#also while the context is not 100% accurate

[sonic-adventure-3]

“he roller skates!” “they’re air shoes.” is designed to kill me specifically because firstly that’s so fucking funny and the presentation and the line delivery is fucking amazing and also secondly shadow’s shoes are originally based on inline skates NOT roller skates (well technically inlines are a kind of roller skate but in a broader context “roller skates” are almost exclusively used to refer to quad skates. inlines have their wheels in a line, quads are quadragled) and his animation is 100% based on quad skating in prime BUT SHADOW IS AN INLINE SKATER ORIGINALLY HIS SHOES ARE BASED ON INLINE SKATES SA2 WOULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT INLINE SKATING I CARE IMMENSELY ABOUT THIS

[famwhy]

Hobie Brown's Slang

Okay, here is a bit of criticism and advise for how to write Hobie Brown's (from Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse) speech patterns.

When I read fics on Hobie Brown, the slang that he uses is not AT ALL the type of slang he uses in the movie. Fics like to use stereotypical British slang like 'wanker' or 'gheezer' and while it is sometimes said, it's not used often by youth in the UK nowadays.

Instead, the type of slang he uses is called 'Road' slang or 'Roadman' slang. I believe it's a mixture of Jamaican and British terms (please do correct me if I'm wrong, I may be British myself but I don't know everything).

For example, in the movie, Hobie says 'man like Miles, my guy!' after Miles goes against the Canon event. He's basically hyping Miles up - the term 'man like' is often followed up by a name to (as said before) hype that person up and praise them, in a way.

Another example of him using road slang is when he calls Miles a 'youngen' - it's quite obvious what he means by it, he's basically calling him a kid. This term is usually used by people who are quite a bit older than the recipient. In fact, it was his use of this term that solidified my theory of him being quite a few years older than Miles and thus, of him not being as much of a potential love interest for Gwen as an older brother figure for her.

Now, how do you write road slang? By learning it through watching people who use it often and understanding the context.

Some real people you can watch and learn the speech patterns of Hobie Brown through include:

KSI (the youtuber)

Mo Gilligan (the comedian)

Babatunde Aléshé (also a comedian)

And a series on Netflix that I highly recommend you watch in order to really understand the way he talks (though the above examples are good ways too) is the series 'Top Boy'. Though, a fair warning that it's quite the violent series due to it being about UK gangs.

Please keep in mind that this post is NOT AT ALL made to attack writers or put them down for the way they write Hobie, it is only here to inform and teach you how to write his speech patterns properly because he 100% deserves the accurate representation.

Hobie Brown is an amazing character that made me so happy to see on screen because he actually seems like a guy I would know and be friends with in real life rather than a stereotypical depiction of a British person that you see often in media nowadays. I feel the same way about Pavitr and the way the movie didn't stereotypically depict South Asians.

To see both my ethnicity and nationality being accurately depicted in western media is just an amazing feeling that I wish to convey to you all.

Love, a very happy spiderman fan.

(Update: I now have a post where I write Hobie's speech patterns myself so you can also use that as an example if you wish. But again, the examples listed above are much better to learn from since my one post can only teach you so much.)

[illym]

Hi, hello, if you like reading about localization choices be sure to check below the cut because I Had Fun Here (not being sarcastic. It was enjoyable learning about vinegar in Japan).

Translation Assistance: @masked-and-doomed + @solradguy

ID in alt.

Cleaned and original comics below the cut.

Specific Assistance:

@.masked-and-doomed: transcribed what I couldn't pick up.

@.solradguy: Verified the translation of what the npc was saying in panel 4, offered a line for it.

Fun fact: The Japanese department of a college all got together to work on this one.

I hated redrawing the back of Ky's head. I'm glad I was able to hide most of it behind the text (lol).

Anyway, let's get on with the localization (and process) discussion!

In the original text of this comic, Ky was drinking vinegar.

"But Illym," you ask, face twisted in confusion, "Huh? Who drinks vinegar as a drink for fun? Is the joke that being compared to Robo-Ky made him go mad and believe that vinegar is delicious? Did you change the joke? Why are you writing me to be so verbose?"

I'm a very verbose person. To answer the rest of your questions, here's what DeepL gave me when I put the transcript in.

[

npc:

Captain… it's only the body that gets soft from drinking vinegar.

ky:

I… This is for your health!

npc:

If you drink it without diluting it, you'll get a stomach ache.

]

At first, I assumed that DeepL has misinterpreted some other drink as vinegar, such as cider, sake, or general alcohol. In this example, even, it translated Ky as saying "For your health" when within context he should obviously be saying "For my health".

I went to [ https://jpdb.io/ ] to check the line. Lo and behold, it still translated as vinegar. Hm. By this point, I'm fairly sure it's a cultural thing that I'll have to localize, but I try to be thorough in these things as, again, I don't understand the language and rely on machine translation. I search up vinegar in English in jpdb and find the Japanese character there immediately. So it's obviously the same word, not a messy translation.

My next course of action is to look up "drinking vinegar japan".

To summarize, according to the articles/blog posts I read, the process of making vinegar is just adding an extra step to the process of making sake. After that, if it's to be drinking vinegar, it's blended with sweeteners such as honey or fruit.

It's an extremely old drink in Japan, and it's seen as a health drink there (along with, I assume, being pretty tasty). You should go read up on it yourself.

But in the western world, drinking vinegar is... Not a big thing. While I could leave it as is and just write a translators note explaining the drink, I decided that given that Ky is French and Japan has been exploded for ~100 years, it would be more lore accurate to have him drink something else. If it was Anji or Baiken, I would have left it.

Also, it's more enjoyable and easier to understand to make it ambiguously alcohol instead of requiring a 4 paragraph explanation.

So to localize, I removed mention of vinegar and made the joke into Ky drinking too much alcohol. The NPC's worries apply to alcohol as well as drinking vinegar (drinking it makes you soft, it affects your body poorly, drinking too much is Seen as bad for your health) so it made for the smoothest change.

As I write this, I'm debating whether to add a translators note between panels saying that the bottle reads 'vinegar'... It'll get people curious, at least!

Original translation of the comic below.

[genericpuff]

Not to be nitpicky or anything, but I notice you occasionally critique LO for its lack of Greek culture, but reading Rekindled, Greek culture isn’t very present in it either minus some outfits, which is basically the same case as LO. It seems to also suffer from a lot of Americanized butchering of cultures.

Again so sorry if this is rude but I couldn’t help but notice it

I cricitize LO for its lack of Greek culture because its non-Greek creator claims she's a folklorist and that her knowledge of Greek myth is more advanced than everyone else's.

I myself am also a non-Greek person who is currently creating LO fanfiction with the intent of honoring the original themes of the its source material (especially The Hymn to Demeter) but that requires the additional layer of keeping it within the original restrictions of LO as it was first established back in 2017/2018 (i.e. I can only make so many creative differences without it going against the nature of it being an LO-retelling, so that often means some of the flaws of LO still have to stick around in Rekindled for it to still be an LO rewrite, if that makes sense).

Therein lies the difference, at least in my own humble opinion 💀😆 By all means, I'm not opposed to criticism of Rekindled for not being 1:1 with Greek myth either, but Rekindled wasn't created to be 1:1 with Greek myth, it was created to re-interpret what LO attempted to be while cleaning up the story, making the character designs more consistent, and actually tackling the plotlines that were dropped back in S1. If I wanted to do my own built-from-the-ground-up retelling of Greek myth, I would have, but my goal was more so to retell Lore Olympus in and of itself because that's where my interest lies. And that means working in the same context as LO, keeping what I like and reworking what I didn't like.

There are loads of creators who also do their own Greek myth re-imaginings that aren't 100% accurate to the myths but the works themselves are still incredibly entertaining and worth reading (and even the ones I'm not a diehard fan of I still don't have strong criticisms for). None of those creators claim to be an authority on Greek myth which is what I (and many others) specifically criticize Rachel for.

If LO had remained a fluffy office drama with low stakes, I probably wouldn't have had so many bones to pick with it in the end. It's the fact that its creator has built an audience around herself that treats her as the authority on the subject - which she has even gone out of her way to declare herself as - but then in practice can't even write a coherent story, let alone a coherent retelling based on the myths she claims to be so educated on. That's what made her work so subject to criticism and analysis more so than any other Greek myth retelling on the platform. That's what makes people such as myself expect better of her.

[s1i9d]

I hope you don't mind, but now that I've finally found someone who's listening to Magnus Protocol but hasn't listened to Magnus Archives I will be studying you like a bug under a magnifying glass. I've been dying to know how the show hits from a non archives perspective. So in that vein, if you don't mind me questioning you, what are your overall thoughts on the show so far? Also what's it like seeing the fandom response from people who have listened to archives? Have you been successful in avoiding spoilers?

Honestly I’ve been loving Protocol.

I’m not 100% sure what to translate since I don’t know what Archives context I’m missing, but I can try to tell you what I really like about Protocol.

I really do love the format of Protocol. It’s mostly an office drama story, which on its own is appealing, but the statements from FR3-D1 put in each episode gives the story this underlying horror aspect to it. So when I listen to an episode, often times if the statement portion feels lacking, the office drama really brings up the episode and the vice versa.

Then things start to get a lot more creepier when the two intersect (The Magnus Institute, Mr. Bonzo, Lady Mowbray, the Drowning Victim, the Archivist, etc.) and by this point in the story, we’re so close to having a full merge.

Since this is my first real dive into horror podcasts, I do want to engage with the fan community, but it’s hard to balance being spoiler-free at the same time. I do know some general spoilers that I haven’t updated in a while, but is mostly still accurate. I don’t know what an Archivist is, but I am aware that AU versions of Archives characters have made their debut here.

I am aware that Protocol is going a lot faster than Archives. From what I understand of Archives, it has a lot more slow build up rather than Protocol which I has a pretty good pace. Might be because Protocol has less than half the episodes as Archives.

It’s really interesting how the fandom keeps losing their minds over stuff that I’m just like “yeah cool let’s see where that goes”. Like E26 where the Archivist was named, I felt like I took on the perspective of Alice/Gwen/Sam where I’m like “okay… and this means what?” while the rest of the fandom is taking the Celia perspective of “OH NO”.

Or even this recent episode where this Minister Trevor Herbert dude was. Like I have no idea what this dude is and why everyone is absolutely screaming, crying, throwing up that he’s here, and that is fascinating.

It’s been pretty interesting when I bring up something that felt weird or off that just went nowhere, and my friends revealing some info. I’m like “WHAT” and they’re just like “oh thats not common knowledge?” And I’m just there like “huh?!?” Which turns out, the Hilltop Centre was actually important.

I mostly wish the fandom would tag archives spoilers with #tma /#the Magnus archives / #tma vague just so that spoilers could be tagged a little bit better, but to be fair I am one of the rare people that doesn’t intersect the Venn diagram between archives and protocol.

But overall, I really am loving Protocol. I don’t know when I’ll listen to Archives (probably after Protocol’s three seasons are over) but I will listen to it eventually. Feel free to send more asks my way.

[sigmaleph]

maybe the problem with chatgpt is most people never used a chatbot before

like, if you can, go look up what the state of the art in chatbots was before like 2019 (i.e. before gpt-2). try to have a nontrivial conversation with one. try to see if it can follow a novel train of thought for more than three messages.

i am not and have never been anything like an expert on the state of the art of nlp, so don't take that as a claim on that. but as a person who used a chatbot before 2019, the fact that chatgpt can answer a question you posed it while staying on topic and going on for paragraphs of grammatically correct novel sentences is just mindblowing. and you also want it to say things that are true while we're at it? frankly that we got this level of true answers more or less for free out of teaching a chunk of metal to use language is already more than i thought we had any right to expect.

but maybe people hear about the impressiveness and they don't have a context to put it in, and they think that amount of impressiveness must mean it's 100% accurate, not "holy shit it can use language at all".

or maybe it's got nothing to do with it. maybe it's just that judging the content of speech for truth or falsehood is hard, and people have adapted to judge the speaker instead. and their methods don't work on bots, because they're calibrated on people. maybe people believe bullshit from chatgpt for the same reason they believe any scammer: it successfully imitated someone who is trustworthy, without itself being worthy of that trust.

[lu-is-not-ok]

Lu's Guide to Sin Analysis

Welp, since my brain is too focused on having K Corp Hong Lu go full unga bunga in Mirror Dungeons to write full analyses, I decided I might as well give something else to all the people starving for Limbus Theory content.

So, here we are. A basic guide on how I approach the Sin Analysis portion of my analyses, covering my personal interpretations for each Sin, as well as how to use those when analysing both E.G.Os and Identities.

That way, ya'll can dabble in doing some of this on your own when I'm too busy grinding my way to 400 hours of play time on Limbus to write up full analyses.

Sounds good? Awesome. Under the cut we go, wheeeee!

Sin Interpretations

Let's start with the most important part - the Sins themselves.

I want you to take a moment and think about your own associations with those Sins. Perhaps your immediate thought is to take the words used literally. Maybe you immediately think back to the Biblical ideas of the Seven Deadly Sins. Mayhaps there's some other media you know that also uses Sins in some way, which you subconsciously default to when thinking about them.

Whatever those associations are, I want you to throw them away.

That's right. Whatever is telling you that Lust = Horny, Wrath = Angry, Envy = Jealous, etc, etc? Throw all of those preconcieved notions away.

This is the biggest mistake I see people make when trying to analyse Identities and E.G.O based on their Sins - they assume that those Sins have the same meanings in the context of Limbus as the popular, more common interpretations of them.

And while, sure, some of them can definitely overlap with what one would expect them to be, I think relying on those during analysis instead of trying to understand what the game itself is trying to tell us by using those Sins as symbols is doing its storytelling a massive disservice.

Do I think my personal interpretations of the Sins are a 100% accurate reading? No, of course not. I can't see into the mind of Kim Ji-Hoon or whoever else at Project Moon might have been the mastermind behind deciding what Sins connect to what. I have no way of knowing what exactly they intended here.

However, I do wish to believe that my interpretations not only strive to meet the game's storytelling on its own terms, but also hopefully make further analysis based on those interpretations a bit easier to wrap one's head around.

...God I really need to stop writing massive preambles and just get to the fucking point.

So let's actually get to The Fucking Point. Sin Interpretations, one by one. Let's fucking do it.

Wrath

The flames of revolution burn bright in the face of cold winds.

Wrath is the Sin of self-righteousness and defiance. To act with Wrath is to decide that one deserves better, that things around then should bend to their will, and then take matters into their own hands. It's the Sin of deciding one has the right to change something simply because they don't like the current state of things.

There are many ways one can act because of Wrath. It can show through trying to rebel against authority, to subvert one's fate, to escape one's unfavorable circumstances, or to even reject one's own true nature. To act with Wrath is to stand up for oneself and tell reality "No, I refuse!" loud and clear.

A common misconception of Wrath is the idea that anger is an inherent part of it. While it's true that those feelings often coincide with defiance, they're not required for one's acts to be fueled by Wrath. Some can be Wrathful while being completely calm and collected, as their acts of defiance could be more on the quiet and simmering side.

Likewise, being quick to anger isn't always a sign of Wrath. It's very possible for someone to have a short temper, while also being fully accepting of the reality they live in (Ryoshu, I am looking directly at you), thus lacking Wrath.

Lust

One's base insticts go all the way back to that genetic code.

Lust is the Sin of self-indulgence. It's the Sin of letting one's own desires and whims dictate one's actions. It's also the Sin of seeking personal fulfillment above all else. To act with Lust is to give up one's self-control and let one's instincts and wants guide them.

Unlike what the name and symbol might initially imply, Lust can include many different types of desires, not just the carnal.

Likewise, acts of Lust can be just as varied as one's desires. Satisfying one's most basic of needs, searching for a form of spiritual enlightenment, or even just saying the first thing that comes to mind because one feels like it are just a few examples.

Sloth

A stone will not care for what happens to it, nor the world around it.

Sloth is the Sin of apathy and resignation. Unlike other Sins, which mostly show through one's direct actions, Sloth can also show through inaction.

To act with Sloth is to ignore reality, to let oneself go along with whatever is happening with barely any complaints. As such, Sloth is commonly associated with blind obedience or unwillingness to act out.

Due to its nature as a Sin of resignation, Sloth can be seen as the direct opposite of Wrath, the Sin of defiance. This creates a unique situation where the inclusion of one can drastically shift the context of the other if both are a part of the same Identity or E.G.O.

Gluttony

Plants never stop waging wars, always wanting just a little bit more.

Gluttony is the Sin of hunger, and it's unique from the other Sins in that it equally represents two different ideas of that hunger, which can appear together just as often as they can be completely seperated.

The first type of Gluttony is one of the starving hunger of survival. In this context, to act with Gluttony is to do anything for the sake of scraping by and living to see another day.

The second type of Gluttony is the hunger for more, or in other words: greed. In this context, to act with Gluttony is to do everything for the sake of this idea of "more". To gain more wealth, to find more recognition, to make more progress.

Both of these types of Gluttony are unified in one main point - they are, by definition, endless. The struggle for survival never ends, unless one fails to survive. Likewise, there is no finite "more" that greed is reaching towards, it's a neverending process of one-upmanship.

Gloom

When a wave of emotion rises, many will be swept away in its wake.

Gloom is the Sin of dwelling on feelings. To act with Gloom is to be guided by one's negative emotions, to buckle under stress and let it control one's mind and actions.

While sadness, grief, and depression are the states of mind most commonly associated with Gloom, and are often a part of it, they're not inherent to it. The only "requirement" here is the experience of severe emotional duress, and acting out in direct response to it.

In a way, Gloom is the Sin of losing control over oneself, not dissimilar to Lust. However, the main difference here is the cause of losing that control. Gloom is the loss of self-control due to being overwhelmed by negative experiences, while Lust is the loss of self-control due to seeking out positive experiences.

Pride

Be careful, for that double-edged sword may cut you as well.

Pride is the Sin of ignoring consequences. Acts of Pride are all actions taken because of the belief that their benefits outweigh the cost in some way. While the most common way this can present is through actions that benefit oneself at the cost of others, it's not the only way Pride can manifest.

One can be Prideful when believing the benefit to many outweighs the consequences. Likewise, refusing to acknowledge the harm one brings to themself because their actions benefit them in some other way also counts as Pride.

The idea that Pride is inherently tied to selfishness or self-confidence is another common misconception. In fact, Prideful acts can manifest just as often from a lack of self-confidence or a misguided selflessness. Rather, one could interpret Pride as a form of willful ignorance, in a way.

Envy

Thorns don't go out of their way to harm, they merely react to your touch.

Envy is the Sin of reaction and retribution. It's the idea of doing something because of what someone else has done. By definition, one cannot act with Envy without some form of provocation.

Like is the case with many other Sins, acts of Envy can take many forms, from taking revenge to following orders. The main connecting idea here is letting oneself be influenced by another person, whether it's being coerced, provoked, ordered, or otherwise manipulated.

Out of all of the Sin misconceptions, seeing Envy as inherently tied to jealousy might be the worst one of all. While acts done out of jealousy would likely count as acts of Envy, they are but a miniscule part of the sheer scope that Envy represents.

...

Alright, so you know what each of those Sins means. Now it's time to figure out how to Actually Apply Them.

Sin Affinities in the context of Identities

The main way Sins play a role in a given Sinner's Identity is through their Sin Affinities. Mechanically, these are the Sins attributed to each of their skills, signifying both their type of Sin damage and what Sin resource they generate upon being used.

However, this is Project Moon we're talking about, and these fuckers can't keep their gameplay mechanics seperate from the story to save their lives.

So, this begs the question: what can we learn about a Sinner's given Identity through their Sin Affinities?

Here is the method that I believe works best in my experience:

The Sin affinities of each of an Identity's skills represent a different layer of their psyche and motivations. I'm going to try to show what I mean by using base Identities of the four Sinners who already had their own Canto.

Skill 1's Sin Affinity is the surface level motivation of the Sinner's actions. This is the most obvious and "shallow" reading of them and their actions, and also likely the one the Sinners themselves are most aware of.

Gregor's Skill 1 is Gloom due to him being constatly haunted by his trauma, with much of his cynicism and dark-ish sense of humor being shaped by his war experiences. Rodya's Skill 1 is Gluttony due to her tendency to value material goods and love for food, which are signs of her greed and will to survive respectively. Sinclair's Skill 1 is Pride due to him taking many actions (such as sharing his father's secrets or giving Kromer his basement key) for their immediate benefits, without considering the consequences. Yi Sang's Skill 1 is Gloom due to him falling into deep depression and letting the trauma of the past shape his current actions.

Skill 2's Sin Affinity is a deeper motivation of the Sinner's actions. It's delving deeper into their psyche to see what guides them in less obvious ways. This Sin Affinity can also have noticeably closer ties to the Sinner's background in one way or another.

Gregor's Skill 2 is Gluttony due to him being driven by the will to survive, most notably expressed by him leaving the rest of the veterans to escape the war and try to live after it ended. Rodya's Skill 2 is Pride due to her fully believing in what she does working out in her favor, completely ignoring consequences on the way. Her killing the pawnbroker is the biggest example of an act of Pride, as she fully believed that it would help her neighbourhood despite the consequences that murder would bring. Sinclair's Skill 2 is Wrath due to him not accepting his circumstances. His want to defy his future prosthetics procedure is what eventually led him to agreeing with Kromer, and his will to defy her is what drove him through the events of his chapter. Yi Sang's Skill 2 is Envy due to his passive nature and how easily he lets other people dictate his actions. It's especially notable in how after the League fell apart, he would have been willing to do anything Gubo told him at that moment.

Skill 3's Sin Affinity is what I would like to call a Sinner's Core Sin. It's the true main reason behind their actions, and has a much closer and direct tie into their past than the other Sin Affinities. In a way, this is the deepest layer of their psyche.

Gregor's Skill 3 is Sloth as his resignation to his circumstances is what colors much of his past. He learned that resistance is futile early in life, and it shows. Though he didn't want to fight in the war, he felt like he had no choice but to. All of his life, he simply listened to orders without complaint, unable to see a way to change his situation. Rodya's Skill 3 is Wrath as her self-righteousness and defiance is what drove her actions at the deepest level. She first joined the Yurodiviye because she wanted to bring change the state of her neighbourhood, and likewise left them when she no longer agreed with how they did things. Her murder of the pawnbroker was her biggest act of defiance, of taking matters into her own hands and trying to bring change to her reality at all cost. Sinclair's Skill 3 is Envy as much of his actions were dictated by other people. Social pressure was what led to him first breaching the trust of his family, and Kromer's coercion and manipulation is what then led to his family's death. In a way, you could also interpret Sinclair's arc in Canto III as one big act of Envy, as he finally tries to take revenge on Kromer for what she has done. Yi Sang's Skill 3 is Sloth as his apathy to the reality around him is what led to him ignoring the warnings signs of the League falling apart, and the resignation that followed could have resulted in him helping Gubo and the New League out with their horrible plans had there not been an intervention. It's only by the end of Canto IV that he finally manages to break out of this state for long enough to stand up for himself and decide to keep on living.

So, that's the basics of Sin Affinities when it comes to Identities! Now, some of you might be asking, "Hey Lu, what about Sin resources needed for Passives?", and my answer to that is...

Honestly, I don't entirely know! I do think there probably is some reason beyond pure gameplay mechanics... Buuuuut I don't think their importance is as major as the main Sin Affinities of a given Identity, especially since there isn't a single Passive that is activated by a Sin that the given Identity doesn't have any Affinity to.

Sin Affinities in the context of E.G.Os

Alright, so, when it comes to E.G.O, we run into some additional complexities. Unlike Identities, which can usually have their Sins Analysed with minimal additional context, E.G.O Sin Analysis has to be done under a specific angle.

This is because while Identities represent the Sinner as a whole person, E.G.Os represent a specific singular part of that Sinner.

Base E.G.Os usually seem to tie back to a specific event or action or some other thing in that Sinner's past. Likewise, E.G.Os derived from Abnormalities represent the ways that Sinner connects to that Abnormality's own themes.

In a way, the game's worldbuilding even acknowledges the fact that a Sinner can only use the E.G.O of an Abnormality they relate to in some way, as Dante's Notes describe the process of the Sinners using E.G.O as trying to make the Abnormality's emotions and identity their own.

That little tangent aside, there are two main things to analyze sin-wise when it comes to E.G.O - the Sin Affinity, and the Sin Resources necessary to use that E.G.O.

An E.G.O Sin Affinity works similarly to an Identity's Sin Affinities - for a Base E.G.O, it's the main Sin that action manifests as. For an Abno-derived E.G.O, it's the Sin that contextulizes the way the Abno's themes connect to the Sinner in question.

The Sin Resources an E.G.O needs is where things get fun. These are what a Sinner needs to be able to use the E.G.O, both mechanically AND story-wise. The Sins here represent what a Sinner has as their motivation and drive to fully reflect what that E.G.O represents. For Base E.G.Os, it's why they took the actions they did. For Abno E.G.Os, it's why they connect to that Abno's themes and why they're able to relate to it.

Now... There is one more thing about E.G.Os that I don't really talk about.

Sin Resistances.

The reason why I don't talk about them... Is because I have No Fucking Clue how to interpret them. There has to be some importance to them (Hong Lu being weak to Wrath in all of his E.G.O thus far, I am looking at you), I just don't know what it is. In fact, I doubt we even have enough information available to us right now to be able to say for sure.

I don't know how to end these posts dear fucking lord-

So uh. Yeah. That's. Everything that I think is important to mention on the topic of Sin Analysis and how I do it. If I ever change my mind on something or have an epiphany regarding one of the things I currently have no idea about, I'll probably reblog this post with an addendum or something, but until then...

Uh. Yeah. Hope this helps the people who wanna get into analyzing Limbus stuff but don't know where to begin. Or just people who wanna understand the method to my madness a little bit better.

I'm gonna go to sleep now, cause it's 4 AM already and I spent like the whole fucking night writing this post.

[aetherdoesthings]

Hey hey, am back again (the one who requested the movie headcanons)

I do have another request but I just got to say your impressive as hell. I had put in the other request just a day before it was made. Which is just crazy and the fact the headcanons were so accurate and good. Thank you for doing the last request once again.

Ok now I will get to my request now, just had to give that recognition 😅

I was wondering if you can please do, what it’s like to spread a morning with luffy, sanji, nami, and robin. How it would be like to wake up with them and get ready for the day with them. Stuff like that.

Thank you if you take this request, I hope you have a good morning 🫶🏾

hey hey! welcome back! thanks for the compliment, i'm glad you enjoyed it and found it accurate!

forethoughts: i can't believe i hit 100+ notes one of my post 🥹. thank you all so much for reading my stuff even though it occasionally breaks your hearts! ahhhh. also gonna use this space to have an fyi for people who request(ed) me. i just finished eneis lobby!!! if you request something that's way after eneis lobby, i'm either gonna have to wing it (aka poorly write bc i lack context and i don't wanna google bc google = spoiler), or you have to wait patiently for me to reach that arc. sorry for any inconvenience! anyways back to the matter at hand.

notes: all gn!reader

Luffy always sleeps whenever his body tells him to, so it’s not odd for him to suddenly disappear next to you while you two slept together. But ever since you two had gotten together, he would always make sure that he was by your side whenever you woke up. The moment your eyes open and consciousness rolls in, you feel a heavy weight on your body. Luffy’s fast asleep on you, his head bruised-no doubt from Sanji trying to steal food. You smile softly at him, petting his hair as you roll him over to his side of the bed, placing a kiss on his bruise as you look at him, admiring his peaceful sleeping form. Whenever you’re asleep, he’s awake. Whenever you’re awake, he’s asleep. You found this annoying, but seeing his sleepy baby face always washed your annoyance away. You would proceed with your morning routine as it is, and usually by the time you’re done, Luffy would’ve awoken, and smother you with kisses and whine about Sanji. Additionally, because now that you were with him and sleep with him (every now and then) at night, his hygiene significantly improved, so now he wasn’t always sweaty and covered in dirt!

Sanji is a gentleman, so of course he lets you steal the blanket at night, letting you snuggle up against him. Sometimes when you wake up, he’s not by your side, as he has to start preparing food for everyone, but you would always find a handwritten note and your favorite breakfast right next to you, as well as a rose in a vase on your nightstand. This was life with Sanji; he always had to be up at 5am, ready to cook every meal, while you always slept in. He’ll always make it up to you by giving you the best night, as he can never really give you the best morning, even though he tries his best. 

Nami loves to either big spoon or little spoon you. Either way, she craves the physical intimacy she can generate with you. She expects to either be treated like a princess one day, or absolutely spoil you with kisses the moment you wake up, and help you shower, get changed, etc. You cannot change my mind about the fact that Nami is a pillow princess, and will steal the blanket if she’s cold. You don’t mind it; in fact you're already used to this behavior, but you love it anyway, and she loves you for indulging her. Once she wakes up, she’ll kiss you on your lips, whispering a good morning as she snuggles with you. Once you’re awake too, the two of you get ready for the day. Nami spends majority of her time on makeup and clothing, while you simply shower and pick something nice to wear. Ever since you started dating Nami, you found yourself sitting down on a stool, Nami’s hand deep into your scalp trying to ‘fix your hair’, while making you look the most attractive person in the world (to her you already were).

Similar to Nami, both you and Robin will always wake up at around the same time, to say good morning to each other and be the first thing you see once you wake up. In the beginning of your relationship, she isn’t too keen on snuggling/cuddling due to her trauma and the hardship of opening up to others, but after a while of being with you, she’ll let you cuddle her and she grows to love it too. She always smells like fresh paper or flowers, a scent you’ve grown to love. Robin usually wakes up before you, and loves seeing your sleepy face buried in her chest. She’ll plant a soft kiss on your forehead, whispering ‘good morning’ to you. Soon enough, you’ll wake up, and whisper a ‘good morning’ to you. The two of you stay in bed slowly waking up, talking about your dreams and your sleep, then about what you were going to do/plan to do for the day. Robin loved talking to you and helping you achieve your goals, as nothing makes her more happy than to see you succeed. Everyday, she’d check in on you to see if you had completed your task you said you would in the morning, and always reward you with a special night. Ending your discussion with a kiss, the two of you get out of bed, ready to accomplish what both of you set out to do today.

[kurishiri]

21 . . . alfons main story — mad love

꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ @ notice ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱ this translation may not be 100% accurate or contain creative liberties due to characterization or narrative flow purposes. if you enjoy, please consider reblogging, but don’t repost these or claim these as your own!

— though not required by any means, for full enjoyment of this chapter, i would recommend reading the past records featuring elbie and al 🍎🪞 there’s just some context in that story that can give some more meaning to elbie’s dialogue here, i feel!

— cw: not much, i think, alfons is very silly, hehe.

With Roger running while carrying Alfons, he was taken back to Crown castle——

And then he started to perform an emergency operation.

Beyond the horizon, the light colors of twilight started to blur, and the sky started to darken.

Kate: .........

I couldn’t even so much as sleep a wink, so I ended up sitting on the staircase that led down to the basement, hugging my knees.

All I could do was pray with all my heart.

Kate: Alfons...

Just when my hands grasped on each other, I heard footsteps ascending from the basement, causing me to sharply raise my head,

Elbert: .........

and there stood Lord Elbert,

who had been called to the basement at the start of the surgery.

Kate: ...Lord Elbert, is Alfons alright...?

Elbert: ...I’m unsure. Roger had said... there was no way to tell.

His blue eyes then turned to the direction of the basement, and as if being pulled along, I, too, followed his gaze to the stairs that led down.

There was no sign of Roger coming out.

(Which would mean he’s still undergoing treatment...)

When I stared at the closed door, Lord Elbert lightly put his hand against the wall.

Kate: Lord Elbert.

When I took a look at his face, it seemed so white, I felt as though I could see right through him.

Kate: You’re pale as a sheet... are you alright?

Elbert: Yes. It’s just... I shared a bit of my blood with Al.

Kate: Sharing... blood?

Elbert: Supposedly, they call it a blood transfusion. It’s a way to replenish even a little bit of the blood that has been lost.

(So such a method was out there... it’s the first I’ve heard of it.)

Kate: ...All that to say, he had lost so much blood that he needed to use such a method, right?

Elbert: Yes, that’s right. ...That said, he had also mentioned that blood types must be compatible with one another... so there is also a risk that such a process becomes fatal.

Kate: ...!

Elbert: So... it is possible that my blood may kill Alfons.

E: But, even so——I just couldn’t bear the possibility that he just die... when I could have done something.

E: ...So, I want to apologize for that.

I sucked in a gasp, and in response, Lord Elbert’s expression seemed to morph in distress.

Kate: Why the apology... but anyhow, thank you, for telling me.

(No matter how fatal or high the risk...)

(If there is any possibility at all that Alfons could be saved, then I don’t mind betting on it.)

Once again, I turned toward the door to the basement while supporting Lord Elbert.

Kate: You’ve just had your blood drawn, so it would be dangerous walking around alone. I’ll walk you back.

Elbert: Thank you for the offer... but, I would like to stay.

Kate: ...Are you sure you’re alright not resting?

Elbert: Yes, it should be fine... I have some trouble resting, if I had to say...

(...Ahh, so it wasn’t just me.)

Perhaps the uncertainty and fear that had been burning in my chest seemed to eat away at Lord Elbert from the inside in the same way.

Leaning against the wall, Lord Elbert slid down to a seated position, and I joined him, returning to the position I was just in before.

Kate: .........

I felt that if it stayed silent between us, I would end up bolting downstairs to the basement, so I racked my mind for words.

Then, suddenly, a certain thought came to mind...

Kate: Lord Elbert, could I ask... why do you hold Alfons so dear?

It was a question that had always tickled me.

(I do know that when they had met, Alfons was a child with vague origins, who had been assisting a doctor.)

(And that Lord Elbert had Alfons live in the estate and had him name himself a noble, keeping him by his side.)

(And that he, an aristocrat with a good upbringing, placed his full, unwavering trust in someone who played around and lived a decadent and indulgent lifestyle...)

And how Lord Elbert had a great many feelings for Alfons, to the point he was angered at he had up and left on his own after only leaving behind a note,

and how, even now, he tried his best to bear the responsibility of his life and death.

(So, I can’t help but wonder — just why did he go to such lengths?)

Lord Elbert slowly blinked as though recalling something.

Elbert: ...When we had met, he——Al had given me the words I wanted to hear.

That voice seemed to hold an ever so slightly different tone from how it was normally melancholic,

and even in the sigh that escaped from his lips seemed to be seeped with warmth.

Elbert: It was the first time we had even seen each other. So he shouldn’t have known about my circumstances, or anything, really...

E: But at that moment, it felt as though he had understood what was in my heart like the back of his hand as he gave me such words.

E: And, someone like that — to know what somebody else wants when they are struggling... they must have been someone who had endured unimaginable pain themself.

E: And Al must have been such a person.

E: Though he had always worn a smile, it seemed a little sad as well. So that is why...

E: I... could hardly leave him alone.

(Lord Elbert...)

Perhaps, when they met, both of them had been left with wounds that resembled one another.

With no one to protect them, and alone in this darkness——all they had was each other.

I imagined such a scene in my mind.

Elbert: But, there were times when Al... would occasionally try to disappear from my side.

Kate: Wh...

Elbert: And, to be fair, I had never thought that the day when Al felt he wouldn’t want to disappear himself would ever come...

E: But, as for me, I knew in my heart that I would never allow such a day to come when Al disappeared on his own.

Then, a small smile played on Lord Elbert’s lips.

Elbert: I have no way of knowing whether my blood is compatible with Al’s or not.

E: ...But, if it is, then I win. And if it isn’t, then I lose.

I assumed his blood was drawn from his left arm, because Lord Elbert gently rubbed over it with his fingers.

And those eyes seemed so tense that they could have snapped——

Kate: Me too...

I felt his heart might break and shatter to pieces as if it were made of glass, scattering about,

and words escaped from me, gushing out.

Kate: I made a bet with Alfons, too. That if he woke up, he would try to return my feelings.

Elbert: ...Al? He had made such a promise...?

Lord Elbert seemed surprised to hear, as his eyes widened.

Kate: I can’t say I have the greatest luck when it comes to bets... but I like to say I’m pretty strong when it counts... so that’s why...

K: Your blood will be compatible, Lord Elbert — I’m more than sure of it.

K: Let’s both win this together and make Alfons wave a white flag in surrender...

Though my logic was all over a mess, I just wanted to do something to get rid of the uncertainty.

My voice trembled in an attempt to convince myself,

and Lord Elbert gave me a soft smile, as though he were gently taking in my bluff with both of his hands.

Elbert: ...Yes, let’s.

E: And, to tell you the truth, between Al and I, I have never once lost a bet against him as well.

——In the end, Alfons’ surgery ended only after dawn had broken.

I asked if I could go down to the basement until Alfons regained consciousness...

But taking into consideration the risk of infection and my fatigue, Roger had said he ‘couldn’t allow it,’

stopping me in my tracks, so I ended up returning to my room to catch up on sleep.

Even so, though, I got up early the next morning and ran for the basement.

That then continued to the next day, and the day after that. I would go and check to see whether Alfons had regained consciousness——

And when night fell, I would return to my room, feeling as though my heart had been pierced through. That was my every day.

——That was, until something strange suddenly occurred.

(What the...?)

When I ran at the break of dawn down to the basement——it was empty.

The bed Alfons had been using was now clean and neatly done, without a trace of a person having used it at all to be seen...

Kate: Wh—h-huh...?

(Did... did he wake up...?)

(But then, even so, what is this feeling...)

——Something felt oddly off.

(If he woke up, then why did he let neither Roger or me know?)

(And, even if he had woken up, would that really mean he would be able to move freely around?)

(Yeah, there is definitely something off...)

With a sense of unease piling atop one another at the sight of the empty bed, I dashed in a fret out of the basement.

And when wanting to ask if anyone knew of the situation, I made my way to the dining room, where I knew some of them were——

Roger: Hey there, lil lady, I see you’re an early bird as ever.

Ellis: Morning, Kate. What do you want for breakfast?

There Roger and Ellis were, eating breakfast like nothing was off.

Kate: G-good morning... uhm——

Roger: Hm? Something wrong?

Recently, Roger had looked a bit sleep deprived himself due to watching over Alfons,

but seeing as his expression seemed more clear, I only felt my anxiety grow.

Ellis: Ah, you’re curious about what’s for breakfast? Here, today we have the egg muffins that you said you liked before.

(I mean, yes, it’s true I do think the egg muffins here are second to none...)

(There was something else I needed to know——)

Kate: Is Alfons here...!?

Ellis: Huh...?

Roger: ...? What’s gotten into you?

Both of them looked as though they had next to no clue what I was talking about——and my mind went blank then.

Kate: Wait... huh, but... what...?

(Don’t tell me... did they actually... forget?)

(Like, maybe he had used his ability on everyone again and went off somewhere?)

(That, or——)

“Without leaving your mark on anyone’s memories——”

If he lost his life, he would disappear from any and all memory.

Remembering his tragic fate, I felt the depths of my heart go cold.

Kate: Don’t tell me he... no way, but... how...

(But then, if that were the case, then why do I still remember him...?)

Kate: Uhm, do you really not know!? Where Alfons is, I mean...

Ellis: Well, umm...

Kate: Oh, you know, that Alfons...!

K: Also known as the man who, well, loves to go out to play at night, and for every question you ask he talks so much that he could fit in ten lies in a single answer, and——

K: He’s utterly halfhearted, and has anything but morals, and, and...!

Roger: And that ‘Alfons’ you’re speaking of——he’s standing right behind you, you know.

Kate: ...............He’s what now?

At that moment, I heard a voice from behind me——one I could never mistake for anyone else’s.

Alfons: Now wait just a minute, why spoil the fun so soon like that?

A: I had wanted to look on at her making a ruckus while ever the more panicked, but now that has gone straight out the window, you know.

Kate: Wh-wha...!?

When I turned around, Alfons was there, standing right behind me.

[1] Are you a ghost? (+4 / +4)

[2] Is this real?

[3] Is this an illusion?

Kate: Don’t tell me, are you a ghost?

Alfons: Ahha! Come see for yourself, why don’t you? I have legs, do I not?

He appeared in front of me so suddenly, all I could do was stare at his face in a daze.

Alfons: Even so, how dull your sense must be.

Casting me a sidelong glance, he even gave a dramatic yawn.

Alfons: All I ever did was hold my breath and hide myself, and yet you did not notice even a trace of me... pulling a trick on you was such a bore I just couldn’t help but even let out a yawn, you see.

(It... it’s really Alfons...)

He was awake, he was standing here and out of bed, and he was talking.

I should have long been used to such a scene, but still, my words were lost, and I could only continue to stare at him with unblinking eyes.

Alfons: Come now, you hardly need to stand there in a daze. Why don’t you see if this person before you is your most beloved Alfons or not?

A: And to do so, you must check eeevery inch of my body, no?

He scooped up my hand and brought my fingers to his chest, so that they touched where his heart was.

The moment those fingers felt that warmth that told me he was indeed living, I soundly knew that the ‘reality’ I had sought was here before my eyes.

(This really is Alfons... in the flesh.)

Those lips that were curved into a light smile, those eyes that seemed to see what lie ahead,

that expression that gleamed with a teasing air... everything before my eyes was proof that he was here as an existence before me——

Kate: ——!!

‘You’re the utter worst, pulling a prank like that.’ ‘Stop with these pointless things.’

The list of things I wanted to say to him then and there was endless.

But, all of those things were drowned out by a single emotion.

Kate: Alfons...!

A happiness I could hardly put in words burst within me,

and before I knew it, I was hugging Alfons,

Alfons: Whoops...

and as he caught me, he stumbled back two or three steps.

He was practically sandwiched between me and the wall at this point, but even so, I couldn’t bring myself to let go of him.

Alfons: Hehe... mind you, I am still very much an injured person, so if you would be so kind, could you go a tad easier on me?

Kate: Absolutely not...!

K: You could use a bit of pain to reflect on yourself...

And so, I hugged him tighter.

Alfons: Ow, ow, ow...

His pained voice echoed in my ears.

With my ears pressed to his chest, I could hear his heartbeat.

I could feel his warmth.

(...Alfons is still right here. He hasn’t disappeared.)

And that alone was enough to make me so happy, I couldn’t care less about anything else now.

Kate: ...You remember the bet we made, don’t you?

Alfons: The bet, you say?

Kate: That if you were to survive, in your words, you would love me back to the fullest...

—— Flashback ——

Alfons: ...Then... how about we make a bet... the two of us?

Kate: ...? A bet...?

Alfons: If I die, then I win. I bid you adieu, and have a lovely rest of your life.

A: But, if I happen to survive this ordeal... then you win.

A: And, just as you so wish, I will love you back to the fullest——

A: And tear your life to bits and pieces.

—— End flashback ——

Even now, I could hear his voice, having left its mark in me, so clear in my ears.

Kate: ...I won that bet.

to be continued…

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꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ @ tags🏷️ ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱ @drachonia @.comment, send an ask off anon, or dm to be added or removed!

[imoenhatesthis]

Lily Orchard and Imoen: How to Spot a Mod Post

Ever since Joon the King’s video, it appears that Lily Orchard is replaying her favorite game, Baldur’s Gate II, with her favorite mod enabled, Imoen Romance. She's been posting random dialogue out-of-context, usually to gush about Imoen.

Now, I can tell these posts come from the mod, since I’ve played the games and know how the characters normally talk. However, to a person with no experience, these posts could appear ‘normal.'

(Source)

However, to my eyes, this obviously is an interaction from Imoen Romance and not the original game.

How can you tell when Lily is mod-posting? There are a few key tells.

Brackets. Brackets aren't used in the base game to describe an action. Instead there's animation, or a character will say what happened, or the text might say "*giggle*", with the voice actor laughing. But not with brackets, and especially not describing entire actions. Brackets are very amateur-ish, it gives off a forum roleplay feel.

Modern language. "Ubermage" doesn't feel very accurate to the language used in Baldur's Gate. The modern language usually comes from Imoen or the player character, since those two are the ones most impacted by the mod writing.

Any typos. While there are none above, the mod has typos throughout, while the original game will not.

These are the strongest key indicators. However I'd also consider:

This is more of a vibe-based feeling, and can't be used 100% of the time since the writing in the game can vary wildly. But if the characters are acting like little children, it's probably the mod. Imoen is turned from a cheerful woman whose scarred but still trying to be strong and who likes to tease her teammates, into just acting like a little kid. "Slashy-bashy thing" is just not how Imoen normally talks--if anything, that's something Minsc would say. The "dumb barbarian" archetype character.

Considering it's Lily, if there's a weird focus on Imoen, especially around the player character "Aryana," it's just probably the mod. I'd bet on that 9/10 times. All her recent posts with screencapped dialogue as of this date and time are coming from the mod, if that helps you visualize just how much this mod overshadows her view of the actual game.

But, if that didn't convince you...here's the mod files just to confirm that yes, it did come from the Imoen Romance mod:

(file: Classes, v.4.1.1. Pink is Imoen, Yellow is Aryana/Charname. The other dialogue listed in yellow are the other options Lily could have picked.)

This dialogue is once again also cut before a weirdo interaction can happen. This is in the same file for the exact same conversation.

(file: Classes, v.4.1.1. These are initiated by different levels of romance, but both options are gross.)

[superkooku]

Dionysus' iceberg

This post is what remains of an initially very long rant idea. That means there will probably be a part 2 😏.

Here's the reason for my title :

In theory, you can stop there since my meme pretty much summarizes my complaints. But since I like ranting, I'll continue 😈

The tip of the iceberg

When you think "Dionysus", which words come in mind first ?

Probably "wine", "party", "alcohol" "fun god".

These words are what most people remember about Dionysus. And yes, I'm not going to deny, they fit.

Unfortunately, my problem comes with the fact that 9.5 times out of 10, Dionysus' personality will exclusively revolve around these aspects.

Since the issue is about modern adaptations and perceptions, I'll use a modern term.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with flanderization, right ? If not, the link to TV Tropes' article on the subject is available.

Many adaptations fell into that trap for, I think, every single Olympian.

Hades, god of the dead, lord of the Underworld = Satan, evil death god, darkness and sorrow

Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty = Superficial bimbo who only cares about her pretty face

Zeus, king of the gods, lord of the sky and thunder = 100% pure God OR more recently : evil king god who constantly abuses women.

The gods are stripped of their complexity to fit simpler and more "digestible" characterizations. It doesn't help that the cultural context surrounding them is also taken away...

But this is about grape boi, right? Well, Dionysus is no exception to that rule. In fact, he might be one of the worst cases.

So far, he was never really portrayed in an "insulting" light, like Apollo in Lore Olympus or Hades in the Percy Jackson movie. Fortunately.

But, from all the popular adaptations I've seen, none of them manage to portray Dionysus ! None ! Does that make them automatically bad ? No, of course. It's just something I noticed.

God of war ? Doesn't appear, only mentioned

Disney ? Don't even try 🤣. Just a drunk goofball. Yes, that includes the fantasia segment and Hercules.

Lore Olympus? Well, he's a baby for 99.99999% of the time, so it doesn't count. But he's still a quiet little Gucci bag for Persephone.

Hades I ? Just a nice guy. But hey ! He can give us useful boons ! And I like his sass.

Maybe he'll do more in Hades II. They're usually more accurate than most, right ? Though that's not a very high bar. And they know about Zagreus ! Surely that's a good sign, right ?

Nevermind...

Here's what all these adaptations tell us :

Dionysus is the god of wine, feasts and parties

He's an Olympian

He likes to get drunk and party 🥳

And that's it.

Again, I'm not blaming anyone, but if the myths stopped with those three points, wouldn't everyone wonder why he's even an Olympian ? I sure did when I was a kid.

We have the god of thunder, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, god of music/arts/medicine/100 other things, the god of the oceans ! Many cool gods !

And some drunk dude. He's not given any particular power, except the power to stay super passive no matter the stakes ! If the story revolves about epic godly fights (which is often the case), he's absolutely useless.

Heck, Hades II even actively depicts him as a pacifist who can't handle war. While he's not physically a weakling, he sure psychologically is.

Why is this a problem ?

I am not going to beat around the bush: this gives us a very incomplete and incorrect perception of the god.

Even the things that aren't forgotten about him (like his link to wine) aren't explored.

The thing with Hades II (that's the last time I'll mention it) is that it tries to deepen the flanderized version of Dionysus. He's not stupid, but afraid. He drinks to forget his issues.

While this characterization can be very interesting taken separately, we must remember that this isn't an OC, but an interpretation of a cultural figure.

It must be accurate ! While I can accept some liberties, I think that those should mostly be an extension of the original material, not a total deviation.

Dionysus isn't a scared little boi or a stupid drunkard you can manipulate. In fact, that's quite the opposite. And he's not afraid to get his hands dirty.

(even if the "dirt" in question is the blood of his enemies).

Under the surface

Though it's rather "stuff you can find on Wikipedia". Or by reading the myths.

More about it in part 2 of the rant...

It'll be about theater, madness, travels, link between mortality and immortality and... pirates turning into dolphins.

The actual interesting stuff about Dionysus.

Edits :

1. Thanks to @st4riel-the-w1tchling for clarifying the situation about Percy Jackson. I made my own research about BoZ. My opinion is basically still the same. Again, nothing terribly offensive, but nothing that interesting for Dionysus either.

2. I made part 2 a while ago, might as well add it here :

[funnycreatortimetravel]

Small rant about Sans' character that no one is ever going to read and is probably kind of inaccurate, but I'm going to scream into the void nonetheless because why the hell not and I'm kind of bored.

I feel like the concept of Sans as a whole has been so utterly gutted by the fandom and not in the way you'd think. Not because of the AUs which are all so oddly Sans-focused (but at least we have Underverse which is actually pretty good) but in the sense of the people who claim to "actually understand Sans canonically" and "try to stay as canon as possible" while also equally missing the point sort of. Hence, why we have this long and overplayed image I'm sure everyone has seen a billion times:

If I could lay some groundwork down, Undertale came out in 2015, nearly a decade ago. The internet was a different time and place then and fandom creativity reached new peaks that no one had ever seen before, and as a result, a lot of Undertale was exaggerated, changed, cut up, and then put back together. Why? Because in all honesty, Undertale was a really simple game with a simple premise. Sure there were bits and pieces scattered throughout, parts like who Gaster was, who Chara was when they were alive, who Sans is in general; all the typical fandom theory shenanigans we've come to expect in the recent years. And in that excitement, Sans became the staple of Undertale pretty much, or at least everything it represented. This macabre, yet adorably misleading game with funny moments and interesting think pieces that people are still speculating about. That's pretty much the basis of Sans. So I get why Sans became the quintessential poster child for such a subversively ambitious game. I get why, then, people try to showcase Sans as this badass God character who knows and remembers all of resets and cries over Papyrus and is just an edge lord in general. It doesn't mean it's accurate in the slightest, but I get the idea of it nonetheless. In the absence of content, and there's a lot of it in Undertale, (I mean, it took me 4 hours to 100% it in the Pacifist and Neutral Routes, and 5 hours to beat Genocide, including the times it took me to beat Undyne because she thoroughly kicked my ass and Sans as well) the fans filled those gaps with what they saw fit and what they saw fit was so wide and diverse that the gap overflowed and the game pretty much became unrecognizable.

And I (except for the truly questionable and gross stuff, you know what I'm talking about) love the fandom for that, I truly do. Just the sheer number of comics, spin-off games, AUs, art, and fanfiction that answered every question I had and more was and is impressive, but even so, there's only so much that can be done with the context Undertale provides us before the content gets...stale. Hence my point on why Sans' character was so exaggerated is because Undertale as a whole had been exaggerated and oversaturated and overplayed and generally...not what the game or Sans was originally. But that was peak 2016-2019, though, a few years ago. And the interpretations and eras, like everything, have changed.

Now back to my actual point. It's now 2024. The fandom has noticeably slowed down. All of the AUs and theories and fanfictions that were popular have either been forgotten about over the years, randomly rediscovered or still ongoing, or just abandoned entirely. The game has been pretty much combed through until every file has been cracked, every document leaked, and every secret discovered. It's like a picked over turkey at this point and a lot of the old creators have indeed left behind the game in pursuit of newer things, which is understandable. It's not the center of attention it once was and in that wake, we don't really have a lot of the same pillars in the Undertale community that we used to. And in this transformed community, we have the left over children, now young adults and teenagers, to pick up the pieces. And in that, Sans' character, as well as Undertale itself, has again, been reformed.

That was a lot of words. But I hope I at least set the center stage. My issue, pretty much, is that the leftover fans deem themselves as "above the cringe" the old fandom left behind, which, is fair enough. And in doing so, a lot of the foundation of the 2016-2019 Undertale fandom was kind of overwritten. No, now Sans is no longer this edgy, overpowered God figure ready to right the wrongs of the player, no, now he's this apathetic guy who doesn't care about anyone, including himself, and is only powerful because he cheated. And to be fair, I see some merit in this interpretation. Sans is in fact, a pretty morally ambiguous guy. He doesn't even attempt to stop the player during the genocide route until there's nothing left. He threatens the player on the pacifist route even when we pose no threat. He makes so many allusions about himself not caring about anything. So I get it. Everyone is tired of everything Sans-related. I was too at one point. But in trying to counteract this fanon interpretation of Sans, I feel like this new one is also semi-inaccurate. This new interpretation of Sans is meant to be seen as "mature" and "not cringe" when in fact, Undertale is and always will be sort of cringe. And that's OK! That's why I and others love the game so much, because it's not afraid of being anything other than what it is and what it claimed to be. It had a story in mind that it wanted to tell and it did so unabashedly. The need to separate Undertale and Sans itself from the cringe is so pointless and almost a little juvenile. And imo, even ruins the character of Sans himself.

Sans does care about Papyrus, so so so much. He reads him bedtime stories. He plays along with his illusions of grandeur. He calls out the player when he's killed, despite Sans having to remain objective as a judge. I feel like Sans not intervening in Papyrus' death isn't because he doesn't care, it's because his entire job is to act as a judge and in a position where he's mostly neutral. He knows the player has powers to redo and undo things, so thus, he gives us room to make those choices, for better or worse. He's like, the anti-toriel. He refuses to hold your hand. He tells YOU to make the right choice, and by you, I mean the player. And in that sense, I feel like that's not something a completely apathetic guy would do. Someone like that wouldn't even see the point of choices, of having an option. Someone like that wouldn't care about getting out of bed in the morning, getting several jobs, or telling a person with higher power to just engage with your brother.

Like come on, don't say he doesn't put effort into anything, like he went out of his way to make sure Pap's Holiday party went perfect. He's constantly going above and beyond for his brother.

Sans has emotions and they're so complex and so well-written, but I feel like this counter-cringe culture of the fandom wants him to be this guy who's either too depressed or too lazy to engage with others, or someone who would simply shrug off the death of loved ones when we have proof that Sans does indeed try hard for Papyrus in the ending where everyone dies but his brother. It's an "oh shit" sort of moment when he realizes that Papyrus is the only person he has left and thus, he puts in the effort to be better for him. It's not that he doesn't care or see the point, he's just kind of numb at this point. If Papyrus dies in the neutral routes, you don't see Sans again until the judgment hall and he'll call you a dirty brother killer and tell you to go to hell. That's something someone who at least cares a little would do. He's not above insulting the player and he's not above getting pissed. I've never really seen him as a, "well that's that then," character when it comes to Papyrus dying, for me, it's always been, "I'm angry, but I can maintain my composure and still do what I have to do."

Even in the genocide routes, Sans wants to give up and do nothing. He wants to let himself die without much thought. But he knows that he has to stand between you and oblivion. It's another, "Oh shit" moment, but in the opposite way. He knows he's gonna die. But he still has hope. Not necessarily that you'll be a good person, but that you can try another way and make better choices. He embodies the same mentality Papyrus did at the beginning of the run, believing there's a better chance for another future where everyone can be happy.

Sans isn't a nihilist, not all the way. There's still a chance, still a part of him that has hope for everything, regardless of the route. And should the Pacifist route be completed, you'll see that he's genuinely happy. He DOES care, or at least he's beginning to know that caring about things is ok and healthy even.

Ex 1: If you go to Sans' lab after completing a True Pacifist Route, you get this bit of dialog:

Ex 2: Sans and Papyrus talking about a Christmas party they had on the Newsletter of the 5th Anniversary of Undertale.

The strongest, yet most complex example of this that we see is that he upholds his promise with Toriel and will continue to do so until the genocide route at the very end because he wants to at least give us, the player, a chance. And even if it was a cop-out for being lazy, I believe that Sans legitimately believes there's a chance for us to turn around and be a better person, or at the very least, make better choices. We know that Sans is a person who doesn't like making promises at all, and even though he said that his threatening to kill Frisk is a joke, had he not made that promise to Toriel, I can't 100% say that he still wouldn't intervened in the genocide and neutral routes.

And if you think about it, Sans upholding that promise just makes me question him even more. Like, even if you kill his brother, so long as you don't kill everyone, he won't kill you just because of that. He sticks to his promise and his morals so much, even if it costs him everything because well, what type of judge would he be if he didn't stick to his moral code?

"If you have some special power, don't you think it's your responsibility to do the right thing?"

And by that logic, if he made a promise with someone, don't you think he'd feel he'd have the responsibility to uphold it?

We also know that he makes an effort to give us updates on the Underground after we leave in the neutral routes because he still wants us to know, at least, the consequences of our actions, so it's not like he's just lazily letting us get away with anything with do (even if he does physically.) He still holds our actions above our heads. He still keeps his promise. He still knows that we can make a better outcome. And if that doesn't say anything about him, I don't know what does.

Even in the neutral route endings where things are objectively going terribly for the monsters with Frisk killing Asgore and taking the souls to leave the barrier, Sans still never gives up. Sans, of all people.

And sure, Sans isn't a saint, not by a long shot, but he does have some moral weight in the long run, and by playing the part of a judge, he has a certain level of disattachment that's necessary when it comes to doing his job. Nowadays, I don't see the "fanon" sans that everyone loves to rag on, the one that's overly emotional and jarringly out of character, more so, I see everyone ragging on that interpretation, and then coming up with an equally inaccurate interpretation of Sans just not giving a shit and letting Frisk get away with everything just because he's "not emotional and only wants to be lazy, blah, blah, blah, nihilism, existentialism, it's more canonically accurate, unlike that CRINGE FANON SANS!" /or being a total unserious prankster with no other personality traits, and that's equally as jarring for me.

So in conclusion, I feel like "Fanon" Sans, the one where he's breaking down and sobbing over Papyrus and holding his scarf is just as inaccurate as the "more canon one" where he's apathetic and simply just not caring about his death, or at the very best, says "it is what it is." Sans is a character whose emotions aren't apparent, but he still does care in his weird philosophical way. He loves Papyrus and genuinely thinks he's cool. He's a jokester character who loves a good laugh and being laid back. He doesn't like putting in effort, but he will if he has to. He wants the player to make good choices, so he generally tries to stay out of the way to give us that freedom. Not because he knows we're gonna kill Papyrus, but because he knows we have greater power and wants us to use it to do the morally right thing. He isn't above doing morally grey things either, like threatening to kill Frisk in case they pose a threat to monster kind, but I believe even then, his hesitation to just accept a human in the underground is somewhat understandable given the oppressive tension between humans and monsters. Additionally, he does put in effort when it comes to caring about monsters other than Papyrus, Toriel, and even Alphys and Asgore, he cares about them all: (it's implied that he feeds the amalgamates in Alphy's old lab as proven by the same dog food we see in the lab being in Sans' house and Alphys even calls him a good guy because he helps her in the aborted genocide route ending, him telling jokes to Toriel and genuinely trying to bring some joy in her life even though she's a stranger and doesn't have an obligation to, even staying with her in the Ruins after she's dethroned in the Queen Undyne ending, him acting as the judge before Asgore and even being in such an important position requires you to have a solid sense of morality and conviction, his respect for Undyne as a warrior/leader depending on the ending and in the Undertale Newsletter, he makes an effort to score a goal for his team in Hocky, and Undyne of all people seems proud of him, and pretty much everything that has to do with Papyrus he's at the very least involved or interested in.)

My words don't have a lot of merit. I'm simply saying how I interpret things. But as a big sister, I see Sans as a good big brother who's not too involved, but also deeply cares about his younger brother and his friends. I get that stoicism and being "logical" and "cold" is the new trend and whatnot with all these edits of badass characters and longing for a time when everything was less...emotional, but in doing that, it shuts a lot of discussion about Sans as a person and his complex emotions as a whole. I feel like it's too difficult and kind of silly to chalk him up as either one or the other. I feel like there's a nice middle ground between the "cringe" fanon sans and the "cool, apathetic" canon sans that a lot of fans either go one or the other on. Anyway, that's about it for my rant. It's kind of nonsensical and a little hard to follow, but I hope I was able to get my thoughts across nonetheless.

I guess it was a big rant after all. Oh well. It is what it is.

[vulpes115]

Okay, so I have thoughts about a lot of the recent Jegulus vs. Jily discourse. Most of them aren’t bringing anything new so I’ll keep them to myself (Though I will add a Jegulus shipper, I believe that the Jily anons that have been sending death threats and other similar messages need to chill out, find some hobbies, maybe read some good Jily fics, and most importantly, stop sending death threats to people—mostly queer minors—who ship a fairly basic grumpy x sunshine pairing). However, the part I do want to weigh in on is the Marauders fandom and misogyny.

I will admit that this fandom has a problem with how we treat our female characters. We give our male characters a lot of depth and nuance, allowing them to be flawed and focusing heavily on their trauma. In contrast, many modern MLM-dominated fandoms, in an effort not to be deemed sexist, place all their female characters in the same "flawless, sarcastic, badass lesbian queen who rolls her eyes at all the boys' relationship drama while having her own much less dramatic sapphic storyline" role. The Marauders fandom is 100% guilty of this, and we need to address it.

Let the girls be messy. Let them make mistakes. Let them have their own ridiculous, adorable, and even scandalous relationship drama. Let them have heartbreaking, tragic storylines just like the boys do. Most importantly, let the girls have their own spotlight. They are all interesting characters with a lot of potential if given the chance.

However, I feel some of the arguments about misogyny in the Marauders fandom have lost the plot. For example, claims that Jegulus fics are reducing Lily to a surrogate are not entirely accurate. Only two Jegulus fics are specifically tagged with "surrogate Lily Evans," and only 114 (7% of the total Jegulus fics) involve them raising Harry—most Jegulus fics do not include him. Moreover, quite a few of those fics involve split custody with Lily and either Pandora or Mary. Jegulus fans are not bashing Lily; only 29 Jegulus fics are tagged with Lily Evans bashing, compared to 165 Jily fics with similar tags. Most Jegulus fans actually love Lily. Strawman arguments like these won't help; they only prompt Jegulus fans to think, "Well, I don’t do THAT," without critically examining how they treat their female characters or addressing other areas of concern.

Jegulus is not inherently misogynistic. It can be if you sideline Lily, but as long as you give Lily attention and make her a nuanced character—which many Jegulus fics do, like Crimson Rivers—there’s no real problem. Similarly, Jily is not inherently feminist. Sure it does help to give Lily the spotlight as one half of the main ship, especially since James is such a devoted malewife. However insisting that Lily needs to be in a relationship with James or be Harry’s mother can be misogynistic because it implies that female characters are only valuable in relation to the men in their lives. Given that canon, influenced by JKR’s misogyny, struggled to develop Lily beyond a flawless woman loved by both James and Snape who sacrificed her life for her son, as all good women should. Also Lily doesn’t need James to be happy and in love, ships like PandaLily and MaryLily are really good underrated and cute ships that come with new ways to flesh out Lily’s character and spotlight female characters more.

Also, since I mentioned Pandora and Mary, it's worth noting that when Jily shippers bring up misogyny in the fandom, they often use it more as a gotcha against Jegulus shippers, seeking moral high ground. They don't genuinely care about misogyny in the fandom; they’re more concerned that Lily no longer receives the same attention she once did. Lily seems to be the only girl many of them care about, often only in relation to Jily. Many don’t show the same interest in Mary, Marlene, Pandora, Dorcas, or the Black sisters. Lily is the only girl who truly matters to them, and even then, it's mostly in the context of Jily.

[bearsintreesofficial]

a recreation of a sonic fanfiction i wrote when i was 10

ok y'all, some context is needed.

we have a song called cassiopeia coming out tonight. i made a tiktok that said if the sound for cassiopeia is used 100 times, i'll publish the sonic fanfiction i wrote when i was 10 that i joke about a lot but have never shared. anyway, this happened in an hour. i am shocked. i did not expect it to happen so quickly, if at all. i begin my search.

well, it turns out i can't publish it because the places it was published no longer exist, and 10 y/o me didn't back it up (although i thought i had). bummer. an early internet relic gone.

either way, the plot details are seared into my memory because honestly? for some reason, that small act of creativity was a core memory in my life. so while i can't share it, i can retell it, because it's silly and pretty accurately captures what it's like to be 10 and obsessed with a piece of popular media. so here goes.

enjoy, and stream our new single cassiopeia tonight.

SCENE OPENS

the fanfiction was about a page long. the story opens with me - in school, as i did most every day of my life up to that point. in the story, sonic/tails/knuckles live in the human world, and essentially function as superheroes. there's no explanation for it, they just are there keeping the earth safe and such. we are also friends. there is no explanation or backstory for that either.

with the setting established, we're straight into the action; an alien pod crash lands in our school playground after school. me and my friend are the only kids left. where are the teachers? who knows. as is evident, worldbuilding was not my strong point.

anyway, in this alien pod is...an alien. it was a spider that looked a lot like the facehuggers from the alien film franchise, because i'd seen a clip of that as a kid and it freaked the hell out of me. i call sonic (where did i get a mobile phone from?) and let him know something Serious is going down. sonic and tails arrive - knuckles is too busy trying to get the master emerald back from doctor robotnik in this instance.

my friend and i take a back seat and let sonic and tails deal with the weird alien thing. they deal with one, but as soon as they get rid of it 10 other capsules drop in the area. sonic and tails can't take them all, so me and my friend join in to help take them out. i didn't really account for how, but we're fighting all back to back and it's very epic. (sonic x was the prevailing sonic show at the time, and it was y'know - very dramatic. so this was like a scene from that.) tails even brings in the tornado two, his personal plane, to run rings around them. after we finish the final facehugger alien off, a final alien pod descends. but out of this pod emerges...

shadow the hedgehog.

the aliens had been sent by him, and he was here to take sonic down. this was all part of his master plan.

the piece then ended, because i suppose i was going to follow it up at some point. but alas, that did not happen.

moral(s) of the story:

archive the silly stuff you wrote when you were a kid, it'll be fun to look back on later.

stream our new song, cassiopeia. it has nothing to do with any of this, but i think it's neat regardless.

thank you.

[s1ndle]

THE LOST SIMS OF THE SIMS (FOR CONSOLE) • Part 2

A while ago I wrote a post about previously unknown sims that existed within the files of The Sims for console by way of leftovers in Bustin’ Out. In that post I had mentioned that there were entries for even more sims in ALLCHARACTERS.rsp.

For further context and elaboration on the process surrounding this, please read my previous post on this here.

So now, here are the remaining lost sims of The Sims for console!

There are still more remaining unused sims though, four as a matter of fact! However… 

All four of these remaining unused sims either use CAS parts or colors that don’t seem to exist in the game anymore. When I first started trying to piece these sims together, I thought they were intended for Bustin’ Out, given that there were also a few sims for Bustin’ Out in the same file, but putting them (mostly) together in the original game yielded surprisingly comprehensible results. Like Calen here, who looks pretty great even though the pants he is meant to wear do not exist in the game anymore;

The entries for these four in ALLCHARACTERS also don’t seem to follow the same patterns as other sims that were certainly intended for Bustin’ Out either. The sims intended for Bustin’ Out almost entirely call for the ‘placeholder’ thumbnail, which looks like this:

They also typically call for mesh indexes that number in their thirties as opposed to sims from the original console game who only go up their mid-twenties at most! And their color indexes are typically set at either 1 or 0.

These other four unused sims have fully defined thumbnails (albeit ones that don’t seem to exist anymore🙁), and their indexes only exceed what is known to be in the game by a factor of one. Which leads me to believe that these sims were intended for the original console game, and not Bustin’ Out, and simply used meshes or colors that were removed from the game some time during development.

Circling back to the remaining four unused sims however, here are the rest of them! But please note that these recreations will not be 100% accurate.

For Calen, Laffy, and Rocco, whose lower body mesh no longer exists in the game, I used default pants with the color index listed in their respective entries. While Laffy’s hair color and Marshall’s accessory were left as default.

[eldaryasharbinger]

Making this post again, this time as it's own post and not a reblog (for context, the original post that inspired me to actually share what Is going on my head was about a theory on Jason's possible dynamic with Candy so I'm writing my own thoughts about it! I'm brainrotting about it so you've been warned!)

OP was talking about "imagine if Jason is actually just going to manipulate you for his own power and success" and something along the lines, not 100% accurate I just can't remember it right now so I might reblog it later just in case anyone wants to give it a read!

So now I'm like, ok HEAR ME OUT and consider my candy Petronilla the example candy here because that's the way I thought about all these (she's got the sweet personality, is all pink and pretty so keep that in mind ok??!)

Okay now we can really get into it and I'll start by saying, what if Jason did not only just fall FIRST but also HARDER and is either in denial or too arrogant to admit it or something like that yk, like he's been actively trying to seduce the enemie's new girl just to end up falling in love "accidentally"(???) and he feels like it's not possible that he's just imagining things so he pretends it's not true (kinda something similar to what actually happens in Baldur's Gate 3 and Astarion, he tried to get into your sheets for his own protection and ends up catching feelings for Tav)

But once he's like "oh shit! I really do love her!" he suddenly feels bad about himself because he genuinely cares about candy but he's not right for her since he's this annoying b- I mean, since everyone else low-key despises him too, so maybe he's kinda worried that he can't be good or that candy could NEVER feel the same way after everything she knows about him and everything Roy Devon etc could've told her about him (this is the angst part in the enemies to lovers...)

I got inspiration from this pic, I don't even know the context but IMAGINE he's looking at candy like that because he doesn't really know what to do about it but he loves her dearly or sum and he's kind of frustrated??

Like I don't know if that's just me but I don't only see "love" in his look I kinda see sadness as well?? something like that?? YEARNING even???

While she's just there, with her doe eyes... not knowing how much this man cares... Like tell me my version wouldn't go great with Hozier's song "Too Sweet" (currently going viral I think on Instagram and idk about TikTok since I'm not on there, I only know about it because of the Harvey Stardew Valley edits lol)

take a look at the lyrics please and pretend with me, let's be crazy about this together...

(realistically I don't really know if this could be possible like in the canon so I'm not even going to say that it's a theory. I only thought about it when I saw Jason's expression in that exact picture a little bit before launch, got inspiration for my new MCL Oc Petronilla, had no context and still RAN with it)