely left unsaid

invite to discussion. sort of

alright i'm still stumped on sources atm so I'm gonna real quick take the premise of 'millia was literally a baby when she joined' and run with it. i don't know much about babies aside from the fact that i have seen babies before so i know they're real

starting off point, two conflicting google sources claim that 1) an infant is at most 1 year old, or 2) and infant is at most 3 years old so i'm going with that second one

2173 is the year Venom and Millia are taken in by the guild to be assassins. kids health dot org says "By age 3, a toddler's vocabulary usually is more than 200 words. Kids can string together 2- or 3-word sentences. They can talk with you in a conversation that has at least 2 back-and-forth exchanges." so I'm going to assume that Venom is older than Millia in this because his whole thing is about holding a moral stance on death and murder and idk how to google the age range for that,,

(unrelated, but I'm left with the distinct mental image of Zato handing a baby a knife. so there's that)

2175 is the year Millia activates Angra. She would be 5 years old. according to cdc dot gov, cognitive milestones include: 'should be able to count to ten', 'write some letters in [her] name', and 'pay attention for 5 to 10 minutes'.

2177 Dizzy is born. Doesn't matter to Millia, but it gives me a weird idea for a theory

2178 "A high-risk mission goes bad after Millia Rage's defection, and Zato is captured by the authorities." (wiki timeline direct quote) This mission takes place after the events of the Night of Knives drama CD. Millia would be 8 years old. (cdc milestone is unfortunately listed as 'having independance from family'. she was a little early on that one)

2180 Missing Link tournament. 10 years old. Millia, not May. Maybe May. Also, if May is 22 in xrd like the english voiceline suggests, then she'd be 15 here.

2187 is the 'present day' of guilty gear, containing the events of Xrd to Strive. Millia would be 17 years old. Maybe 18 depending on her hypothetical birthday but we're really cutting it close. At least we can confirm she is old enough to hold a government job(?)

In conclusion: I don't know if i buy it, personally. Also I wanna keep imagining Millia as a 30-something for the sake of my sanity. But! I do have this cool new theory about Millia secretly being a lab-made gear like Testament, if we ignore the part of her story where she allows a gear-hating parasite to attach itself to her head

What…

[deliciouskeys]

6 and 7 for Homewell

25 for Butchlander

26 for Maevlander

:)

Meme Link. These were challenging lol! “You really had me going there” - HL to SB

6 homewell, undercover in a bar

As part of media/social training for a NYC based celebrity, Vought wants to make sure HL knows how to politely demur when men come on to him. He goes to a gay bar in plainclothes (plainclothes being a crop top and itty bitty shorts). Madelyn comes along to observe. 18 year old HL gets an overwhelming number of solicitations, eventually ending up dragged to the dance floor unwillingly and has to escape and cling to his “best friend” Madelyn to get out of there.

7 homewell, pretending to be married

This one is also training but done in private as they assess whether HL is better off being married to Maeve (PR would prefer he stay vaguely single but the psychology department thinks some stability would do him good). Madelyn tells him to just roleplay it, but HL starts assuming this is a trial run for the real thing, that she’s just been too shy to tell him she wants him to propose. Culminates in him getting down on one knee and saying something like “Madelyn, you should have said something, I thought it was off the table, I had no idea you actually wanted me!” and she has to work really hard to maneuver out of that nightmare interpersonal tangle and keep his ego intact.

25 butchlander, circus au

I have no idea what this trope even is haha, but!

Billy gets dragged to attend a traveling circus show by a friend who’s really into this Vought Circus. It rarely visits the UK (based in the US and features these weird supe freaks that only ever get born in the US for some reason). But Billy is kind of taken with one of the performers, although he won’t own up to it and when his friend gushes about the show, Billy is dismissive that it’s grotesque to watch these people with congenital malfunctions prance around in skintight glittery leotards. Billy’s friend has a backstage pass, so they get to see the performers after the show and Billy’s kind of shocked that they’re confined in cages for people to gawk and stare at. He talks to the supe that caught his attention and finds HL is not the shiny smiley fake looking ken doll he is on stage. He’s brusque and rude and clearly a diva but is also clearly living a life of a show horse, and… feelings are caught, slowburn yada yada, Billy tries to get him out of that life.

26 maevlander, language barrier

When they just start dating, Maeve gets the fun task of teaching HL all the millennial slang that Vought never bothered to (he still doesn’t really go online on his own, even after being let out of lab, and certainly hasn’t hung out on urbandictionary). So when she says “I’m shook” he just stares at her blankly. And his sexual vocabulary is a complete black hole, so “eat me out” also garners a wide eyed scared expression from him before she realizes he might try to guess what it means and quickly specifies what it means before something horrific takes place.

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1125 review

One Piece arcs have slow and bloated midsections that can be difficult to sit through week to week. This is nothing new; we've been doing this dance since Skypiea. But it's the endings, the post-arc lore bombs like this, that make it all worthwhile.

Now, I don't want to toot my own horn too much, but I feel pretty validated by Garling being promoted to Elder status following Saturn's fall, which I spitballed in a chapter discussion thread in February, and Punk Records taking off to fill the role of satellite internet, which I was pitching as a way to escape the siege since at least August last year (though admittedly, I thought it could be launched all the way into space). I believe I also said in one of my reviews, when the escape plan was being made and Shaka said the Vegaclones were expendable that Oda seemed to be setting them up for self-sacrifice, but that it didn't feel like his style to kill them all, but also that he probably also wouldn't bring the full set of them on the Sunny, so there had to be a third option. And would you look at that, this week we get the third option.

Cover story first. Minatomo's disappearance has to be linked to the kidnapping foiled in the last installment. There were theories last from the last one that Raizo could be back to his old ways, but he wouldn't be interested in Minatomo, so the lead theory that it's a former Beasts Pirate gains ground.

Right away we get a very interesting inferred character interaction for Lucci and Kaku. Is Lucci lying for Kaku? You can tell from Kaku's face that something difficult for him has gone down. I'd love to someday see the conversation that preceded this scene, but that wouldn't have the engagement factor of trying to fill in the gaps short term. And then, where is Stussy? I don't believe for a second that she's dead, but would she have made it to Punk Records before its takeoff?

Next, we learn some big things about the Five Elders. We know from the Gum Gum Fruit being a myth even to them that the Elders of today do not date back to the Void Century, but Saturn at least goes back 200 years. So the demonic forms come with a kind of agelessness. And shortly after, that the forms come with the position, seemingly bestowed by Imu and taken away just as easily. The first big clue about how to beat these guys, and a deepening of the mystery of who and what Imu is. And what an unexpectedly brutal and satisfying way for Saturn to go. A fantastic escalation for the series' endgame.

Earlier than expected, the setup of the cloud machine's importance pays off. But I'll be honest, the mechanics of how the clouds are moving to pick up only Punk Records and not the rest of the lab aren't really clear. And what the heck was York shooting at? Seems like she breaks the connection between the two halves of the eggshell, but that only makes it easier to steal Punk Records. Bit of a weird one.

You can't help marveling at the sheer entitlement of the Celestial Dragons in their little sequence. How about that guy saying the sinking of the world wouldn't impact him. Dude, you're starving to death because you don't have a way to grow your own food on top of your rock. You're getting a taste of what it's going to be like when the lower world goes away right now. And the obvious implication that while they have fewer choices and extras, the Celestial Dragons themselves are still eating well. The guy complaining about fish has a full plate, and another is still fed decently enough that snacks are an expectation. All while the chef serves on a growling stomach. You can see how far things are being stretched to make sure the haves keep having while the have-nots feel the impact first. There's no saving these guys.

Garling joining the Elders is an awesome development. Can't wait to learn more about this guy. And will he adopt Saturn's demon form, or while he get ihs own monster to play. For how relatively late he's come in this story, this guy's already been fantastically set up as a villain.

I also think it's worth noting how the Elders treat Garling when he walks in, before they know he's joined their ranks. Garling seems to have been about as highly ranked as a non-Elder Celestial Dragon could be, a Holy Knight with the authority to execute an otherwise untouchable nobleman. But the Elders confront him about coming into their space without stated business. They demand deference. He's told to know his place. There's clearly a towering difference in rank that they expect to see respected, even though all present are Celestial Dragons.

The new Vegapunk Frankenclone is certainly something. I do enjoy the asymmetry of the giant Atlas arm though. I wonder if this entity will get a new name. I wonder if these guys would consider manipulating the information in Punk Records to mislead or mess with York should she try to reconnect. Hopefully they've learned enough to do the things York and the Stella did to prevent info they don't want seen from syncing.

When I spoke about the last spread of chapter 1121, with the key players of the final saga, I raised the possibility of unexpected rivalries, but I'm still surprised to see Revolutionaries considering the implications of a run at the One Piece. Sabo and Luffy becoming rivals, even if they're friendly about it, would be a crazy place to escalate things to.

Ivan realises something about the bridge projects, but I'm not sure I see it the same way. They don't seem tall enough to escape the flood, but maybe they're not just to live on. They could be ways for the people of the lower world to make pilgrimage to the Redline. Or they could have been intended to slant gradually upward as they extend out. There's a few ways it could work, but no single one sticks out as the answer.

Meanwhile Dragon leaves us with some relevant social commentary. As much as we've all been thinking about Vegapunk's words sparking rebellions and anger against the World Government, there would definitely also be panic and war. If the WG is smart, it can stoke the battles for dwindling space and keep the peasants below distracted fighting each other for as long as possible so no one has time to think long enough or get a big enough force together to challenge it directly. Will the Revolutionaries have a way to capture the hearts and minds of the whole world and unite them to collective safety instead of personal survival?

This has been the kind of One Piece chapter I'm here for. The sheer amount of work my rewrite project was taking had me a little burned out on the series last week, but all these big developments and hints to future lore and events are a shot in the arm. Can't wait to see what Oda has in store next.

[plum-pitt]

More rottmnt headcanons!!!!

This time for my silly billies, or more accurately, the main cast outside of the teetlz. I’ll probably have less to say on them than the core four, but there’s a few things about these goobers i’ve just GOT to throw out there. Oh also go look at my previous post in this series (this is where i talk about the turtles!) if you haven’t it’s pretty neat. psst! i’ve got another in the works going over character dynamics so keep an eye out for that

Casey Junior: Typically goes by CJ to avoid confusion, whether the J stands for Jones or Junior is up for debate. Trans fella, He/Him. I think about elderqueer!Future Leo helping him figure his egg shit out in the middle of the apocalypse all the time and it brings me great joy, (Watch Future!Donnie whip out old recordings of leo’s crackly ass second puberty voice whenever CJ gets insecure about his💀). Spends half his time in present day NYC seeing people’s faces and going “Damn, did i watch that person die as a kid or am i trippin?”. Since his name got shortened to CJ, a lot of people have taken to shortening it further to “Cee-j” which ended up inspiring his vigilante name; Siege. (I’ve literally never seen anyone try to give any Casey’s vigilante persona an actual name before so there ya go, no further reasoning beyond ‘it sounds cool’). Got adopted by Future!Casey, after being taken to a resistance base camp by his mortally wounded Bio!dad who basically dropped dead on arrival. (Hey it’s like Links backstory in ocarina of time but like- he gets a mom and 4 turtle dads instead of a tree)

April O’Neil: bisexual but with a strong fem preference, and She/Her! Naturally gravitated towards the field of journalism because unlike her previous jobs, being surrounded by weird shit is actually pretty beneficial when you’re trynna report on interesting stuff! It’s actually this shift in career focus that helps her feel less insecure about how weird her life, and by extension, she, is. I mean hey it’s payin the bills, hard to resent that. The first turtle she met was Donnie, the guys were playing basketball when Don missed a pass and the ball bounced away so he had to go get it, only to run into April for the first time. Ofc the first thing she pointed out wasn’t his emerald complexion or stinky sewer smell, but that he was wearing jupiter jim merch, and the rest was history. The turtles all feel bummed about how busy she is since going to college, but want also support their big sis too much to make a stink about it, they know she misses them too. I like to think Leo just portals into her dorm sometimes and her completely normal ass roommate who came from out of town just had to deal with that with 0 explanation given.

Splinter: This right here is a textbook example of an eternal disaster bisexual in action. Jesus fuck this rat can fit so many mental disorders in him. His combined mommy and daddy issues ensured he’d only romantically pursue the most red flag ridden mfs on earth for all time *cough cough* BIG MAMA *cough cough* Because he had bad vision problems post mutation (Rats actually have really bad eyesight irl so i feel like that could be a side affect of being mutated into one) he went out of his way to properly color code the turtles early on so he wouldn’t mix them up. When he first took in the turtles his ass did not know they were sentient (his only points of comparison for them were Draxum’s feral lab experiments) and basically treated them like more like pets up until Raph started talking and he realized “oh shit i’m a father of four now fuck” (this is also why he called them colors to begin with, their names didn’t matter too much if they couldn’t understand them) Once he figured out they were actually kids he finally gave them real names, but he still calls them by color out of habit and now they’re more like silly nicknames. Everything his kids think they get away with without him knowing he 100% knows about. He may be past his prime but his ninja instincts and dad bullshit detector are sharp as ever.

Cassandra Jones: Raging, feral, She/Her, lesbian. Adhd, emphasis on the H. Has at least 1 parent but they are not very active in her life, i mean at least i hope not bc goddam if they’re knowingly letting their kid lead a gang of girlsscouts and get wrapped up in a murder cult then i’ve got some serious questions. Look to Lieutenant and Brute as pseudo parental figures, though it’s largely unreciprocated even if they do somewhat care for her safety at the very least. One of the very few people (outwardly at least) to not at all be changed by the apocalypse. She’s still just as if not more trigger happy and crackheaded during the end of the world than she was before, she is nothing if not consistent. Willingly signs off on Future!Donnie giving CJ the chainsaw hockey stick at like 5 years old, it’s only Leo stepping in to nip that at the bud that prevented that disaster waiting to happen. Adopted CJ basically onsight. She was the one there when his bio-dad showed up and died right in front of the base, saw the baby, scooped him up, and that was that.

Draxum: This man a walking queer coded disney renaissance villain and u think i’m NOT gonna hit him with the gay stick? blasphemy. He/Him, also i read this fic that made him Tamil and i fucked with it heavy so now it lives in my brain rent free. (Go read the But First They Must Catch You series by mudlarkspur on ao3 it’s like my favorite separated au of all the ones i’ve read and i’ve read A LOT of those mfs). Definitely was a lil bit smitten w Lou Jitsu, at least before he rocked his shit and destroyed his life’s work weather or not this starts rearing its head again following his reconciliation with a certain rat man remains to be seen. Began training Mikey in the mystic arts post movie to help him control his powers but eventually somehow also acquired Donnie as a protege (They bond over their shared love of terrorism). Hes not very good at dad stuff like showing affection, but his way of showing it definitely entails giving them the knowledge and skills to take care of themselves should the need arise. Made peace-ish with Leo post movie, after a lengthy dr feelings sesh, Leo still brings up the roof incident all the time though just to fuck with him bc he’s a petty cunt whom i adore.

Aight that’s all i got for now, lmk if you wanna hear about any other characters or just share your own headcanons!! It brings me joy

Have a good day :3

[the-artist-of-chaos]

OH GOD.

Day 10, BACKSTORY.

Shits about to get fucked, but not too fucked. But just incase, prepare yourself

•When Gollie was barely 1 year old, her house ended up burning down. With her family inside. And uh- she became an orphan :(

•The orphanage she went to SUCKED. Mostly everyone was mean, nobody wanted to adopt him, and he also got humiliated on live television in an ad for adoption (they were giving reasons on why not to adopt the poor fella)

•His uncle saw this, went “FUCK YOU”, and practically stole the little bugger! And they went to her uncle’s work, which was a big lab!

•Between ages 6-13, his life was PERFECT. She got to hang out with other experiments (his uncle took perfect care of them, didn’t harm them, made sure to be careful, etc etc), helped her uncle around, and basically had a pretty decent child hood! Until…

•SOME FUCK FACE SHOWS UP. Dr Fritzifer FIZZLEBEAN. (THATS RIGHT, GOLLIE GOT BEEF WITH FLOOFTY’S DAD). He ruined EVERYTHING. And soon enough, replaced gollie’s uncle! (Didn’t fire him, but demoted him).

•within a range of 6-7 years, Gollie went through 4 experiments. The first one (most painful) gave him an extra set of arms. The second one changed the color of his blood, AND his nose! The third one (least painful) melted AND reformed her eye with some weird ass pattern + color, and the 4th one… he’s actually not sure what happened. But it still sucked.

•after years of dr fizzlebean’s shit, way too many risks, and having his foot torn off by a CHEDDABOARDLE REX, he had ENOUGH. At age 20, She organized a break out with all the experiments + their uncle, and striked!

•The breakout went… horrible. The building burnt down/collapsed, and out of 4000 people total? Only 5 survived, including him, 3 experiments, and Fritzifer. (YEA HER UNCLE DIES)

•In order to avoid being found out by citizens, Gollie and the 3 experiments get some disguises, and form a band/performing squad! It works! They get famous, people LOVE them, and all is well! .. until-

•Gollie gets targeted by a creep, who at first, isn’t too bad, but the situation worsens when he insults her in front of everyone, takes pictures of them without consent, and even goes as far as attempting to kill her! He gets arrested tho, so yippie!

•After the close experience with the creep, Gollie makes a heartbreaking but necessary choice. She leaves the band, causing the remaining members to break away, and the band gets forgotten in history..

•now in her mid/late 40s, Gollie is now looking for inspiration to write a uniting song, that will show people that being harmlessly different is okay! They’re having trouble tho, so I wonder what they’ll do! Who knows…

Link to the prompts is here!

[wolpatinga]

Question of The Week #2: You have been transported into your favorite horror movie, series, or other horror media. You are allowed to bring one item from home.

What is the media, the item of your choice, and how are you going to survive?

oh boy. my favorite horror media.

now my gut reaction is to say jekyll and hyde because the genre for that is "gothic horror" but like. its so familiar to me i can't even call it horror anymore. its just a sci-fi tragedy

so i'm gonna say 999/zero escape. just so we're on the same page, zero escape is a visual novel inspired by the saw movies. a group of nine people are all kidnapped and put (on the titanic/in a weird lab, depending on which game in the series). they all have bombs on them that they can't remove, and have to solve a series of puzzles to escape the facility

also there's this overarching plot about time travel and telepathy but odds are if i'm put in this situation its as someone like lotus, seven, or eric, a side character who is brought in to make the cast have nine and maybe tangentially is part of the plot but isn't part of the secondary "i was part of the original twin psychic link experiment or part of a doomsday cult or im part of the sigma/diana lineage and i actually know who all of you are and i'm gonna fuck off and try to murder people in the background and make this whole thing so much harder" thing that's in every game.

i would not be that. actually, most likely i'm gonna be a lotus type character. she's a middle-aged computer scientist who's brought into the 999 game because her kids were part of the overarching plot, but she didn't know anyone else there and was legit just trying to gtfo. quote from lotus -

"WHAT THE HELL?! What! The! Hell?! What are you talking about?! It's "9 years" THIS, and "9 years" THAT, and when it's not 9 years SOMETHING, then you're talking about some sort of fucking "experiments"! What in God's name are you talking about?! You aren't making any sense!"

so anyways. lets say i'm brought into the fourth nonary games as a lotus callback. (also while we're here can i say that lotus *is* an icon because yea her outfit is ridiculous but i as a work from home software engineer absolutely do my job in just as ridiculous costumes so she's actually based af and such good representation. im losing the plot)

okay. so. me. nonary games. i wake up in some strange place with. idk. a bombcollar on and little to no memory of the night previous (average wednesday morning). how am i gonna survive?

by being good at escape rooms. i love escape rooms so so so so so so so so much. zero's doing their whole scary monologue about how we're all trapped and only have nine hours to escape or whatever and we need to find the door with a "ዖ" on it. im immediately befriending Weird Little Kid #52391 and making myself invaluable as a hint giver to the protagonist but also not being too nice cause what if its like the nonary games 2 where you have to prisoner's dilemma every round and if i seem too nice then i'm gonna get got

freaking out and disobeying the rules? you get blowed up like mr 9. acting too nice? get backstabbed. don't befriend the weird kid? when the weird kid goes on a killing spree, you get got. be involved in the plot? someone's gonna sneak off and try to find an axe or gun or something to kill you

anyways i think the nonary games could use a system character as a gimmick. mr uchikoshi make another and put me in i could be so good. actually wait i want there to be at least one "bad ending" that you have to find to get the good ending where hyde gets to be a murder alter because something happens to weird kid. it would be so good (bad rep but cathartic. give me one ending where i get to beat the shit out of the secret bad guy which dooms us all but its ok because time travel shenanigans and also you get some secret that lets you find the real ending where we all escape)

oh you also asked what item i bring with me from home. so one thing about these games is that you as the protagonist have to fail at some point and find a series of bad endings to get the good ending. in each of the bad endings, you get some secret code or trinket or tidbit that helps you overcome whatever causes the bad ending in a different timeline. so like. maybe one ending, weird kid has a panic attack because her brother is missing, and takes an axe and kills the guy who probably did it because she recognizes one of the other guys from outside the nonary games as a scumbag. and she just keeps going and kills everyone who won't help her find her brother, including the protagonist. but if you go in a different bad ending, you get a lucky charm thing that you can give her to help her keep it together just a little bit longer until you can find her brother

so. i'm bringing my knife bracelet (looks like a normal bracelet but the clasp hides a blade) to stab a bitch if shit gets rough. or to tamper with the puzzles. fuck meaningful trinkets and sob stories, i'm gonna win 👍

[amber-dragonfly]

Which makes me curious if they can find a way to protect the Gibdo hive unhatched eggs from the yiga when that attack happens as I feel like real ants: if you dig up their nests or move a rock where their nest was you see them running around their eggs, larva and pupa (when all referred to at once by is brood) to get them away from the danger.

I can imagine same applies to freed Gibdo and their subspecies redeads: they don’t get brought back via blood moon before being freed or under the malice they get one life meaning to them the next gen is important for them and their hives survival ESPECIALLY the new royal larva and pupa which become new queens for the hive

I can imagine Keene must be thinking that too now that the yiga will be targeting their hive as as she mentioned when she sent cross way for abit: I don’t want the first thing the young to smell is blood.

Her mind instantly goes to the hives next gens, and for the hives future or if something happens to her they need a new candidate for Queen So if the lab can find a way or the gerudo help hide to take in eggs or brood even if it’s just keene’s successor(s) eggs or brood the free Gibdo hive will have a future.

as I’m also taking the fact free Gibdo are sentient and have a culture just like other monsters of hyrule same as the races of hyrule, so having Keene have a heir is normal: take the zora who are the only royal family after the calamity thus Sidon is the only heir and if you remember in botw and age of calamity the king of hyrule sacrifices himself and tells link to protect Zelda as she is the heir of the kingdom and the only hope next to him as the hero for hyrule’s people.

Which makes it sad when you remember Gibdo queens will defend the hive if the threat is too much for the normal soldiers or drones but risk dying leaving the hive with no queen or secession

I feel like Keene would die for her hive but with her being a freed Gibdo queen she MUST have a heir in the situation something happens to her when defending the hive so the remaining hive members can evacuated the royal brood with the normal brood as I feel like that’s what happens when the Gibdo queen joins a fight to defend the hive it’s to also by the drones time to evacuate brood.

The kohga says they know how to deal with Gibdo meaning next to the queen and her soilders and drones they need to kill the brood especially the royal brood.

So the Gibdo next gens are very important for the sake of the hive’s future and must be protected from the yiga I wonder if Riju and ganondorf knows this

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS :3

Well with insect queens, how bees and termites sometimes go about it is that a hive will suddenly have two queens - and then one will either leave to make its own hive or fight the current queen for control of the hive.

Obviously, with sentient insect-like beings, there'd be a little more civility than just trying to rip each others' throat out. So I can imagine if a Moth Gibdo starts to mature into a Gibdo queen, they'll have to enact some form of protocol.

Like if there's two queens they start going "okay, let's send over a chunk of our workers over to help make you a new hive somewhere - who wants to move?"

Like it's really funny because even though Keene would be considered "royalty" by our standards, wei doesn't have an "heir" since Keene's the one that's birthing all the Gibdo grubs in the first place. Technically all of them are weir "heir" since any of them could mature into a queen/chuvayze.

OR ALTERNATIVELY if a queen dies, bees will often go into overdrive and start looking for the young that exhibit queen-like behavior and do some shit with pheremones idk nature is weird.

So I could imagine something like that would happen with the Gibdo

Food for thought :)

[aemiron-main-backup]

WAIT HOLD UP THIS is the still image that shows up for s1 ep1 when netflix is in a weird paused state like after i wake my pc up from sleep w netflix still open. 

weirdly enough though, this moment does not exist in the show. at all.  

when we see will run into the shed, the door is already open and then he closes it. but out here, we see will looking curiously/nervously into a closed shed. when we saw will in the shed, did that even happen at all???? we know that the bullets and stuff were disturbed because hopper saw that, but is what we saw the night of will’s disappearance actually reality, or was the real will outside of the shed at the time, watching something go down in there?? watching himself, somehow??? which is interesting considering that hawkins lab was able to create a perfect recreation of his body AND that there’s TWO contradictory versions of the “zombie boy/boy who came back to life” article, one of which talks about hopper finding him out in a cabin in 6 days, the other which talks about finding will after a week of being experimented on at hawkins lab. i’d dismiss it as the government trying to cover things up if it wasn’t for the fact that it seems to be like. physically the SAME article with the SAME photo and the SAME headline and written by the SAME person, just with different contents- it almost seems like timeline/perception/vecna fuckery to me. 

and like. the s1 article is the one that talks about will being found at hawkins lab whereas the s2 one says he was at a cabin. so why do we a.) have a perfect replica of will’s body created by the lab, b.) have an article claiming he was found at the lab after being experimented on, c.) have this still image of will looking IN to the CLOSED DOOR shed on the night he disappeared, and d.) why did will recognize brenner in s4? i know a lot of people dont trust the 8flix scripts but i personally dont think they were entirely fake- and even if they WERE, will’s face shows recognition in the show when he sees brenner in s4.  

so what the fuck. maybe this is just an error/im looking too far into it, but considering all of the absolutely bizarre inconsistencies ive been finding with the shed on the night will disappears vs other footage of the shed (even other footage in the SAME EPISODE), like with a weird substance on the windows that isn’t there in the scene where he disappears, or the face that the shed hopper goes into has a completely different door from the one we see when will disappears, im suspicious.

The fact that we have this screenshot of will staring INTO the shed, AND the fact that the door only becomes a different door from the pov of will INSIDE the shed is absolutely raising an eyebrow from me. because like i point out in the post i just linked, the view of the shed from the OUTSIDE the night will disappears, has the same door gaps as the door hopper sees- but the door from the INSIDE pov is completely different from both the outside door on the night will disappears AND from both the inside and outside door when hoppper sees it.

so basically will door outside view + hopper door outside view + hopper door inside view are all the same door but will door inside shed view is a COMPLETELY different door.  and we have this screenshot of will looking into the shed with the CLOSED DOOR on the night that he disappeared- but according to what we saw in the show, HE’S the one who closed the door. so the moment that will’s looking into the shed from the outside in that still image is the SAME moment that he would have been INSIDE OF THE SHED, right before he disappears.  and look at how BRIGHT the light is on will in that still image- it’s extremely bright, brighter than the light was on him when we saw him run into the OPEN shed door in the show. so that tells me that this is actually the EXACT moment that inside-shed will disappeared + the lightbulb got all bright. 

it’s also much brighter OUTSIDE in that still image- you can see the green of the wagon and the grass, which you CANNOT see when will runs into the shed in s1. this is giving me serious “will is in the upside-down/same place max was when she had her billy-graveyard vecna vision in s4″ because it’s much darker and desaturated AND the same fog is present in both scenes. 

what the fuck

WAIT HOLD UP THIS is the still image that shows up for s1 ep1 when netflix is in a weird paused state like after i wake my pc up from sleep w netflix still open.  weirdly enough though, this moment does not exist in the show. at all.  

when we see will run into the shed, the door is already open and then he closes it. but out here, we see will looking curiously/nervously into a closed shed. when we saw will in the shed, did that even happen at all???? we know that the bullets and stuff were disturbed because hopper saw that, but is what we saw the night of will’s disappearance actually reality, or was the real will outside of the shed at the time, watching something go down in there?? watching himself, somehow??? which is interesting considering that hawkins lab was able to create a perfect recreation of his body AND that there’s TWO contradictory versions of the “zombie boy/boy who came back to life” article, one of which talks about hopper finding him out in a cabin in 6 days, the other which talks about finding will after a week of being experimented on at hawkins lab. i’d dismiss it as the government trying to cover things up if it wasn’t for the fact that it seems to be like. physically the SAME article with the SAME photo and the SAME headline and written by the SAME person, just with different contents- it almost seems like timeline/perception/vecna fuckery to me.  and like. the s1 article is the one that talks about will being found at hawkins lab whereas the s2 one says he was at a cabin. so why do we a.) have a perfect replica of will’s body created by the lab, b.) have an article claiming he was found at the lab after being experimented on, c.) have this still image of will looking IN to the CLOSED DOOR shed on the night he disappeared, and d.) why did will recognize brenner in s4? i know a lot of people dont trust the 8flix scripts but i personally dont think they were entirely fake- and even if they WERE, will’s face shows recognition in the show when he sees brenner in s4.   so what the fuck. maybe this is just an error/im looking too far into it, but considering all of the absolutely bizarre inconsistencies ive been finding with the shed on the night will disappears vs other footage of the shed (even other footage in the SAME EPISODE), like with a weird substance on the windows that isn’t there in the scene where he disappears, or the face that the shed hopper goes into has a completely different door from the one we see when will disappears, im suspicious. The fact that we have this screenshot of will staring INTO the shed, AND the fact that the door only becomes a different door from the pov of will INSIDE the shed is absolutely raising an eyebrow from me. because like i point out in the post i just linked, the view of the shed from the OUTSIDE the night will disappears, has the same door gaps as the door hopper sees- but the door from the INSIDE pov is completely different from both the outside door on the night will disappears AND from both the inside and outside door when hoppper sees it. so basically will door outside view + hopper door outside view + hopper door inside view are all the same door but will door inside shed view is a COMPLETELY different door.  and we have this screenshot of will looking into the shed with the CLOSED DOOR on the night that he disappeared- but according to what we saw in the show, HE’S the one who closed the door. so the moment that will’s looking into the shed from the outside in that still image is the SAME moment that he would have been INSIDE OF THE SHED, right before he disappears.  and look at how BRIGHT the light is on will in that still image- it’s extremely bright, brighter than the light was on him when we saw him run into the OPEN shed door in the show. so that tells me that this is actually the EXACT moment that inside-shed will disappeared + the lightbulb got all bright.  it’s also much brighter OUTSIDE in that still image- you can see the green of the wagon and the grass, which you CANNOT see when will runs into the shed in s1. this is giving me serious “will is in the upside-down/same place max was when she had her billy-graveyard vecna vision in s4″ because it’s much darker and desaturated AND the same fog is present in both scenes.  what the fuck

[castleclerics]

the other story being told in s1

(had this in my dafts for like 5 months but i decided to finally get the pics and post since we're talking more about timelines rn)

they are literally telling us exactly what events would've taken place if the gate was never opened, the original universe. the sad raw reality of a horrible situation in a small town in the 80's. if the UD did not combine with the real world, if el never opened the gate and didn't escape the lab and everything played out as it should've. i'm gonna guess that el opening the gate and/or will doing something thrust the normal hawkins timeline into a different one, the one we see the entire series, while still telling the story of what happened in the original timeline, without showing that timeline.

will byers is a gay kid who gets bullied for it and abused by his dad which eventually drives him to off himself by jumping into the quarry. (what hopper believes too if you look at the subtext including hopper asking joyce if will is gay). his mom starts thinking he's not actually dead and goes "crazy" impacting her loved ones around her. will's friends cope by thinking one of the monsters from their beloved game is the reason he's dead.

mike takes it the hardest though and starts believing will is alive too, but his friends help him come to terms with realizing he's not. he eventually jumps into the quarry too, thinking he can be with will again. if el never opened the gate the bullies would've never chased dustin and mike there, and mike wouldn't be saved.

these two bikes could represent will and mike in the og timeline hence the pan and prolonged shot on them.

how will ties into this is very interesting. we know he does shit with his watch so he obviously is aware of things other people aren't and in control of time in some capacity. for reasons i will not go into and gatekeep for a lil longer only bc it took me 6+ months to figure out lmao i know he's totally aware of these two different timelines and might have some doing with shifting the timeline. just notice how he always looks immensely guilty especially in s4. it's also another reason why he feels like a mistake, because he knows he's supposed to be dead. he himself in the parallel universe we watch the show through is literally a mistake. he probably still questions if he even deserves to be alive now in this parallel timeline.

now stay with me......

look at the dialogue and how they show the gate when this is said. literally showing the gate, a hole.

even having the bullies repeat this line

the biggest hole of them all...... literally in the middle of the hawkins community area.

will dying in the other/og timeline due to the abuse for being gay is somehow the root cause for this hole, and he knows it.

maybe that's how they'll tie his sexuality storyline in with his supernatural one, and why they're so incredibly linked. this is how he's the main character especially of s5 when they explain how will has always been the most vital part of the story.

adding to this since we know about the henry/edward timeline weirdness now, i think it's possible the og timeline = henry's and the parallel/one we've been watching this whole time = edward's. idk how well that lines up i'll have to think about it but it makes me think......

[whalefill]

Who are your ocs? Tell Me

ok so basically its the early 1970s and people are still under the impression that the deep sea is inhospitable to any kind of life. but then this rando autistic dude named lake is out scuba diving one day on a coral reef along rhode island and he uncovers this HUGE cave

he takes the discovery back to the organization he works for, they run a bunch of tests, and they literally cannot figure out how deep it is. like anyone and anything they send down there has to come back up or they'll never reach the end, bc there is no bottom to this thing that they know of let alone have the technology to reach. they also DO find traces of life inside it which is fucking insane and awesome for science but terrifying to everyone else. it seems ok at first but it really all goes downhill from there. lakes career skyrockets, the cavern becomes a public attraction, there's a religious panic about it because christians think some ocean research institution opened a gate to hell, etc.

lake's story though is mainly about grief. i'm going to write it and release it one day, i'm not sure if it's going to be a novel or what but. anyway. it's told in the form of journal entries, letters, and then statements. sort of laid out like dracula where you watch jonathan harker lose his sanity and then die, yknow. except i havent finished that book so idk

but basically lake is a very very lonely guy, has been his whole life, and the events of the main plot all coincide with different tragedies that fall on him. he's in love with his married best friend/lab partner, he has friends and family that pass away, his job that used to bring him so much joy and fulfillment starts to get too hectic and scary for him to handle ... he just keeps losing everything. he quits work to process it all but the self isolation only makes it worse

and throughout all this, he grows gradually more obsessed with the cavern, feeling some weird connection to it. with every trip he makes down, he feels a call to sink deeper and he knows it's imminent that he will. so in his suffering he decides fuck it. i'm going to die in you!

which he does. sort of. i mean its the only version of the story that makes logical sense. you cant just sink into a hole infinitely and survive, but it's as if he does. because he fills an entire journal with records of what he finds down there, and it's found stained with ink and seawater in his boat he'd taken out. but they never find him, not his body, not his equipment, nothing. all they have is what he wrote

and it's really up to the reader to decide whether they believe what he says. but he finds various colossal fish and other animals and talks about some sort of telepathic link he has with them. i wont go into too much detail because i'm going to make art of them in the near future but they're super cool i promise !!!

essentially it ends with a fucked up, surreal, uncomfortable sequence where sentient deep sea creatures cry to lake about everything wrong with their lives, and all of their experiences mirror his own. so as sad as it is that he "dies", or even just wanted to, by the end of it he realizes how loved he was. and that's really all that matters. even if it wasn't enough to save him. it was still there

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG. but thats the gist of it

[thatwildnya]

aaaaaaaand that's all of the dorms~ want to have the staff or other side characters done? commission me for them! link is in pinned post~

drake s/o with period teeth

in light of me having to get my wisdom teeth removed, i have decided to make these

context: you’re a drake fae whose teeth fall out about every few months to make way for newer, healthier chompers. the drawback? it’s extremely painful and you become aggravated and grumpy.

Ignihyde Diasomnia edition

tw: teeth, muzzling

Ignihyde

Idia

to the secret lab! pull the lever ortho!

he’s making special teething toys and muzzles designed to keep your mouth chilled asap

this happens after he gets an sos from ortho that you’ve trapped him in your grip and were chewing his arm off

his anime merch and little brother are in danger with those teefies on the loose this is unacceptable

everything is fine until you electrocute yourself chewing on some of his wires for his computer

the room has been baby proofed and you’re only allowed to sit on his bed or lap if you’re in his room without the muzzle of shame

ortho has to be the one to muzzle you, he tried once and got thrown into his door so hard it broke he fears your power

but don’t worry he still loves you and thought it was kinda hot

Ortho

You are FRIENDS. You are NOT DATING. F R I E N D S.

now with that outta the way, let’s continue

he goes to his onii-chan and asks him to make an arm specially made for you to chew on safely

when it’s completed he’s ecstatic cuz now you can hang out again

you spend a lot of time together in idia’s room watching anime, cat videos, and the two brothers playing games

he’s happy that he can keep you entertained and your mind off the discomfort for the most part, he hates seeing his bestie in pain

Diasomnia

Malleus

you chew on his tail, he needs both hands to play with gao gao

he can and will hire you a personal chef to make you foods that will be soft on your teeth

his body temp is warmer than average so that means you don’t like cuddling it makes your teeth even more irritated and that makes him very sad

he tried to enchant your mouth to completely erase the pain until you warned him that it was dangerous to do that

the pain was necessary, it helped with keeping you from swallowing a tooth by mistake

refuses to muzzle you, he sees it as demeaning and will do whatever it takes so that it will make it unnecessary for it

sebek walked in on you gnawing on his biceps/tail once and was nearly turned into minced meat

he is no longer allowed within ten feet of you when your teeth are bitching

Lilia

oh you poor thing don’t worry let peepaw take care of you here have some homemade ice cream why are you crouched like that-

lilia can’t remember the last he had been tossed like a ragdoll through a wall

he’s not even mad, it’s nice to relive something so heartracing

after that he’s breaking out dusty books he had god knows where to look up potions and remedies specifically catered to fae having dental problems

unlike malleus his body is colder than average so cuddles galore

he lets you hide under his oversized clothes when you teeth on his arm

he might not look like it but his biceps are rock hard you’ll have to teeth really hard if you want to break his skin and draw blood

Silver

sleepy prince to the rescue

puts his newly obtained culinary skills to use and makes you tasty cold soups and salads that have a satisfying crunch that won’t hurt your teefies

you teeth on his arms and legs, it’s kinda weird to see him snoozing while you gnawing on his thigh since his arms are under him but hey it works

has had to pull you off of sebek more than once jesus crispy hakuna your tatas

you keep trying to eat his animal friends so he asks them to stay away when you’re going through this

his furry and feathery friends understand but have also grown to like you too so they bring him wild berries for you to snack on because they’re worried so cute

Sebek

tried to drag you to his father’s business after you suddenly sneezed sending a tooth and blood flying from your mouth

after explaining that you’re basically on a period but for teeth he’s writing to his parents asking for some tips that can help you ease the pain

they send him a pair of special dental fae pliers and tell him to yank out any teefies that are close to falling out to speed up the process

after getting the okay from you he prepares for the battle ahead

and nearly gets his hand bitten off the moment that cold metal touches your tooth your jaws clamp shut

has to ask for someone to pull the teeth while he sits on your back and holds your jaws open

readily cleans up the blood and makes sure your mouth is carefully clean as his father instructed him

refuses to muzzle you like malleus, he also sees it as demeaning

[waters-and-the-wilde]

EHEHEHOOHOOHOO GLAD U LIKED AND ALSO THANK U BC THIS MADE BRAIN GO BRR AND SECRET THIRD THING FALL OUT

juno (comms call with puck bc rita is currently no help at all): falco. falco help.

puck: steel i swear to god if you've beefed with another shady corporate entity -

juno: no no it's still about the 'nureyev's zombie boyfriend we rescued from the lab' situation

puck: steel. did you beef with the zombie boyfriend steel

juno: oh no it's much worse than that

juno: slip threatened to marry me

puck:

puck: when you say 'threatened'

juno: (relays the above) and he keeps cozying up to me and getting all smug when nureyev pouts about it. and also he and rita are conspiring to shove me and nureyev into a locked room until we kiss and make up

puck: okay so you and pete are still-?

juno: he knows im there for him and that i am not pushing him into anything while he's still sorting himself out

puck: and slip and pete -?

juno: still care about each other but slip is weirded out by the whole 'twenty years of obsessive guilt and devotion' thing and feels like if nureyev categorically picks me it's gonna be a weight off knowing he's moving on

puck: huh. huh okay bass-ackwards strategy but makes its own sort of sense. so you actually talked to him about this?

juno: no i don't know if even he's realized that

puck: juno. you're sure you're not jumping to conclusions here

juno: pretty darn actually

juno: he was just, you know, it wasn't a thing at first, he was snuggling up to rita plenty too because he's got like zero body fat and hasn't been hugged in twenty years and things are too weird between him and nureyev, and you'd think me and him would also be too weird but apparently a lady's new occupation in life is personal space heater to everybody including the psychic alien goop that can smell feelings

juno: i'm trying to stay out of it but between the fact that he's got a bit of a link to ruby and the proximity to both of them with the space heater situation means some stuff spills over

juno: or ruby just clues me in whether i like it or not. which is why i also know that he might actually have gotten a crush on me in the process and now he's also a little mad about it which is why he's been doubling down lately to compensate

juno: and nureyev has noticed he's got a crush and is doing his long-suffering self-sacrificial martyrdom thing because he thinks he deserves this

puck: ...god you're idiots it's like you were made for each other

juno: aw thanks puck

juno: you mean me and nureyev right

puck:

juno: you mean me and nureyev right

puck: yeah just messin with you. slip's having an understandable amount of stupid under the circumstances he'll grow out of it

juno: (thru gritted teeth) thanks puck

juno: guess this is what i get for giving him food apparently but (goes on a lengthy tear about how if left to their own devices the others would be living off of nutrient paste and rehydrated space trip rations and salmon snacks and how he's not letting anyone on Team Former Street Urchins cook without supervision anyway, he doesn't actually care that Slip knows his way around a stove because the evidence suggests that this is nearly as concerning as the extent to which Nureyev does not know his way around one)

puck: juno can we focus for a sec. they all realize you can talk to the psychic alien goop that can smell their feelings right. also why do you make me say these sentences steel what the hell is your life

juno: YOU'RE TELLIN ME

puck: wait so why is rita - never mind it's rita i get the picture

it's just. the lock, the fucking lock right? the stim toy lock where the combination changes as you try to pick it. like we actually saw them do it, the executives scrambling the parameters to force him to keep up (also WHOOP right in tandem with the impact of the 'making radiation treatments free' thing!) but also there's this sense of it almost doesn't matter because it's literally their game and they can make him play along, nothing's going to give until they show their hand

[abyssal-cryptid]

Still more thoughts about Tears of the Kingdom (SPOILERS! like seriously. in this one)

I love this game

So much

I had to find a guy for a quest but was like

"Im going to check out this well first"

AND BOOM HE WAS THERE

Alao the brown breakable rock break with one hit, blue with two and black with three

Seemingly

Matches the bombs it takes to break them

Tulin, whose village is dying, watching me search for pretty clothing

"Link please my family is dying Link we have to go Link"

The frostbite set is stunning

Finally a hairdo that lets Link have long hair

I hate the Sages

Not really but my god did they make their AI absolute trash

Theyre always in the way except when you need them to solve a puzzle

And if you have more than one Avatar present good luck getting the one you need

I HATE THE WIND TEMPLE BOSS

Not as much as I hated Queen Gibdo but

Why was crossing a spider and scorpion necessary

"Brave Fledgling"  what if I cried

Tulin is so good

So is this making it canon that the time 10 000 years ago was still after every other game

I dont know the timeline is weird

But if there was both Zora and Rito at the time of Rauru

This is so confusing

Ive both heard and seen Rauru sacrifice himself multiple times now can these dead Sages give me new info

Zelda my beloved

Marry me please

Also so the only other Demon King we have ever had was Demise so is Ganondorf him or after him

WHAT IS THE TIMELINE HERE

The Sage calls Tulin "my brave fledgling"

Someone call me something so loving one day

Tulin is so excited to be a Sage

He is so happy to fight alongside Link

Hes so happy to save the world

I love him

What a boy

Boys will be boys is from now on only about Tulin

WAIT IS EVEN HE TALLER THAN LINK

Shortest Hylian

I got a third ring

Bring a gerudo bow to this boss fight if you can it makes life so much easier

I havent been to Death Mountain at all yet

Done all other Temples and fully mapped Hyrule before ever going near Gorons

The extra snow melted

TEBA GAVE TULIN THE GREAT EAGLE BOW

IM CRYING

REVALI IM SO PROUD OF OUR BOY *shakes the ghost of Revali*

PSSHHH YUNOBO LOOKS DUMB AS SHIT

I HATE HIM

Was already my least favorite in BOTW

But now he is a major asshole too

Fuck that

Bastard

Im not helping him

Im gonna go blow up his company

If this guy becomes a Sage I swear

I'll drown him in Death Mountain myself

The ember headdress is probably the best headpiece in the entire game

The Ember set is genuinely the best set

Its so pretty

Im gonna go see what these look like dyed

After that beating up Yunobo

But fashion comes first

IF YOU DYE THE EMBER HEADSET IT DYES LINKS HAIR

BLUE HAIR LINK

PINK HAIR LINK

BEST DAY EVER

THE SAME GOES FOR THE FROST OUTFIT

I love Cece

She is the only person matching my love of fashion in this game

I just realised why the evil Zelda is wearing Zonai clothes

Omg

Smart

Or maybe Im dumb

"Oh Yunobo was wearing a mask making him evil" no Yunobo is just like that

This sucks I hate everything to do with Death Mountain

Worst place

I have to use the machines AND GO TO THE DEPTHS??? NOOO

Nintendo you will be hearing from my lawyers

When I die Im going to ask Rauru wtf were the Zonai doing in the depths

No because if youre going to have a cutscene and then make a second cutscene three steps further just fucking make it one cutscene

Yunobo is a "young little rock"

Left that for now

Found Champions leathers

Found Royal Guard boots??

They were in the king's study

King's diary wasnt there so like is it canon Zelda was able to read it?

Misko was a good guy actually, hiding all these clothes for me

Me, in the depths: I wonder where this strange Sheikah tower leads

The Yiga hideout in Akkala:

The only ancient sheikah tech still working is Hateno Tech Lab travel point

I spent some time in the depths and FOUND THE ANCIENT CENTRAL MINE

Fought Kohga

GOT AUTOBUILD

Finally the shrine censor

And travel medallion? You treat me so well

Already had that prototype

ALSO GETTIN SENSOR+ IMMEDIATLY

Badass feeling

Omg Robbie's compendium database is so cute

Got all three upgrades immediatly

Fully stocked purah pad

WAIT THREE TRAVEL MEDALLIONS???

BASED

MY FAVORITE MONEY MAKER IS BACK

I like to kill the hebra great game because they drop gourmet and prime meat and cooking those and they sell for a good price

Horse and bullet time

Many coins

Zelda's memories are so sad

Been giving my friends a fashion show of my favorite clothing

I am again so gay for Sonia and Zelda

My god

ZELDA

BABYGIRL

ZELDA I FORBID THIS

ZELDA YOU YOU

ZELDA

ZELDA

NO NO NO NO NO DONT

MY DEAREST ZELDA

ZELDA

MY LOVE

I am sobbing crying screaming

Im so upset

Zelda being the light dragon is so unfair for her

She deserved happiness and freedom

Not losing her humanity and personhood

YOU CAN MAKE ELEMENTAL WHIPS

Kinky

I went into the strange thunder cloud

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

Why is it taking me into the depths

Not again

Alright Sage of Spirit

I'll make your mech suit for you

That took a while

But owl head statue

Mineru my beloved

Oh.my god this is hell

Worst part of this game so far

EASILY

DONT MAKE ME FUCKING CONTROL THIS WHEN THE CONTROLS ARE THE WORST THING EVER CONCIEVED

Im leaving this temple also undone I DONT CARE THIS FUCKING SUCKS

I hate it

Fuck this

Why do game devs come up with shitty awful bad as hell stuff to do in their games AND MAKE THAT MANDATORY

I just quit the game no lie

Fuck that

I did it and I was being dramatic, it wasnt that hard

Mineru is so goddamn gorgeous

They designed this game for me specifically

I should get back to drawing furries

Mineru holding my hand which is her brother's hand

Tears

Mineru I love her

I have not beaten Fire Temple yet

I just cant

Depths

Darkness and puzzles and fire

Also dont like Yunobo

I feel so bad for Mineru

Zelda :(

Why doesnt Link get a secret stone

RAURU WAS MINERU'S LITTLE BROTHER ::'ÖÖ

Where did Zelda's special stone come from when its a time stone and Ganon stole Sonia's time stone

Mineru I will not go get the Master Sword

Demon Ganon is hot idc

RAURU WHY WOULD YOU

Ganon: "Link. I look forward to meeting him" goes into slumber

Damn all of Rauru disintergrated but his hand

I have to find the light dragon

Eugh

The dragons dont have schedules in this apparently

Sadly

Mineru so was in love w Zelda

Everyone is putting too much weight on Link's shoulders

Fine I'll finish the fire temple

*2 hours later* I hate it here

I did scam those puzzles as much as I could

Worst puzzles

Worst boss too

Marbled gohma

Fucking awful

I nearly died about 11 times

Rip my food storages

I really need to cook more

Special stone for Yunobo booo

Little rock is adorable pet name tho

Ancestor Goron is fine af

WHY DOES NO ONE MENTION THE DIVINE BEASTS BUT YOU CAN FIND THE DIVINE BEAST HELMS AND NO ONE MENTIONS THE BEASTS

Ive heard this story four times now

Fucking hell cant we get anything new

Someone give me a 200k word fanfic where Ganon awakens but is not evil

I need Ganon Zelda Link friendship

End the cycle

Watching Brian David Gilbert and Unraveleds rn

LMAO YUNOBO'S SPECIAL STONE IS ON HIS DICK

We have established this is not a PG channel

Ok fine I like Yunobo

Daruk was better tho

Ive found most memories why cant I say anything to these people about thats not Zelda

I know Zelda is the light dragon

Running around Hyrule Castle for 'Zelda'

About to do bossfight w Ganon

Can I do a flurry rush? No

I just hit or die

Life is like that

No clever tactiques just caveman brain and trying

Evil "Zelda" is fun

Why is Ganon like one of those movie posters here

Why is he still not rehydrated

Ganon I have dick to suck hurry up

"You will not live to see another sunrise" Ganon the sun is rising rn

Woo Phantom Ganons

Fuck yeah

Lets see if I can kill them aka can I finally take on Gloom Hands (I wont)

Ganon's so arrogant

YAY MY FRIENDS ARE HERE

FUCK YEAH

I LOVE YOU ALL

MY SAGE BUDDIES

Not Lynels

Still the hardest enemy in game

Ok so if youve found Mineru and have the Master Sword already, the convo after the fake Ganon fight Purah goes "Youve already found the fifth sage? AND you have the master sword? Why didnt you say so before"

Usually youd get quests for those

It was funny

Why is the limit of horses I can have ten ::((

The Charged shirt is actually so so slutty I love it

IT GLOWS IN THUNDER STORMS

FUCK YEAH

So I finally cleared The Deku Tree's little stomach bug

And like it is so funny how easy the Gloom Hands and Phantom Ganon become when youre in late game

I was sweating about it and then it was so easy

And Im bad at combat

Ok not to brag but I killed a white lynel. First time ever. Also first time ever I killed a lynel without Urbosa's help