#and thus also no longer possess the games themselves.

[nagalias-mindscape]

Does anyone remember the Neopets game for PS2? Was thunking up a hallway trap for a story and came up woth the infamous tower climb from that game, then spiraled into nostalgia over coming home from school and being able to play neopets with mom until dad came home.

I miss that game, and the memories. I think it’s mostly the memories, because I also miss the spyro games. and the jax ‘n daxer games. And Katamari. Legacy of Kain. Kingdom Hearts. Gauntless: Dark Legacy. Castlevania. Conker’s bad fur day. Goldeneye 007. Mega man. Star fox.

Even the one game whose name I can’t recall? You played as a dude named Max? Maximilian? You were, like. This warrior or something with a connection to death. Exploring through darkness and all that shit. When you died that avatar of death would bring you back ans mock you or something? Might be mixing two games, though. Any help figuring that one out would be nice.

I miss a lot of the games I used to play. The stuff just isn’t like they used to be anymore.

There was. Even this one game. Different set of memories, my uncle instead of parents. Out of state. He had this game. Don’t remember a lot about it, but I remember the beginning because it starts you literally in the middle of a war. You’re an immortal fighter, and you have an immortal wife (which may have been your enemy in the beginning?) and two (non-immortal?) children who are equally just as powerful, and you eventually get to fight enemies with all four people. I recall being so surprised that fire wasn’t effective against ice. The scene I remember most clearly about it, though, was the funeral scene where you have to burn the rope in a specific order according to the people who approached you.

Don’t even remember the game or anything else. Just that funeral scene being stuck in my head rent-free. I’d love relocating that game, too. Uncle has no clue what I’m even talking about.

My Google skills have failed me.

[reegis]

More Hadeon lore?? I love them sm

aaaa i love to talk about my dumb babies dont give me any excuse..

She’s actually part of like. a whole Thing. which i will now ramble about for ENTIRELY too long, so ill put it under the cut

ahhh im so bad at explaining things even tho theres like. a lot of lore & worldbuilding (by my standards anyways)

but basically all of my angel & demon OCs are part of an idea i have for an rpg/ttrpg?? set in a world where God, angels and demons all exist in the world, mainly in a sort of eldritch sense. God has essentially gone missing for thousands of years - with only scattered miracles to occasionally make Its presence known - and in Its absence, the angels have taken on their own warped interpretation of Its edict while the demons have wreaked havoc, and both have entwined themselves very heavily into human society (mostly to humanity’s detriment).

The players would create a character (human((religious, cult, or agnostic)), fallen angel, redemption demon, etc) that would give them certain skill sets/abilities/affinities depending on their choices, but the overall goal of the game is to Meet/Find God (and your characters reason for this would vary)

The continent in the game is basically one enormous mountain range, with the peaks actually reaching the heavens (think like olympus) with those living closer to the peaks being basically ultra religious societies who still believe God is there and everything that happens is still somehow part of Its plan, and those at the base and few small surrounding islands (which deal with much more demonic corruption and angelic attacks) doubting It still exists, and becoming home to fringe groups of cults creating their own deities (sometimes literally) and agnostics.

Players would meet somewhere at the base and progress up the mountain, and - depending on their group make-up - meet angels and demons along the way, both of which could potentially be foes or allies.

The angels exist in a hierarchy, with the seven Seraphim at the top, but almost all of them pose a potential danger. With God no longer at the reigns, the angels have had centuries to interpret Its will however they see fit. Many of the lowest ranking angels still hold the original ideals and are mostly harmless, granting blessings and offering sage advice, but are of no Real help. Of the higher ranking angels, many have gained their own twisted sort of moral compass and have lost touch with Gods original love for mankind. What is or isn’t a sin, what deserves punishment or what deserves blessing, has become subjective to them and they bestow their judgment upon mankind with great prejudice.

The demons exist in a hierarchy as well. As angels stripped of their holy power (and thus blinded) when they attempted to overthrow God, they seek to earn back their power and sight by stealing souls. The harder to corrupt a soul is, the more power they obtain when that soul finally succumbs. Lower level/weaker demons mainly seek to cause wide spread devastation and death, as they dont have the power to corrupt, but feed on any souls lost. Higher level demons are more insidious, possessing or manipulating people in power, in search of “higher quality” souls to assist their climb.

There are also a small group of “fallen” angels and “redeemed” demons, who exist sort of outside of the status-quo since they no longer fit neatly into either group. Fallen angels are (usually lower ranking) angels that have fallen in love with humanity and rejected their base angelic nature to live amongst them. They forfeit most of their angelic power and assume a more human-like appearance in order to live amongst the humans they adore, but have a still-perceivable “otherness” that leaves them mostly an outcast. Redemption demons are somewhat similar; they have gained/retained enough love for humanity since their fall that they no longer seek to claim human souls for power and are instead attempting to regain Gods love through redemption and acts of kindness. Falling from heaven has irrevocably changed them physically, however, and they face great hardships attempting to fit in to human society.

Of the Seraphim, Hadeon represents the Wrath of God. He is tasked with finding and punishing sinners, those who would blaspheme or turn against God. Originally she was the fair hand of Justice, but in the centuries of Gods absence, his sense of right and wrong have become irrevocably warped. Their presence can first be felt with the smell of ozone, and a sudden intense pressure, like a storm on the horizon. She, and the army of angels under her command, hunt sinners through the streets, meting out their vigilante justice. Where he goes, indescriminate bloodshed almost always follows.

Her mindset is entirely black and white, but despite eons walking the earth they retain a naïveté of human society that makes her pretty easily distractable. He can occasionally be reasoned with and/or distracted, and even more rarely convinced to bestow a blessing.

Hadeon is one of the first Minor bosses the player faces, and your decision to either befriend, escape, or kill her will play a role in your later encounter with other higher angels.

obviously there are all of the other Seraphim, and other high ranking demons that have their own names/info/etc i could literally keep going on and on abt them & more in depth world building forever probably but i will stop now ���

[simplysedusa]

General Rowdyruff Boy Headcanons I Plan to Incorporate Into My Fic(s)

Both Butch and Boomer are musically inclined (Boomer preferring the guitar, while Butch sticks to the drums) and are pretty good singers. Brick, on the other hand, is completely tone deaf and has yet to realize it (thus crushing Butch's secret fantasy of becoming a rock band called "The Rowdyrock Boys").

Brick's guilty pleasures are boy groups ever since the events of IDW #10 Comic.

Both Butch and Boomer are also athletes in school; Boomer focuses more on team sports (football, basketball, soccer) while Butch plays more individualized sports (swimming, wrestling, gymnastics). Brick thinks he's too cool to play for a school or organization (and if he can't lead, then what's the point).

Everyone assumes Boomer's the nicest, but he's not, he's just the more outgoing, charming extrovert brother out of the three.

The actual nicest brother is Butch, he's the least likely to hurt/harass/threaten a random bystander without provocation, and is surprisingly (and somewhat eerily) chill when not in the company of his brothers.

Butch had the most codependent tendencies, and was often a reluctant yes man to his brothers (mostly Brick).

Brick is dyslexic, it took Ms. Keane a week to realize while home-schooling him.

With the boys being adopted by Ms. Keane, Brick takes the longest to warm up to her. He's very wary of and cold towards authoritative figures, ESPECIALLY parental figures.

After Boomer's done antagonizing her, he becomes the first to open up to Ms. Keane.

Valentino warmed up to Brick first, however. Butch became rather jealous at the fact.

After many instances of hair pulling, and an incident involving Butch, Boomer, and a whole pack of chewed chewing gum, Brick decides to keep his hair shorter.

Brick's the best and most experienced cook out of the three.

A part of Mojo truly does care for the Rowdyruff Boys, but it's not healthy. He's much too obsessive, as if they were his property or weapons of mass destruction.

Boomer has the power of electrokinesis. He's able to "charge up" with nearly any electrical device or lightning itself, and also charge/power down electrical devices. Too much electricity in his system causes him to shock others unprovoked or "short-circuit". This came in handy with their ankle monitors during their house arrest, and at school where he caused power outages that resulted in early dismissals. The most he's ever absorbed (so far) had caused an entire blackout in the city of Townsville (Butch was beating him at an arcade game).

Boomer later discovers (with the help of Blossom) that he can act as a defibrillator to the Powerpuffs and Rowdyruffs in a pinch (I originally got the idea from @faeerrie).

Butch's ability to generate force fields has progressed to the point that he can generate force fields around other people/items not including himself. He discovered this during one of Brick's training regimens when he threatened to destroy Butch's possessions until Butch was able to pull it off.

Butch's force fields though require a lot of focus on Butch's end, especially if he's protecting something other than himself.

Butch can also move items/people while in his force field.

Despite no longer aiming to kill the Powerpuff Girls, Brick still held secret training sessions at night. They couldn't afford to get sloppy in case they had to protect themselves against the girls (or Mojo and/or HIM, which was his main concern).

Brick doesn't have a unique power, just like Buttercup. Since their Chemical X cells aren't working harder to produce new powers, this allows for these two (and spoiler alert: Brat) to be just a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, and a little more endurable than their siblings.

However, like the Powerpuff Girls, the boys have shared telepathy. They're able to communicate with themselves internally, but only if all three are within a certain distance and if all three are "willing".

Boomer was often the neglected kid of the trio while under Mojo's and/or HIM's "care".

Boomer managed to hide a Beebo in the house for years. He named them "Bob".

Initially, the Rowdyruff Boys and the Gangreen Gang had a frenemy type relationship. The gang felt like the boys were too similar to the Powerpuffs, and attempted to manipulate them into their bidding. Meanwhile, the boys thought the gang was kinda cool, but also a little lame.

They later bond with the Gangreen Gang post- Gorillaz era when they learn that Grubber and Billy are illegally taking care of a Beebo themselves, and that they're cool with Mitch.

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Liminal Sprite

CR 2

Chaotic Neutral Tiny Fey

Bestiary 5, pg. 158

These little ladies are afflicted by an absolutely bizarre curse, one which prevents them from ever sleeping inside a building or outside in the open. Thus, as their name suggests, the Liminal Sprites must find transitory places that are neither inside nor outside if they wish to actually rest, but there is also a loophole that allows Liminal Sprites to sleep anywhere that's both inside and outside. Thus, these moths are drawn to civilization, as human construction has created marvels such as porches, bridges,, stairwells, gazebos, vehicles of every description, and hallways which connect two buildings together. Liminal Sprites which end up trapped out in the wilderness must find hollow trees, caves, or even animal dens before they succumb to exhaustion.

Why they possess this strange and paradoxical curse is anyone's guess, as who or whatever placed it upon them is either long gone or no longer known. It may be, as most fey curses, a form of punishment that afflicts their entire bloodline, and whether or not they deserve it is determined entirely by whether or not you've been targeted by their pranks. Liminal Sprites are among the Fey breeds who love, love, love interacting with/pestering mortalkind for their own amusement, taking in all the local news and gossip from their hiding places or shrouding themselves with their 3/day Invisibility while using their extremely swift 60ft fly speed to flutter around busy markets, theaters, and other places of congregation so they may passively absorb whatever's going on in their city. They become sponges for the who's-who in the city, the He's and She's of the he-said-she-said games, though how they use this information is entirely up to them.

Unlike their fellow social butterflies (pun intended), the Danthienne, Liminal Sprites aren't compelled to stir up trouble for the sake of it. Some lean towards Good, using their powers to cause fouler sorts of people to make fools of themselves, while others lean towards Evil and humiliate anyone trying to make their lives better. Most, however, flip flop back and forth depending entirely on whether or not they like a given individual and can be a boon or a bane. A Liminal Sprite wishing to ruin someone's speech can use Fumbletongue 3/day to turn their next 1d4 rounds of words into meaningless babble, or use their at-will Daze to make someone freeze up entirely as though claimed by stage fright.

To anyone they wish to help, Liminal Sprites may use Memory Lapse 3/day to erase a mistake from the mind of an onlooker, or use their at-will Prestidigitation to make their lives a little bit better overall, but more importantly they may sit on the shoulder of their new friend and offer kind advice. Their witty Repartee allows them to take the Aid Another action with Charisma-based skill checks and add +2d4 to the result instead of the normal +2 up to three times a day, meaning the target can get anywhere from +2 to +8 in their attempts to beguile, bluff, or boast past another... or +2d4 to Performance and Use Magic Device checks.

Liminal Sprites are performers themselves, and take little seriously. This, they're able to use Versatile Performance to substitute Bluff and Intimidate checks with Perform (Comedy), which they have +8 to, because c'maaaahn, c'mahn, they're just little guys! they're so little! AND it's their birthday! you're not gonna hit a little guy on his birthday, are ya? But you can't let that routine work on you, or they'll go right back to scrambling your speech and mucking up your memory. Fittingly enough, the book states people wanting a Sprite gone often turn loose animals that their performance won't work against and their magic won't affect, because a trained dog can sniff them out even after they've turned invisible. A dog might have a hard time surpassing the Sprite's DR 5/cold iron, but being chewed on and thrashed about by an animal still hurts even if it doesn't do any damage to the little Fey, so it's still a surefire way to make the Sprite abandon its home in your porch.

No, they're not really a danger to your dog, either. The only damage a Sprite has is its tiny rapier, which deals 1d3-1 damage, so it's only a real hazard if it leads your pooch somewhere dangerous, or if it uses Prestidigitation to skunk-spray the dog. Really, the best part about it is that it condemns the Sprite to madness if it can't find somewhere else to sleep fast enough. A more kind-hearted soul can easily make a Liminal Sprite kind as well, leaving offerings of food and keeping the Fey company each night out on their porch, and a caster of 7th level or higher who's willing to work around their unfortunate resting restrictions can even take one on as a Familiar! Fun fact: Extradimensional spaces fit nicely into the Sprite's curse loophole... Just make sure enough air gets in.

Or, y'know, you could just let them use your tent like a normal person. Not as funny, though.

You can read more about them here.

[missielynne]

CBS Ghosts Review: Holes Are Bad

Before I go on, I bet there will be a lot of repetition in this from all the other posts full of feels that I've been making but there are just so many feels that I couldn't save them all for just one review. Okay, moving on.

As I and I know many others feel, this is definitely one of the standouts of an admittedly only okay season (Although even here, when they come up with good ones, they're REALLY good) if not the whole series.

There are times when you have different plotlines and they don't connect well at all, and times when even the most different seeming plotlines can mix really well. The idea of dealing with literal and metaphorical holes as a connecting theme was really a good idea. (Although as I've said before, just coming up with a plotline of throwing Thor, Sas, and Isaac in a hole so they don't see Hetty die, thus her COD is a surprise to everyone was a bit too convenient for me, if I have one criticism.) However if they show us Patience (which I think they might, cause I mean why just bring up some random ghost who could very well have a grudge against Isaac right before something important that could be ruined because of said grudge..such as his wedding?) I could forgive it. The fact that his sneezing once again spelled doom for someone as it had with Nigel was a nice call back but really get that guy some meds or something. I do love the times when Isaac has actual knowledge that can solve problems that the ghosts have like knowing about possession or holes. It's nice seeing smart, capable Isaac.

I facepalmed for sure when we discovered that Thor had technically known where Flower was for ages but thanks to her wording and possibly his wish that she were in a better place, he interpreted it wrong (sort of like the game Telephone, maybe?) so Flower had to wait longer than she would have if it would have one of the other ghosts taking a walk at the edge of the property.

But it did my heart good that once everyone DID realize where she was, everyone just immediately was like "We gotta run out to the well and save Flower!" and there was no hesitation for ANYBODY, even like Isaac who is not especially close to Flower and who before now, I didn't think particularly thought of her in a friendly light. And I loved the ticking clock with the cement in the well too and the tension that added.

Speaking of tension...not having Jay and Sam there really enriched this episode, and I'm glad (even if it was just one of their clever ways of hiding Rose's pregnancy or whatever) that the show was willing to try something like that. Cause Ghosts is NOT the Sixth Sense where every ghost is an island who can't talk to anyone else and get help and just needs a living to get stuff done. No. I mean, Sam is needed for some things for sure but there are times when the ghosts are perfectly capable of just solving things amongst themselves, so use it! (Plus I think its extremely entertaining, too and I would like more.)

Which brings us to the big thing: Hetty and her death. Oh, my gosh. When she rolled her collar down and we saw the cord....and everyone's faces as she unraveled it...it was so powerful and so well acted by everyone, especially Rebecca.

And I feel like not only was she saving Flower by undoing the cord but also taking agency of what happened to her too. Now that she used the cord to save Flower, it's not just the tool of her demise, but something that was also used to save a friend. a tool of life as well as death, in a sense. You know...not that that erases the darker part of what it means but maybe it'll add a little light to the darkness too.

And I loved Flower thanking her. She was sincere, she was sweet, she was lucid...it was something that was taken seriously for the character. And sure we got old Flower back after, but it was so sweet. Now they've both help give one another new life.

And because I like ending on happy notes...I love that even the flashbacks had some funny moments, like Hetty giving the lawyer her number and it was just 4. Or just the absurdity of her asking her poor butler to take all the bullets the police are gonna shoot and he's just like "Yes, ma'am."

It was so meaningful and well-written, good juxtaposition between Hetty's story and Flower. (And were we really surprised to find out Ralph got sucked off? I think it was just confirmation for a lot of us. And nice to know Pete was right. It WAS a basement ghost!)

Now...next week it looks like we get powers from Pete, hopefully Carol moving on (although please let her and Flower meet before she goes,) and of course...one week closer to the Nisaac dinosaur wedding! Can't wait to see how this finishes off.

[hopeandduty]

Day 16: Third Rate

“Are you really as old as they say?”

It is not an unexpected question, but to hear it now, begs the question of what its poser truly wished to ask.  

It is not difficult to see that Erenville is troubled. Themis has never noted him as particularly talkative even during moments of levity amidst the group, but his silence now weighs as heavily as his heart and Themis would not have made for much of an Emissary if he unable to recognize it. The source is no question, of course. Despite the gentle golden glow of this Living Memory, as it has been named, Erenville carries the weight of the dead.

“While I do not know what precisely has been said, I have lived for far longer than even the eldest of your kind.” Themis offers in answer. He wonders if even he could estimate the exact number of years it has been. He has long lost track. “However, if you wish to know of the ancient past, I fear my memory is ill-suited to such a query. Hades would be the better person to ask. Yet something tells me you are not suddenly taken with curiosity over ancient fauna.”

The lengthy pause is its own answer. Erenville wrangles with his question, unable to tame it as easily as he does the creatures around him. Themis permits him the time to try and pin it down, letting the brief attempts he makes with a parting of lips and a lack of words to go unacknowledged until he finds it. 

“What… defines a person? What makes them… who they are?” He finally asks, his gaze a distant thing. “Is it their memories? Their soul? I’ve heard that you were once capable of creating constructs of those lost in the past. I thought perhaps you might know.”

Granting it voice places the weight of the question in the air between them, and even the glittering lights of Yesterland cannot temper it. 

“You ask about your mother.” Obvious though it may be, better that all be placed in the open where it may not wholly crush him. 

Erenville’s frame seizes, his shoulders curl inward. “I want to speak with her, there is much I would ask, that I should tell her and yet… I am plagued by doubt. Do I insult her memory by playing games with some third rate imitation of her? Am I only trying to make myself feel better? Get rid of my own guilt. I… I just wish to know if it is really her.”

Themis lets out a long and slow breath. “Would that I could offer you an answer, but in truth I do not know, nor do I think we ever did even in the ancient past. Soul and memory couple within physical bodies to grant life to the people we know. Yet once man was capable of ignoring the barriers of the physical body, had power to peer into the soul of another. As Ascians did we often take the bodies of others for our own, thus one could deduce that the physical vessel bears little influence on one’s identity.”

“But what about the mind? The soul?” 

“It is… difficult to say. I may be yet another example. Though you may not be aware, I am not truly Themis.” 

“You’re… not?”

Themis shakes his head. “The one known as Themis in the ancient world surrendered his life, his soul and will, to give birth to Zodiark and I was the heart born of this process. Though I have inherited his soul I am not truly the same being as he. Can I, who carries his soul and only some of his memories, truly claim to be ‘Themis’? I do not know. Also once were my memories grafted onto an empty soul in the Aetherial Sea, giving birth to a ‘Themis’ as well. Were they, who held his memories more fully but did not possess his soul, more worthy to call themselves Themis than I?”

“Forgive me, I was… unaware.”

“There is no need for apologies,” Themis insists. “It is simply the truth of my existence, and one I hoped may offer you some insight. I cannot control how others perceive me; whether they think of me as Themis in their hearts or as someone else entirely, one who has inherited his legacy.”

Erenville already has his answer; Themis can tell by the way his eyes cast downwards to the crowd of Endless children playing below. It is accepting it that he struggles with.   

“These Endless are constructs of memory, emptied of the souls they once possessed,” Themis continues. “Yet they remain as perfect mirrors of the person they were when this separation occurred. This is what we can say for certain. Whether they truly are the people they once were, whether interacting with them has meaning is not an answer that they possess. The only person who can assign that meaning is you.” 

“I… want it to be her. I want it to be her so badly.” Erenville’s voice carries the same tremor as his shoulders. “There is so much I wished to say to her, but– but am I only doing it to make myself feel better? Because I cannot accept that she has died?” 

“Even if that were true, would it matter?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Even if it is born in part from denial, even if it is only to ease the weight on your heart, is your desire to speak with her wrong? Is the act of it? Would your mother be angry with you for indulging in a memory of her?” Themis knows that his understanding of family, of parents differs fundamentally from that of the sundered, so he cannot truly offer an answer. But he can pose the question that Erenville might realize he already knows. 

“She would grow angry with me if I didn’t…” Erenville shakes his head, a sorrowful smile twistign at his lips. “She would scold me for holding back so. I would never hear the end of it.” 

“Then let that be your answer.” 

“Perhaps… it will have to be. There are only three terminals left.” 

“Then be certain in that time that you will have no regrets.” 

Erenville nods quietly to himself, his budding resolve slowly taking root. He steps back from the rail and motions to leave, pausing only a few steps away. 

“For what it is worth, I did not know the Themis of the past, but I am grateful to have known you.” 

A smile curls quietly at his lips. 

“Likewise, my friend.”

[altereremit]

DEBUT OF NEW CHINESE BOYBAND

On August 6th, the new successor group to the TF-BOYS was announced: TT-BOYS.

And while they may look a lot like Ma Long, Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin, we assure you, that this is not only the case,

but that they are indeed the people in the pictures.

And thus, we have just wittnessed the debut of the Table-Tennis-Boys, more commonly known as TT-Boys.

It is well known, that Asian people take the best pictures (........at least the female share of the population), but photographic techniques alone cannot make Ma Long's chronic eye bags disappear, eradicate all the traits that gifted Fan Zhendong his nickname ("Lil' Fatty") or actually giving Wang Chuqin a proper hairstyle for once (on that note: never trust the hairdressers and barbers in Hangzhou¹ ˢᵉᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵉⁿᵈ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵖᵒˢᵗ).

No, that can only be achieved through photoshop, something that most Chinese girls and some of the boys are well versed in. In today's social-media-heavy time, photoshopping has more or less become a must-have skill. But in order to achieve the level of mastery, that the Chinese possess, one has to be dedicated to the craft and spend a lot of time honing their photoshopping skills.

People have long upgraded from simply using photoshop to make their legs seem longer or gift themselves an eightpack, no, nowadays you'll never be able to guess what people are actually photoshopping (with simply just a few APPs on their mobile phones....):

Too many people in the background? - Away with them!

So what if the roses aren't blooming?

So what if there are no fishes and the polar bear won't go for a swim in the pool?

Don't like the view?

Nothing is impossible, and thus, dear people, take everything with a grain of salt.

...Especially on dating websites.

AND, I want to point out again (before people start to point fingers): photoshopping is not a women-only skill nor used only by women!

For the record: I actually learned the most from 阿屯 (A'Tun), see pictures above. [Douyin, Meitu, RedBook: ＠阿屯]

And even though those skills are impressive and the result is sometimes even "funny" (when compared to the original picture), one perhaps can ask oneself "How did it even come to this?". ........

........

But still, if you need to take a picture (or edit one), ask your (East-)Asian (/Chinese) friends. 😉

____________________________________________________________

¹ see the following evidence:

As we all know, the 19th Asian Games (X: @19thAGofficial, Instagram: @ag2022official, Facebook: @19thAGHZ2022)were held in Hangzhou, China.

The people of Hangzhou also know better than to believe in their barbers, the city even plastered the following principle on the floor of their subway trains, for everyone to see:

So if you ever visit China, never cut your hair in Hangzhou.

[watchingspnagain]

Rewatching After School Special

Welcome to “Stay Gold, Jenny Thunder: A Supernatural Rewatch Blog” with Lor and Mace!

Up today, s4e13: After School Special

Below is a log of our real-time reactions as we watched. Remember that there may be spoilers for any part of SPN’s 15-season run here. Note also that the nature of our conversation is adult and thus it may contain adult language and themes.

[and we begin:]

When a high school girl drowns a bully in a school toilet and insists later that she felt like she was possessed during the incident, Sam and Dean are on the case. And the high school in question? Just so happens to be one they attended briefly as teenagers. The boys go undercover in the school as a janitor (Sam) and a P.E. teacher (Dean) to see what they can find out. As more students are hurt by possessed classmates, the boys discover that the culprit is the ghost of a boy named Dirk who attended the school with Sam and Dean and was horribly bullied after they were no longer at the school. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn what Sam and Dean were going through themselves at that school, and see that Dirk had been a bully to Sam and his friend until Sam knocked Dirk out in a fight and labeled him with a moniker that would become the focus of the bullying directed toward him. Sam and Dean rid the school of the ghost, but not without a considerable amount of fraught. And in the end when Sam seeks out a teacher who had been important to him to say thank you, the teacher asks if Sam is happy. End episode. It’s outsiders all the way down, man.

Mace:

what a bitch

Lor:

ug terrible high school kids

Mace:

welp, she’s a bitch too

Lor:

YEP

Lor:

(this was not my experience of high school. there was definitely meanness and cliques but if that level of awfulness was happening, I wasn't aware)

Mace:

(same)

Lor:

also, no one got possessed and drowned anyone

Mace:

well, sure. Although, to be fair, again, we don’t KNOW for certain that no one got possessed

Lor:

TRUE

and no Sam and Dean ever showed up

Mace:

yeah we would have known about that

Lor:

(god, I would have DIED at Dean Winchester when I was 17)

Mace:

(SAME)

Lor:

mmmmrf Sammy in that white v-neck

Mace:

YAS

Lor:

she thinks she was possessed but Sam's crazy? come on, child

Mace:

honey. you’re in the nuthouse and you’re calling Sammy crazy?

Lor:

commit to the bit

Mace:

HAHAHAHAHA

Lor:

LOLOLOLOL

IS THIS THE DEAN IN THE SHORTS EPISODE

Mace:

Swedish exchange students?

I need to hear that accent

IT IS

Lor:

LOLOL

this is 1000% not what Dean looked like at 18. he was Jenny Thunder in his dad's leather jacket trying to be cool

Mace:

HA

Lor:

like I buy the bravado and the attitude but he was PRETTY. I will not be convinced otherwise

Mace:

snork

Mace:

The Outsiders. subtle, writers. subtle.

Lor:

he would have that teacher eating out of his hand

LOLOLOL

Mace:

Hm. I kind of like the idea that he hasn’t perfected his game yet

Lor:

mmmmm. yeah, okay. he hasn't quite learned what level of sass he can get away with yet

WHISTLE

Mace:

HAAAAAAHAHAHA

yeah, Dean wouldn’t slam that kid like that

Lor:

DEAN

RIGHT?

Mace:

Sam in a work suit does things to me

Lor:

he would have every one of these kids doing physical activity, enjoying themselves, and feeling better about themselves

YAS

Mace:

yep

Lor:

and he would go help that kid

is he possessed by John or what?

Mace:

HA

oh ewewewewewew

EWEWEWEWEW

Lor:

OH JEEZ NOPENOPENOPE

I can't with hands in blendery things

Mace:

Sammy’s concerned face is so adorable

Lor:

it IS

OMG

Dean in his track suit

Mace:

those shoulders

Lor:

YAS

Mace:

and he looks so COMFY

Lor:

I think someone should quality check that zipper

Mace:

DEAN WINCHESTER

Lor:

DEAN

KNOCK IT OFF

Mace:

it’s all talk to annoy Sam. he would never

Lor:

YEP

and maybe he's actually uncomfortable being reminded of high school and is leaning into the persona?

Mace:

yeah

Lor:

(or this one was written by someone who wasn't as invested in Dean and just got him a little OOC. it is a Sam ep)

Mace:

(i agree that the writer doesn’t know Dean, but I think it’s pretty equally and Sam and a Dean ep)

Lor:

Oh Dean. trying to act like it's cool that he doesn't have a parent looking out for him in a normal way

Mace:

yeah

Lor:

yeah, I had forgotten about this other stuff with him. I mostly remembered the sam and the bullying stuff

Mace:

I love that this kid does Baby Sam so well

Lor:

RIGHT?

poor Sam

Mace:

poor both of them

Lor:

oh Dean

right?

John Winchester has so much to answer for

Mace:

big brother Dean I love it

yep

Lor:

YES

oh Dean. he's so twitchy.

and baby Sam just wanted to be normal

Mace:

yep

Lor:

AND baby Sam has a VERY cool jacket

Mace:

he DOES

Lor:

Dean has definitely stolen Sam's copy of The Outsiders and read it after Sam fell asleep

Mace:

yep

Lor:

he has a crush on Darry

Did Dean just reference Dead Poets?

That boy watches EVERYTHING

Mace:

yeah

oh SAMMY

Lor:

oooof

aw the way he's holding the girl that was possessed

Mace:

oh i love the parallels here with Dean being all big brother again

Lor:

OMG Dean yelling the same thing!

YES

Mace:

yeah, I was worried another adult would come out and see it

Lor:

oooof, yeah

Mace:

LORE

Lor:

they are so very sketch from the outside

DRINK

Mace:

HAHAHAHA

Mace:

they are

Lor:

"ghosts getting creative. well that's super"

Mace:

like, hanging out on a school bus with a sawed off shotgun

Lor:

"ghostie ghostie"

YEP

Lor:

do not name your kid Dirk if your last name is MacGregor, come on

Mace:

snork

Lor:

ooof it's being called freak that finally sets him off

Mace:

yep

Lor:

this poor father

Mace:

yeah

Sammy do NOT feel guilty, the kid WAS a dick

Lor:

Dean knows that a whole load of upset Sammy is coming

right?

Mace:

YEP

Lor:

Sam, you were fourteen. this was not ON you. SHOCKINGLY, the adults around you failed

Mace:

“all of him?” DEAN

EXACTLY

Lor:

LOL

Dean trying to act like this is a normal question and he's just a normal guy asking normal questions

Mace:

snork

21 Jump Street

Lor:

YES

Mace:

he watched it for Depp

Lor:

"bus driver sells pot"

he DID

Mace:

snork

Lor:

the way they turn the bullying thing around

Mace:

YEP

Lor:

(i don't think it was Sam's fault, but. just the flipping of the outsider bit)

Mace:

Sammy is giving SUCH good sad face

Mace:

(i get it)

Lor:

YES

DEAN WINCHESTER

Mace:

HAHAHA

Lor:

ooooof Dean

Mace:

ooof she is hitting him where it hurts

Lor:

YEP

Mace:

you’re a kid, honey

Lor:

oooof

John shoulda left the boys with Bobby waaaay back

Mace:

YEP

and never come back

Lor:

YEP

Mace:

oh SAMMY

Lor:

RIGHT?

I just love that moment so much. that Sam takes the time to go talk to the teacher and the teacher is still seeing things in him others aren't

Mace:

YES

Lor:

and the way in both the past and the present, Dean is being supportive in his own way but not really GETTING the issue Sam's dealing with

Mace:

YEP

Lor:

and the teacher, probably because HE is outside their group, DOES see the issue

such a nice little moment

Mace:

I think it’s because he’s good at spotting the outsiders, which is what good teachers can do, not necessarily because he’s outside their group because if that were the case then lots of other people would see what’s going on and they clearly don't

Lor:

oooo, YES I like that

and yes SUCH a good skill in a teacher

[baldinar]

Who is Decanee? How is She Different From Kaze’aze?

Crossposting this from the r/GrandChase subreddit where I went a little bit off the rails explaining what’s up with Decanee. Figured it’d be good to put it here on this blog too. It’s way too long, so it’s under a cut. Be forewarned there’s spoilers for GC:DC and GCC! TL;DR is near the top.

Also, I absolutely have more thoughts about this topic that we’ve got going into the essay on plurality in GC(DC) because. Oh my god. You know how evolution-wise everything eventually becomes crabs? That but with fucking plural characters in this franchise, Gods help me. A lot of that is up to interpretation of course but I think that essay’s kind of further back in our post log and. I will not go on that tangent right now.

Enjoy the unhinged essay on these characters we wrote at like 3 AM lmao.

[ So I might be in the process of writing way too many essays about this series, especially about this single nebulous character lmao, so here's the Lore:tm: that you get from playing further through the mobile game, including what's up with Karina in this all too. Spoilers for the Bermesiah, Ellia, and Pandemonium worlds and also what you can see in the event dungeon in GCC.

First, the tl;dr in case you're not here for an essay: Karina was turned into a demon by Ashtaroth (possessed by the evil prana of Baldinar). Everyone turns on her, so she decides she's going to make it everyone's problem that she's a demon now. She's now Kaze'aze. The plot of GCC happens; Kaze'aze is defeated in her castle. What we are told is Kaze'aze shows up in Tower of Disappearance, but the event dungeon (Tower of Illusion) tells us that this is potentially Decanee, who is a construct made by Heitaros to imitate Kaze'aze and sow chaos. Decanee takes the memories remaining from Kaze'aze. During the events of GC:DC, she purposefully lets people think she's Kaze'aze when it benefits her (such as with getting Vice's help or taunting the GC in Teroka). At the end of it all, however, she's nothing but a creation designed to press on the old wounds created by Kaze'aze.

Now. This is the longer version. All this is thankfully available to read on the wiki in a longer, less centralized version. You can also find folks playing through the story on Youtube.

Karina Erudon was a member of the Kanavan guard, a close friend of Anyumena (the Queen of Kanavan). One day, their caravan was attacked. The queens survived, but Ashtaroth (possessed by the evil prana of Baldinar that was remnant after the explosion of Kounat), wanted to take revenge on the descendants of Kounat's survivors and cause them pain. Thus, he cast a demonization spell on Karina, framing her for the attack. The country pushed her out, and eventually Ashtaroth approached her with the offer to teach her her magic once she'd grown resentful of her countrymen.

At this point, Karina is given the name Kaze'aze. According to some dialogue said in the GC:DC Tower of Disappearance (potentially just flowery language butchered by the translation), Karina was dead by time her body became Kaze'aze. Regardless, people still think of Karina when they see Kaze'aze, and her memories as Karina no doubt help her cause chaos and start the war that inevitably leads to the formation of the Grand Chase. She is killed in her castle, claiming that she will eventually return to take revenge on the Grand Chase.

At this point, her memories find their way into the many towers that dead souls find themselves into; the Tower of Disappearance is the most memorable one, as it shows up in both Grand Chase Classic and GC:DC. It's difficult to tell which version of events are canon here: the in-game dialogue, Episode &, or the retelling in the GC:DC intro. Regardless, the Kaze'aze that shows up here is Schrodinger's Dekaze'aze. She might be Decanee imitating Kaze'aze, she might not be. Hopefully, KOG will give us a definitive answer. Probably not. 

Let's talk about Decanee specifically, though.

Decanee is a construct explicitly created by Heitaros to cause chaos. According to Pino, she is "The Existence that Sows the Seeds of Chaos." She is quite literally designed to emulate Kaze'aze. She's rather open about this, kind of offering non-answers during the story about being not quite Kaze'aze, but this is taken to an extreme conclusion in the arc leading up to Pandemonium. Decanee is working with a sorcerer, Vice, who was extremely close with Karina. A keen eye will notice that any time Vice calls Decanee "Karina," she is nonchalant about going "well if you say so haha." This even shows in Vice's final scene at the end of Tower of Disappearance.

Some final thoughts, before I wrap this up lol. Let's look at the new GCC event dungeon.

There's a lot of ambiguity to the degree that Decanee has genuinely integrated Kaze'aze's memories into her consciousness. At the end of Tower of Illusions, she absorbs Kaze'aze's remnant memories, which appear to have some cognizance remaining, and then nearly loses herself to those memories, becoming Kaze'aze. She manages to pull herself together in the end, and by time we see her in GC:DC it's much less often that we see her slip into the persona of Kaze'aze.

Personally, I'm really excited to see if KOG actually wants to acknowledge the interesting line this character toes between the perception of self and identity, but it's also KOG and I only have these expectations because I am literally writing essays for fun about this garbage game lmao. Here's hoping she's fun to play at least, and so sorry if an infodump was not what you wanted lol.]

[sheltonr]

As the world's number one gaming brand, Pokémon has brought players and viewers much more than just a mere viewing experience, with many of his spin-off products selling equally well around the world. Since its debut in 1996, Pokémon has quickly become a global phenomenon, integrating video games, animation, card games, films and other forms of transmedia culture. The core concept is to capture, train and battle 'Pokémon' to implement the progress of the game; this concept also extends to its peripheral products, countless players in order to satisfy their own desire to collect and scramble to buy products.

Today, I'm going to share my experience buying Pokémon cards, my interpretation of their place in consumer society, and how they affect people's daily lives.

First of all, the main point of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (Pokémon Card Game) is to collect and play against each other, and like the game, players need to get these cards in a variety of ways in order to interact with others. I was first introduced to cards when I was in primary school, and my parents bought me a lot of cards to cheer me up when they took me on a trip, at a time when China was actively bringing in foreign works for cultural exchange, which was a great incentive for kids who didn't have a lot of ways to be entertained at the time. When I got home, I excitedly traded cards with kids in the neighbourhood, and the first Pokémon card trade between kids in the neighbourhood was born.

Some kids didn't have the cards the other wanted, so they would use other things to trade. Kids didn't have a lot of pocket money back then, so kids usually traded for candy, treats, or other toys. As with the rarity of the cards themselves, the more valuable and rarer the item, the higher the value and the stronger the card that can be exchanged for it. Children preferred Pokémon monsters that were gorgeous and handsome, and those who possessed these cards usually became the leaders of the neighbourhood. This is the basic card market. Some children's parents object to their children spending money on cards, so children need to find ways to hide their cards and buy them from other children, but the children who have the power to sell them usually raise the price so high that the buyer is forced to trade long-saved pocket money or toys for them.

The commercial excitement of Pokémon cards is obvious, and in order to gain a foothold in children's childhoods, dealers include a large number of rare cards, which may only have a 1% chance of appearing, and the vanity of the child is greatly satisfied when someone gets their hands on the card. The random form of card sales greatly stimulates the children's desire to buy, cleverly exploiting a gambling mentality of consumers: consumers are eager to open a high-priced pack of rare cards but ignore the traps set by the merchants, that is, even if they get a high-priced card, the cost invested in consumption is far greater than the value of the card. Purchasing large packs of cards in order to open rare cards and the excitement and anticipation of unwrapping them have been stimulating consumers' behaviour. People who fantasise about getting rich overnight tend to be controlled by their emotions when they spend money, thus ignoring the cost they have already spent, and when they do not open the product, they want this time, they look forward to the next gamble, believing that the chances of output are directly proportional to the number of times they have done so (Sohn, 2023).

This mechanism not only attracts children but also triggers the participation of adult players, especially some adult fans who are looking for the value of their collection. Adult Pokémon players have their own savings; their acquisition of cards is no longer through swapping but involves more of a monetary transaction, and some of them are eager to make up for the pain of not being able to buy cards at their own discretion in their childhood due to their childhood experiences, and the brand loyalty fostered by the merchants is far more engraved into these former children's minds, making them more obsessed with spending money than those who have not been involved in card collecting (Sohn, 2023). would be more obsessed with consumption (Kopp, 2024)

Some of them will buy products from players who own their favourite cards at high prices, even if the actual price of the cards is far beyond their reach, with a rare card now fetching hundreds of dollars on second-hand trading platforms. On the other hand, some of them don't have enough money in the short term, and they choose to make occasional trips to card shops to buy random card packs and try to open their favourite cards from the thousands of packs available. Young people are more susceptible to influences from social media, where big data pushes have led them to regularly watch videos posted by players who have opened expensive cards, and the imitative behaviour that has existed in humans since the beginning of time stimulates them to fantasise about one day joining in, satisfying their vanity and compensating their past selves at the same time (Metzler & Garcia, 2023). Many players do not really think about the significance of the existence of those remaining low-priced cards, which are one of the important memories for children during their childhood, whether they are rare cards or affluent low-priced cards. Nowadays, people buy and consume endlessly to satisfy their vanity, and those unwanted products instead create waste; even though they already have enough, they still want to ask for higher-value products (C, 2005) ... Even for adults with a certain degree of self-control, many of whom buy a limited number of cards at a time and deliberately control their spending on them, many still have dreams of acquiring high-value cards if they ever do, and without realising it, many have spent hundreds of dollars on nothing, though of course, most have acquired more or less medium-value cards in the process, perhaps not many but just enough to fill the gap. Of course, most people in the process have acquired more or less medium-value cards, perhaps not many, but just enough to fill the gap in their card purchases, and once they have the money to do so, they continue to buy. In fact, many buyers do not sell their cards but rather include them in their collections. The actual amount of money spent is not reduced, but consumers gain a certain degree of satisfaction in the process, and the emotional value of the stimulus is much greater than the value of the cards themselves. Over time, purchasing card packs became a pastime, and people would always take a few packs of a product from their purchases, a commonplace phenomenon that is happening all over the world.

They will go out of their way to buy certain specific limited-edition cards at high prices, and some people even get involved with an investment mentality, believing that rare cards may appreciate value in the future. However, this investment mentality is often accompanied by market volatility and uncertainty as well, making the value of card collecting speculative. Through these experiences, it is easy to see how skilfully merchants have applied the concept of consumerism. With the development of the times, the significance of the existence of the Pokémon brand has gone far beyond bringing joy to children; it is more of a business practice, with merchants eager for consumers to spend more time and assets on their company's products, and constantly launching new products to adapt to the ever-changing player market. Vendors and players act as producers and consumers, with vendors pushing new consumerist policies to control consumers, such as the aforementioned rarity issue in random card packs, where only a small percentage of cards are rare, emphasising scarcity to stimulate the consumer's desire to collect and vanity, and heavily advertising to the consumer to change his or her consumption philosophy. (Emotional consumption) In the past, people's consumption still stayed at the basic level of survival, but with the development of the times, people's satisfaction with the basic security will be projected to the emotional needs of the interaction with others and get recognition and happiness from it has become the pursuit of the goal of the consumers, and Pokémon Company is seizing this opportunity, in the country is in the period of development of the Pokémon cards into the toy market. The company introduced Pokémon cards into the toy market at a time when the country was developing. Starting with children, gradually cultivate the player's hobby and desire to collect, and make it a way to get emotional value that can't be cut off; all kinds of advertisements and propaganda are telling consumers to encourage them to participate in the Pokémon card battle for further propaganda, over time, the Pokémon card player has become an important role in the entertainment of the modern young people, and what he brings to the consumers is not only the value of money, but also the value to show off with others or to make a good impression with others, but also the value of money. More of a bragging right or a strong sense of identity with others (Sama, 2019).

Overall, Pokémon card games play an important part in many people's childhood memories, and even when they grow up, they still habitually buy these products. In the consumer society, Pokémon cards play the typical role of 'emotionally driven' goods, deeply influencing consumers' behaviours and psychology through their rarity, randomness and socialisation. As an avid fan of Pokémon cards, I know that the role they play is closely related to my emotional needs, so I try my best to avoid being controlled by the gambling mentality. Even though this industry is very costly, reasonable consumption and expectation can bring people pleasure and motivation in life, and keeping the consumption within a certain range to maintain the excitement and anticipation of purchasing the product is one of the means to cope with the overwhelming brainwashing propaganda.

[onlinegamesre5654]

6 Mind-Blowing Reasons Why You Need to Download Fantasy Apps Right

Since the introduction of the virtual worlds in today’s world, the concept of the fantasy app changed the experience of sports altogether to a rather more fascinating one completely based on skill, strategies as well as entertainment. Still, have you not downloaded a fantasy app? Here are six good reasons why you should download one and play today!

Elevated Engagement with Sports

Thus, the reader can conclude that fantasy apps greatly improve your sports experience. It no longer takes a spectator to sit and watch while the fun is being rolled out; you are part of it. Each fixture becomes crucial when your team is on the virtual pitch staring at the opponent’s team performance.

Test Your Sports Knowledge

If you think that you are an expert in sports, then probably it is time for you to rethink. People can freely download fantasy apps and thus can challenge themselves to the utmost. The unique opportunity to demonstrate one’s abilities and choose the best players as well as make powerful decisions that can lead a team to a victory.

Challenges are also made with Friends and Community.

Challenge friends and community Lack of social interaction is one of the significant drawbacks of enlisting in non-reality-based apps. It is possible to create leagues with friends and relatives or play with other people from a big community who love sports. Overall, the friendly and competitive aspects make the enhancement factor to watching your favorite sport or team even more thrilling.

Win Instant Money & Computer Games

Not only are they entertaining but they can be rather profitable. Most fantasy apps have prizes that include cash to be won, gifts, or even tickets to some of the premier leagues’ events. They say your sports knowledge can turn into considerable gains.

Enhance Your Analytical Skills

The creation and maintenance of a fantasy team can be beneficial because they improve one’s analytical ability. Sometimes, they are a way to learn certain player statistics, assess their chances of success, and make logical conclusions. While these skills may help out in fantasy sports and other related activities, they are not limited to this and are a useful set of skills to possess.

Get Informed with the Current Events

It took me a while to understand that the key that unlocks successful fantasy sports is in timely and accurate news and updates compulsive injury reports and player statistics. Fantasy apps also ensure that you are up-to-date with the latest events and analyses that turn you into a more knowledgeable sports spectator.

Conclusion

Winzo Fantasy Sports brings in the real excitement of fantasy games where your sports knowledge is converted to real money fun. It is one of most popular apps trusted by more than 17 crore people. Apps that have been created in this context are making it possible for spectators to become speculators and in the process transform spectator sports. As for the main features, these apps have great possibilities for the advanced testing of sports knowledge.

[canyouheatmeuponafrozennight]

Read: No Longer Human

The opposite of a sin, and what should the jester do when he wants to speak the truth?

The Jester

What constitutes the jester is absolute fear of others. Unable to understand their right to possess a "self", they perform to please those around them, as that is their only method of survival. In assimilation, in mirroring the "other," the alien feels part of this world. How can one who can't understand others hope to be understood? Without ever being taught that people can understand each other, and finding that understanding between both identities is what constitutes much of the positive human experience, they'll find themselves forever using their one weapon, the performance of being "human".

How long is it realistic to perform for? When can the jester show their face? Can trust really bring them salvation? Waiting until you can trust someone and thus deciding to show your true face can bring a heartbreak that'll probably make it even more difficult to want to show your face again, while a positive one can save your soul. For an average person, this exchange happens early on a relationship, people meet and show each other their faces, and immediately decide what they think of someone. Trying to protect themselves, the jester actually plays a much riskier game in waiting to trust someone before exposing themselves. (Why does a class with downsides get extra risk to go with it? Patch this) But ultimately, most jesters just decide to not trust anyone and never reveal themselves, the only way to live on when your heart is made of glass is to never let anyone touch it. Yet, at the same time, the love of the "other" is also what they need to remain human.

The life of the jester is a russian roulette, but, even if they choose to not pull the trigger ever, one day someone can pull it on them. Hopefully, someone who goes out of their way to do that wants to love them, not kill them. My wish is for all the lonely people in this world to be loved.

The opposite of sin (note: i read it in japanese)

罪 reads as both crime and sin, so Horiki says the opposite of it is law, and Youzou says prayer, god, confession, good etc (and also fires shots at dosto in case he meant for punishment to be the opposite of crime), but throws his hands up as they're all synonyms to him.

My personal answer is penitence. If a sin is an act which directs your soul towards evil, its opposite is the road towards good. I don't think of it really in a "do one bad thing and cancel it out with one good thing," but more in a via dolorosa. Someone who has sinned gains that one cross, to not carry it is to continue sinning (youzou refused to carry it i'd say, going from addiction to addiction, sex, alcohol, drugs, the whole shebang), to choose to carry it is to start that road. Not trying to be extreme here, but I don't think sins should be forgiven, carrying that weight is the duty of the sinner, being allowed to let go of it, be it because they think they've done enough or someone said so, is betraying their crime (I'm saying this spiritually not in a "keep them in prison forever" way). In order for them to opposites, a momentary sin has to result in eternal penitence.

[stormfet]

Right. Spoilers for both Homestuck and RGU. Homestuck in the first four acts primarily concerns itself with the main antagonist of the story being the game sburb itself, a self-sustaining cycle that exists to consume a universe, thus destroying it. And then obviously to construct a new universe in its place, thereby perpetuating the game and continuing its existance. RGU operates in a very similar capacity. Utena is essentially given this set of rules: the power to Revolutionize the World is contained within the Rose Bride, and she is part of a group that has access to the chance to wield that power in order to further whatever agenda they desire. So, very similar in premise, if not in the details of the structure: each 'player' is fighting for the ultimate power within the structure, which perpetuates itself eternally.

Homestuck really tries to expound this in everything before (S) Cascade, in that the kids, especially Rose, are working to try and dismantle Sburb itself, through various means: Rose ends up destroying her own planet, Dave essentially refuses to wield his own powers, Jade literally breaking through the fourth wall. All of these demonstrate the goal to defeat the true antagonist, the game itself.

Obviously two completely different properties here, and the plot really gets lost in the back half of act six as things change for Hussie and also within the world itself, but we very much lose this central idea of the enemy being the game as more and more additional antagonists are introduced. Within these antagonists include things Homestuck very much excelles at, like the character's sense of themselves and their place within the world they inhabit (this is a coming of age story after all).

Contrast this with Utena's arc: one of the central mystery of RGU is why Utena posesses the signet ring and even has access to the chance to possess the Power to Revolutionize the World. All the other characters who have access to this have been in a group this whole time, participating in this structure. As the series continues, the whole time the audience is receiving the constant repetitive introduction: that Utena met a prince in her childhood and she was so inspired she wanted to become a prince herself. Break out of the structure, or perhaps succomb to it, depending on the lense we focus with: the lens of her feminity and societal role, or her role within this group of individuals who have access to try and win this Power. The underlying tension is her own memory of when she received the ring, which is later revealed to be this nagging memory any time she looks at Anthy.

In RGU, the Power is very much tied to Anthy, implicit in her own prison. There isn't a character equivalent to her in Homestuck, but the central idea of 'beating' the Game to receive a Power exists in both works.

Where RGU sticks the landing is when Utena realizes that Anthy is trapped within this system. She is complicit in her own prison, but she is nevertheless trapped. Throughout the entire series, Utena just wants Anthy to be free from the burden of having to be the Rose Bride. The Rose Bride must listen to her fiance, has no freedom. Utena wants her to have freedom. In the end, she manages to realize that in order for Anthy to be free, she can no longer participate in the game. She can no longer be the holder of the Rose Bride, and the power. And indeed, in the show, Utena literally disappears from the narrative in the final ten minutes, allowing Anthy to free herself as well. All the other characters were fighting to prove an eternal power. Utena was fighting to prove it doesn't exist.

I do appreciate the end of Homestuck for a host of other reasons, but the narrative of fighting against the game as antagonist is never fulfilled within the story. Too many alternative antagonists appear, so that by the time we get to the end, the story does finally say ok, the kids get to have their universe and we won't probe into the consequences of that (obviously the story continues in the epilogues and H^2 but I didn't engage with either of those). So, if you too were disappointed by the finale revealing that hey, we're just gonna continue the system and not interrogate or fight to end it, check out RGU if you haven't already.

Also, similar stuff that happens between Dirk and Dave is happening between Touga and Nanami.

brainblast: revolutionary girl utena did what homestuck wanted to do so much more effectively and successfully

[sepublic]

The Collector is bound to the Titan?

People talk of the Collector possessing Luz, and the concept makes me think... They allude to being trapped in the Titan’s bones, and even revenge. It’s possible they on have vengeance towards humans (as some have speculated), but perhaps the Collector feels deceived by the Titan as well?

So my idea is; What if the Collector possessed the Titan? And the Titan possibly let them do so, maybe not realizing how terrible they are at first, or as part of a sacrificial gambit... And then once in their body, the Titan created the first coven seal; Binding their magic and by extension the Collector, who was now a part of it and their body.

This leaves the Collector bound alongside the Titan’s magic, unable to wield it; He can’t ever leave its body again. But he can still control it... So the Titan offs itself. And the Collector can’t control a dead body, so he’s a ghost trapped in a decaying corpse. Hence the Collector citing revenge and being betrayed, beguiled, deceived; They’re immaturely salty that they got ‘tricked’, because they love games until they start losing at them. At which point they flip the table and declare it was all stupid anyway.

So Belos possibly plans to revive the Titan, allowing the Collector to actually move and no longer be a prison in someone else’s body (perhaps a karmic parallel to what they did to the Owl Beast, as well as Belos’ relationship with his Palisman monster) and/or undo the binding, freeing the Collector to leave. Philip raised the dead before with his brother, after all... Why not do so with this new friend of his, who seems to be the playmate that Philip always wanted out of his sibling, and has now replaced him with?

On another note, there’s a parallel but also foil if this is true; Belos is someone with an entity he willingly trapped inside of him. The Collector IS that entity trapped within another, maybe willingly or not by either the Collector or the Titan. Regardless, I wonder then if the Collector’s experience helped Belos figure out how to deal with his own entity... Likewise, we know that when a possessor takes over, the body reflects their own appearance as a result.

What if this isn’t Luz... But the revived Titan’s body, its flesh regenerated, and now having warped to resemble the Collector, who is now in control like the Owl Beast or the Palisman monster sometimes were? Maybe the Collector once had a physical body and lost it when he possessed the Titan... Knowledge on that would contribute to his creation of the curse scroll; Maybe the Owl Beast was a guinea pig for the Collector to perfect this process, for taking over the Titan for himself?

Did they possess the Titan to get a physical body again? Was it a willing sacrifice that backfired thanks to the Titan’s clever thinking? Would the Body Swap spell ever be relevant??? I can imagine the Collector having developed it for pranks, or it was made as an evolution of his original possession spell by witches... Maybe a good old body swap is what the Collector needs, and they just need a binding to free their soul to do so?

Maybe they make a pact with Luz, or Hunter, given my previous speculation; Switching bodies. Thus Luz or Hunter gets to be in the Titan’s bones and go through a pretty surreal experience, possibly experiencing the Titan’s own memories and talking to it, gaining a helpful epiphany on magic... As the Collector wreaks havoc in this kid’s new body. He eventually gets ousted, and his victim regains themselves with a triumphant lesson from the Titan to boot! Because they actually learned from their ‘punishment’ and applied it, unlike that immature Collector, still bitter over being grounded; Literally, since the Titan has become the ground.

Perhaps the Collector finally gets the freedom he desired in a proper death; In the body of Belos perhaps? They’re partners in crime and fellow playmates who refused to grow up and should’ve died a long time ago... The Collector did talk of playing forever with Belos. Maybe their fate is to do so in death, and/or trapped in the same dead body, unable to leave; The Collector tormenting Philip in his or their own mindscape! Forced to play games for the rest of time and not the ones he wanted to... Karmic, it’s what Philip expected of his brother. And/or he goes mad and childish and becomes chaotic like the Collector.

[pen-observing]

kaeya, khaenri'ah and dragonspine

(I have been wondering about something in particular and have not seen it in any other theories; so hopefully this helps!)

Since starting the game and getting to Dragonspine I was wondering about what Kaeya’s voiceline in interesting things means, he says; ‘Have you ever seen the owl of Dragonspine? If you look directly at it, it seems to see right through you, while letting go of none of its own secrets... Quite fascinating, don't you think?’

What is the owl of Dragonspine and where can you find it? I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to answer it and running around the area just to accidentally discover it in what was pretty much in front of my eyes all this time. 

The owl of Dragonspine is on the wings we received by completing the tree - Wings Of Concealing Snow. The name and the short description fit Kaeya himself and we get more information; “Stylised wind glider. A gift left behind by a bird of prey that once soared among these mountains.” 

(the angle is slightly off but i think the details are pretty obvious.) 

In the longer description we see: “We shall rise again. The withered tree has sprouted anew, for a time of still greater trial is coming.So the owls warned the falcons once upon a time.”

The we shall rise again line is reminiscent of Khaenri’ah and their legacy. 

“Thus did the birds of the land of wind come to realise this: Even the skies of freedom might be turned bone-white by ice, or painted black by smog. The midday sun had been all but covered, to say nothing of the moon and stars. Fledgling birds curled up in their nests, waiting for the silent, tragic end to come.

But in the absence of light, the night-roaming owls thus gained dominion....“

The line about the skies of freedom eerily sounds like a warning itself when we consider the implications that Kaeya and Albedo will eventually turn against that land. The moon and the stars is a rather interesting choice of words to follow it because Kaeya’s constellation is connected to both. Pavo Ocellus, the peacock (whose feathers look like all seeing eyes) mean eye of the stars in a constellation appointed to watch over something by Hera. Furthermore, these are made from a peacock and all-seeing eyes of a titan on it’s tail. Depending on the interpretation the eye’s of the titan are described as half of them open and half of them closed in watching the world which means waiting.  Kaeya has the eyes of the stars that watch over all of Mondstadt, control of information he possesses and we know he is undoubtedly waiting.

I don’t think I have to explain the ways the darkness is connected to the portrayal of the abyss ( + the way the abyss gained power working inside and for that darkness) nor the tragic end referring to the fall Khaenri’ah.

‘Until a long, long time later... The weak young falcons would be kept alive, growing up on prey brought from places unknown.’ - referring to Diluc and possibly Vanessa.  ‘The dragon, lovely as jewels, would also be forgotten, as would the eyes of the owls that had once shone brightly in the darkness.‘ Finally, after the newest Dragonspine event, we were confirmed by Albedo that he and the dragon as lovely as jewels are one and the same, brothers and a creation from the same hands.  Notice how it uses the word ‘forgotten’ to describe these. It does not indicate that these two met an end. The word indicated simply that nobody remembers them and those that do are in a way revealing themselves. Also, using the word gift, implies that the bird is not dead but instead in hiding or behind the scenes, just waiting. But what is it waiting for?

I believe that the bird was waiting for the traveller to set things into motion once again. ‘Today, the branches that birds perched upon in antiquity have grown out once more, though they are stained an ominous crimson...’ line brings it all to the present where we helped the frostbearing tree rise once more. (I find it so funny that it is named the frostbearing tree while Kaeya has frostgnaw, dance of frost and frostbiting embrace as his talent/constellation names). 

The descriptions on the wings are fairly short but the next line refers to a prediction of the future: ‘ And though this is but a tangential matter, a crimson-red falcon that had perhaps left its flock to hunt and protect after dark would also take up the night owls' name.’ this refers to Diluc himself and how his and Kaeya’s stories are always parallels. If Kaeya and the owl are connected with warnings, what is going to happen after Kaeya makes the choice Mona talks about? Diluc will come to fill in a similar role. If Kaeya was tasked with revenge would Diluc not fill that same spot?

The lines of the past, present and future predictions are all tangled in this one description. It ends in a similar way to the beginning;

‘In the silence of the night, they call out, passing the secret along: We shall rise again. The withered tree has sprouted anew, for a time of greater trial is coming. And so, I gift unto you this pair of wings. Let us witness that coming time together.’

In the silence of the night; the abyss, the owl and Kaeya are all calling out and passing along secrets.  The tree has sprouted anew; they waited for the end before, they waited for hope now and finally have it. The trials will get harder but; the new coming of Khaenri’ah is inevitable and will be witnessed by those that provided their aid. 

[paperback-rascal]

special thanks to @kalm5 for such enthusiastic response to my The Bad Batch x The Witcher crossover despite the fact that I kind-of, sort-of hijacked their original post >.>

More information about this drawing is under the cut (as always):

Kaminioans are, in this AU, a group of elves very skilled in alchemy. They oversaw many of witcher Trials at the peak of Witchers "production". Nala Se was especially involved in the project. She knew more about the witchers than the monster slayers knew about themselves. She also knew to keep it simple with them - which is stay away from them as much as possible.

Some time later*, to her horror, Nala Se was forced to ask a witcher for help. Hunter, a novice at the time, was the one who aided her in need and, as naive and full of ideals as he was at the time, invoked "Law of surprise" as a payment. The reward he asked Nala Se for was to give him what she already have, but doesn't know of yet.

She agreed, thinking she'd get away scot-free as there was nothing she already possessed that she knows nothing of and even if there was such a thing it wouldn't be anything of significance. As it turned out Nala Se was pregnant at the time - despite having a fling with a human not so long before, she didn't considered it for a second as an valid option for her, as elves have hard time reproducing so she was "overconfident" with her "problematic fertility" (A/N: it's far easier for an elf to reproduce with a human than with their fellow elves - yes, it's a PIVOTAL yet background bit of the witcher lore!).

Since Nala Se always wanted to have a child, especially a girl, she accepted Omega as her own despite the girl being a half-elf. As a scientist Nala Se didn't believe in destiny, but, having "a bad feeling" about her deal with Hunter, the alchemist did everything in her power for him and Omega to never meet. Her decision brought a lot of pain, suffering and even death to everyone involved in her schemes, as destiny is not something you can trick or ignore. All of her efforts ultimately lead to Nala Se's downfall, which finally brought Omega and Hunter together.

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* In the witcher universe only humans lives are "short". The "non-humans" (like elves, dwarfs, gnomes, dryads, halflings, supernatural beings, etc) and most monsters are long-living creatures. The longer lifespan also applies to humans changed by magic: mages, sorceresses/sorcerers, witchers, etc. thus certain events in this crossover could take decades or even centuries. That's why in one of my previous posts about the crossover I've noted that The Bad Batch can have ridiculously big age-diffrences yet look and act like they were roughly the same age.

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STAR WARS: The Clone Wars/The Bad Batch © George Lucas/ Dave Filoni/ LucasFilm/ Disney

The witcher saga (books) © Andrzej Sapkowski/ The witcher video games © CDProjektRED/ Hexer (movie & TV series) © Heritage Films/ The Witcher TV series © Netflix