#and I just had it again with olms

[the-mountain-flower]

Ok

How many creatures are there

That I have only seen/read/heard of in fiction

That I subconsciously categorize as "probably fiction"

That actually exist irl

Bc wtf

[hotwaterandmilk]

I'm seeing "Wedding Peach was unsuccessful" trotted out on Twitter again and it's honestly kind of funny to me. You can dislike the series, but you're rewriting history if you suggest it was a massive commercial flop/astronomical failure — it simply wasn't.

The Wedding Peach TV series maintained viewership throughout its run which is why it aired an entire year's worth of episodes (the full length it was intended to run) and didn't get cancelled like Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, for example.

I'm not going to pretend it did Sailor Moon numbers, dear god, it absolutely didn't get close hence why it wrapped as it did. I would suggest looking back now, that it was the definition of a mid-performing title for the time period. It sold toys decently but not outrageously, it got viewers but not an outstanding number, and it garnered a small but dedicated fanbase of male otaku. All of which is par for the course when it comes to a mid title in 1995.

Wedding Peach DX was produced because the TV series LD sales were decent enough to warrant it. Children were not buying LD box sets at this time, adult fans were and it was this interest that justified the creation of the four DX episodes as direct-to-video releases. If a series doesn't sell well they don't make more episodes, let alone higher quality deluxe episodes specifically for the home video market (and thus for older audiences with spending power).

It is very important to point out that Wedding Peach DX had NO INVOLVEMENT from the original creative team. Tomita Sukehiro and Yazawa Nao did not contribute to its creation, Tadano Kazuko didn't provide designs. Yuyama Kunihiko was the driving force behind the production of the DX episodes and he served as both director and writer for all four episodes (bringing on Wedding Peach animator and soon-to-be frequent Pokémon collaborator, Ichiishi Sayuri to serve as character designer).

What inspired these to be fanservice dreck to the level they ended up being is honestly beyond me. I mean the otaku market definitely wanted more episodes featuring the characters (and more songs featuring the seiyuu, if you want to see how keen otaku were for FURIL please see this post) but part of what they liked about the characters at the time was their (barfbarfbarf) perceived purity and innocence. The DX including panty shots and swimsuits kind of threw them for a loop. Even now, if you look at discussions about the DX among otaku there's a bit of a divide in opinion.

The DX episode sales were (as far as I can tell based on magazines from the time) also mid, but enough to cover four episodes. Three and four don't seem to have sold as well as one and two, but again the stats from the time aren't comprehensive. I think the fact that there weren't any after episode four says it all, honestly. OVA episodes are expensive to produce and it was extremely common for them to stop immediately if the sales weren't there. DX didn't justify its existence beyond those four episodes and Yuyama moved onto a far more successful project in Pokémon.

On that topic, I think it's important to note that Wedding Peach was OLM's first television series (albeit a coproduction with KSS). If it and the studio's adaptation of Mojacko hadn't made some level of profit it would have been quite difficult for them to adapt Pokémon. Neither Mojacko nor Wedding Peach set records with their viewership or sales numbers, but they both did "OK". It was in Pokémon however, that that OLM truly found a successful property with the series still running today. Sometimes you've got to have a few runs at producing things before you find success. Wedding Peach was one of these early runs, a project where a lot of people cut their teeth but one that didn't justify its own continuation beyond a certain point. Just a very standard media mix from the mid-90s, in other words.

Wedding Peach is a problematic title with indifference through to outright objection to representing love outside of heterosexual romance. Looking back now it feels like an absolute dinosaur on so many levels. Between the anime's fatphobic episode and Momoko dropping some gender essentialism, I'm not surprised people want to relegate it to the dustbin of history.

However, I think it is very telling that Tomita Sukehiro, when presented with the opportunity to tell a similar story in the modern day, chose to represent not just queer love, but platonic and familial love in Wedding Apple. While he can't undo the regressive and cringy elements of the original series, as a creator he has progressed and I'd like to think we can all continue to improve our outlooks and output as we grow.

Disliking Wedding Peach in the modern day is completely understandable. I'm not going to pretend anyone should watch it in 2024 without knowing that it is a camp, cheaply made relic of a time when heterosexuality was considered magic. However, just because it pandered to all the worst things trending at the time doesn't mean it didn't sell enough products or hold enough viewers to justify its production. It did, it just wasn't a strong enough property to go beyond that and that's representative of mediocrity rather than mind blowing commercial failure imho.

[in-the-multiverse]

I wanna grab Avid like a freddy fazbear plush and shake him around because why

Why does he turn on a dime to his friends? Why does he go along with morally questionable plans so easily? Why is he like this??? And yea, the whole soul deal with Olm answers it: ‘do as I say and you’ll be kinda free’ and that’s like. Part of the motive. But emotionally-

When he knocks out his friends to tube them, there’s no hesitation. He’s deceptive and quick and cackling. He’s singing an uplifting song, luring in his target like the pied piper and finishing the melody on a bang. The ending of Trog’s ep 3 implies there was also no warning before getting submerged. He’ll offhandedly throw jokes about cloning friends, shrug off the moral implications, mutter under his breath about replacing one in the same causal inconvenience of replacing a piece of technology

He’s not only doing what he’s told, it looks like he’s detached about it

The few times he talks about it seriously, it’s like he’s in a trance. He needs to do this. He has to save all of them. He can lock away anomalies, fabricate life to fill in those empty spots, make sure there’s no loose threads, act concerned and lie through his teeth. Drastic solutions to drastic problems. Does he take delight in getting away with all this? Probably. Is he happy it’s come to this? Probably not

There’s no use dwelling or having second thoughts because these things need to happen anyway. He believes he’s doing a greater good, so… he sets aside any guilt or bad feelings (if those existed in the first place). Maybe even goes as far to convince himself there shouldn’t be remorse. Helping them (and most importantly himself) outweighs whatever they’d think of the situation. Which feeds into the detached attitude

He’s not only making sure certain things are done, he’s settling into the proper mindset to do them

In the 100 days in a mc nightmare series, the prequel to Avid’s sbk journey, there’s a part where he spent 20 days travelling across a dangerous land. It was a physically draining march towards a location that probably existed, and mentally draining to watch for things that could kill him at a moment’s notice. There wasn’t a guarantee he’d arrive, no map to guide him, no proof of its existence. And yet, he kept going. Despite the literal hell he was in, Avid held onto the tiniest spark of hope that he’d make it home after this quest. And that kept his feet moving. He adapted to the harsh environment until he felt numb to it. Nothing stood in his way for long. “Something in me told me to keep going and so I did, through the worst of it all and then some.”

Then limbo happened. He got trapped in a pocket dimension that 1) was never meant to be his home, 2) meant to be punishment for killing a deity, and 3) incredibly isolating. I cannot imagine the heartbreak, paranoia, frustration, and the whole storm of emotions that plagued him: on day one. Cannot fathom what a millennia of that would be like. But I can guess after so long, anyone’s grip on reality would loosen. Shatter, even

But Avid didn’t break. Whatever sanity he had left was kept intact by the hope of one day, some day, any way- finding home again. It’s what he says to Olm in response to “Why don’t you just give up?”

When Avid has his mind on a goal, he becomes an unstoppable force. He’s always been one

He’s resolute, and right now: he wants to go home

“And I’ll find my way / no matter what it takes / in the void”

(there’s also a monkey plushie that got catapulted into the walls)

[genericpuff]

Rachel did a live Q&A in the LO Discord server and gave some news about the Animated Series, it’s still happening! (Surprisingly) Any thoughts on that or things you’d like to see from it?

Right, like every other time she's said it's "still happening" with no evidence to actually support it. That's always been the issue and still is.

Sorry, that's not me being snarky at you, I'm more so frustrated and absolutely fucking done with all the empty promises and platitudes.

Best case scenario with what was said during the Q&A was that she said "it's still happening" (worst case was that she didn't address it at all).

Like, how is this:

"I can say that… we are currently doing work on it… and it is going well.. and that it looks really cool and that I wish everyone could see what we’ve done because it looks really really really cool, and it’s happening, but that’s all I can say at this point… I can say, making tv shows takes a really long time, it takes so long" (last night's Q&A)

Any different than this:

Any different than this:

“Um, it’s been really interesting. It’s been educational for me. So, what I—what has been done so far is beautiful. Like, if I could share it, I would. But I can’t. Because it’s very naughty.” - Girl Wonder SDCC (July 2023)

She's been saying this for the last two years since people started getting suspicious it wasn't happening in the first place, and despite all the reassurances that "it's still happening", it doesn't seem to have anything to show for itself. Cast list? Nope. Director? Nope. Writers? Nah. Just a showrunner whose bio still says "TBA" and who, despite having a whole ass 40 minute long interview with Girl Wonder, still didn't have anything to show for what's to come, just more empty promises that it's "still happening" (and a lot of banter about Stephanie's life, rather than her involvement with LO).

In fact, most of what Stephanie talks about in the podcast concerning LO is pitching it, not developing it. And this interview happened just a few months ago. Go listen to it yourself if you don't believe me.

So at this point, I see "it's still happening" as "don't panic" corporate speak for "we're still pitching it and trying to find a network for it so we can actually move onto development." Yes, animation takes a long time, even Hazbin Hotel took about three and a half years to finally release after Prime bought the rights to it in 2020. But LO, again, clearly hasn't even started the animation process yet. And while we're comparing it to Hazbin, note that HH actually had LOADS to show for itself along the way of being developed and did a much, MUCH better job at staying relevant and pulling in new people and hyping it up. Even people who never watched Hazbin before in its indie days on Youtube were hearing about it, it made an active effort to sell itself to new viewers and break out of its bubble on Youtube. Is LO doing that? No, not really. Most of the people who know about it are diehard fans who refuse to read anything that isn't shown directly to them on Webtoons, and diehard haters who are tired of the garbage that gets advertised on Webtoons. Ask anyone who doesn't use Webtoons, and best case, they'll know someone who reads LO, worst case, they won't even know what a webtoon is.

Shit, even the new upcoming Zelda movie has names attached to it, including Avi Arad, Wes Ball, and Derek Connolly. And my god, it's gonna SUCK DICK with that bad of a line-up (the guy who ruined the OG Spiderman trilogy and created Morbius, the guy who directed the Maze Runner films, and one of the leading storywriters behind Rise of Skywalker, fucking YIKES) but hey, at least it has more than one name attached to it.

But okay, if we're gonna play the comparison game, let's be fair and compare LO to some other works in its own lane. Let's Play announced last year that it would be getting an animated adaption, and it already has a studio backing it that is FAR more suited for it than JHC is to LO - OLM, the same studio whose animated for massive franchises like Pokemon, Yo-Kai, and Gudetama. JHC meanwhile has animated... motion capture kid shows like Word Party. Because that's the only kind of animation they actually specialize in when it comes to their in-house services. Sure, they also have Harriet the Spy, but that wasn't animated by them, that was animated by Titmouse Inc (heh sorry).

I'm the Grim Reaper recently had its own animated adaption announced, and who's in charge of it? Oh, only SAM FUCKING RAIMI-

And look, maybe the Let's Play and I'm the Grim Reaper adaptions won't happen either. I just think it's ironic that they both have more to show for themselves in terms of credible names attached to them than what LO has managed to scrape up after five years of promising that it's "still happening" (especially when one of those series is nowhere near as big as LO and the one that WAS as big as LO walked away from Webtoons entirely). For Webtoons' own "worldwide phenomenon", they sure have given LO the shit end of the stick by pairing it with a family-with-kids-under-10 production studio that doesn't specialize in animation and a showrunner who got her start with the Cosmopolitan (weird how LO has so many plugs with Cosmo, huh? Why is JHC producing the show again?)

At the end of the day, nothing's changed. It's still just the ole' "it's still happening" record on a loop, while the comic itself falls further out of favor with people. And it's likely gonna be going behind DailyPass soon, so just think about what that's gonna do to its relevancy after it gets sent away to the equivalent of the Webtoons graveyard.

As I've said countless times before every time this topic comes up, at best, if it is still happening, and I'm wrong about all of this, they are doing the worst job I've ever seen at hyping people up and keeping them informed. It is NOT a good thing that people have to keep asking Rachel if it's still happening.

As for worst case... you wanna know what other projects come to my mind that have fallen into the same state of development hell and decay as LO's TV show? YandereSim and Cryamore. What do you think the popular opinion is about those works and their creators now? Because if you don't know either of those names and are about to google them, let me give you a heads up warning - it's not positive.

If it happens, it happens. It will hopefully be before I get all the therapy I need to undo what LO has done to my brain so that I don't have to make repeat visits LOL But if it's after, hey, maybe the show will be good! Assuming Rachel doesn't, y'know, E.L. James the whole thing. Because frankly, the show will need to cut and rework a LOT of stuff to be any good IMO and I don't think that will be possible if Rachel gets directly involved. But I'm not even hoping for that scenario because there's literally NOTHING to give me that hope, "it's still happening" is nothing more than "don't panic" corporate speak to me at this point. It's cynical, but I just can't waste my energy caring about it anymore.

[betweenlands]

OLM!?

STUPID IDIOT MOTHERFUCKING OLM GOD DAMN FOOL ARCHITECTURE GORE MAKING GOD FAKING RAT OLD BASTARD GHOST OF AGOLITH BIGGEST CLOWN IN THE CIRCUS LAUGHED OUT OF TOWN COWBOY MOTHERFUCKING OLM

STOP PINNING ME WHEN I TALK ABOUT OLM I HATE THEM SO MUCH WHY DO THEY KEEP MAKING UP SHIT WHY DO THEY DECIDE TO FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT JUST SAY SOMETHING ELSE ARE THEY DEAD ARE THEY A BASTARD OLM HAS SUCH A VISCERAL AFFECT ON ME NOT EVEN IN THE ROOM NEVER SEEN THIS THING'S FACE AND I KNOW THEY HAVE THE WORLDS SHITTIEST GRIN GET AWAY FROM ME

if i wanted to get into skyblock kingdoms and god said olms waiting inside i would piss on gods feet for the sole purpose of getting sent back down

if i have to deal with olm saying one word in person on voice in sbk not only will i close the tab i will delete the video out of spite and have to rewatch the entire series again for the experience of being able to skip all the times where they are mentioned or alive

i don't even know why i hate them so much. they fuck around but i am just mad because i am angy

they better have some fucked up backstory to explain this if theyre just some shithead god whos a fan of creepypasta and wanted the irl version ill go ham

BETTER have had the abyss make them a sealed ancient evil cuz if it didnt Im going to make it

paypal.com/IFuckingHateOlm

episodes not even about them. vaguely shown what is supposed to maybe be some architecture gore and i lose it

where the fuck is olm if theyre still alive im going to so deeply wish they werent

crusty old one

ill punch olm and their sad frail old god twig bones will simply flake apart under my epic huge meat fist and they will disintegrate until all thats left is one final tombstone to be locked at all times simply titled Now You Fucked Up in neo galactic

im not breathing im hyperventilating at this point

i hope theres a date given for when olm died or will die so i can make it a reminder on my phone

everyday once a year i will see it and do anything but pay respects to the god who constantly made up shit for fun to be evil

[kaythefloppa]

Wild Kratts - Salmander Streaming - Thoughts

Spoilers!!

I've a good feeling that this isn't actually a clip from a movie, but just something the animators whipped up. The fact that the animals running are in blue and green gives me the impression.

But also, the characters being able to stream movies makes me feel old.

If I had a nickel for every time a red squirrel fucked up high tech structure in this show, I'd have 2 nickels.

Also, how efficient are the tellurium crystals (which we saw earlier in the season premiere) are, if shit like THIS can render the turtle ship's power efficient??

Roll credits!

Also, this is the first of MANY moments in the episode that made me laugh unironically.

Martin, that is a fucking exoskeleton. I don't think I have to explain why that is incredibly gross (although it does make for an efficient boat).

Also, random fact: The largest crayfish on the planet has weighed up to 11 pounds. That's huge!

This is another thing about the episode that regularly comes up (and that many people have noticed). The animation is suprisingly fluid. I mean, not surprisingly, there were new riggers on board for the show, which likely explains why it took nearly 2 years for the new season to drop, but still. Screenshots alone do not do several scenes or shots (this included) justice when talking about how eye-catching or interesting the animation is.

I did not know that some salamander species were cannibalistic! This show always manages to teach me new things every day, even at the age of 18.

Am I the only one who is the tiniest bit miffed when they call it "the human fish" and not "the olm." I get that it's a nickname like "Wolf Hawks" but, it's not the only name. 😭😭

I feel like this is yet another moment where I should needlessly harp into the "lore" of Wild Kratts. Because she describes the suit as "universal" and as we see in the episode, the Salamander Power Suit can be reactivated based on species. So why didn't she do this with the Spider, or Wolf Suit. I'm 100% looking too much into this, but just saying.

Also, I really hope that a Universal Salamander Power Suit implies that we'll be getting an Axolotl episode and a Power Suit. I was kinda hoping we'd see some of them in this episode, but the potential is there!

There is DEFINITELY no way I could've done this joke justice using screenshots. You need to see it in video form to see my point. Because the joke was predictable in every sense of the word. I knew what the punchline was. I knew when the punchline was gonna hit. But because the animation was so fluid throughout the frames, and because of how detailed the shading and lighting were and how overtly obvious the punchline was because of the visuals, it still made me laugh my ass off. I legitimately had to look up if James Baxter (yes THAT James Baxter) worked on this episode because it reminded me of a lot of scenes he did for Steven Universe and Owl House. Was surprised to know that he wasn't, but regardless, whoever animated these episodes, whether veterans or newcomers, deserves their fucking raise.

I know that he's referring to the salamander, and yes, the joke has been made before, but like, if someone told you that there's an episode of Wild Kratts where they [by technicality] said the word "hell" *checks notes* twenty-four times in one episode, would you believe them? Yeah that's what I thought.

Also, indeed hellbenders are the largest salamander in North America, the third largest in the world. Adult healthy hellbenders have very few predators and that's because of how gigantic they are.

I used up my one-video free-card on a previous joke, but once again, it's so silly, you know what the joke/punchline is, yet it's presented in such a way that is still really humorous, either because of how it doesn't bring too much awareness to the fact that it's a joke, embraces said fact of it being a joke, or both. Complete with straight-up fucking Looney Tunes style anticts, it's just really fun.

Also, another thing I find funny is that the hellbender ate the crayfish exoskeleton. Like, would that even be tasty?

Spoilers, but Chris does NOT Activate Tiger Salamander Powers. Yes, I am also miffed.

They're so besties.

Ok but like I'm sensing a pattern where Martin activates a Creature Power Suit with Aviva whenever he's not activating it alone or with Chris. Which at first I didn't think much of, but then I realized. Blue is a component color to make up purple. So this occasional running theme/pattern could be a reference to how similar they are, and how both rely on each other in some fundamental way in their adventures, much like how the colors blue and purple are interconnected in a way. Am I looking too much into this as well? Yeah, but I actually enjoy it!

Ok not gonna lie, I actually liked the fourth-wall break. Mainly because they could've easily fucked it up badly by having it drag on for too long, or making it too meta, but quick cuts and gags like this make it all the more worthwhile. And unlike the Camel Chris gag in the camel episode, it sticks around once and doesn't wear out its welcome.

Also, the Salamander Suits were activated by touching a Hellbender, which we've established, is bigger than every other salamander shown in the episode.... so... why the fuck are they that tiny?? They should at least be way bigger than the rocks they're standing on.

Also, the Salamander Suits genuinely look like Dinosaur Suits. At least... from this angle.

-... because from THIS angle they look so. FUCKING. CUTE. I so badly want to hug them like plushies (now I'm even more disappointed that Chris wasn't in one of these)

How the fuck was this guy able to stuff a huge-ass butternut underneath his vest and shirt.

Also, Chris, you do realize that keeping squirrels from eating the nut is a good way to make them endangered as well? Bro is petty 😭

I think this is the first time we've seen the Tortuga miniaturized by someone on the actual crew, not a villain or an accident.

As someone who didn't know or care that much for salamanders (at least in comparison to frogs and toads), this episode enlightened me a lot. I actually hope I do see a hellbender sometime in my life

CONCLUSION:

PROS:

The humor. Like, every single joke in this episode either got me to crack a grin, or laugh out loud

The animation. Once again, the animators have got their rent due. So many memorable facial expressions and cool color designs that just make it nice to look at.

The salamander species themselves.

CONS:

Chris definitely should've activated the Tiger Salamander Suit. Bro was robbed

No mention of Axolotls? The most well-known salamander in the world? For shame.

Final Ranking: 8/10. A nice slice of life mini-adventure with no huge or real stakes, but overall a pretty fun romp. Before this episode came out, there were a lot of positive reviews of this episode on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, and while I generally take those with heaping grains of salt (because opinions are opinions at the end of the day), I definitely agree that this episode is fun. The very epitome of "camp."

[vosh-rakh]

As the Hortator’s daughter, Hla-eix could always tell when she was being watched. Even in her sleep.

Her eyes shot open to see the (former) living god of the Tribunal, Vivec, leaning over her bed. She would have started if this wasn’t a regular occurrence. Mother Ayem had told Hla-eix that he had insomnia, something to do with not being a god anymore. His once-split face – now just a slightly discolored grey on his right side – hung over hers, his eyes bulging out of their sockets like a bug’s, his restless lids sagging underneath. “Hla. Wake up.”

“Vivi,” said Hla-eix, rubbing sleep from her eyes, “you’ve already woken me up.”

“I want to show you something.” Vivec stood up, but his sharp stare lingered on Hla-eix as she slowly shifted up out of her Daedra-silk sheets.

“Is it another prank?” That was usually what he was up to at this time of night. “We can’t spike the flin with bug musk again, the cooks are being extra cautious because of last month –”

“No, no,” said Vivec, flashing one of his rare smiles, his teeth glittering like pearls under starlight. “I told you. I want to show you something special. Can you fly?“

“What? No!” Hla-eix frowned. “What makes you think I could?”

“I’ve seen you in the apothecary, looking very closely at the Rising Force potions.”

Hla-eix blushed under the pale grey scales on her cheeks. “So? Knowing what potions do doesn’t mean I can fly.”

“Well,” Vivec said, smirking toothlessly, “You’re in luck. I can fly.” He threw a bundle of clothes at Hla-eix. “Put that on. The air is cold outside, especially as high as we’re going.”

Hla-eix beamed like crescent Secunda as she caught the heavy Skyrim-imported woolen robe. She finished kicking off the sheets and pulled the robe over her Daedra-silk sleeping gown. “Where are we going?” she asked, her hands on her hips like a true adventurer.

“Up, naturally,” crooned Vivec, chiming his glassy laugh. “Where else?”

Hla-eix frowned. “You’re being coy.”

Vivec offered his hand. “As is my nature. You’ll see.”

Hla-eix took the hand, his fully-grey one, and he led her to the window of her bedroom. With a conjured gust of wind the twin panes blew open, allowing the cold air of Vivec City to trickle in. Vivec the Saint picked up his legs into his floating lotus position and hovered outside. “Sit in my lap, Hla. I’ll show you. It’s not far.”

Hla-eix wasn’t particularly afraid of heights, but her room was high up in the Hortator’s palace. With great care she climbed into Vivec’s lap and sat facing forward, her back against his chest, her sharp nails gripping his thighs. It was wise of Vivec to have her wear the robes, she thought: nights in Sun’s Dawn – Mama said it was Xeech in Jel – were frigid, especially this high up.

Vivec slowly spun them around away from the palace, looking down upon the rest of the city as it crawled along the sea towards Vvardenfell proper, canton by canton. She’d had little opportunity to explore them on her own; it was difficult to escape your minders when you were the Hortator’s daughter. But she had a knack for fading like a shadow, and had explored some of St. Olms, and once watched a brutal fight in the Arena before being caught and brought home. Mother Ayem had scolded her, as had Mama, but secretly Mama praised her sneakiness when Mother Ayem was out of earshot. “You’d make an excellent assassin, like me, one day,” she had said, and it had excited Hla-eix, despite the fact that she was grounded for a month.

Hla-eix looked out upon the cantons, even this late skittering with lanterns crawling along the streets like ants. She longed for the secrets of those ants’ lives, locked away inside their skulls. What did they do day-to-day? How did they make their livings? What did they know of Love?

Love was a mystery to Hla-eix. She had read a copy of the thirty-fifth lesson of Vivec, the sermon on Love, but understood little. So she went to the source and asked Vivec directly. He had merely laughed and said, “You are barely eleven years old. You’ll know more about love when you’re older.”

This did not satisfy Hla-eix. Derelayn was scarcely older than her, and she could never shut up about boys. But it almost bored Hla-eix to tears every time. The most interest Hla-eix had in boys was to fight them, to cut their egos down to size – especially those annoying Nord boys in Ebonheart, who thought they were so important because their fathers were always jostling for the Duke’s favor. Hla-eix didn’t have enough fingers to count the times she’d been sent back across the bay after going to the castle to visit Derelayn, but getting into fights instead. (Again, while Mother Ayem chastised her, Mama secretly praised her.)

A chill ran down the back of her robes’ collar, tickling her spine and shaking her from her reminiscing. Vivec had brought her close – but not too close – to a strange sight: a small floating boulder. “You brought me to see that meteor?” she asked. “What for? I see it almost every day.”

“I brought you to see my hubris,” Vivec said softly. “Baar Dau.”

“Your hubris?” asked Hla-eix, looking up at Vivec. 

“Oh. Hubris means –”

“I know what hubris means, Vivi,” Hla-eix said, reaching up to pinch his nose. “I mean, how is Baar Dau your hubris?”

Vivec sighed. “It’s a long story. A version of which I’ve written in my sermons. The truth is a little more mundane, but…the point is, I should have dealt with it sooner. I was too proud. It took your mother’s decisiveness to finally put Baar Dau to rest.”

Hla-eix looked down at the canton below. A throng of priests and ordinators and various government officials and foreign dignitaries were looking expectantly up at the floating boulder that once was Baar Dau. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to notice Vivec and Hla-eix floating in the sky nearby.

She could hear the people on the canton chanting something. It seemed like a countdown of sorts, and she was able to pick out Mama’s voice rather clearly in the cacophony. She scanned the front of the crowd and was able to pick out the gleam of Wraithguard on her right hand. Just as the count reached “one” – 

A loud boom – a flash of light. Hla-eix’s head jerked up to see that the boulder was no more, just a fireball shooting fragments in all directions…

…including at her. She screamed.

The shrapnel bounced harmlessly off the thin violet surface of a Shield. “Don’t worry, Hla,” said Vivec. “You were never in any danger.”

There was now nothing at all left of Baar Dau but small rocks plummeting into the sea and pitifully crumbling onto the canton a safe distance away from the crowd. But Hla-eix’s scream had drawn their attention, and she looked down to see her Mama, the Hortator, glaring up at her and Vivec, as the crowd murmured and pointed.

Ku-vastei marched up towards Vivec, ascending the sky like stair-steps, fists clenched at her sides. Finally she stood in the air in front of Vivec and Hla-eix, her hands on her hips.

“Good evening, Hortator,” said Vivec, a shy, boyish smile on his face.

“Vehk,” Mama said, her voice like ice. Hla-eix had never heard her call him that before. “What are you thinking, stealing my daughter from sleep, and putting her in harm’s way right next to an explosion? In public?” Her face was expressionless, but Hla-eix knew there was rage hidden behind her scales in the way her tail stiffened.

“Well, Ku-vastei, you see…” Vivec stumbled over his words. Very uncharacteristic of him, thought Hla-eix; he always had something to say to any situation. “I just thought she would like to see –”

“He wanted to show me his ‘hubris,’” Hla-eix said. “I’m not sure what he meant, but it seemed important to him.”

Vivec flashed a guarish smile at Ku-vastei, hoping Hla-eix’s simple explanation would suffice.

Mama said nothing for a long time. Then she looked down at Hla-eix and said, “‘Hubris,’ huh? Damn dangerous foolishness, more like. And it’s no longer a problem. No thanks to him.” She suddenly hefted Hla-eix up and over her shoulder; Hla-eix yelped at the swift movement. “Go to bed, Vehk. And let my daughter get her rest. She’s a growing child, and needs it.”

“Yes,” Vivec said, nodding furiously. “Apologies, Hortator. Won’t happen again.” With a crack of the air, he was gone.

[trickstertriangle]

got the memory gun...

...hey sixer? it's time.

-----

. . .

. . .

. . .

[RECORDING.]

-----

[The footage begins by showing TT climbing into a chair, seated across from the camera in a dark room.]

... b-begin recording. wait, you were already recording? uh, okay, that's fine- uh- we can just edit this out, right...?

ahem... my name is bill cipher, specifically of dimension 8333. i live in the lab with my best friend, stanford pines. i've learned that in most other dimensions, the lab is converted into "the mystery shack," so it may be better to refer to it as that, but i digress...

... i have managed to get my hands on a "memory gun," invented by a fiddleford hadron mcgucket from a dimension other than my own.

... i... came to an agreement with my friends, about it's usage. we're... we're calling this a medical procedure. if anybody asks what happened, that's the answer that'll be given. i... i am terrified of doctors, and... some people will probably catch on pretty quick. but... uh... i... i won't want to interact with any people i've forgotten for 48 hours, and i'll want to avoid distress for a week, just to make sure the brain doesn't notice anything missing and freak out trying to fix it too early...

. . .

... i have a list of things to erase. i am recording this to ensure that... that the documentation is here. we can see how well it worked, and... i was very specific with what would be erased, to make sure that... nothing important is lost. nothing that i'd really miss.

... i hope nobody other than us sees this... yes, yes, i'll still read it...

that time i was turned into a human temporarily and it was super embarrassing for so many different reasons...

the fact that... so many living things that i care about in my house are... replacements. clones. for ones that died.

the videos they showed at the bill party that for some reason were super uncomfortable for me and i don't know why it was so bad for me specifically?

the alternate versions of stanford pines that i know as gunner, who scares me and i'm not even sure exactly why.

the trauma bubble where i had to relive that same trillion years over and over because i pissed off the olm...

the blueprints for the memory gun, and the fact i had this procedure, so that i cannot make another one or be tempted to do this again.

... my stanford will handle the process of using the memory gun for me. afterwards, he will hide all evidence from me to ensure that the erasure stays firmly in place. and, he'll... he'll destroy the gun for me. and, um...

. . .

... i am aware of the risks of memory erasure, and i consent to this procedure.

... end recording.

[The footage cuts out.]

[discet]

What if Anne didn't leave and stayed with Marcy and the Planters? What would Marcy and Anne relationship be like? What would the trios relationship be like? And what new events would happen and how other events would change? Anyway I hope you have a nice day!

Oh interesting.

I think honestly as bad as Anne bailing was on Marcy, Anne needed that time away to calm down. In a more ideal world she would have at least talked to her about needing distance and the two could have made plans to meet up again. But as for the question at hand:

What if Anne didn't leave and stayed with Marcy and the Planters?What would Marcy and Anne relationship be like?

Cause otherwise. Ho boy. I think a lot of the road trip arc would have been as awkward as it would be unpleasant. Cause Anne hasn't had her canon season 1 arc where she has matured. Like imagining Sasha and Anne's canon dynamic in season two, but more simmering tension instead of outright hostility.

A snapshot of their dynamic in an example episode would be something like:

Anne making some sniping comment. Marcy getting hurt but just accepting that she deserved it. Anne regretting her words but not being able to apologize due to how she was hurt.

I think ultimately the two would work through it as friends but probably not stay dating by the end of it. They'd have a few episodes where they work throughsome of their issues

What would the trios relationship be like? And what new events would happen and how other events would change?

This I think is where this ask gets really interesting. Cause I think Marcy would probably have never sent her letter to Sasha. In the story as is she writes and sends the letter to Sasha without input from the Plantars. But I think that she would ask Anne for the best way to smooth things over and Anne would argue against it. Saying there was no point and Sasha would never listen to them.

In fact I doubt the Plantars would have ever gone to the Capital at all. I think the plan would be to find Val and get her to tell them how to charge the box.

Meanwhile Sasha, without getting that letter or her corresponding character development in Newtopia,would probably double down and be hellbent on tracking the two of them down and getting the box.

So you'd end up with a situation similar to canon but flipped who is on the run from the government.

It would end up being a very different story in the process. How many things would even happen anywhere similar is hard to say. They'd probably get more involved in the bizarre bazaar and its operation in their efforts to pin down Val. Get more info on the old cult of the olm lore that is mostly ambient in the story as is.

[autisticlalna]

How many duplicates do you think Olm goes after? Like, he’s got a monopoly on Avids sure but, this is the second Viking we’ve seen him messing with (maybe first from a chronological point) and with how he’s hanging around as Volm that also means interacting with Marm and Leon again (as they’re the same as the ones that show up in AA) and Fool (I’m not up on Fool Lore, I don’t know if this is the same or a different on than was in AA). Is he going after versions of Avid’s friends specifically? Why is he interacting with multiple versions at all? There’s too many questions augh!

this is a different Fool, although the line dividing them seems to be pretty vague-- Gold Fool isnt Purple Fool, but the Fools have some awareness of what happens to their alternates so there seems to be lingering resentment. hard to say for sure.

AS FOR EVERYTHING ELSE, THOUGH......

Marm showing up in AA appears to be under her own power (or, at least, the Void's), so i doubt Olm wants her there but shes manage to slide under the radar. iirc the only quest she's done was 100 Traps, which is self-contained and Olm has no known ties to.

Leon did help build the Haunted Castle at the End of Time, and lives near the Frozen Keep. like Marm, though, he hasnt had any (known) contact with Olm on AA yet. him and Marm discussed having an Avid Watch Duty, so Leon is probably also there On Purpose on his end, rather than Olm's. (if anything i doubt olm wants anything to do with him lmao)

Viking is the weird part here. Olm and his influence was completely absent from Gilded, but depending on where in the timeline Gilded falls that couldve been Avid's first contact with a Viking. then we have Skyblock Kingdoms, where Summertime sidestepped the OSSHA arc but has ended up in Volm's sights due to Yellow being Yellow. (and, while most of it is off-video, we do have that bit in ep13 where Yellow and Avid talk about him and Summertime being besties at minimum.)

actually no hold on i need to loop back to Fool for a sec. we have Gold Fool as one of the new heads of OSSHA, but if im gonna bring up Gilded as a potential link then i need to bring up the Fool in Gilded. the original Fool. the one that made the god / that is the god that caused Olm to turn on Purple Fool and try to wipe him out of existence out of jealousy.

that connection could be part of why Olm specifically singled them out in Avid Adventures. Wanderer and Purple Fool are both variants of people with previous ties to Avid that could be manipulated-- each Fool is a blank slate that adapts to the world he ends up in (hence the different colors - theyre based off the primary emotion that version of Fool feels), and Wanderer is isolated and was left unattended long enough for Olm to grab him. Avid was apologetic towards Wanderer about it, so "these are Avid's friends and Avid is being pressured into putting them through the horrors" is definitely notable.

i dont know if this makes sense lmao. there is no thesis here this is just words

[varteeny1234]

i smacked avid with the angst hammer again :>

Summary:

Being stuck in limbo, time doesn't feel real. It's not a loop, but it might as well be.

Words: 814

Character: Only Avid, but olm is referenced once

Warnings: Existentialism, feeling trapped, implied non-graphic self-harm

I have no idea how this turned out but I hope it's good!

TIMELOOP  

The word was written above the locked door, on the wall of black void that stretched into infinity in all directions. It was written in blood.  

The letters dripped just like the cut on Avid's hand, slow, but fast enough that it was mesmerizing to watch. They glared the same bright, angry red. Avid didn't know why he wrote it.   

He was mad, he supposed. Mad... maybe frustrated was more accurate. Nothing he did could get him free, and it was all made worse by the fact that he knew that it was his decision to slay the demon and get stuck here. He was stuck in this hell dimension with no way home, day after day with nothing but the same old, predictable monotony, to go along with the aching pain in his chest that he couldn't get home .   

Nothing ever happened here that was worth remembering ... He didn't even know how long it had been since he'd been trapped. For all he knew, it could have been only a week, or a month, or it could have even been a year. Many years.  

All of it was, in a way, similar to how he guessed being stuck in a timeloop would feel.   

Time wasn't actually repeating. There wasn't any wind down here in limbo, and his footsteps didn't stay in the weird, cold, liquidy ground, but any changes he made to the grey dead-looking plants or the old cobwebs stayed just as they were.  

Avid felt the sharp edge of the rock in his uninjured hand. He could write the word again- every day, to keep track of how long it had been. At least, how long it'd been since he started writing. Was using his own blood worth it? It might fade or wash away in time... he looked closer at the wall- it was still a dark void- tangible, but nonetheless a dark void. It was made of nothing .   

With a choked-off scream, Avid stepped back and threw the rock at the wall with all his might.   

Even if he did try and keep track of the time here, it wouldn't matter. He'd already lost count of the days he'd spent wandering. There wasn't any point-!  

A tiny pinprick of white light shone from where the rock had struck the wall of void. Looking closer, carefully, Avid saw it spark with... something. He picked up the rock again, contemplatively.  

His arm still hurt, and the word on the wall hadn't dripped much more, still legible- although it was beginning to fade as it dried.   

As precisely as his trembling hands allowed, Avid began to carve the word again. The sparking white inside of the void shone brightly against the black, making even the red of his blood appear dim in comparison. In only a moment, TIMELOOP was scratched into the wall, next to the smear.   

Twice now, he'd written this word.   

More- more, again, this was something to do , his hand hurt from gripping the rough rock, this was something that could keep him sane-  

Oh, he was already far past that point, just the idea of what he was doing was proof of that, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered.   

Again. Write it. The wall carved easier than it should have... or maybe the void was just not powerful enough to keep it solid.  

Just keep writing.  

The void can't possibly be this brittle . It had to be letting him do this.  

Nonsense! The void doesn't have feelings. It didn't feel bad for him.  

Keep writing.  

Maybe he could carve his way through and break out to the other side.  

It wasn't easy to break other than the first little bit. Only the surface held the letters.  

KEEP WRITING-  

TIMELOOP appeared over and over, filling every spot that Avid could reach. The once-black wall was soon filled with jagged white lines, raining the shower of sparks down.   

They were like tiny stars.   

They also didn't burn to the touch, like Avid would have expected stars to. These ones simply faded away in his hands as if they'd never been there in the first place.   

The pain in his arm had dulled from a sharpness to an ache, and he stared at his work, all the way from the ground to the highest spot he'd been able to scratch it in.  

His blood hadn't dried fully yet.  

Avid threw himself against the forever-locked door, sobs wracking his body. He screamed, unable to hold it back anymore, unafraid that anyone might hear him. The only one who could have heard wouldn't've cared, regardless.  

His fingers scraped down the side of it.  

His head hurt, there was a moldy feeling in his chest, he was going to be stuck here for the rest of forever...  

It really was just like a timeloop.  

Maybe one day someone could help him get home.  

[mandareeboo]

🔥 on amphibia finale ? o3o lotsa mixed opinions on that one :0

Send Me a 🔥+ a Topic, and I’ll Tell You My Honest Opinion About It

I. Have some complaints! I think it's bs that Mother Olm just showed up and was like. Hey kid. Wanna know how to die? I refuse to believe Sasha and Marcy would willingly surrender Anne to such a fate when the story has been them learning to fight together as friends. I agree that the kids would split up in high school years, but this isn't then! This is the final confrontation! Their coup de grâce! I would've had each of the girls take part of the final shot, marking all of them for life. A scar to remember the war they won together.

I also hate splitting Amphibia from Earth. Why would you give Anne Boonchuy little siblings if they're never gonna see each other again? Why would you have her become a Plantar and them become Boonchuys if the worlds will never mix? Why would you have Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly bust in to save Bee and Oum as a "We'll protect the family we have left" only to never have that family interact again? It feels cruel. It feels mean. It feels like we're robbing these people of their homes.

It's not the end of the world, of course! I just picture that Terry got the portal working post the finale and everyone met up again. But it felt bittersweet in a mean way.

[impact801]

I remember a lot of discourse in fandom, on the Guardian's inclusions in the THT, but for me it never brothered me too much. Guardian's edition never came completely out of nowhere for, BOTE highlights that both the Core & The Olms don't know where the stones come from or what their purpose is, so the question is already put into my head at the start of the finale. The answers of those questions coming from a being beyond Amphibia, made sense to me.

Maybe have Mother Olm, mention the idea of their being some kind of Guardian/God that gave them the stones. Nothing to specific but enough so that concept is in the audiences' head.

Anne being a clone doesn't bother to much either. Anne had this whole thematic element of rebirth through the lotus on her shirt and on her powers.

Or for example how her parents can't recognize Anne because she's change. So Anne being reborn again, made sense narratively.

Anne refusing the Guardian's proposal is an awesome character beat. Anne at the start of season 3, is pretending to the Plantars & her Parents that she can handle all responsibility thanks in her growth in Amphibia. But as the season goes along, she accept doesn't have everything 100% figured and still has lessons to learn. She learns growth doesn't end just because she grew from Amphibia, and that learned humility is why Anne rejects the Guardian's proposal.

So Guardian's edition adds enough to the show that i feel like that it was net positive to the narrative.

[thesassymarquess]

Did you find your missing baby?

Not yet. Kulet is still missing. I admit my schedule has been rough for playing DF as of recent, and my most recent time has been spent on a new fort (The Sea Adventure, a Sinister Ocean/coastal embark). Kulet is from my 4th Fort (Idk the name it was too long). Short summary of my forts though:

1st Fort, Bustmoment: -Tutorial embark. Went fine initially, set up large bedroom complex, good dining hall, and food/alcohol production. Decent traps for surface entrance. Lack of understanding of how Fortifications work lead to bad usage of them, and ultimately made the surface defenses scary to operate. Meanwhile I breached the first cavern layer and only the first, and got involved in a nasty war on Olm people, that kept dragging my dwarves into the lake. Eventually after losing a major military engagement, I dropped the save and made a new world. (I didn't know about Retirement at the time)

2nd Fort, Steelfortress: -The infamous war on birds started here. Embark was a neutral badlands with high savagery & a light aquifer. Aquifer posed no challenge and I was within a year having settled with all three caverns pierced, and a decent magma forge set up. Traps and such were more aggressively deployed, and there were more than a few battles (Internally referred to as the "Great Cavern Wars" against Ant-People) to carve out certain areas underground for farming. Ultimately what drove me to abandon this fort was a 9 month long battle against giant flying agitated wildlife. During that I built up a decently large and armored military, which while incapable of fending off the birds, was apparently itching for World Domination. (More on that later. Though also on another post of mine)

3rd Fort, "Lake of Something" (Name forgotten again): -Having felt a High Savagery was too much & Light aquifers too easy, I searched for a heavy aquifer and got a lake location I liked. After starting the first year, and trying to dig down, I almost immediately hit the heavy aquifer and got stuck for over a year trying to get things stable, and set up a method to pierce the aquifer before beginning to build the fort proper. Unlike the previous forts which had surface trading depots, I decided to move this one underground. Like other forts before and after, I then began to quickly dig towards the bottom, and set up small areas within each cavern to work in, or blocked them off after discovering them. Ultimately nothing particularly notable happened that sticks out in memory, but the fort was ultimately abandoned due to the Cave Adaptation fix update rolling around. Knowing most dwarves had likely developed it in this fort, I decided to take a break from Fortress mode, and play some Adventure mode.

(Which I decided to retire my second fort, as my save of it was in the worst condition of the three, and I originally wanted to retire the fort by "Succumbing to internal invaders" or similar but a standard retirement was an option and I viewed as more desirable)

4th Fort, Gooddesert the Fortress of Mines: -After playing around in Adventure Mode in the 2nd fort's world, I got an itch to start a new fort again, and was talking with my brother. We ultimately came to pick a fort in a Good and Neutral biome cross between "Desert?", badlands and Grasslands. Among world history, as it shares a previous fort, I decided to embark from that Civ again. Just to find out when the Liason came by, that 2 of my 3 dwarven neighbors were at war with me. Going through Legends mode further told me it was my Civ that seemed to have started the war, with all attacks coming from my prior fortress after I retired it. The whole time I was trying to rescue kidnapped children from Goblins in Adventure Mode, it turns out my fort was just attacking EVERYBODY. I played this one until around 1-2 weeks ago, when I began wanting to try messing with some mods for the first time.

4.5th fort, Some volcano Fort I think?: -I had a friend over and I was talking about DF, as you do, and he got curious about the game and wanted to see what it was like. So I booted the game up, showed world gen, we picked an embark, and then retired it to go to it in Adventure Mode. We then made an ideal character for him, and then foolishly rolled up a Worm Man with over 100 pet worms, and crashed the game. I haven't talked with said friend yet, and was gonna play in that world when talking with them.

5th Fort, The Sea Adventure: -That leaves us with our current fort. It's a sinister oceanic embark, and I brought a few adventurers there, including a Dwarf-me, a dwarf-version of my brother, and an anomalocaris (one of the mods) woman of one of my roommates (And their cat as a pet cat, who died to Goblins). Originally the plan was to grow Sliver Barbs & catch Precambrian Arthropods for an aquarium, but I don't know how to do the later half. The Roc attacks have been on this fort.

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 18 Review - A Flashback Masterpiece

I’m sorry, Episode 16, you just got dethroned after two weeks of reign. Episode 18 is now the best episode of this anime by far. It’s just an origin story, but the animation and storytelling are so immaculate. It’s almost perfection in a way. It feels like a good closure to the first arc and the beginning to the next possible arc in the Rising Volt Tacklers’ journey.

Liko and Roy are curious about how Captain Pikachu is able to fly in the air, so they team up with Dot to ask Friede about Cap’s origins. He avoids the topic, but with the help of Orla meddling, Friede finally reveals his past with Cap. Once a promising Professor, Friede starts his story jobless and listless. He had no motivation and no drive to do anything after quitting; he spends his days fishing with Ludlow and that didn’t excite him either. One day, he gets a phone call from his old teacher, Lucca (Liko’s mother), who he hasn’t seen since his student days at the Kanto region. Lucca moved to Paldea from Kanto after getting married to Alex. She wonders why he quit his job at the lab. Friede says that he knows everything there is to know about Pokemon, but Lucca sees through his front and points out that he lost his drive. She then asks him to meet up with him the next day at dawn where he is introduced to the Pikachu that will one day become Captain Pikachu. At first, Friede didn’t want to bother with a Pikachu, but after seeing how Cap used Volt Tackle to make a vortex into the sky, he became interested in it. He spends his next days trying to observe and theorize Pikachu’s goals and actions. After befriending him, Friede and Pikachu become partners and the Rising Volt Tacklers came to be.

First off, this backstory was amazing. It played out like a movie! I do like how Friede quitting his job and losing his drive is parallel to a lot of adults trying to find their place in life in the real world. People say that Pokemon is childish or for a general children’s audience (which it is), but having Friede and the Rising Volt Tacklers be adults and have mature motives for their path in life shows that Pokemon isn’t afraid to bring in an older audience as well. It’s like Mollie’s backstory that was told in episode 11 where she quit her job at the Pokemon Center because working there wasn’t fulfilling for her. Friede quit his job because it wasn’t fulfilling for him. I’m sure there are a lot of adults who relate to this; I relate to this myself!

I like how Pikachu was very hostile towards Friede in the beginning of their encounter. It shows off how much of a wild Pokemon he was back then. He was annoyed with Friede and kept tackling him. I think my favorite part of this episode was Pikachu gathering berries and then rushing off to eat them. I think this is one of the rare moments we see Pikachu behave very animal-like. We never saw Ash’s Pikachu as a wild Pokemon as much since most of his screen time was being a captured Pokemon and a pet of sorts. Seeing how Pikachu respected Friede towards the end of the flashback felt realistic because Pikachu knew Friede was always there and it even saved him from falling. In turn, Friede finding drive in Pikachu was understandable. Life is always full of mysteries and finding that one fateful moment can lead to a myriad of opportunities. Pikachu was definitely Friede’s muse in a way.

The animation was very smooth. The scene where Friede and Charizard flew up to the skies next to Pikachu’s vortex flabbergasted me. I never knew OLM Studio could animate this beautifully. This definitely looks like something shown in a Pokemon film or in a smaller mini-series like Twilight Wings. The way everything kept moving throughout the scene, taking a break when they looked beyond the horizon, and then moving again once Pikachu fell was breathtaking. I may not be an animator, but I can see good animation quality!

I do like how Lucca was the reason why Pikachu and Friede got together. Lucca is also the reason why Liko met the Rising Volt Tacklers. The theme of connection is very prevalent for this anime as it is a bond that expands beyond horizons. I cooed over seeing baby Liko in the episode; she’s so cute. I deduce that the flashback might have occurred at least five or six years ago since Liko is most likely ten or eleven at most. The fact that a mere glimpse of seeing Friede over a video call was the stepping stone of her current life is pretty fascinating in itself.

I also liked learning more about the Rising Volt Tacklers. It turns out that Ludlow and Friede were already acquainted with each other. Orla and Friede are also childhood friends with them both being Kantonians but Orla moved to Hoenn. The fact that Friede was requesting Orla to build an airship from Ludlow’s ship meant that he and Ludlow sailed all the way to the Hoenn region from Paldea. That’s determination right there. The fact that Friede, Cap, Orla and Ludlow were the starting members of the Rising Volt Tacklers seems meaningful now.

I love the little cameo of Larry in the restaurant, showing the game canon of him being a regular at that restaurant. Since this was a few years back, I do wonder if Larry is still a Gym Leader five or six years later and still working overtime. Anyways, I do like that this episode had the opening song play towards the end, signifying the closure of one chapter and the start of a new one. There hasn’t been talks or announcements of a new opening or ending song, so I do wonder where the show will go from here. I think this episode was flawless, but what about you? What do you think about this episode?

[betweenlands]

okay, folks! we're home, let's talk about sbk!fool. specifically, the fact that something weird is going on with him. fair warning: this is gonna get long. also there's spoilers.

Fool is kind of a... side character in SBK. he's not directly opposed to OSSHA, but he's not exactly allied with them either. his island partner is Milkman and he's the other Birch Box guy, but he's good friends with Vintage. a lot of what he's done has been attributed to other people.

also, he might just be a huge threat, especially to whatever Olm is doing.

let's back up a little to the part of Avid's ep11 with Fool in it. here's a timestamp.

there's silly music. Kittrix is doing her "i am but a fence" bit. we hard cut to Avid saying "we're gonna need to have the law removed from this situation" and there is no background music. we go further into the scene, Vintage turns to Kittrix as Fool & the Jungle folks are walking off and says "remember that service i told you to sign up for earlier?", and we start getting an ominous synth drone that remains throughout the entire scene. Fool's whole prank slash hitman service is apparently deadly serious business.

this is... really weird. i was there for the Fool stream where this was recorded, and tonally while Fool was definitely being a little bit of a ham, he's also genuinely just like that and was being pretty lighthearted at the time. this scene? this scene is edited in a way that makes Fool seem really ominous, on-par with Avid in the scene an episode earlier where he kidnaps Ruby, and...

speaking of Ruby. their OSSHA clone does not like Fool. here's another timestamp from Leon's ep5, but what's important to know about this scene is stream context again in the opposite direction.

OSSHA Ruby, aka Cloneby and hereby called Tuby because i think it's funny, spent the entirety of their time online during Fool's stream basically stream-sniping him. Fool is not lying when he says they threatened him (even though i kind of had to point that out because it was a little subtle). not only did they show up in-person at Birch to act ominous, they also /msg'd Fool some threatening stuff and kept streamsniping him whenever he tried to go over to Cherry Kingdom and warn Vintage about how weird Ruby was being. this is what led to Tuby showing up at End Kingdom after Fool talked to Leon; Ruby-as-in-the-actual-player was straight up watching stream to know when he left and where he was going.

Tuby has beef with Fool... which is pretty weird considering OSSHA kind of struck a bargain with Birch early on where they could put up "under construction" signs and OSSHA would leave them alone.

okay. so Tuby doesn't like Fool and Avid thinks he's threatening. pretty lowkey so far. for this next part, we've gotta jump around in time, and you've gotta trust me a little -- Fool doesn't upload his VODs anywhere so the only proof i have of these is "i was there at the time."

anyway: this is Fool in the Limbo animatic. notably, this is from the sequence where Olm tells Avid to stop people from falling into the Void.

Fool has different skins for different servers he's on. Skyblock Kingdoms Fool is gold. Fool's PNGtuber is purple, but purple Fool also has a server he's associated with. to be absolutely clear, i am going to make a leap in logic here, bear with me, but this is not SBK Fool. because purple Fool is from Avid Adventures.

deep breath in, deep breath out. here's where stuff gets very "source dude trust me" other than the screencaps i have, so i'm gonna start with the absolute confirmable basics. Olm is the antagonist of Avid Adventures, the command block based adventure map that Avid makes. they are also the antagonist of Avid Adventures, the series about Avid making that map -- they're possessing Avid in that series, in fact, generally being quite ominous about it. i have an entire essay about that but we don't have time for it right now.

Fool, while playing on Avid Adventures, initially only did Dark Path. these VODs are well and truly lost to time, but initially he was doing the Shrouded Isles fully evil, committed to helping Olm largely for funsies. Avid even logged in as Olm to be ominous at him a couple times! in general it seemed like Olm and Fool were kind of wary of each other, but mostly chill -- Fool has a main god he swears allegiance to that isn't Olm, but he's still helping the guy, so there shouldn't really be much of a big issue?

anyway, turns out Olm is really petty. they left him a mean breakup note and everything! (sidenote: Atium's name is entirely my fault. as far as Fool is aware and as far as Fool's lore is concerned, they are a deity of luck, coffee, precious gems, and some other things all totally unrelated to any novels by a certain brando sando.)

anyway then Fool's base gets exploded to bedrock and he respawns in a white void room.

this actually coincided with Avid removing a lot of the shop builds at the original spawn, by the way! lore going forward implies that Olm, either using Avid as a conduit or just in general, straight up thanos style snapped everyone who used to be on Avid Adventures out of existence. one would assume this means this was also Olm trying to delete any trace of Fool.

you may notice that i said that purple Fool is Avid Adventures Fool, not was. this is because Fool does not stay dead -- he respawns! on his boat build next to his exploded base! with every single inventory of every single chest wiped! Olm really did not want him to survive. he and Atium, however, chose life. Atium leaves him a book as well:

Atium's typing style is kind of just straight up delightful, i'm not going to lie. their "blessing" took the form of a Fortune 6 pickaxe titled Atium's Prosperity in rainbow lettering with flavor text reading "A chance at a new life", by the way.

but yeah, uh, Fool and Atium (who is also Fool, it's complicated) just kind of looked Olm in the eye and went "nuh uh," which is insane because this is Olm we're talking about, the dark god most commonly known for destroying an entire civilization in a single night and also constantly telling lies to Nightmares/SBK Avid for funsies. Olm legitimately has straight up destroyed and killed and maybe even eaten other gods before. we have confirmation from Avid that they consumed an entire pocket dimension somehow and that's what led to the creation of Limbo.

and again, purple Fool just kind of said "nuh uh" to all that with the help of his deity, who is also him.

considering it's like 95% certain Olm is in charge of OSSHA at this point, and it's heavily implied that the clones are part of their orders for Avid, there's... a pretty good chance Olm knows Fool isn't exactly someone to take lightly, and that could explain why Tuby is so hostile towards him and Avid is so nervous around him.

then again, maybe it's just because Fool is fun to mess with and good at playing the prankster hitman. who knows?

Atium, probably.