#as far as I know no one has made the full animation meme

[undercoverossifrage]

I have loved Soldier, Poet, King for years now and even back then I couldn’t help but appreciate how perfect it was for the Httyd books. I’m sure I’m not the first to point this out, but please enjoy this incredibly rough animation anyway. The amount of finesse I tried to put into this is… negligible?

[insert-content]

a summar(ule)y of 196 culture

since the tumblr veterans have been kind enough to introduce us newbies to their site and culture, i think it is only fair that we explain the culture of our glorious former home to any tumblr users who might be interested in the #196 tag. keep in mind, all these things are based on my perspective of the situation.

first of all, some general information (that you might’ve already heard):

196 (r/196 on reddit) was a subreddit with only one (official) rule; "post before you leave." it was mainly a meme/shitposting sub, but it cultivated a large queer and left-leaning community. in protest of the recent api chances in reddit, 196 has shut down indefinitely until reddit reverts these changes.

now for some culture/references that you might come across

spronkus kronkus:

spronkus is this yellow, rabbit-like creature.

they were the mascot of our subreddit. their appearance can vary from images to image, but as far as i’m aware, their full outfit consists of a bandanna in the colours of the trans flag around their neck, a gun labelled as such (other wise you obviously wouldn’t know what you’re looking at), and an axe also coloured like the trans flag.

r/place:

this is a rare event on reddit where the entire website gets a huge white canvas and can start creating pixel art on it. 196 participated by collaboratively creating our mascot, spronkus with "196!" written next to them.

this version of the pixel art was recreated by me as i couldn't find a nice image of it. there were some changes between the first version and the end result, so this might not be exactly how it looked in the end

post titles/"rule":

reddit forces it's users to title every post they make. as most of the posts on 196 spoke for themselves, many user instead titled their posts "rule", to indicate that they followed the subreddit's only rule. some people also tried to make puns with the word or tried to include it in words that shared some letters (example: wor(ule)d).

anarcho-stripperism:

as the amount of cropped porn jokingly posted to the subreddit increased, the moderators decided that porn would be banned from the sub, with one exception: anarcho-stripperism. she made food fucking videos, in which she jokingly tested the fuckability of different food items (fruits, pasta, etc.)

bigotry showcase:

bigotry showcase was a post flair (basically the reddit equivalent of tags) on the subreddit and was later restricted to only be used on saturdays. under this flair people posted instances of different forms of bigotry to make fun it.

eating babies/hungryposting:

at some point, the subreddit started to pretend to like eating babies, which started a variety of memes regarding the subject. even a post flair called "hungrypost" was added because of this

goblinhog:

goblinhog is the most prominent and well-known member of the 196 moderation team. besides this, on 196 he was mostly known for changing people’s flair if you enjoyed him enough about it.

flairs:

flairs are little tags that are displayed under your name in posts or comments, they are also subreddit specific. most subreddits give their users a palette of preset flairs and the option to make your own custom flair. however, in 196 you only had the option to customize your flair during special events. if you wanted to customize your flair outside of those events (which was basically the entire time), you had to ask a mod to do it for you.

punching nazis:

from time to time, the same gif of a person with a nazi armband getting punched in the face, and promptly falling to the ground, was reposted to the subreddit. this became a sort of tradition.

discourse/drama

wasp discourse:

the wasp discourse was a one to two weeks long heated discussion that generally divided the subreddit into two factions. one side said that they were justified in killing wasps if they were attacked by them, while the other claimed that since wasps are just animals, they aren't aware of what they're doing in the same way humans are, and therefore should be spared.

drama about the british:

there was a time when jokes along the lines of "ew, british" became pretty frequent on the subreddit. as a response, some user claimed that this was akin to racism and tried to get others to stop with the jokes. a debate over whether or not it was important or necessary to stop followed afterwards.

pillar discourse:

this was a debate over which type of pillar should be considered the best (ionic; doric; corinthian). i have seen the question "which pillar is the best?" being used as a sort of greeting between 196 refugees on here.

related subreddits

195:

195 was the predecessor to 196, and also was a social experiment with the same premise as 196 (one rule, post before you leave). as the creators of 195 ended the experiment, the community wanted something with the same vibe to continue posting, and thus 196 was born.

197:

197 is another part of the 196 ecosystem and is commonly understood to be the more politically right-leaning and bigoted as 196, as some people who were banned from 196 continued posting there. besides that, the subreddits were essentially the same in terms of how they functioned.

19684:

this subreddit adds a second rule which banned all mentions of sex (that’s why it’s name is a pun on 1984). some people took this as banning all discussion of sexuality, which resulted in a community that was slightly less accepting of queer people. it is currently still up and running as the 196 moderation team wants a way to stay in contact with the community.

amendments to the posts:

u/femboy_expert:

another well-known 196 user. as the name suggests they're an expert on the subject of femboys, with their flair on 196 reading "phd in feminine boys". as the subreddit was somewhat obsessed with femboys, it's no wonder that they became popular.

u/shitcum_backup:

this was the main account of a pretty popular shitposter on the subreddit. although i didn't see them as much in the last few months, i remember them sometimes having a unique speaking pattern, in which they referred to themself in the third person.

u/monko74:

this user commented "Every day I thank god for not making me a r/196 celebrity," which led to many users of the subreddit treating them like a micro celebrity. there are even a few subreddits solely dedicated to u/monko74.

691:

a sister subreddit that inverts the rule of 196, here you would be (temporarily) banned for posting. some time ago the members of this sub initiated a rebellion/revolution against the bot who performed all the bans (roomba).

u/Smart_Calendar1874:

this wasn’t necessarily part of the subreddit, but it was a pretty popular meme. and since it’s getting posted on here again, and i know enough about it, i’ll add it to the post. this user made a post to r/AskReddit titled "How would you get a small cylinder (5.1in length, ~4.5in girth) unstuck from a mini M&Ms tube filled with butter and microwaved mashed banana? [sic]" it was pretty clear that they were referring to their penis, yet they continued to claim "it’s a cylinder," in the comment section. this lead to comments like "it is imperative that the cylinder […] remains unharmed," in response to people’s advice of cutting the m&m tube.

it's going to be very interesting to see which aspects of 196 culture are going to survive the tumblr migration, and which aspects won't be applicable on this site.

i'm obviously not the ultimate scholar on 196 lore. if i’ve missed or left out anything, or said something wrong, please comment it.

[antivivziepopparade]

All of the proof that we have that Vivziepop is abusive. (So far....)

While you support this post please go ahead and support my channel to see more about Vivziepop's abusive behavior. Thanks!

1. She rushes her employees.

Season 1 was made in 2020. While Season 2 was made in 2021 while being released with MULTIPLE EPISODES only ONE year later.

That's-

INSANE!

-and im about to tell you why:

The average cartoon needs almost ONE WHOLE YEAR to produce one episode. And this is what we see in MAINSTREAM shows.

Meanwhile, Helluva Boss took only one year (and a half) to make MULTIPLE ENTIRE EPISODES that last over 20 minutes. The longest waiting time for an episode being 8 months. Not even a year, and we get multiple episodes off the drawing board.

You can even see here that it's taken only three years to make 16 episodes. When this is an indie studio, so this should have taken so much longer to make. Yet for some reason, it took only a few years for us to get full seasons. In 2021, we got over 4 episodes alone. Have you ever wondered why these episodes come out so fast while other shows take a lot longer to get new seasons? That's an easy question to ask... Spindlehorse...

Is being ABUSED.

And I have the proof to show.

2. The pay controversy.

Spindlehorse's payment has been under controversy for providing the lowest pay possible to those that work at the studio.

One piece of evidence was given by Adam himself (albeit unintentionally) by saying this:

This kind of pay is highly unstable! And before you say "But he didn't force them to be there-"

LOOK.

The employees themselves admitted that they had no choice. People had no choice and Vivienne Medrano took advantage of that for her own selfish desires. This is disgusting treatment of a studio as small as Spindlehorse. Or any studio for that matter.

Hell! chaifootsteps said once that once Zeurel released that he was paying his animators too low, he deleted one of the tweets showing the low pay and decided to do something to give his employees better wages. Meanwhile, Chimera Bunny pays even less than Viv does and just because paying your workers low is normal in the animation industry- plot twist: Doesn't make it ok!

People have suffered so much in this industry, it's why "New Deal for Animation" exists. The only reason you haven't seen many Vivziepop workers having protests and speaking out is because Vivziepop says things like this behind people's backs if they "dare" do anything she doesn't like:

So that explains as to why so many people remain as "anon" or say nothing at all because they got cold feet. Vivienne's terrible!

Especially since even her top employees have admitted to not being paid enough despite Adam's "I pay them to stay if they make us the most mon-ey!" claims from the article:

Also this:

This is how she speaks about her own employees:

"YOU DONT LIKE HOW I TREAT YOU?! FUCK OFF!"

Straight up abuse.

Also, wasn't Walt Disney known for abusing his employees?

To the point where people had an entire protest in 1914 about it?

Wow... such a healthy workplace treatment comparison. Doesn't make Vivziepop look more like a jerk.... at all! /s

3. She bullies kids/laughed at a sa victim that was sa'ed by her friends. As one kid was bullied into a panic attack (I know them personally) back in about 2020 and Viv decided to vague post about them behind their back even after they apologized.

For someone who's so focused on "forgiving despite cancel culture" she sure likes to blame and harass people for disliking even ONE thing about her show or herself. One thing- and you're harassed over making a meme about a cartoon with fictional characters (What Froot Did that set Vivziepop and Gumball off.)

Secondly, one of her friends sexually harassed a minor.

And instead of acknowledging the sa, Vivziepop wrote this:

She ended up calling it a "joke" and made fun of the victim involved.

This is outright abusive behavior that should not be tolerated.

Children don't deserve to be traumatized this way. Especially over something as simple as making memes about a cartoon (negative or not) or simply telling someone to stop fetishizing abuse.

More on this in this video made by Gummypop:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND-

That's all that I have for now!

Will likely be updating this post in the future. Goodbye!

EDIT:

More evidence of Vivziepop using abusive language and slander against her employees behind their back. Claims of them being a "stalker" (like she did to Kedi and also its clear that she told her employees to say that Kaz was a "stalker" otherwise how else would they be saying these things after she fired them.) along with using abusive language such as "CUNT!" to prefer to Kaz this way in a professional setting I cannot. 💀

More evidence of Vivziepop harassing a kid:

ANOTHER edit:

More evidence, she's burning them the HELL out!

Yet ANOTHER edit:

More evidence of Spindlehorse being abusive:

EDIT:

Even MORE evidence:

The fact that the story AND the storyboards AND the animating for season one's episodes were all done in one year is just so crazy to me like... WHAT?! Either way, this post will continue to extend the more that I find evidence. So remember to look forward to that one!

EDIT:

Sadly no, as animation abuse is so common that the police dont even see it as an issue. The last time I tried to call the police on her they needed a location. The problem? There is no location of Spindlehorse since it's a "private" studio. So because of that viv gets away with abuse despite the obvious implications of her behavior and how many people came out with allegations towards her.

[shubaka]

some kpts fic recs! here are some that i'll randomly catch myself thinking about again :')

GEN

Silver for Truth by snickerdoodlles

Tawan dug himself a grave when he hurt Kinn all those years ago, now it’s time for Khun and Kim to put him in it. (this is part 2 of a series but i feel compelled to rec this particular one lmao)

The Knight's Pawn by Yuujeong

When Big appears one day at Kim's doorstep as his new bodyguard, Kim is mentally prepared; he will not befriend, he will not open up and most importantly, he will not get attached. Korn made sure he learned this lesson a long time ago. Still, sometimes, on silent nights consisting of a cigarette and his guitar, he ponders on his past, on the days accompanied by an unassuming bodyguard with dimples and he smiles bitterly to himself. Or. The relationship between Kim and Pete, before everything.

KENBIG

Somewhere with Snow by gayzuko

"Everything's going to shit, isn't it?" Ken says when they part. Big sighs. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." "Do you ever think about leaving?"

KIMCHAY

Back on the Beat by Pens

On one hand, Kim is thrilled that Porchay responded to his ridiculous message. On the other hand, he doesn't really know where to go from here... he supposes he has no one to blame but himself. At least Porchay hasn't left him on read this time. Kim will just have to figure out a way to get Porchay to forgive him... through memes.. Illustrated and animated!, with some words in between.

clip by laesa

Korn dies and Kim slowly grows his hair out long. His brothers and boyfriend approve.

Come On, Get Up by phnelt

Kim gets kidnapped. Luckily, Chay has a very particular set of skills that he has acquired over a long career of being an ultra-fan. And he knows how to google.

deep in this sleeplessness by bisexualbard

“Kim.” Chay keeps repeating, and hearing his name from those lips still makes something flutter in his chest, even after all these months. “Are you saying we could have been getting a good night’s sleep for like a week now and you didn’t tell me?” He shrugs again. Chay keeps emphasizing words accusatorily, like approaching him and saying, hey I think we’ve been cursed so that we can’t sleep unless we’re near each other please let me curl up next to you in bed, wouldn’t be batshit crazy. Kim can't sleep. Chay can't sleep. Somehow this leads to Kim spending his nights in Chay's bed with the Great Wall of Pillows standing firmly between them.

From the Ashes by Water_Nix

Episode 14 canon divergence wherein Kim doesn't leave Hum Bar without Chay, and Gun gets out what he was going to say about Namphueng before Korn has a chance to act against him.

Heiligschennis by scattered_stardust16

Kim’s legs tremble with the effort of holding himself up, his pants and briefs are a mess around his ankles that neither of them care about right now. Not when Kim’s skin contrasts so beautifully against the black shiny polish of the piano he’s lying on. Chay could wax poetically about that contrast for hours. Starting with the way it makes Kim’s skin seem even more golden that it usually does.

Idolistic by ditchlily

Kim has control issues, and likes to seed his fandom with misinformation. Chay is a bnf with an unerring ability to spot the lies. This is a meet cute. Contains: weird courtship rituals, creepy cousins, far too much PDA, and Kim and Chay, teaming up to take on the world and take down family conspiracies.

Kim's Magic Pussy by imdeadlily

Kim wakes up and finds his dick is gone. MIA. Vanished. Displaced. Chay has no issues with this.

Moondrunk by TheCookieOfDoom

Porchay is a werewolf that crosses into vampire territory during his first full moon, an honest mistake that could lead to war. Luckily the vampire he meets cares less about their treaty than he does about the lost, golden-eyed cub stumbling through the forest.

Outside the Frame by just_slightly_chaotic

"So, P'Kim." Chay nonchalantly picks at the food on his plate, glancing at Kim from underneath his eyelashes. "What is the new MV going to be about?" Kim's heart picks up in speed. He wills it to slow down, without success. "I'm a prince who's been forced into an arranged marriage." Chay's head snaps up at Kim, eyes widening. "But I fall in love with a stablehand instead and we run away together." He's pretty sure he sees the world implode behind Chay's eyes. --- Kim doesn't need a social media manager. He's doing perfectly fine. Until Chay comes along. And then... well, he still insists he doesn't need a social media manager. But he does need Chay. (Even if it takes him a while to admit it.) (WIP)

tear out the threat of your love from my skin by booksnchocolate

It's not Porche's fault. Chay tells himself this firmly when it starts. This has nothing at all to do with hia, nothing at all to do with waking up one morning at 17 and finding his older brother firmly gone from his life. It's not Porsche's fault, but that is when it starts. Chay breaks. (please mind the tags on this one)

There Must Be Nine by Discophilia

Porchay Kittisawasd has felt unlucky for his entire life, he just never knew there was a reason. The morning of his 19th birthday, he collapses, victim to a dark generational curse that's somehow connected to Kim, too. Racing, Kim has to find a way to break the curse before Chay is lost forever. (WIP)

when i drive myself my light is found by IsleofSolitude

When Chay bought a car, he didn't realize hwat a great deal he got. It came with leather seats, a full tank of gas, a scowling ghost, and floor mats. Wait, what?

WIKTOBER: Open for Submissions. by wildelydawn

Chay runs an annual fic fest for WIK, a popular singer. Kim, a lurker in his own fandom, becomes an admin. (WIP)

Wikubus by AirgiodSLV

Chay knows that summoning a demon is a bad idea. He knows, okay? There are countless media depictions of what happens when someone decides to bargain with their soul. It never ends well. It's just... There have been a lot of rumors popping up lately in the fan spaces Chay frequents. Comments that suggest Chay's pop music idol Wik might secretly be a demon. Specifically, an incubus.

KIMPORSCHE

Bruises on both my knees by Lorio

So you're a tough guy Like it really rough guy Just can't get enough guy Chest always so puffed guy I'm that bad type

TANKHUNCHAY

and my mind came rushing in by filigreesails

Tankhun has never been kissed. He's fine with that - prefers it that way, even. IT's not as if there are many people out there who could meet his eye-wateringly high standards, anyway. So it's fine. Obviously. At least, until Chay comes to him with a proposition, and the prospect of changing the status quo suddenly becomes a lot less hypothetical

[doctor-badadvice]

They don't make shows like they used to. Remember when Shredder was a professional furry maker? Or Krang, probably the funniest alien ever. Or even Irma from Channel 6 who was willing to shag a comedically offensive Italian stereotype, a robocop and master Splinter, in this order, in just a handful of episodes!

Well, I didn't. I haven't watched ‘87 TMNT in like, two decades on a tv channel that doesn't even exist anymore. This has been one hell of a ride and I'm only at season 3.

So for the longest time Baxter in my mind was just some guy who got turned into a fly for reasons. I didn't even know he was white or basically Gollum. He seriously had a slimy vibe before starring in The Fly and I had no idea.

But 2003 Baxter Stockman is simply on another level. He's smart, greedy and so damn full of himself. He’s also incredibly dramatic! Half the show’s budget would have gone into animating him doing dramatic poses if he didn’t get dismembered.

And it’s no surprise this is the same man who took time to program the mousers to wag their tails. He's great and deserves a Nobel prize (just so he'll stop putting himself in situations for five minutes).

But that’s just scraping the surface and this is a good time to poke @teenagemutantninjatrauma as requested.

(insert the Charlie Day meme I still haven’t had time to draw)

As I was saying, I feel like Baxter deserves more recognition. He's a regular human in a world with mutant turtles, superpowered secret agents and alien war criminals and man, he doesn't give a single fuck about any of it.

He also doesn't have many limbs left but does he have any regrets? Does he ever stop running his mouth? Hell no. Shredder isn’t safe from his snarky remarks—

Shredder isn’t safe. One of my favorite moments from the early seasons is when Baxter crashes the epic showdown between Shredder and the turtles with a mecha he apparently whipped up in an afternoon (like the girlboss he is) and they go

Leo: What do we have to do to stop this guy?

Shredder: I have asked myself that question many times

And no amount of torture made him less of a vengeful bitch. Baxter attacked Shredder again after that until one of his betrayal plots finally worked and he ran off to have fun with the EPF like

These two are truly something.

It’s funny to go back to the early episodes to see Baxter go “Giant mutant turtles? Time for a dissection >:)”. It’s like these two were made to work together from the start.

Again, I’ve said before that the only reason Bishop doesn’t have to fear as much is that he’s somehow a far better employer than you’d expect. Baxter is looking for a way to make himself a new viable body, not a mecha since I’m sure dealing with sensory deprivation for so long must be awful. But much to Bishop’s dismay, I’m sure, not even he is safe. And if you think about it, Stockman (derogatory) is the one who gets the closest to murdering Bishop. Twice!

Yes, technically the first time it was an accident since the genetics lab blowing up wasn't planned. But he really went “Fuck it. I’m murdering the President today.” and it almost worked!

So really, it’s best to stay on Baxter’s good side. He can’t fight but he will find a way to kill you if he hates you enough.

[argyrocratie]

"We have good reason to worry about this: As Israelis count their dead, politicians in Israel and the US call for Palestinian blood in direct, genocidal language. “We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday. “Finish them, Netanyahu,” said former Ambassador to the United Nations and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. “Neutraliz[e] the terrorists,” said Democratic senator John Fetterman. Jews share memes about the highest number of Jewish casualties since the Holocaust, not bothering to ask who, right now, is being ethnically cleansed, or how many massacres of this size Gaza has seen in the last dozen years. This language deploys the bombs that fall on Gazans from the sky, leveling whole neighborhoods, wiping out families without warning, huddled in their homes because they have nowhere to flee. “There are body parts scattered everywhere. There are still people missing,” one man north of Gaza City told CNN. “We’re still looking for our brothers, our children. It’s like we’re stuck living in a nightmare.”

We will likely soon see this genocidal impulse spread, as the Israeli government hands out automatic weapons to West Bank settlers, many of whom were already armed eliminationists. In this way, Jewish grief is routed back into the violence of a merciless system of Palestinian subjugation that reigns from the river to the sea. It is mobilized by US politicians who support Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government, which has intensified Palestinian death and displacement and disappeared any hope of a diplomatic solution. It is marshaled to drum up support for sending weapons to Israel, even as we know that, as Haggai Mattar wrote in +972 Magazine, “there is no military solution to Israel’s problem with Gaza, nor to the resistance that naturally emerges as a response to violent apartheid.”

(...)

On October 7th, my own feelings fluctuated wildly. My first feeling was fear. To listen closely to the genocidal language of this Israeli government over the past year has been to live in terror of the day they would find the excuse to pursue it. Writing in n+1, Jewish Currents contributing editor David Klion recounts the words of a campus activist in the wake of 9/11: “They’re already dead,” he’d said on the day Bush declared war on Iraqis, their fates sealed. I felt these words in my body, sobbing loudly in front of the screen. There were also bursts, very early on, of awe. I watched the image of the bulldozer destroying the Gaza fence again and again and cried tears of hope. I watched Palestinian teenagers seemingly out joyriding in a place half a mile away that they’d never been; a Gazan blogger suddenly reporting from Israel. But these images were quickly joined by others—the image of a woman’s body, mostly naked and bent unnaturally in the back of a truck; rooms full of families lying in piles, the walls spattered in blood. I wanted desperately to keep these images separate—to hold close the liberatory metaphor and banish the violent reality. By the time I began to accept that these were pictures of the same event, I was distraught, and contending with a rising alienation from those who did not seem to share my grief, especially as the scope of the massacre came into view.

(...)

Part of what has made the experience of this event feel so different from the status quo—and so different to Palestinians and Jews—comes from the fact that Palestinians were undeniably the actors, for once, not the acted upon. The protagonists of the story. I consider it an enormous failure of our movements that we have not been able to build a vehicle for that kind of reversal in any other way thus far. Our Jewish movements for Palestine were not powerful enough to stop other Jews from gunning down Palestinians in peaceful marches at the Gazan border fence, or to keep Palestinians from being fired, harassed, and sued for speaking the truth about their experience or—God forbid—advocating the nonviolent tactic of boycott.

And now, we do not have a shared struggle able to credibly respond to these massacres of Israelis and Palestinians. With all of the work that many Jews and Palestinians have done to reach toward each other over the years, I believe at heart it is this failure that is now driving us apart. There is no formidable political formation that I know of that can hold the political subjectivity of both Jews and Palestinians in this moment without simply attempting to assimilate one into the other. No place where Jews and Palestinians who agree on the basics of Palestinian liberation—right of return, equality, and reparations—are poised to turn the synthesis of these two subjectivities into a coherent strategy.

(...)

One of the most terrible things about this event is the sense of its inevitability. The violence of apartheid and colonialism begets more violence. Many people have struggled with the straightjacket of this inevitability, straining to articulate that its recognition does not mean its embrace. I am reminding myself that it was from Palestinians, many of them writing and speaking in these pages, that I learned to think of Palestine as a site of possibility—a place where the very idea of the nation-state, which has so harmed both peoples, could be remade or destroyed entirely."

...

-Arielle Angel, “We Cannot Cross Until We Carry Each Other” (October 12, 2023)

[chriskotthoff]

Lets Talk About Battletech

Felt like gushing about the one sci-fi series that I have always nerded out over, so lets talk about big stompy robot and one of the last bastions of the real-robot mecha sub-genre in this cyberpunk world we now live in.  

My introduction to Battletech was the Animated series that aired for one season in 1994. It was far from the best cartoon, mostly serving as a meme generator for the current fandom. Exo-Squad was on their second season by that time and had superior animation and story telling but there was something about Battletech that kept me and my friends talking about it. That something was the Battletech universes itself. As flawed as the cartoon was, it did a great job summing up the Inner Sphere in it���s 60 second intro. The show leaves out a lot but if it’s mission was a simple introduction, sampler to the much broader Battletech Universe, mission accomplished.

After the cartoon ended, my buddies found the Battletech novel series at the local book store, that lead us to find the Battletech 3rd edition table top game and in 1995, Activsion published MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat. After that, I was unapologetic Battletech nerd.

What was it that made me fall in love with the game? Allot of little things. The ‘Mechs that took center stage in Battletech had wight, they looked and felt like combat machines. Each Battlemech looks purpose built for war, walking weapon platforms that would crush foes under foot given the chance. The stories themselves are not award winning but most are relatable. Each conflict has petty beginning and costly consequences. Few things are black and white, war itself was the enemy but was also celebrated. Each character had their own self serving motivations rather than some altruistic idea, be it seeking honor and glory or avenging their home planet lost to conflict. It wasn’t ultra-bleak like 40K but it was acknowledging there is little black and white in war, just allot of gray. You are piloting a towering killing machine and winning sometimes means just getting back alive after you run out of ammo, your armor has been shredded and the other mechs are hunting you down.

As with any community built around a war game, you do run into occasional jerks you need to block but I found most of my interaction with fellow Battletech fans to be good ones. Some of my most cherish from my childhood was playing the table top with my school yard friends or talking about that stupid cartoon. Made new friends simple sharing Battletech fan art and still enjoy talking about Battlemechs with my current social group when I can.  

Coming full circle; If that stupid, stupid cartoon can teach us anything, don’t be petty. It’s far easier to make enemies than allies and in this world of gray, do the right thing when you can… that and Nicolai Malthus was an ass... sorry Jade Falcon fans but you know why he’s the meme. 

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 11/03/2024

ULTRA S+G

Season 2 Featured on: The SiIvaGunner YTPMV Collab (Eek!).veg

Ripped by Kirbio, SAF

God, man. Season 2 of SiIvaGunner was so cool.

And like, I know that that's what I *always* say when I'm writing about a Season 2 rip, in everything from Patched Plains Fusion Collab to Rippin'! Mashin'! High Quality Grand Prix and the SilvaGunner: Rebooted 1st Anniversary event...but I can't help it! There was just such an energy of excitement, of pure joy permeating throughout the entire season - excitement not just for the Christmas Comeback Crisis, but for how SiIvaGunner was *actually* back, firing on all cylinders. The rips were referencing events we were already nostalgic over, althewhile introducing new jokes in clever, memorable ways - the Inspector Gadget takeover and Become as Gadget will forever stick with me as one of the most engrossing events the channel has ever done.

To put it one way...in my (nostalgia-blinded) eyes, Season 2 was the most "unified" the channel ever felt. We were all invested in every little corner of the channel's ongoings, we were all aware of the origins of and meaning of all the active jokes...that kind of investment and attachment to all the featured jokes felt sort of like if Season 4 Episode 2's Summer Fes had lasted for an entire Season! And while we've certainly got a far wider, far more ambitious output of rips in Season 5 onward in particular, it was that feeling of unification that made rips like ULTRA S+G hit like fucking crazy.

The thing you'll immediately notice when clicking on ULTRA S+G is, of course, the visuals, a full-length parody of the visuals featured in the original ULTRA B+K music video, completely reimagined to feature several of SiIva's own memes from Season 2. The visuals are, of course, in sync with the main joke of the rip, in being a huge meme medley of various sources, most replacing the original song's "bass" and "kick" vocal samples. The resulting sound hits you like several trains throughout the rip, be it the opening of "DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE-DEE ; KAY-KAY-KAY-KAY-KAY!!", the beat-dropping "Miney Crafta"s and "GRAND DAD"s, the midsection covered by the good ol' PSY samples a la One Winged PSYcho - V​.​S. Sepsyrop...and while all that is happening, you're met with visuals that go absolutely above and beyond just parodying the original. It has little references to the events of Season 1, such as the infamous Bean or the Mr. Rental storyline of Mr. Rental [B Side] ~ Out of Options...and, hey - an animation of The Voice Inside Your Head!! What ULTRA S+G conveys above all else is the extent of the journey we had all been on over the course of almost two years, a hype-beyond-belief shot directly into the arm of everything SiIvaGunner embodies.

Kirbio's output on the channel is impressive in its sheer scope, and recently of note arranged one of Season 1's greatest in the form of Return to Collision Clouds. Its likely coincidental, but I enjoy how both that arrangement as late in as Season 7, as well as ULTRA S+G, manage to convey that feeling of the long journey the channel's been on in entirely different ways: Return to Collision Clouds has a sentimental feel to it, wheras ULTRA S+G may as well be hype incarnate. An explosive beginning to the end of Season 2, its the kind of rip that I cannot stop returning to for the memories alone - helped, of course, by the rip itself being an incredible watch and listen.

[emmebearpaw]

Ok you know. This Olive fic was shorter than I hoped it was going to be but I've gotten to a point where I would do a big 'ol time skip and a lot of my thoughts about this version of Olive are more... disjointed scenes. I also kind of want to go play video games instead of doing more writing so uh, posting time! Consider this a nice intro to drop some exposition and try to ease you into the world i'm thinking about right now I suppose. I'll definitely write more for Olive here soon.

Word Count: ~1075

The Web was full of very strange rules. Strange being the operative word. Because Olive did not understand the explanations behind them. You could only send 280 letters in a call on Birdcall. Cats are the funniest animals and must have funny memes made about them. There was acronyms for everything. And most notably in this situation,

"There isn't actually a rule that says a vtuber has to play video games. Besides. Sudoku can be a video game if I play it on my Webporter." She laughed, scrolling back up her busier than average (a whole 7 people watching!) chat to see the commenter's name. "Yup, definitely don't recognize that username, welcome to the Labyrinth, punkstrife. Since your new here, allow me to explain, it's hard to get a Webporter down into my labyrinth so the one I'm using is uh... a teensy bit old!" Olive hit one of her hotkeys and watched the expression on her model change in the stream preview. Her carefully crafted png-tuber persona being her best edit of the Minotaur's skull placed upon an anime girl body, with a posted note slapped onto the skull so she toggle the expression to one of the many emoticons she had learned over the last several months. Certainly it wasn't as cool as the moving models of other streamers she had watched but, her posted note could go :p, or any other infinite amount of emotions, which was good enough for her. "Luckily the Web is full of many fun things to do!!" ^-^ "Like reading Wikipedia! Anyways don't mind any birds you can hear, I keep birds and they've been a bit noisy recently!"

Her chat scrolled by a bit as she got a drink of water. One of the rules of streaming was that you are supposed to read chat. And besides, having people to talk to is the reason she was streaming, so... >Asterius is a nerd lol >fresh blood fresh blood >still want to know what birds they are?? >do Byers national park next

Placing the cup down she continued, "Speaking of, let's get back into it. Today's theme is national parks and other nature preserves from around the world, so give suggestions and we can go digitally visit it! We're reading about Acadia National Park right now, but if you want me to learn about one you like  then list it out. We'll all learn about them together!"

---

After another hour she went on break. Frankly she didn't even need to use the bathroom yet. She more so needed to stretch in ways she couldn't do quietly. After all there was no way to get up from the stool without the light scratching of its quills against the kitchen cabinet. She sighed, it probably wouldn't be long before she would have to paint the cabinet to cover up all the scratches it had put in it... and the bathroom door.. and the hole in the mattress from that one time it-- She broke out of the list of things she had to repair again as she reached her destination after 4 whole seconds. The other side of the desk/dining table/kitchen counter. The kitchen of course being the section of the house with the most floor space. Well, besides the bed, but she hadn't washed her feet from when she went out to tend to the birds, and she wasn't going to get the bed dirty just to stretch and she didn't feel like washing them or washing an extra pair of socks later. If only her master could find it some shoes that actually fit its feet. Oh well, that was the rule!

There were, of course, many rules she had to follow to be able to keep living here. Those ones she understood far better than the internet rules, because unlike those ones, her master had been there to explain them. She ran her fingers through her wiry hair as she gently pushed her head down, imagining her master's fingers instead as she explained the oh so important rules that would keep the two of them safe.

The first was the most serious one, her master cooed, "Nobody can know what you look like unless I say that they are safe" she nodded as she changed stretches, because of course "being a familiar can get us both in a lot of trouble if any of the gods ever find out". It chirred in shock, why should the fact it had claws and fur and a big tail and little tiny ears the perfect size for scratch mean it was in trouble? It hadn't even done anything... would it get  in trouble with master  "No no, you've been a very good girl. You aren't in trouble with me at all" She scratched behind its ear.  "Unfortunately, before you were born I did... a few things that made some of the gods very angry at me. And one of those things was making you, because the gods don't like it when humans do magic."

"Meanies" she managed to respond before sticking out her tongue in a childish act of defiance.

She shook her head loose from the memory before moving on to touch her paws. It was that silly silly "no magic" rule of the gods that was the source of all the rules her master had to drill into her. No telling anyone about her, because people definitely shouldn't know that she was a familiar. No mention of the birds her master had stolen from The Garden (at least she could mention there were birds. It was hard to ignore their very loud calls when they thought it was spring). No mention of where they lived because it turns out pocket dimensions were also magic and therefore also illegal.

At least the Web existed. With its strange rules that didn't make sense and infinite things to do and even people to talk to that weren't her master! Not that she didn't love her master, but she had to go and make money so that they could both eat even in the off season. So. She could be a Minotaur. As a treat. After all, as long as she followed all the rules her master told her again and again, nothing would go wrong!

She should probably get back to her stream, shouldn't she?

[yuurivoice]

Just wanted to say that even though I do avoid exploring any tags related to me, I do absolutely recognize and appreciate a ton of you who regularly post awesome art, headcanons, and memes.

A lot of that is thanks to people sharing those fun, awesome things! Reblogs where I end up seeing them on mutuals blogs and stuff helps, so share and gas each other up!

There are people in this community that have been here for years, who have seen this entire corner of the internet shift and grow for better or worse. The OGs who have been around before I ever made this blog know how far the community has come, how much it's stayed the same, and how much it has changed. And I've grown along with it. My aspirations and hopes and creativity has evolved so much from just doing silly little posts as an anime twink to having a full blown web series.

Despite that growth, I am still just a guy trying to tell his stories and make some voices while doing it. I have a small team around me, and without them this would be even more difficult than it already is. We're not corporate, we're independent artists and freelancers and creatives just trying to do cool stuff, and are lucky enough that something worked.

I've failed so much over the course of my life. You see the results of things, and for the most part are incredibly kind and supportive. Thousands upon thousands have appreciated my work in one way or another, and that's a dream come true for me. I never bothered wanting anything more in my life than to share stories with people. I didn't have a bucket list, or many aspirations. I was at a dead end and ready to just give up. That mentality and the time spent going in circles did a lot of damage over time.

But you found me, whether it was 6 years ago or a week ago, and whatever support and vibes you've sent my way have mattered. I won't ever lose sight of that.

I wanted to say that because I know I am not as ingrained into my own community as an active participant and that may make me seem distant, or stuck up, or something. It's not for any sort of disdain or lack of appreciation though, it's just me, and trying to keep my head clear.

You don't get an instruction manual when you're suddenly a niche internet micro celebrity. They don't tell you about scrolling through fan art at 3am and then seeing the nastiest, most mean spirited, bad faith takes about your work you've ever seen. Shit is weird, man. And it's not for me, because I give way too much of a shit about my art, and that's a flaw. My skin has gotten thicker over the years, but what happens on days when your mental health is in the shitter? Weeks where I've been fighting my demons and losing can't afford me the grace to step on a weird internet landmine brought on by the symptoms of being a creative trying and failing and succeeding all at once in a world where everyone on the internet has an opinion they want to shout into the void.

And people can do that! It's my responsibility to look after myself and set those boundaries for my own comfort, not anyone's fault for just doing their thing on the internet, ya know? Once you put yourself out there, you have to accept that people are gonna people. Same irl, shit, I've been a fat kid my whole life, I'm certainly no stranger to people being obscenely rude for no reason other than they like the sound of their own voice.

I just wanted y'all to know that even though we're well beyond the "little internet family" vibes that some creators foster, I'm not up in some ivory tower (ha, said the thing) looking down like a curmudgeon. I am rooting especially hard for all the fellow creatives out there on their own journeys, wanting to share their passion and dreams with the world as well. I want you to win, and succeed, and find fulfillment with whatever drives you to make things.

Guess I was in my feelings a little bit and just wanted to say that I do see many of you and am thankful you've allowed me to play some kind of role in entertaining, comforting, or inspiring you. That means the world to me.

[italeteller]

I open up my social media

-israel has killed dozens more palestinians in the tents they were living in after israel burned down their houses

-the charred corpse of a palestinian baby

-the charred corpse of a palestinian adult

-a food tiktok

-fanart

-porn

-porn

-porn

-photos of people going on vacations

-children slaves in congo

-US and europe-backed war crimes in sudan

-fanart

-people talking about their blorbos

-people talking about videogames

-fanart

-fanart

-porn fanart

-porn fanart

-porn fanart

-a palestinian baby died of malnourishment. you can see his ribs. i had never seen a baby's ribs before

-an article showing the israeli aggression was well underway decades before october 7th

-people cheering for police repression against protesters in buenos aires

-people talking about their hobbies

-massive heat wave in india, temperatures reaching killing point

-blorboposting

-fanart

-a random meme

-fanart

-the ukraine resistance against russia is still ongoing

-videogame talk

-a go fund me for a palestinian family

-a go fund me for a person in a non-war country who still can't afford to pay to live

-gringos yelling that if you don't vote for biden you have personally killed all trans people and will contribute to the fall of civilization worldwide

-biden sending another couple billion dollars in weapons to israel

-a go fund me

-an article about project 2025. it feels straight out of the witch hunt ages

-trump talking about rolling back trans care if he gets made president

-celebrity beef between two people I've never heard of before

-the far right is gaining ground in europe and the americas

-an article where people blame immigrants for their problems

-a new shonen manga is debuting to replace the one that got cancelled before it could reach 30 chapters

-music talk

-music talk

-music talk

-blorboposting

-fanart

-a palestinian mother holding a bundle with the remains of her child

-a palestinian child praying for death to take them with their parents

-porn

-porn

-fanart

-people talking about their hobbies

-people complaining that they work a full-time job and still can't afford to live and are always exhausted

-a go fund me

-an artist opening commissions

-a game is getting an update soon

-fanart

-fanart

-gringos saying you have to vote biden no matter what

-a fandom discourse I had never heard of before and don't wanna know more about

-porn fanart

-a different game studio is getting closed. it's CEO says it was inevitable. he makes tens of millions of dollars monthly

-an israeli soldier smiling as he destroys a palestinian's family home

-videogame discourse

-the argentine peso is losing value, no surprises there

-a little kid in corrientes is missing, they suspect human trafficking

-celebrity drama

-fanart

-someone's vacation photos

-porn

-poverty in argentina is rising

-a new mom complaining about the prices of diapers

-an article about how israeli prisons use dogs to rape palestinian prisoners

-a funny meme

-fanart

-porn

-a go fund me

-a body torn to pieces

-a manga is getting an anime adaptation

-an anime studio's long history of exploiting their workers

-fanart

-fanart

-porn

-a palestinian man grieving for his whole family

...

...

...

if i didn't go insane during the pandemic, i feel i surely did this last year

[ayameakuma]

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Theory/Analysis/Rant?kinda

Since there is like 2 or so more months till Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out and, since I saw a lot of people debating the name/logo/what will be the story/involvement of the Zonai Tribe (*insert Zonai Swirl meme here*) I wanna put my own two cents in here, so here goes nothing:

First, the Logo:

This thing made people on the internet (as far as I've seen) think this might be the end of the Zelda Timeline and take the 2 Dragons circling each other as confirmation that the timeline runs in a loop, an eternal samsara if you will.

I think that this isn't the case.

Usually, when it comes to the ouroboros symbol, the snake or dragon eats its own tail, and this doesn't seem to be the case here. The mouths of the 2 dragons are closed, and they appear to just chase after each other. In this case, instead of the symbol of a loop, the ouroboros might take onto the meaning of harmony.

Since there are two dragons there, it could mean two entities need to find harmony. This is also very much supported by this screenshot:

Look behind the logo.

We see the new God? Entity? Creature? - whoever the hell that is together with who I assume is Zelda. It could imply that the two need to find a way to work in harmony to defeat Ganondorf. This is also mirrored by Link and his new arm since they also need to work in harmony to fulfill their role as the Hero. And, because Nintendo loves the number three, Zelda and Link themselves need to work together to solve whatever is happening in Tears of the Kingdom.

Again, this logo is more about harmony rather than a never-ending loop.

But, the main question I ask myself when I look at the logo is: Why dragons? Why is the logo depicted with dragons? And why two of them?

Well, the answer has to do with the Zonai, a barbaric (were they really?) tribe who is behind a lot of the old structures around Hyrule, as well as being, apparently, very technologically advanced if we are to think that the monsters from the trailers (blocky moster and the one that looked like a one eyed mechanical cyclops) and the weapons shown (flamethrower, homming arrows and the canon that shoots out balls of evergy) are made by them.

And yet, every piece of lore about them says that they are "barbarians" or a "barbaric tribe." I will go on with this later but remeber one thing: the history is always written by the ones that survive the wars or cataclysmic situations.

Either way, back on track, the Zonai Tribe had three types of animal like structures they probably worshiped because the animals represented the Triforce:

1. The Boar/Pig structures most likely represent the Triforce of Power. This could also allude to Ganon's monster forms as they, usually, resemble a pig or a boar. (Also, as a side note, in the Farore Region, where you find the most Zonai ruins, the boar/pig statues are either buried in the earth or broken, so it is most likely they haven't had the same faith in them compared to the other two)

2. The Owl, which represents the Triforce of Wisdom. The owl is a symbol of wisdom and spiritual awakening, as well as a very intelligent animal in and of itself, which fits the bill for the mascot Wisdom. The bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom is always the reincarnation of Goddess Hylia. (Funnily enough, Typhlo Ruins, the ruins that are always shrouded in darkness in BoTW are full of torches in the form of the Owl structures from the Zonai Tribe. And owls are nocturnal animals.)

3. The Dragon, which represents the Triforce of Courage. Yes, you read it correctly. The Dragon represents the Triforce of Courage, aka the Hero of Hyrule, Link. Rather than being an animal/creature that represents courage, in this case, I think it refers to those who can face a dragon without backing down being called courageous. You know, like in fairytales where the Hero faces against the evil dragon and defeats it. After all, having courage doesn't mean not fearing anything; rather, it's about doing something in spite of the fear you feel. (On top of that, since the Faron Region is said to be the place where the Zonai Tribe lived before, you can tell that they were the most likely to be followers of the Dragon, aka the representation of Courage; that leaves the Sheika Tribe as the followers of the Owl, Wisdom and the Yiga Tribe as the followers of the Boar/Pig, the Power.)

Now that we have established this, let's look again at the logo:

Two green dragons chasing after each other in an attempt to create harmony... and everything in this logo is green, the color we associate with the Goddess of Courage Faroure. But, if Link, as the barer of the Triforce of Courage, is one of the green dragons, does this mean the other is the Goddess of Courage herself? Or is it someone else?

We will come back to this a bit later. For now, let's move on, onto the title:

Second, the Title:

We know that the producer of the Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Eiji Aonuma, said that the title would be a huge spoiler. However, the way I see people look at it, they don't consider the title a spoiler, but the logo. Which, given the previous games in the franchise, it is a bit wrong to do.

Here are some examples:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The logo has the Wolf and the Fused Shadow silhouettes behind the text, but the title in itself alludes to, arguably the most important character in the game, Midna.

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

The Logo has the Majora's Mask itself, but the title not only gives us the name of the Mask but also the name of the villain in that specific game.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Logo shows us the symbol that is now arguably the symbol of Hyrule itself, but the title tells us about a sword, which is later revealed to be the soon-to-become Master Sword that we know today.

As you can see, every single title does have something to do with the plot, and it is, in retrospect, a big spoiler. The Logos are a lot more vague about what they portray, especially since we don't know the names of the items shown before we play the games. (Who knew what the Fused Shadow was when they saw the silhouette in the logo?)

Regardless, when it comes to Tears of the Kingdom, things are indeed a bit vague. Since it was confirmed that "Tears" refers to actual teardrops, we can assume that it could have something to do with the Silent Realms in Skyward Sword where you will get Sacred Tears so you can forge the Master Sword. This makes a whole lot of sense when you see that in the Logo for Tears of the Kingdom, the Master Sword second half seems to be made of a green substance while the first half seems to be very damaged. (And we know that will most likely be a part of our quest from the trailers)

The problem I find with the title is the second part. "Kingdom." What Kingdom? We know this game happens at best, maybe 6 months after BoTW. Hyrule Kingdom is definitely not recreated overnight; nothing seems to have been worked on at all. So the question is "why call that a Kingdom?"

In BoTW, after you meet with the King at the Temple of Time at the beginning of the game, he says, "I was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. I was... the last leader of Hyrule. A kingdom which no longer exists."

So, if the Hyrule Kingdom no longer exists following the Calamity from 100 years ago... why is it called a kingdom now? Just because Zelda is alive, that doesn't mean the Kingdom is back, especially since all the Hylians are scattered around Hyrule and the only parts of the Royal Family and the Knight order remaining are Zelda and Link.

To answer this question, I need you to think back to the two dragons on the logo. If one is Link, why couldn't the other one be Link too, but from 10,100 years ago, the Hero that sealed Calamity Ganon first alongside that time's Zelda.

This is the tapestry that spoke of the first sealing of Calamity Ganon. This depiction of Link is very strange, though. Full of bluish-green around him, red hair and a golden arm that holds a sword.

Dosen't it remind you of this?

It is a bit of a stretch, but if the developers went for minimalism, then the golden ornaments around the arm could be the reason why the Hero's arm is golden in the tapestry.

Also, before you say something about Zelda, look here, outside of the power of the Goddess and her hair, her hands and face are a similar color of red like that Hero's face, legs and OTHER ARM. Meaning only one of his arms is golden in color.

Which brings me to the whole Harmony symbolism again. Link's arm is definently damaged beyond repair, so now he gets a new one, one that possibly belonged or was powered by the energy of the Hero from 10,100 years ago. So they need to find a balance and coexist to defeat Ganondorf.

So while the word "Tears" refers to what Link has to collect to repair the Master Sword this time, maybe the word "Kingdom" refers to the place where the green energy comes from initially aka the Kingdom of Hyrule from 10,100 years ago when they used, what is most likely, Zonai Magic to help defeat Calamity Ganon and seal him? This would certainly spoil a lot of the game if it is true, so maybe this is it.

But there are still some other mysteries I wanna touch on next:

The Zonai

As I said before, the Zonai Tribe is considered "barbaric" in nature, but there is a high chance they were behind the mechanics and weapons we have seen for Tears of the Kingdom so far. So why are they "barbaric"? Well, remember when I said, "History is written by the survivors"?

What if the Zonai were eliminated in that battle against Calamity Ganon? They could have lived in Hyrule for a whole millennia before that battle, which is how their structures are older than the Sheika Shrines and the like. There is also the fact that rather than being constructed for that time's hero, the Sheika Shrines we know in BoTW were made after the sealing of Calamity Ganon as tests for the future Hero who will have to seal Ganon again.

This way, we can confirm how Sheika Shrines ended up in Zonai made ruins (aka Typhlo Ruins). The shrines were erected after the fall of the Zonai. This means the Guardians and the 4 Divine Beats were constructed first.

But the question still remains: Why are the Zonai not mentioned in the History of Hyrule if they helped with the first Calamity Ganon?

Welp, there could be that the Zonai never really interacted with the people, thus making them seem "barbaric" and "unapproachable" for the Royal Family (of which we know has done some pretty stupid/dark stuff in past games) so they decided to not put them in the history books, thus they were forgotten.

And I can already hear you: "What about that time's Zelda and Link? Wouldn't they overule this or do something?"

You see, dead people can't complain, can they? We don't know if the Princess Zelda and the Link from that time were still alive after the sealing. For all we know, both could have died sealing Ganondorf underground (like we saw him the in trailers) and the King (cause, let's be honest, the kings of Hyrule have done some pretty shady or stupid stuff in the past) of that time decided to just go with making his daughter and the soldier that was with her into heroes in the Kingdom and let's the Zonai, a Tribe he couldn't control nor truly talk with, fade from the history.

Also, I said "soldier" and not "personal guard" like the legends about that time said about Link. Why? Welp, the tapestry.

Red hair Link... is not really likely right?

He is always blonde haired, at least in all the games we have right now. So why is he depicted with red hair, when Zelda has blonde hair in the Taspestry? Welp.

The Barabrian set, specifically the Barbarian Helm.

Red hair is overshadowing the blonde hair of Link, so there is a possibility that the Hero of that time was wearing a Barbarian Armor Set in battle. But it's a bit strange since... well, this is the compendium description of the helmet.

"A helmet once worn by the warriors of an ancient warlike tribe from the Faron region."

Why would the Hero wear a warrior set that is solely worn by a Tribe of the Faron region? Maybe because he was part of it.

Think about it. The Zonai were followers of the Dragon that represented the Triforce of Courage to them. Wouldn't it make sense for the Hero to be born in this Tribe?

And since Link and Zelda of that time had to work together to seal Ganondorf, the Hyrule Royal Family of that time couldn't ignore the existence of the Hero. So, instead of making Link as a part of the Zonai Tribe like he was at the time, the Royal Family made him into the personal guard of the Princess in the story, while people could explain the tapestry as an armour set that existed long ago and was worn by the Hero in combat (when the events were still fresh in the minds of people) or worn paper in the current time of Breath of the Wild.

The Mysterious Figure

This is the figure I meant.

Welp, she is definently not Zelda from 10,100 years ago, so maybe a Zonai depiction of Hylia. Cause well, she is apparently on a pedestal high in the sky, if those are clouds.

Also, notice that there are seven swirls around her. Maybe the tears we need to collect? Or maybe a depiction of the Seven Sages in Zelda? Who knows, but it is worth mentioning that this figure is seen intertwining hands with a depiction of Zelda behind the Logo.

The "Zelda" shown in the last trailer

This will be the last part of this long-ass rant/analysis/theory thingy I made so here we go.

This may not be our Zelda. At least not this timeline's Zelda.

Look a bit at the dress she is wearing. The blocky symbols and that eye towards the bottom of the dress are not of Sheikan origin. Which most likely means it is from the Zonai Tribe. I can’t put any more images, but there is a new eye symbol that is present on a new shield. An eye that is looking up and has five droplets falling from it. Just like this eye symbol that has five tassels attached to it.

And, if you wanna argue that it could be Hylia, look at the figure from the drawing above. The clothing is extremely intricate and very well detailed, but you don't see an eye with five droplets or tassels hanging from it on the clothing, right? Even tho the other details are so clear on the figure.

So, either this is the Princess from 10,100 years ago who fought together with the soldier from the Zonai Tribe that became the Hero, or our Zelda gets a Zonai get up from somewhere, cause the background reminds me of the Time Gates from Skyward Sword.

At this point, we don't have a clue and this is PURE SPECULATION.

So, if you read till now, congratulations! Hope you enjoyed my zainy ideas and theories for Tears of the Kingdom.

Tell me if you agree or disagree with anything here cause I am curious about your opinion on his.

Hope to see you guys again soon! (I WILL TRY to be more active)

P.S: If anything from here becomes reality, I called it, and I am gonna be so proud of what my brain came up with at 3 a.m. in the morning.

[akookminsupporter]

Hello,

I am here to rant yet again. I try to not be on the bird app more than I need to, but Jimin is my ULT along with JK and his first solo album is coming out (I have been waiting for this day since 2015), so I am of course now full on promoting his stuff. I will go all out for my love, especially if he’s gonna bare his soul to us. I know I will do the same for JJK1. I really like all the members and stream actively for them. But I have so far bought 13 copies of Face from KTown although it financially wrecked me. I am not bragging, everyone supports their artists in their own way, but there are only two people in the whole world of K-pop that I will do this for. It’s Jimin and Jungkook. I digress. I am on Twitter a lot these days, and there are two things I want to voice. It’s not all about Jikook, but in some ways it is.

1. I am baffled by how much the fandom believes in their own version of narratives about the members. Like they have created this version of each of the members and made it into a norm within the community. JK is the baby, golden maknae, RM is the brain, the intelligent one, V is the most beautiful, and JM is the cute, smol bean, that need to be protected and is the biggest cheerleader and more. They are truly unwilling to look beyond these roles they have assigned to them. A fine example would be JK responding to someone on Weverse that he isn’t a baby, and folks turning that into a meme. “If not baby, why so cute” or whatever that gag is. I see why one would think that way, coz you saw the members often treating him as their little one for years. But here’s the catch. He is their little one, he’s not yours. I am a 1997 liner and I fkn hate when someone treats me like a child. Now imagine a whole fandom treating you as a baby (important to note that he’s also the victim of the extreme opposite-hypersexualisation). People making translated essays on why he shouldn’t drink, why he should seek out work? He’s not your child. They have all grown so much, so can we also grow along with them? The most pressing one for me is the way JM is presented. I feel like people love him when he’s a cheerleader. Cheerleader for army, for members, for 4th gen groups, whatever. I have been seeing many many posts where people are wondering why Jimin gets this much media traction and why he has multiple brand deals, people were even wondering why only his video was played in a Samsung event. Some Ot7 peeps even said that those who they think would make noise isn’t making noise and they are worried if JM leaves his popularity would skyrocket. I even saw people say he has hidden fans. I think there’s some serious tunnel vision at play here. People underestimate his popularity. I am from Asia, and he’s immensely popular here. Like he has my country wrapped around his little pinky. The maknae line in general is more popular than the HL, but people often assume he comes last in popularity amongst the three. That is untrue. Their popularity is interchangeable and Jimin is unarguably the media and brand favourite. Jk is the only one who even compares in that department. V is definitely is a social media legend, all his posts have 10 million something likes, and that’s A FIRST. But the fandom thinking JM is getting unfair traction amongst media and brand is ridiculous, he’s always been that. Outside the fandom, Jimin is IT for people. Outside army narratives, Jimin is the recruiting fairy. He’s to K-pop what Naruto is to anime. Twitter muted his name because they thought it’s a common word years ago, that’s how much attention he gets every time he steps out. Also the fandom’s complete detachment to the Korean side of realities. He’s their national treasure. They love him. And once again, JK is the only one with a Ismaili appeal. I am rambling, but what do you mean my hidden fans? What do you mean company fav? He’s very well known to the outside world. He’s cool when he brings you locals into 875 but not when it helps his own solo career? Same with JK getting that FIFA opportunity, they wanted him specifically (not OT7), why does that upset you? He’s a crazy good performer and has heavy mass appeal. He deserves it.

2. This is coming from a place of vague concern. I have been seeing Blinks and Army go at it for the last two weeks. Now Blinks did start a few unnecessary conversations. Like offering to play Lana songs on the day of FACE release. Diminish Jimin’s impact as Dior ambassador, coz Jisoo paved the way??????? Even call out Tae for not being attractive (now be for real, you have to be actively blind or full of hate for you to think V isn’t beautiful. He has an insanely symmetrical face and he is very charming), even accusing JK of being depressed or whatever. But bro Amis go at them girls just as harsh. Jennie seems to be on the receiving end of most of it, because she’s also their IT girl. Now IDK if Jennie and Tae ever dated, we will never know for sure, but from what I have seen and how both companies didn’t clear any allegations despite them both being superstars did create some doubt in my mind. They have at least been in the same circles, and that worries me. If they are indeed together or even just friends, will ARMY take back all this shit they have spewed? I am not talking TROLL accounts, I am talking big ass OT7 accounts with thousand of followers just outright slutshaming her. How would you live with yourself if they are at some point together? Wipe your accounts clean?

Every time I am on Twitter I am reminded why I deleted the app, I shall do the same again once Face is out. Till then, Jimin lockdown.

opinions.

[burningdarkfire]

books i read in sept 2023

[these are all short + casual reviews - feel free to ask about individual ones if u want my full thoughts or ask for my goodreads!!] 

sometimes u travel somewhere where u have a relative lot of downtime + no data and u reinvent urself as a person who reads

she who became the sun (reread) + he who drowned the world - shelley parker-chan ★★★★★ (historical fantasy)

i reread swbts before tackling hwdtw and the way that this duology is so emotionally devastating! big win for readers who are fans of characters tearing the world apart in their grief and then realizing they cannot live in their new world! and the insane gender goodstuff, of course. ough. will think about this for a while

into the riverlands - nghi vo ★★★★★ (fantasy)

excellent third entry to the series that felt more fun than the other two thus far - i love playing around with myths and legendmaking

[reread] raven quest - sharon stewart ★★★★★ (adventure)

really happy to find out that this book from my childhood absolutely holds up. tightly plotted and paced and really poignant. i love animal adventures <3

the last devil to die - richard osman ★★★★★ (mystery)

no more withholding 5*s from genre fiction!! this book made me tear up for real so even though a silly murder mystery is probably never going to change my life, we have to give credit where credit is due. the most character-focused entry of the series so far and it definitely shows!

war of the foxes - ricahrd siken ★★★★☆ (poetry)

individually less interesting but collectively more coherent than crush. it's cool to have a conversation with a bit of poetry standing in a field, and I do love a good metaphor

the paper menagerie - ken liu ★★★★☆ (sci fi short stories)

great collection to go over slowly - i suspect it might have felt a bit tedious reading it front to back in a sitting. i liked how chinese a number of the stories felt. lots of ideas to chew on!

the poisonwood bible - barbara kingsolver ★★★★☆ (historical)

i just know this book went crazy in high school english class! it has themes and motifs and characters to compare and contrast! there's so much rich ground for analysis. and also treating characters like a bizarre personality test (the avenue of entertainment i chose). fantastic book to chew on and i greatly enjoyed talking to people about it

carrie - stephen king ★★★★☆ (horror)

yeah, i get the hype! this is a book that's impossible to read divorced from how deeply it's ingrained in current popular culture, but it stands up beautifully for itself. i'd love to read more analysis of it that puts in the cultural context of the 70s

hotline - dimitri nasrallah ★★★★☆ (historical)

surprisingly kind and hopeful story, definitely lovely if you want something feel-good. i really enjoyed how the occasional french was threaded into the english, it felt very montreal to me

the monstrumologist - rick yancey ★★★★☆ (historical horror)

tremendously gory and often unsettling. i found myself surprisingly attached to the characters and all the historical affectations of the book - it's not a series that i'm itching to continue but it was a good read

hark! a vagrant - kate beaton ★★★★☆ (historical humour graphic novel)

skimmed through parts of this but it was a fun read from cover to cover. always entertaining to see the origins of some very famous internet memes and there are also some hidden gems!

dead silence - s. a. barnes ★★★☆☆ (sci fi horror)

the author writes a very good spooky ship and very mediocre everything else

the word is murder + the sentence is death + a line to kill + the twist of a knife - anthony horowitz (-★★★☆☆+) (mystery)

decent murder mystery series. the author self-insert is goofy, the random homophobia is persistent, but they're quick and easy reads that go down like junk food

all that's left in the world - erik j. brown ★★★☆☆ (post-apocalyptic romance)

genre-mash that just didn't quite work for me. the tonal shifts between "fluffy gay YA romance" and "the world has ended post-apocalyptic bleakness" were jarring and the book never felt like it cohered into anything meaningful

[luwupercal]

Abnett When He Put a reference of Emps possibly being Alexander the great probably thought is was a cool thing but I can't stop thinking of Hephaestion's death and Alexander's grief of it, because if we say Emps is Alexander that shows a lot of his old personality if he did change from Molech or time. It showed that he did care once and showed real emotions. And Oll story can still make sense since Alexander is a conquer and did sometimes call himself god I think. That and Alexander actually died about 8 months later after Hephaestion's, at about 32 it puts lots of thoughts of what the Emperor was during it. Sorry for this rambling but this is just really interesting to me. I'm kinda surprise no one is talking about it. Sorry again

NO THIS IS FASCINATING THIS IS FASCINATING I HADNT HEARD OF THIS. i hadnt ever considered the emperor as alexander the great but now that youve put the idea in my brain i kind of LOVE it. thats a very good historical figure to put the emperor as having Secretly Been tbh

in fact in a brilliant moment of serendipity one of my favourite historical factoids is that apparently (APPARENTLY. do not quote me on this. alleged statements & hearsay only no sources) to transport his body for burial they laid alexander the great to rest in like a tub full of honey bc it slows down rotting since honey doesnt rot at all + lemon demon has a song called Sweet Bod about a different practice involving burying corpses in honey (this time for pseudo medicinal purposes) that ive always strongly associated w the emperors corpse and the cult built around it lololol

also do not ever apologize for sending me asks, zero worries, I love to hear peoples thoughts on warhammer even if i disagree lololol. I like to see different perspectives!! It's enrichment to me. like a zoo animal given a hollowed out pumpkin full of hamburger

a lot of times im like ehhh... about the whole "emperor having had compassion once" thing but i do think him having been Alexander the great is actually really good for this. as far as I know this dude (which isnt very to be frank!) he was a guykissing boyking mass conqueror who was a historical figure when julius caesar was alive who died of twink death which ticks a lot of boxes for my thoughts on what the emperor couldve theoretically been while young (super long time ago, still a conqueror, immature in a way that makes a lot of sense with the ways the emperor remained immature to his sorta-death) with the bonus of making him a menliker 360 which as a fellow menliker series x i approve of very heartily. this might be how it works for me.

AND the whole hephaestion thing u say is SO FUN AND INTERESTING as a characterization thing... forget shipping the emperor with malcador or whatever the one person he considered his soulmate died before oily josh was a twinkle in marys grandmothers eye. which is i think so fucking true and real to him. + the like rage of being nearly allpowerful but you still cant bring back the person you loved most who died young slots really well into the emperor i think it gives him an achillean flair just a little bit of. you know when dads casually drop Lore about their life and its the most deranged shit youve heard in your life and hes just made it such a normal part of his life he never really thought to bring up his Backstory. i feel like this is the vibe by 30k. im imagining the custodes furiously sharing memes in their custodes only discord server about every completely bananas Emperor Lore Drop

the questions im mostly bubbling with rn about all of this are stuff like. at what points the historical record was lied to. like in 40ks version of history was alexander the great adopted or did the emperor do a kill and replace w the original alexander (Erebus/Marneus Calgar style) or was the backstory completely different and if so, what were the historical ramifications...... i obviously dk a lot about alexander the great but I just Think it Works™️. It Works Great

thank u Very much for the ask this is cool as hell to think about o7

[liebgotts-lovergirl]

Cast your mutuals as Easy Company >:)

Ooh, thank you Anon!! This is gonna be so fun!!

(I have a lot of mutuals so the cast list will be under the cut for the sake of convenience!)

(Also, I'm so sorry in advance if I forgot anybody!! My PTSD has really fucked up my memory so this was just off the top of my head💀)

In No Particular Order:

♥ Dick Winters ~ @iambasilgnome You are the most dedicated & on-top-of-things person I know & if anyone has the makings of our fearless leader, it'd be you! Not to mention, Dick is soooo much funnier than we give him credit for! (Was this also an excuse to write your URL? Yes, yes it was. 😆)

♥ Lewis Nixon ~ @lieutenant-speirs Snarky, self-destructive king fighting his demons & forging lifelong bonds of friendship along the way! Speaks for itself 🤌🏼

♥ Bill Guarnere~ @latibvles The chaos is unparalleled & you never fail to make everyone laugh but also, like Bill, you are extremely talented at what you do & great at bringing people together!! Also those specifically Northern vibes 🤌🏼

♥ Eugene Roe ~ @softguarnere You are the sweetest, most caring soul who is always there to lend a supportive ear & a helping hand, but you also won't hesitate to speak up when necessary!

♥ Babe Heffron ~ @mccall-muffin You are always so full of positivity & are absolutely hilarious! So full of love & loyalty, you make everyone feel like they're your best friend!

♥ Carwood Lipton ~ @holdingforgeneralhugs You are so warm & kind & such a vital part of the fandom but you consistently underestimate your own contributions!

♥ Ronald Speirs ~ @brassknucklespeirs You come off as intimidating at first but when you begin to open up, we get to see the heart of gold underneath!

♥ Don Malarkey ~ @indigo-luvers You're both talkative & sensitive, working through trauma, natural leaders who needs to take care of themself too!! It just made sense to me

♥ Skip Muck~ @bellewintersroe The natural choice as you're both exuberant, upbeat, & generous to a fault with a fantastic sense of humor!

♥ Skinny Sisk ~ @chaosklutz Dude was literally chaos incarnate & I respect that about both him & you for that 🤣🤌🏼

♥ Buck Compton ~ @hxad-ovxr-hxart You both attract friends super easily but also have a tendency to get drained bc you're a sensitive soul who cares a lot about what goes on around them!

♥ Shifty Powers ~ @aerokriegs So kindhearted & far too modest when it comes to your abilities!

♥ Smokey Gordon ~ @sleepisforcowards Both of y'all are sweet, funny, & extraordinarily creative! The vibes are immaculate tbh

♥ George Luz ~ @parajumpboots Literally so many fantastic memes cross my dash because of you, pls consider this my thank-you note 😆

♥ Harry Welsh ~ @wwhatev3r You are so kindhearted, down-to-earth & dedicated to those you care about but you're also absolutely Hilarious, primarily in a sarcastic way!

♥ David Webster ~ @vibing-away Literally so nice & I feel like you definitely have at least one (1) cool shark fact!

♥ Ralph Spina ~ @ourmiraclealigner So apparently Spina was only a Private when he became one of the medics so like you, dude had A LOT on his plate but still managed to make it all work somehow!

♥ Floyd Talbert ~ @auroralightsthesky Floyd is not only a sweetheart and super friendly but also a smut king & an animal lover so I see it!!🤌🏼

♥ Frank Perconte ~ @ax-elcfucker-blog Hilarious but also sweet, chaotic good vibes!!

♥ Johnny Martin ~ @rogue-durin-16 Literally such a cool person with a unique sense of humor! Too cool!

♥ Alton More ~ @multifandomlover01 You seem super cool & really nice but alas, I am Shy-ish & keep forgetting to introduce myself 💀

♥ Pat Christenson ~ @cody-helix02 You're both very artistically-gifted and creative; idk, I just see it!

Thank you so much for the Ask, Anon!! 💖