#because I don't trust this man with backstories at all and it sucks really bad that I have to do this one With Him because of the way it is

[blujayonthewing]

one stupid thing about my brain latching onto felix like a terrier in kill mode is that I live with my favorite and one of my best DMs and he is constantly cooking me the most hearty and scrumptious meals but I'm still, against my own will, sitting on the floor white-knuckle gripping the lad while we both starve to fucking death

[acerikus]

G o d. All gekkos' outertale posting makes me wanna talk more in depth about the characterisation and plot issues in this game and why they bother me...

(readmore bc holy fuck this got long, it's probably like 5k words. It's also pretty much all salt, categorised by character)

Toriel

Why. Why is she like this. Kinda feels like the creator of the game hates her and if they don't, they have a weird way of showing it. She's treated as overdramatic and unjustified in her anger at asgore despite the fact that he DID declare war on humanity and he DID willingly let the people believe he was killing human children to harvest their souls. Even if he didn't do it for real in this game, she has every right to be angry and to not trust him, and it CERTAINLY doesn't make her undeserving to be a mother or whatever. Idk about you, but I don't think wanting kids to stay away from a man yelling about wanting to kill every child that crosses him makes you a bad parent, even if it turns out he didn't really hurt anyone y'know?

They also REALLY zoned in on 'mother' with her in a way that doesn't really make sense here. I could maybe see her feeling guilty for making a snap judgement but how would that call her motherhood into question?

Sans saying isolation messed with her makes no sense too!!!! The outerlands or whatever they called the ruins isn't sealed off in this game, other monsters seem way less intimidated by her in this game than in undertale (she has friends! She knows sans by name and goes to napstablook's shows and even has their phone number!), and we outright get told she takes the taxi to get her groceries... Meaning she headed off to the rest of the outpost and probably does that often enough.

All things considered, Toriel seems fairly well adjusted in outertale, at least by outertale standards. Kinda then makes it feel like everyone's just trying to convince her she's hysterical and that... Sucks.

Also the fact that they added an ending where you stay with her and framed it as a bad ending that doomed everyone is... Really mean? It sucked ass I'm sorry :/

Sans

... Why is he like this. This take on Sans is absolutely infuriating tbh. The only positive I really have here is that his puns are kinda good, I've seen fangames that fuck up this element massively and it was kinda fun to see his interactions in starton.

Okay, back to salt. His whole 'i became a sentry to help humans' thing is trash. He didn't care about that in ut! He didn't care about that at all! The only reason he looks out for frisk is because he made a promise to toriel, and he hates breaking promises. He didn't want to let down his friend.

...Huh. realising this is yet another case of Toriel disrespect somehow. Yet another thing they took from her, that they then just... Handed over to sans instead. :/

His lack of backstory. Look, I get wanting something silly, but they took almost everything that makes sans interesting away. Not hyperfocusing on sans like certain aus do is nice, but it feels like in a lot of situations in this game they overcompensated by a long shot.

No mysterious past/origins. We know he worked with alphys I guess but???? Honestly I have a LOT to rant about for that part so I'll leave it for twinkly's section. And yet despite all this, Sans inexplicably bleeds in tpe when not even undertale has that happen? Make up your mind!

His role in non Asriel chaotic also... Sucks ass. I'm in a pretty awesome corner of the fandom in terms of the people I follow and the takes I see as a result, so if I'm honest, when I saw all those posts about 2024 fanon sans being indifferent to his brother's murder, I kinda just figured they were vaguing about this game. You're telling me that sans of all people just shrugs off you killing everyone and complains a little bit before letting you pass?! He should know alphys already ran off. He should know the only person left to stop you is asgore, and that it's obvious he won't. Part of this could be connected to how frisk is written perhaps, and much like the twinkly situation, I'll have much more to say on that further down.

I understand the creator didn't wanna have a sans fight in their game - however, if that's the case... Maybe come up with a reason for him to NOT show up in the last corridor, then? Have him busy helping with evacuations or something, or already dead like in the first chaotic ending... This was just sloppy.

Papyrus

Honestly he wasn't... Terrible. The phonecalls were fun even if most were cheap references (though they can be fun in fangames sometimes so I'm not mad at this lol). Him being extremely talented at making spaghetti is just one symptom of one of this game's biggest flaws, however. I really don't like how nobody's really allowed to be bad at anything or have any real struggles in this game - especially when spaghetti in undertale is used to demonstrate his relationship with undyne and the similar wavelength they're on when humans aren't involved. She's the one who started teaching him to cook it, it's deeply intertwined with his desire to be a royal guard, and it's something they suck at together. Him just inexplicably being good at it is... Weird, and feels really disconnected from their friendship and her reluctance to let him in the guard yknow?

Also: his boss final phase. Having the dog NOT take his special attack away this time was really funny admittedly but... Idk? Not only is the fight really unfair for pacifist/neutral and those who aren't as good at the game (ut never gets this hard outside of geno), it feels way too on the nose in terms of insisting he's strong and has powerful attacks. Undertale didn't need to overcompensate to get across that papyrus is strong and disciplined and the way you have to infer that in undertale is way cooler. I might just be nitpicking with this point tbh but it's whatever. Letting myself be a hater for once.

And don't get me started on him getting together with Mettaton. It seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere, the idea that they were already friends in this was glossed over really quickly and no time was really put into developing the relationship save for papyrus commenting on finding him attractive every few minutes.

Gotta be honest, I've never been a fan of this ship nor understood its popularity. Papyrus very briefly mentions thinking he's attractive in undertale, but it doesn't really go anywhere and I'm not even sure mettaton knows he exists. It feels like it was just kinda added because it's a popular ship and that's it, not sure it really contributes much to either of their arcs. It was a light-hearted celebrity crush in canon and never really tried to be more.

Oh, oops. Had more to say here than I thought.

Undyne

Not much to say here... I think she was okay, there's nothing super bad with her. I do think the way gerson kinda downplays her/lacks faith in her in the chaotic route kinda sucks and I think choosing to make her non-undying chaotic bossfight harder sure was A Choice, but it's whatever. Undying was weirdly easy in a way that didn't do her much justice. Honestly they didn't do enough with her for me to have a wall of complaints and I can't tell if that's a good thing or not. Her relationship with alphys didn't really amount to much and her lack of understanding of human culture doesn't really hit as hard when she's just talking about random sci-fi things that we have no way of knowing are real or not in this game's idea of the 2600s ourselves, y'know? Her love of anime (that she mistakenly thinks is human history) is pretty absent here except to validate her relationship with alphys in a very shallow way.

The Ghost Family

Hoo boy... Was gonna make this the mettaton section, but I wanted to talk about napstablook at the same time, so I'm just gonna lump them all together.

What. What the hell was this plotline.

It feels like they tried to go for 'smalltime farmer chases passion for stardom after feeling unfulfilled at home' and as I've seen someone else say, 'shy business owner struggles to talk to their cousin outside of work'. This would've been fine tbh, but... There's a lot of things in the execution of this that kinda grossed me out if I'm honest. I don't think they were intentional, but I think it could've been thought through a lot better to avoid some unfortunate implications - or even lean into them in a respectful way.

Firstly, the ghost family intervention was pretty long, awkward, and didn't feel like it really added much - especially when most people playing would already know mettaton's backstory anyway (and his house is still accessible like in undertale!!!!! What was the point?)

Mettaton airing out his family issues on live TV feels very ooc - he keeps that stuff very close to his chest and I doubt he'd like it getting out. Him entertaining any of that out in the open seems... Weird.

Speaking of the intervention, his cousins' treatment of him was horrifying! Part of it seems intentional and it's nice that there's at least one part in the game where characters are allowed to have flaws and do bad things but... There's also elements that feel like you're meant to agree with them? Their insistence that mettaton just come home and everything they did in the past with constantly badgering him to come and help out on the farm were rightfully treated as something that hurt mettaton's feelings and that gave napstablook and the others pause. That's (mostly, we'll come back to it later) fine. He called them out for it and they reflected on it, cool. The way his ghost form was utilised makes me extremely uncomfortable, however.

Napstablook talks about hearing 'the real [mettaton]' in the recording, right to his face, 'the real mettaton' in this scenario alluding to his ghost form. Considering mettaton is a trans allegory, this feels... Kinda gross? In a similar vein, when passing mettaton's quiz barriers, one of the questions is 'what is mettaton's true identity' and you have the option to deadname him (using a name papyrus literally just made up in undertale rather than having any kind of creativity ofc) Alphys' reaction is simply to ask how you know that which... Doesn't feel great. The correct answer is 'mettaton' ofc thankfully, but everything around this particular plot point feels weird. Maybe don't do that w the most prevalent trans allegory character..?

And ofc, they keep insisting he just come home, go back to working on the farm, go back to his family... Idk, gives me vibes of someone abandoning their shitty transphobic family and then insisting they want to see 'the real [deadname] again' and for them to abandon their new life and just go back to the way things were before. Not good.

All of this would still be okay for the most part since the ghost family are painted as being unfair to mettaton... But in true pacifist, he goes back to helping out with the farm anyway and talks about how he thinks he was probably just being dramatic after all, and how 'blooky didn't do anything that bad'

... What?

It takes me right back to Toriel's treatment. Napstablook, Maddie and lurksalot gave no real thought to mettaton's feelings, made it all about them and showed pretty much no support for his transition nor his career! Fuck those guys! It's funny - mettaton is pretty consistently a pompous asshole (affectionate) in undertale but here, I think all his feelings towards his family were COMPLETELY valid. Mettaton outertale didn't do anything wrong.

Lurksalot didn't feel like they contributed much to the story either, save to be yet another character treating mettaton like shit with zero consequences nor narrative judgement. They just made every ghost family event even more drawn out.

And then ofc!!!! Mettaton and Alphys' friendship is so bland in this game! They're two people who kinda know each other and she says some nice things about him in a letter in chaotic but that's about it. Their friendship and the subsequent conflict frisk's arrival brings to it in undertale is the heart of hotland and the core, but here it's just replaced with unnecessary, hard to watch, boring family drama. The two of them have no issues to work out. She doesn't ask too much of him. There's no funny quips and barely any chemistry at all. God forbid either of them have any real flaws.

One last thing: I'm glad maddie gets her mew mew body, it's nice. Wish it was an on-screen moment or something alluded to more though. Some of that time dragging out the family drama could've been used on that instead, y'know? Especially with napstablook getting the mew mew doll... Genuinely thought they were gonna show it to her when they first got hold of it, rather than dragging Frisk into their intervention. She should've gotten to be more mad, too. Kinda a big part of her identity.

Oh, and mettaton's no-asriel chaotic fight was bullshit. It was a nice spamton reference and the first phase was cool, but the second was utter bullshit and dragged out the fight way too long. Attacking him after snapping all the wires should've killed him im sorry. It's even more of a shame bc I genuinely really liked this game's mettaton neo fight - it was fun and creative and felt possible.

Holding myself back from adding any more to this bc I could go on and on, ugh.

Alphys

Alphys. For a game that tries to make her the star of it, it's actually kinda impressive how much they managed to take away from her and just how uninteresting she is in this game.

At the surface level she's awesome, powerful, and the star of the show. In my first playthrough I was actually pretty happy to see her thriving like this! The more routes I played and the more I thought about it though they just kinda... Declawed her. Took away all her flaws. Made her 'perfect' in a way that I don't think works at all.

The amalgamates never happened. None of her experiments went wrong. She never hid away from her mistakes, or lied to anyone (save for keeping Asgore's secret, which she has no negative feelings about), nor did she over engineer any situations to make herself seem cooler. She doesn't argue with Mettaton! She's confident and assertive! She's Asgore's right hand woman and next in line for the throne! And ofc, the badass final boss! What's not to love?

...But none of this is Alphys, is it?

Her anxiety isnt just because of the determination experiments, it's pretty clear she's always been a pretty shy and nervous person. In fact, based on her entries they were one of the things she was more confident in before it all went wrong. People are hard, but she knows science, y'know?

She doesn't get to be flawed or interesting - despite her presence, she's just a generic cool scientist who's suave with the ladies, I guess..?

She isn't particularly dorky, shes overly confident, she has zero issues to work through. Her relationship with undyne is perfect (derogatory) and her infodumping about anime just before the archive feels very forced, like they remembered last minute that she does that and thought it should be included somehow.

Depicting what she'd be like in a scenario where the determination experiments never happened is a fun and interesting idea! But deltarune demonstrates how to do that well, and I think they completely missed the mark. The way she talks, her body language, the way she acts around others in general... These things are universal constants and yet in outertale, she's basically a different person entirely.

Outertale alphys isn't allowed to lie (save to cover for asgore Secretly Being A Good Person), she isn't allowed to miscalculate, she isn't allowed to mis-speak or make mistakes or do anything she'd regret. She feels like an alphys written by someone who hates her in canon and thinks all her flaws make her terrible and unlikable. I doubt this is the case since I don't think a person like that would've given her such prevalence, but that's the level of love and attention I feel was given to her writing here. It makes me sad.

And, of course... The DT experiments and her fight.

... Why did she have vials of determination if all the humans are alive? Did she take it from them? If so, was this before or after they went into stasis? We know she's not been the royal scientist for long in relation to how long humans have been falling, so did ROMAN take the determination? How much of this did she even DO?

Why did she and sans even DO anything with determination? It... Doesn't really make sense.

Speaking of determination, why did she melt at the end of her fight? I'd assume she's injected herself with determination as one of the vials in her lab is mentioned to be partially used, but I'm pretty sure it's also like this on pacifist. Was that overlooked? Are we just meant to assume it's MORE depleted? Does she just have natural determination now because She's So Cool And Badass? This isn't even really a complaint about the fight, more just how poorly that part of her lab is handled lmao

But getting into her fight... Idk, it didn't really feel like her. A lot of it was just random bullshit that was hard for the sake of being hard, that didn't really seem to be tied to her identity very well at all. People complain a lot about the Zenith Martlet fight in undertale yellow but that's done far better than this, imo. It clearly reflects martlet's character, personality and canonical bullet patterns (we see Alphys' in ut tpe!), there's a genuine feeling of progression in the fight and the act you're given to help with the fight feels more effective - you can still damage her on her turn, so taking a turn to heal act doesn't feel like a waste. The Asriel acts though... They just don't last long enough to feel that worth it? Sure they're okay, but in general, you get a lot less time to breathe. Martlet's fight lets you retry from phase 2 if you die. Sans' in undertale gives you as many turns as you need to heal while he's sparing you. Alphys' fight just feels like it's made to feel un-fun and painful throughout in a way that just isn't worth it, and doesn't really feel like it fits her personality either, y'know? The fight was just a slog and like many others, I had zero motivation to finish it legit. I don't think it helps that the undyne and mettaton fights in this route are fairly easy and simple in comparison.

Tldr: they took away everything that makes alphys endearing, fun and interesting. This isn't alphys at all.

Asgore

A huge chunk of this essay accidentally got deleted, including my first attempt at writing this section. In it, I mentioned that the Asgore apologism went way too far.

This time though, I don't think I'd even call it that. Reflecting on it, it feels less like an attempt to defend him and more like a way to hate on and spite Toriel.

Seriously. So much of his character basically just feels like someone going 'fuck you toriel. I'm giving EVERYTHING to asgore.'

It's... Really weird?

Asgore having a way out of killing humans is an interesting concept! Outertale takes place 500 years in the future compared to undertale, so the idea that they have the resources and technology to do that is kinda cool and in theory, exploring this idea sounds really fun. In practice though, it feels like it was mostly done to make Toriel out to be an asshole for no reason and to laugh at her for ever assuming he would've really killed anyone (despite... Y'know. Telling everyone that's what he was doing.)

He just. Completely moved on from Toriel without a second thought seemingly, and doesn't even look that affected by seeing her turn up again - meanwhile SHE'S got crumpled up tea recipes in the trash and all the Sad Divorced Energy - it doesn't really fit either of them! Toriel wasn't really given a reason to miss him like that, and I think even if he DID fully move on, he'd be way happier to see her than that.

All his leading statements on how she must feel in LV1 pacifist sucked ass also, especially with the way she kinda just agreed that yeah, she feels like shit for not trusting that he'd suddenly do a 180 and not hurt anyone (AGAIN. AFTER HE CONTINUED TO LET EVERYONE BELIEVE THIS) and that she must feel unworthy of being a mother. She hadn't even said half of this in front of him yet! He put words in her mouth! That in itself would be fine (social blunders are pretty normal for asgore after all) but it... Wasn't treated like that. It was handled as if this was a sweet and compassionate thing for him to say which... Yikes.

And ofc he gets to adopt frisk, and monster kid, and get to have Asriel live with him! His fatherhood is never called to question in undertale, but ofc Toriel's motherhood has to be here. Hell, despite their divorced status, if you talk to gerson in tpe it's highly implied frisk asks if asgore would start aging again if he became their dad! Idk, all of this part just reeked of Toriel hate and nothing more. Asgore is just yet another character to get sanded down and de-clawed and it sucks. So much of what makes him interesting is his mistakes and flaws and how they impact him, y'know?

Twinkly

I wanna start this by saying I don't think his writing is too bad. It's not amazing by any means but by outertale standards, he's one of the better written characters. That being said, Flowey is my favourite character of all time so I'm still gonna be critical.

So they did save the goat. Save the goat aus really aren't my thing nowadays - I feel like so often people act like he's a separate person to Flowey entirely and act like the alarm clock app dialogue doesn't exist. Asriel didn't end the story as a doomed tragedy fated to fade away! Flowey ended the story as someone who finally got closure on the loss of his best friend, and can finally learn to move on, even if it takes him a while to adjust. I don't think he needs to be a goat again for that.

That being said, I know these kinda aus are a big wish fulfilment thing for a lot of the fandom that aren't even necessarily something people want to be canon as much as they just wanna explore the idea and see him truly happy, so I won't judge that element too harshly. People are allowed to have fun, and I think save the goat can be fine if it respects him as flowey rather than separating them.

I really like that they allow Asriel to be fucked up and an asshole rather than him soft rebooting into some Sweet Perfect Little Prince once he returns to his old form, like so many other save the goat takes. Even in lv0's ending he struggles to bite back insults and mean comments aimed at Monster Kid which is... Admittedly kinda refreshing! There's definitely some flowey (or I guess in this case, twinkly) behaviour that still comes through here and I'm glad. This carried over to chaotic, too. While his characterisation wasn't perfect, this at least felt like twinkly obtaining a few form and continuing to play with the world, rather than your standard Asriel take. I also really liked that he remembers and acknowledges chaotic if done before pacifist, that was neat and adds to his character (as far as this game goes) I think.

However, onto the biggest, glaring issue I have with him.

Why. Why does he exist.

No, seriously.

In its attempt to make the world perfect, a world that blatantly only exists so the creator could make a save the goat ending, mind, there's no reason for the goat to need to be saved at all. Nor for him to exist after dying back when Chara lived with the dreemurrs.

Asgore isn't killing humans, so the souls don't need to be absorbed by anyone. Frisk can just enter the archive and lend their power to destroy the forcefield themselves, so there's no ultimatum like there is in undertale - there's no implied tradeoff of Frisk's life for the freedom of monsters without twinkly's intervention. In undertale, flowey's messing around opened up an ending that would've otherwise been impossible, something that worked for everyone.

Without him existing at all here, frisk could've broken the barrier just fine. All it really added to pacifist was a couple extra boss fights and asgore being dead for two minutes. And him being saved I guess but again, there's no real story justification for him being here EXCEPT to pat yourself on the back for saving him.

Why was he created? In undertale it's pretty clear - they wanted a vessel to hold all the souls in for now during the true lab experiments. He exists because Alphys selected the first flower to ever grow in the garden and injected it with determination that she extracted from the human souls.

... But all the humans are... Alive and well in outertale? They don't need a vessel to contain their souls. They don't need to extract any determination from anyone. Again, why do they HAVE vials of determination? And why did she inject one into a flower?

AND THAT'S THE OTHER BIG THING. It's established she and sans injected a starling flower for... Whatever reason. SO WHY THE HELL IS TWINKLY A CARTOON STAR?!

This point makes absolutely no sense at all. He looks absolutely nothing like a starling flower nor does he behave like a flower at all, which is confusing if that's what he started as. Honestly, I think it would've made more sense to just keep him as Flowey if they were gonna include him at all, and just have his appearance reflect a starling flower instead of a golden flower.

This applies to his fight too. Mechanically I think it's AWESOME, but the visuals are... Just very very boring. A huge part of why his fight in the original is so good it's the bizarre and chaotic nature of it, the horror elements, and the way so much of flowey's trauma in terms of how he was created and the things he finds scary was put on blast for all to see. The combination of mechanical and organic elements, all the plants and insects... Idk, just going 'hmm he's a star. Let's have him go through a star life cycle' is boring, there's no visual appeal.

If his creation is so vague and wishy washy, this would've been a great opportunity to flesh it out more. How was he created? What kinds of technology and machinery did alphys use to put all this together? How did she (or roman????? unclear) get the determination? What does twinkly remember?

That leads me onto a tangentially related topic - his trauma. I... Don't think this was shown very well. He talks a bit about BEING traumatised from the lab, but telling isn't the same as showing and canon flowey is terrible at hiding it, whereas I'd just as easily believe outertale Asriel made it up for sympathy points. He never really projects, he doesn't force anyone else to experience anything like he did, nothing like that. He's just a cocky asshole who likes killing, and who eventually decides to start being nice.

This game constantly seemed to be speedrunning ways to get him from being twinkly to being Asriel as quickly as possible in almost every single route which... Huh???? It's weird. Would've been nice to let him be a star more rather than just Asriel...

(final amendment bc I lost a huge chunk of this essay originally and had to rewrite it, and I'm realising I didn't manage to fit this in this time... How does a single monster soul let him get his Asriel form again? Sure he's still treated as if soulless and it doesn't make him a good person, but if he was 'so tired of being a star', why hadn't he tried doing this sooner? It makes no sense...)

For a game that exists to give him a good ending, it's so ironic how little he needs to exist at all in this world. Just goes to show what it looks like when you go too far with 'fixing' things or removing stuff you seem 'too problematic' for the sake of being wholesome or whatever.

Chara

Speaking of which... Look I'm just gonna say it. This version of Chara sucks so bad.

Chara is one of my favourite characters - they're really interesting, morally grey, and a fascinating way for undertale as a game to interface with us as players.

They're a child who likely saw the worst of humanity, then found themselves in a home with family who genuinely loved them once they fell down and met the monsters. Their intense saviour complex made them feel like the best way to help their family was to sacrifice their own life to get enough souls to break them free (and once they realised they had control, get payback against the humans while they were at it). They could be mean-spirited and a prankster. They valued efficiency HIGHLY. Their favourite number was nine because it's the limit, the absolute, a way to stop hurting and to stop others hurting.

And by doing geno, you can push this fixation on stats further. Max out all your stats. Gain power. Get stronger. Become invincible. Nobody can hurt any more if the world is gone. And ofc, they stand as the final arbiter of consequences for the player. Your punishment for killing everyone and for pushing them into believing it needs to be completed. Chara both IS is and is separate from us in a way that can't really be fully disentangled and it's really, really cool.

Anyway, enough gushing about undertale Chara. What's outertale Chara in comparison?

... Nothing.

They're nothing.

Outertale Chara narrates occasionally. They're a ghost that follows frisk around, but aren't confined to that, and have been actively wandering the underground since their death. They also still have a SOUL for some reason? This part doesn't really make sense at all.

Other than sacrificing themself and maybe wanting to take out a few humans after Asriel absorbs them, they don't do anything that could be considered bad ever. The most devious thing they ever do is snatch Asriel's diary to leave a silly comment in there when they first arrive at the outpost (sans does this with Toriel's phone in undertale tpe for comparison lmao). Despite what Asriel seems to believe, Chara is completely absent from the chaotic route - never getting corrupted, never caring about our stats, never wanting to hurt anyone, never even trying to make us face any consequences. They're just... Not here. For a character so prevalent in the murder based route of undertale this is fucking wild.

They all but vanish if you so much as say something slightly mean to someone, too! It's strange, makes no sense, and just like with sans, it feels like they overcompensated waaaaaaay too much for the people who insist they're evil. On top of that, if you do chaotic before lv0, they don't even remember chaotic happening! They'd may as well have just been a member of the ghost family who likes following Frisk around when they're especially nice. Like Asgore and alphys, they've been sanded down and de-clawed to be 'wholesome' and 'perfect', and it just results in a bland, boring character who loses anything that made them interesting, nuanced and fun.

'Chara wasn't the greatest person'... Why, though? They don't have enough substance in this game for that line to really have as much impact.

Frisk

I'm gonna be honest - I actually ADORED their frisk at first, and I think that's because I started with a neutral run and ended up drawing them a lot. They felt silly and mischievous and interesting, and this continued into chaotic. They seem pretty chill with what's going on but then take that even further by being hilariously affectionate with Asriel and still doing silly things like being up for picking up the electrodampening fluid or drinking directly out of the fountain. They felt like a funny little mini-kris (save for being okay with all the murder ofc).

Then uhhhhhhh... That's when I experienced the second chaotic ending, the one without Asriel, as well as lv0. I feel like they definitely DID try to lean on the Kris angle on purpose in terms of their feelings on being controlled and stuff but it???? Just doesn't work very well? There's no ambiguity to this version of frisk once you've seen all the routes. Just like EVERYONE ELSE, they're just a perfect little angel who would never do anything wrong and anything past lv0 is just the eeeeeevil player influence or whatever. Come on, we have deltarune for that kinda approach to control 😭 (though even then, Kris is a layered and interesting character who isn't goodness and innocence personalised, and that's why they're cool)

In undertale, we have no idea what frisk is like as a person. WOULD they spare everyone without our influence? Would they kill? Would they be a scared child lashing out in self defense? Would they run from everything, then give up and let themselves die permanently somewhere? We just don't know! We're not supposed to know! It feels like it went back to the very early fandom interpretation where frisk is Good And Sweet and Innocent while Chara is evil incarnate - except this time they're BOTH the former.

It's a contradiction too! Why in the Asriel chaotic route are they so down to follow him, and pet him, and hug him every chance they get if they don't like all the stuff we're making them so? The player has no influence over Twinkly. Every single thing he did, he chose to do, and yet even if the only time frisk has seen him was him destroying their mercy button and forcing them to kill for him, they seem to love him to pieces and go along with whatever he says happily. What.

I feel like they didn't know what to do with Frisk here at all and it shows.

Other characters

This has been ridiculously long, but to quickly go over non-major characters... They did very few things to make Roman seem interesting, the amount of stuff hes implied to have helped Asgore with just reduces even further any influence or impact alphys had, and (a smaller nitpick)... Why didn't he use times new roman as a font when we DID see him speak in the archive/on the signal stars? It's such a missed opportunity...

Burgerpants was fun... Kinda. Developing him like this feels like something that should've happened DURING the actual game rather than before it though because it made him feel like a whole other person entirely? The poisoned food was very funny though.

Why is Snowy now Stardrake when his dad hasn't changed at all and Crystal looks like any other snowdrake? That was bizarre.

I actually really liked the humans! Establishing them as actual characters was really fun, and I especially like justice. Justice, at least in my opinion, is probably the most interesting character in this whole game tbh - someone who tried to do good but ultimately caused more harm than good, while NOT downplaying it, showing the consequences directly, and showing them work to try to make things better. The way we don't grab their item like the others in the twinkly fight nor go through an area for them in the archive (and just talk to them instead) really adds to their intrigue - what are they like? Who did they know? Is there something they don't want us to see? How are they strong enough to not need us to grab their weapon at all to lend their help? I think it's get funny that the only character I'm fully praising is the clover-adjacent one. Justice outertale they could never make me hate you

(that being said... seeing the way this game is clearly just supposed to be a 'fix' for undertale does sour my thoughts on the humans a little. did they only do this bc they thought them NOT being full characters in ut was bad/a problem with it? 🥴 This applies to the additional monster kid story focus too).

Speaking of monster kid... Them being an orphan was clearly just a plot device to give asgore more kids and therefore feel like he won more than Toriel. Monster kid in undertale seems like they probably did have real and loving parents, and they have a sister too!!!! Would've been nice if they'd at least done something with their sister :(

This got... Way longer than I expected, so I'll stop here. But outertale definitely gave me an even bigger appreciation for other ut fangames. My gripes with deltatraveler section 3 feel much smaller in comparison now, if tsus misses the mark on Flowey later down the line they've at least already done most characters so much more justice, and it really puts into perspective all the heart and soul that went into kissy cutie, as well as its genuine love got the source material and characters.

Sorry outertale, you weren't for me. That being said, if anyone disagrees with any of this then that's fine! These are all just my opinions and feelings on it after going through all the routes and talking about it with friends. Media is always gonna resonate with different people in different ways and that's a good thing! If your perspective on any of this is different and if you had way more fun with it, I'm glad you did and I genuinely wish I could've felt the same. I feel like at the very least, making it has probably been a great learning experience for the devs and I really hope they carry on making games and improving their skills. Hope y'all are thriving and having fun regardless 💙

[cosmerelists]

Support Groups that are Needed in the Cosmere

[Spoilers throughout!]

Sure, Kaladin has invented therapy, but where are the highly specific, timeline-blind, Cosmere-spanning support groups that our heroes desperately need? Support groups like...

1. "My Parental Figure Tried to Murder Me and all I Got was this Stupid Trauma."

Vin: You grow up thinking your mom tried to kill you, but it turns out she was just spiking you to be controlled for an evil god. Vin: Not better. Charlie: Oh man, that's horrible! My dad just sent me to an evil sorceress he thought would kill me because I was just that embarrassing to him. Wax: My uncle, who raised me, tried to blow me up with my own butler! And that was just, like, the first murder attempt. Shallan (sweating): I really thought there'd be more "and I killed them back" by now.

2. "Kin-Killers Club Support Group"

Wax: Kin-Killer's...Club? Shallan: I thinks someone thought the alliteration would be jolly before realizing that this group probably shouldn't be. Raboniel: Some would claim that "kin-killing" must be specifically a blood relative, like a daughter, rather than a spouse. Dalinar: ...should I go? Wax: No, no, I think wives definitely count as family! Vin: How do we feel about in-laws? Father-in-law? Brother-in-law? Shallan: Hey, it's all trauma. Kaladin: What if you didn't kill your brother exactly but you feel like it's definitely your fault and the guilt eats you alive? Wax: Yeah, nixing the jolly alliteration was definitely a good idea.

3. "I Did Not Enjoy Being Enslaved"

Kaladin: I think, for me, the worst part was that by the time I had fallen that low, I kinda felt like I deserved it. For not protecting people. Kaladin: I think that's why I kept my slave brands for so long. Rlain: I never thought I deserved it. None of my people did. Crow: Hey, why is this group's name in the past tense? Some of us are STILL enslaved to the big stupid dragon, you know!

4. "Dead Brother Gang"

Kaladin: Uh, Shallan? Is it awkward to have me here? Shallan: Eh, it's okay. Narratively, I got over you killing my brother really quickly! Shallan: Sorry he killed, like, all of your friends. Kaladin: I think that's trauma for a different support group. Shallan: Ha ha yeah! I've been to so many it's hard to keep track. Jasnah: If the two of you are finished, perhaps the rest of us could also talk about our deceased brothers now? Llarimar: Uh, is it okay if our brother died but then later came back to life? His death was still, like, very sad. Marsh: Of course. Even brothers who don't remain dead can be grieved. Marsh: ...Sometimes they manage to annoy you more.

5. "Horses Suck So Much--Why Doesn't Anyone Else See It?"

Kaladin: ... Vin: ... Kaladin: Vin: ... Kaladin: I really thought we'd get more people. Vin: Me too!

6. "Killed Off For Another Character's Development"

Evi: I know my death gave my husband such a powerful backstory but...it would have been nice to be in the main narrative. Vin's mom: Hey, at least you got a name. Parlin: It sucks, but it must be nice that you were grieved, at least! Parlin: People are like, why was Parlin even a character? Kelsier: (sighs) Yeah, our deaths may help the main character grow...but at what cost? Evi (low voice): Are we sure he qualifies?

7. "I Really Thought That Guy Was Cool and then He Almost Murdered Me and I Felt Kind of Stupid"

Vivenna: Turns out you CAN'T trust mercenaries, even if they seem jolly. Shallan: Some men who bring you jam and bread are...bad. Siri: Even nerds can be evil. Hrathen: Sometimes the crazed, violence-prone, deeply unstable underling you think you can control for your own purposes turns out to be crazy, violent, unstable, and murderous. Vivenna: ... Shallan: ... Siri: ... Hrathen: What?

7. "Wronged By Hoid"

Kelsier: Ugh, that jerk. Punched me in the face. Sigzil: Abandoned me in the Bridge Crew. Not to mention that I have to run forever now, thanks to him. Jasnah: "Wronged" is perhaps strong, but I will say that he is not the ideal boyfriend. Riina: That son-of-bitch kicked me off of a perfectly fine planet! Amarem: He was quite rude to me, once. Or many times. Hoid: It's all so true. I get myself into SO much trouble sometimes. Hoid: Is there any greater victim of Hoid...than Hoid himself? Kelsier: YOU CAN'T BE HERE

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 14

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

New book new book! Can you believe I am on book three already? Holy heck, time has flown by.

I thought I would switch up my tea process today with a new cup but also I wanted to show off my collection XD We bought some new and some refill teas from the ren faire yesterday (one of our favourite localish tea blenders) and what a collection my partner and I have amassed. I didn't realize how huge it was until I snapped the pic- it feels very at home apothecary LOL

I went with a lady grey latte and instead of my heart mug I was feeling the spooky vibes and and using my mug by Jaxx b. I have a few other handmade mugs I might start featuring because they are fun as heck!

I've rambled enough about my tea and mug let's get into this chapter!

okay right away bless MXTX for doing such a good job immediately place setting. We are in the demon realms! p9

oof. the energy between Luo BInghe and Shen Qingqiu is so uncomfortable right now. Neither of them saying anything. I am intrigued to see how they sort through this. I know they are end game but like- this is so awkward. p9

oh gosh. Luo Binghe 10000% modeled the room he is basically locking SQQ in after the Bamboo House. Yes SQQ, there most definitely is meaning in it being familiar. p10

So. LOL SQQ's rationale. Instead of "looking too much like a respectable woman kidnapped by a ruffian" p. 10 is to essentially play gay chicken?

RIP well, luo binghe did find out about the blood. so sexually charged though in the way he decided to find out. p11

How is Luo Binghe even surprised that after SQQ being treated this way that he requests that Luo Binghe never see him/see him as little as possible? What did he even expect would happen here?? p12 There is a lot of trust broken between these two.

oh? System feature upgrade? p13

LOL "luxury edition" p14 There must be fanfics about SQQ kept trophy husband

omg what kind of novels was SQQ's sister reading XD those are some wild fantasies. pp14-15

SQQ: "I will not have stockholm syndrome" okay buddy, we will see what happens with your 'luxury edition' p15

oh luo binghe, that sweet baby boy is having them plant bamboo and is cooking SQQ's meals.p16 this would be even cuter if they talked about things instead of having such a weird dynamic.

Jesus Christ. Shang Qinghua enters again. How does this man stealth so well when he is kind of an idiot? I feel like terrible decisions and bad luck follow him everywhere- but he is just slippery enough to get away. p17

LOL SQQ: Your protagonist turned gay. Shang Qinghua: eh, it's fine as long as I'm not the love interest. sucks to be you. p18

okay but I want to know how deep the info of this world goes. Where does it pool the information to generate everything- just published content OR is it everything and anything Airplane thought about or created (ie the lost computer files about Luo Binghe's dad) p19

uuuugh not another interruption- I feel for you SQQ, I too want to know what he was going to say about your tragic backstory in the original edit. p22

Airplane really said 'no homo' "That man of yours is here. Let's do it later- wait, I mean let's chat later" p22

okay okay okay! The boys are talking for real about their mutual deception of one another. Is this the path to them figuring their shit out?? Maybe they will talk about their trust issues. p23

Okay I am with Luo Binghe on this- it did feel as though SQQ completely did a 180 on fundamental life beliefs RE: no one is inherently evil because of their race. p23. So I understand Luo Binghe here- I am glad they are talking.

OMG pp24-25

well. that escalated quickly LOL pp24-25

Luo Binghe probably "hit me harder daddy shizun" p26 +500 satisfaction points.

is Luo binghe going to assault him 😭😭😭😭 this is not it. that was not cool that entire part was so gross "If shizun see's me as no better than a beast either way, I might as well live up to expectations" p27

thank fuck all of that was interrupted, but also now i'm deeply concerned for SQQ!!!! is it the other demon blood? Is it past (young SQQ) trauma?? What's happening?? (no one actually answer this I 1000% know it will be resolved in due time, but I am having a panic about the guy).

Well that's not good at all

this was one rollercoaster of an opening act omg. Not a good time for everyone involved at the end there. I am VERY glad SQQ was not assaulted but I am SRESSED now for other reasons.

[thranduel]

Hello! I really enjoy reading your posts and thoughts. They're very thoughtful and correct.Therefore, I would like to know specifically from you, why do you think so many men don't like Astarion? They are ready to kill him even at the start or betray after meeting with the monster hunter. Is it some kind of inner jealousy? What do you think?

hello! first of all, thank you SO much!! that’s so sweet of you 🥺 i love making posts about characters i love so it makes me happy when people enjoy them too :’)

and secondly, i feel like there are a couple of different reasons why many men don’t like astarion, and i think it mostly comes down to homophobia, a bit of jealousy because of his popularity, and also the fact that they’re threatened by any characters who are bold enough to make moves against them

and just to be clear, this doesn’t apply to EVERY single person; not everyone is going to like him and that’s fine! he’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. but unfortunately many people dislike/hate him for silly reasons like this and i just don’t know how any of these things is enough to make you hate a character you didn’t even ATTEMPT to get to know. he is one of the most well-written and complex characters with such an incredible backstory and the potential to redeem himself and become an even better person (if you help him and show him love) and it’s so sad that so many people miss out on that because they immediately judge him :/

anyways, the first thing: homophobia. astarion has one of the most unique and distinctive voices, and he can be quite dramatic and sassy. his mannerisms can also be seen as flamboyant. many men don’t like this (i wonder why lol). he comes across as very confident and even a bit cocky at first, and eventually if you slowly gain approval with him, he will start flirting with tav… this has literally made some people have a meltdown 😳 obviously astarion’s sudden flirting makes sense from a story perspective, because we know he only attempted to get close to tav to seduce them and gain their protection at first. but they don’t know that, and i don’t think they care because they’re too busy being uncomfortable about it and think they’re being personally harassed. the moment men see a male character that likes men, they automatically freak out. even if they’re fine with the character otherwise, that’s enough to make them hate them (homophobia sucks!!)

in regards to jealousy, i notice this tends to happen a lot when a character becomes really popular, especially if they’re physically attractive like astarion. it’s like they feel… threatened? bitter? in fandoms, a lot of people are women too, and i think misogyny comes into play here. people simply don’t like when women enjoy things, and astarion has a lot of female fans, so men don’t like that. it’s very weird. women enjoying themselves and loving a fictional man makes them very angry for some reason

i also think some of them just get easily annoyed when a character is very bold and willing to defend themselves. they don’t think about other perspectives except for their own, and they feel threatened when another character is tough and willing to challenge them to the point where their first thought is to just get rid of them before even trying to get to know them

i’ve seen people say they killed astarion because he put a knife to their throat at the start (he literally thinks that YOU are a threat to him. of course he’s going to threaten you and ask questions?!) and/or because he tried biting them in the middle of the night. and look, i understand how bad that second one looks, but you immediately find out why he was so desperate and made that decision because it’s revealed in that exact moment that he’s a starving vampire. that doesn’t excuse it, but it explains it. obviously it would’ve been nice if he asked first, but again, he literally tells you why he was scared and why he couldn’t trust you. he was doing it for his own survival. sometimes you need to take two seconds to put yourself in these character’s shoes before immediately losing your temper. and yes, i understand pretty much any of us would immediately remove that threat if we were actually in the situation, but it’s a FICTIONAL FANTASY ROLEPLAYING GAME. unless you’ve specifically made a character who would make those decisions in the game (which is fine and understandable because you’re supposed to roleplay as your character), i don’t understand why people would let their actual feelings get in the way and get rid of one of the most well-written and complex companions just because he did some things they don’t agree with. like, you’re supposed to stop and think: “who is this guy? what are his motives? there must be a reason for this” rather than just immediately crying about it and going straight to reddit to complain about how horrible he is as a character when you don’t even know him

but anyways yeah that’s personally why i think a lot of men don’t like astarion and why they choose to get rid of him. this is mostly based on things i’ve seen on reddit and the way they go on about how much they hate him while being extremely dramatic about it lol

[talltoontales]

<-On a Dime->

--------------------

[Story 27 || Week 24]

Written: 06/10/2024

Prompt: "Kaboom" went the costal banana factory. "Splash" went the dozens of radioactive bananas as they landed in the ocean.

Prompt By: r/Accomplished_Dot9224 (Reddit)

[This is a story in the world of "Time to Spare" (02/17/2024)]

--------------------

"Some days, I really don't like being a superhero."

// // // // // // // // // //

You walk onto the rooftop. You see Luke Arling, A.K.A. the hero Streak, in his civilian clothes sitting on the edge of the roof halfway through a six pack of orange sodas. Luke hands you a soda as you take a seat next to him.

Now, don't get me wrong. Beating the baddies, helping people, fighting the good fight, I'm always down for. I've also been doing this for a couple of years now, and I know that sometimes the bad guys win one, and people get hurt. Those days definitely suck, but that's the gig. Gotta take the good with the bad.

But sometimes, it feels like I'm the only normal guy out here, relatively speaking. Most heroes are either in life-or-death mode twenty-four-seven, on a gloom-and-doom carousel, or kind of an asshole.

If I had a dollar for every time I had to meet someone for a team-up on a windy or rainy rooftop in the middle of the night, I'd have to start putting it on my taxes. And they always do that thing where once they're done with the conversation, they just disappear.

Side note, I can go from Miami to New York City in about thirty minutes, give or take. Yet, I still have no idea how I lose track of some of these guys.

No joke! One time, I had to team up with Spades for a high-profile villain situation. Reminder, he has no powers. He's just peak human, really smart, and has a bunch of cult money. While his cop buddy was doing his spiel, I kept my eyes on Spades the entire time, and the second, the SECOND I blinked, dude was gone! Drives me nuts!

You also can't trust some heroes. Not in a--

"...they might be secretly evil..."

--kind of way, more like--

"...they are WAY too ready to put a bullet in your back..."

--kind of way. I mean, I get it. It was for the greater good, it was a time-sensitive situation, and you knew I'd probably survive it, but a heads up before injecting me with a poison would've been nice, Alchem-bee! Had me tasting copper for two weeks! And don't get me started on--

~One~Rant~Later~

--and some of these guy's backstories are just...just too sad, man. I mean, It's not unusual for heroes to have a little baggage; the best ones do, but you get to listening to 'em after a while, and maybe it's just me, but I'm less sad about what happened to you and more surprised that you're still alive!

Not only that, but you chose to become a hero! If I went through half the stuff some other heroes have been through, I'd have burnt the world to ash and taken Haven and Hell along with it. Spiral went to therapy for about a month. Seasoned vet-level hero therapist, and at the end of it, the therapist had to temporarily shut down her practice because she needed therapy.

Now, I'm not perfect either. I'm no ray of sunshine, always smiling and junk. I've fought a few heroes. Had a couple of bad days after a loss. I mean, I got my powers after my sister's professor went nuts from testing on himself and blew up the school.

Now, I sometimes phase out of reality if I'm not paying attention. I've died twice and had to be told about the second time months after it happened, and I think two versions of my future self started some sort of multiverse war, which is concerning, to say the least.

But...I dunno, maybe I'm the odd man out. Maybe after all that's happened, the fact that I still see myself as just a guy trying to help is weird. I run around the world in a white and red jumpsuit with goggles powered by an energy that no one can understand.

In two years, I've been through enough superhero drama and shenanigans that some heroes think I've been around for waaaaay longer, but somehow, I don't let it get to me. I dunno how I do it, I just do. I bet some guys think I'm some kind of psychopath, an emotional time bomb waiting to go off, just one bad day from--

Notification pops up on Luke's phone. As he reads it, he begins to grin ear to ear.

Oh. My. God! This is the best thing I've ever seen in my life! Have you seen this yet?!

Luke holds the phone up to your face.

MAGS (GF): Guess who's baaaaack? <Int. News Alert // Beaches Gone Bananas> Mutant Fish have been seen battling various cybernetically enhanced primates on Dandi Beach, located on the west coast of India. Sources in the area believe that this is closely involved with an explosion at a nearby abandoned banana factory. The few bananas recovered before the battle have been confirmed to emit a strange kind of radiation. Luckily, the beach was closed for cleaning due to...

Oh, you know this has got Maniac Macaque written all over it. I knew he survived the volcano collapse somehow. You can never keep a weird villain down for long!

Luke starts texting Mag back before running off in a flash of light for a few seconds, returning in costume.

Hey, I ape-preciate you letting me ramble for, like, four hours. I peel-ly needed this more than I thought.

Another notification pops up.

Aw, Carp! Utopic's there! Guy's a wooden board, he's gonna waste a primetime pun situation! Look, I gotta split, but next time you swing through town, lunch is on me. Just no shrimp.

No pun, I just can't stand the taste of 'em.

Luke races down the side of the building. You look off into the distance, seeing a streak of white light speeding into the horizon.

\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\

"Some days, I really LOVE being a superhero!"

. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story! If you have any comments, critiques, or criticisms, please don't be afraid to let me hear 'em (as long as they're constructive (or comical)). Also, if you have some spare time, check out my blog for more stories like the one above. Stay safe, drink plenty of water, and be kind to yourself and others. ToonMan, AWAY!

.

[Last Week's Story || Next Week's Story]

.

P.S. For the record, I know that the date for this story doesn't fit for last week, but I do have a story for last week. I just...lost the plot a bit.

I realized that the editing is gonna take a while, and my week's about to get not real great. So, I decided to get something down for this week so I wouldn't end up trying to rush a story out at 11 p.m. on Saturday.

If everything goes well, I should have the story done and posted early next week unless I walk into a complete catastrophe.

[cockneydio]

Impossible question: who do you think has the saddest backstory in Vento Aureo?

Ok I've thought about it and I'm gonna rank the backstories by degree of tragedy, with methodology, hold on to your butts:

9. Diavolo - His backstory is fucked up, like it sucks his mom was in jail or whatever, but I have zero pity for Mr. Arson McSmashNDash

8. Trish - She breaks Narancia's arm and demands Chanel and Evian when we meet her. Trish's present may suck but she came up ok.

7. Leone Abbacchio - We've all hit that moment of disillusionment when you grow up and realise the institutions that are designed to support our society are in fact irreparably corrupt, yet managed not to collude with pimps and murderers. Abbacchio's personal pity party is sad but he brought it on himself.

6. Guido Mista - Up until like a year before the part starts he was living an easy breezy life, chasing skirts and picking fights he couldn't win. The failure of the justice system is unfair and unfortunate, but Bucciarati bails him out too soon for me to feel too bad for him.

5. Giorno Giovanna - Not that I want a bunch of Giorno kinnies coming after me (again), but while his early life sucked, Giorno gets a full fledged deus ex machina when he's only 4 or 5 that improves his life practically overnight. That's something that goes completely overlooked when people talk about his story, particularly in comparison to the next ones on this list. It got better for him, in part because of his own gut sense of justice, and he's able to come clear-eyed into the gang, unlike everyone else.

4. Pannacotta Fugo - I've moved Fugo around on this list a little. I don't feel any particular sadness when I think about Fugo's backstory; it sucks but it's complicated. I am not a manga purist by any stretch of the imagination, but I tend to defer to the original IP for authorial intent. And in this case, Fugo wasn't designed to have as tragic of a backstory as the other guys (presumably to make it easier to accept his eventual departure)...so I kind of disagree with the anime adaptation making it sadder? I think Fugo could have been a unique character among the group, one whose own personality flaws (i.e. murderous temper) rather than systemic injustice were the reason for his social ostracism. But the anime made him a victim, which idk seems too easy. That said, there's no question his anime backstory is fucked up.

3. Narancia Ghirga - His mom dies of a slow and painful disease, his father neglects him, he runs off and lives on the streets, gets screwed by the people he's come to trust and also the justice system, and nearly dies from a similar condition to what he'd seen his mom suffer thru. People who are supposed to care for Narancia let him down at every step of his life, taking advantage of his good and trusting nature. That breaks my heart.

2. Bruno Bucciarati - My thoughts on Bucciarati's past are well known at this point lol. This man's whole life is a tragedy.

1. Jean-Pierre Polnareff I ran out of colors idk - surprise right lol. We know the tragedy Pol suffered before Part 3 that led him onto that devastating journey, which ended with even more pain and regret. I imagine Polnareff and Jotaro just sorta..floating thru their 20s, conscripted by the Speedwagon Foundation to keep revisiting the circumstances around that traumatic stardust crusade without any real aim or hope of closure. Then Diavolo nearly kills him, which effectively forces him into hiding. He just lives for so long plagued by the problem of the stand arrows, it dictates his whole life, and that really fucks me up man.

[the-acid-pear]

Okay i don't have the brain power to watch the rest of NRN NAT video but god that first half was horrendous anyway here's my "Reason You Suck" Speech for anyone who cares

Okay i actually got so railed up about this i got a headache so i need to counter argue to many of your points about Steven. Starting with something i see a lot of people not realize and is that yes, indeed, all endings ARE canon. This is pretty clearly explained by Henry in the secret tape (you get it from fishing it out the ballpit or from the dodo, both very annoying methods so i dont blame anyone from missing this) and it explains Jack's soul is one with time powers that will revert time based on regret. With this, we know not only EVERY ending and game over is canon but also something Jack remembers.

Keeping this on mind, Jack's obvious bias towards Dave compared to Steven MAKES sense, because there's no timeline where Steven is nice unless he's doing it out of being forced to do so (owing you a favor). On top of that, there's another detail: Jack DID know about Dave's backstory!

When he learned it is obviously not clear but there's to places where its implied he does, in fact, know about it: Dee's fight, obviously, and Jake's backstory. In Dee's fight she asks him for confirmation on whether this was true and he's like "yeah" meaning this isnt news for him, and in Jake's backstory he talks about this EVEN if he didnt go to the flipside or heard the tapes, meaning that at some point he had an honest heart to heart with Dave about his past and such.

Now, relating it back to Steven: I feel that they cannot even be fucking compared. I think Steven would be better compared to the other two phone guys we see making a decision like this, those being Harry (ironically the one who made Steven) and Peter. I mean, Roger and Jake are also in the same situation, but they're just following what their boss says so they cannot be counted in.

Peter for his part is an outlier, because he's the first Phone Guy we EVER see decide to not send someone to the factory (that being Jimbo), completely ignoring what this would mean for him (if anything, since we don't really know if there are consequences or not). Harry and Steven, obviously, did send their respective coworkers there, but there's a main difference: Steven was utterly remorseful about this while Harry kind of... thought genuinely this was a good idea?

Which does say a lot about how Harry views himself but it also says something about Steven: that he's a fucking coward. Which we did, in fact, know, but this reinforces it.

Steven made a choice by his own voalition, and i don't think this is even fair to compare with Dave. Dave was being abused and manipulated by his father figure and the only person who had ever been nice to him, the only person he thought he had in the world. He was regretful too but he really wanted to trust Henry because what did he have if he left? Steven on the other hand is not being "molly cuddled" by anyone but a manual.

This isnt to say Steven isnt tragic, he is! He, like everyone else, is a complex and tragic character who did unfortunately go quite unexplored, but he's also a bad person because he chooses to be so. He'd have been like Peter, he'd have broken the cycle, he'd have done anything a man aware of the weight of his actions could do, but he didn't, because he was scared!

Also i must point out this very cowardice also reflects on his own violence because to say he's not as bad as Peter is just plain bullshit. Peter was a bit more festive yes but he at least let you Pee On Slides and Gave You Warnings. Steven kicked me in the fucking springlocks because my puns were bad. That guy was brutal and cruel but also wouldnt dare to kick Jack's ass if he was out of that stupid cool cat suit.

So, to wrap this up now that my blood pressure went to safe levels again: when you look at the whole picture Jack's feelings towards Dave and Steven are not entirely unjustified. The way that tangerine goes about doing anything at all is highly questionable though but he's like everyone else just a flawed individual. And that's what makes this franchise so compelling

[fredrickzoller]

Hi hi, I hope you’re having a good day!! I’m a different anon from the previous but seeing that recent ask caught my attention, and made me also want to say how much I’ve been digging your Landström content. The dynamic is perfect, even if they don’t interact much in actual canon you make it work in such an interesting, believable, way. The drama!! The toxicity!!! Shrimps!!Fascinating - in that perfect car wreck you can’t look away from sort of way. How they’re both objectively terrible people, but still complex individuals - it just makes me morbidly curious as to what either of them are thinking in any given situation. I’d be really curious about any little thoughts/headcanons you have on them that you’ve yet to cover, if you’ve got any you want to share, no pressure if you’re not feeling it, I just tend to get very invested in niche things sometimes and I thought I’d ask lol

Hi anon! You can't see me but I'm grinning, thank you so much for your kind words.

I've never really had a ship like Landstrom before - with this level of toxicity on both an individual level and as a pairing, but I think the context surrounding them, both the historical and the canon story (Landa's betrayal of the Reich, Hellstrom's death) are the ingredients that make it so compelling for me to want to explore. I adore the premise of yes they're terrible but how does that equate into how they'd be for each other, and does it even matter? I don't want to fix them. They do not want to be fixed, lmfao. I have a lot of other ships in pairings where it's cathartic for me to allow the characters to heal, and to grow, and this is the opposite. I want bad things to happen to them and I want to explore the journey that takes them there.

Anyway! Headcanons/Thoughts I've yet to cover! Oh, man, you've said the magic words! 😈😈😈 This is very "pull the curtain back" because I do like to surprise the small smattering of Landstrom fans by just dropping my pieces and going back into hiding for months to work on more WIPs/other fandoms, but I'll bite on this… although I don't want to give too much away, either.

So in terms of my canon timeline/fics for them, I currently have six different WIPs started (and by started I mean i have a reasonable amount written - altogether with these WIPs I would low-estimate I have around 30k written), and most of them delve into 2 major themes, which is 1. Hellstrom's dynamic with his family (especially his sister, which "Tease Rough" foreshadows), and 2. Landa's slow progression to "feelings realization" (which is to say, the possessiveness I mentioned in the previous anon).

The fic I'm closest to finishing at the moment is a direct sequel to "Tease Rough" and features an important OC that I've mentioned, Felix von Kleist and his dynamic with Hellstrom (and Landa's observations on it lol)… this all sort of interweaves with my hc's for Hellstrom's past + his trauma, etc. which all factor into his relationship with his family. Felix will show up in some of these other WIPs as well.

Not to pat myself on the back too much but I'm really proud of the backstory I've come up with for Hellstrom, and the character I've created in his sister, Johanna, and their relationship. I think there's a lot of like, you can begin to see why he acts the way he does and maybe he wouldn't have ended up any other way… which, yeah, sucks, but also like… he just continually and purposefully decides to deal with everything in the worst way possible (i.e. he's in a relationship with Hans Landa) so like do I really feel bad for him?? Really?? (Nope nope nope.)

Landa definitely uses and exploits Hellstrom's disdain for his family and insecurities around them for his own gain (because why wouldn't he?)… even after death. My post-canon ghost-AU circles heavily around Hellstrom wanting "closure" (I say that in quotes bc it's his form of closure and trust me it's shitty lmfao) in re: to his relationship with his sister and Landa being all "but what if you didn't have it :) :) :)" because he wants ghost Hellstrom for himself. :')

I hope this answers you, anon, and if it didn't feel free to ask for clarification! I'm going to try my damnedest to have the "Tease Rough" sequel (tentatively titled "Closed Doors") out before the end of the year but I'm taking part in some zines and exchanges for other fandoms right now so I have to put it on the backburner. Fingers crossed though!

[1d1195]

it's gonna be another long ask bestie, Im sorry 😭 I yap too much when it comes to us talking lol I will try to keep it short!

Me being locked out was so scary bc i've has my blog since like the 6th grade so even though i wiped it when I had my tumblr break a few years ago, I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE IT! oh and you weren't wrong for assuming about classes lol They still are but they were slightly better this week! side note, hot TA is lecturing tomorrow(Friday) and bestie im so excited not bc of the content but for him lol

anways lol If Harry told me off idc if this sounds like Im down bad but I would probably enjoy it lol I for sure saw that their stubbornness and her vulnerability issues would cause conflict between these two so I think that this was the best route to go in for them! I really liked reading it even though it sucks having them fight lol

I love a good backstory! I always enjoy knowing why the characters are the way they are! Like it very much connects the dots for me and I can see how certain events led them to act a certain way! idk I like knowing things lol and i also don't have a great relationship with my dad HAHA like its crazy how easily the thought about my father and I's dynamic makes me easily cry lol

ALSO another side note, the kids show Bluey literally makes me BAWL my eyes out because they have a nice relationship with her father AND the parents have a healthy relationship too 😭😭😭 so I can totally understand how writing this feels good for you!

Trust me, me using your government name is overall a good thing too lol You really GAGGED me with that cliffhanger lol

OKAY PART 7! AHHHHHHHHHH LOVED IT!!!!!!! this was such a perfect way to end it! Okay so FUCK JACK I HOPE HE SUFFERS SO MUCH :)!(i know hes not real but hes real to me so he must suffer!) FUCK THAT MAN! Ngl though was proud of her for breaking his nose which was such win! I was glad she was able to handle it on her own for the most part which is so good! Ideally she would have not gotten hurt but we need the drama lol OKay so I was giggling while reading the locker room scene only because it makes sense that Harry is being such a GUY by punching things lol oh and THE I LOVE YOU DROP?!?!? ADORABLE!!!!!!! and her and Louis's interaction omg that was a cute little moment! VERY MUCH ENJOYED THIS SERIES YOU WILL NEVER DISSAPOINT!

I am manifesting for you to have the best weekend! You WILL enjoy that trashy book and do something that is just for you to enjoy! Enjoy and relax! Wishing you the best my love!-💜

I literally have meltdowns every time I type my password incorrectly when I login. My fear is that I will lose this and all this work. That's why I spent time putting all my work in a drive six months ago. 😭

I haven't baby sat in a while so I haven't seen Bluey! (I'm a Paw Patrol girl) but I've heard ONLY good things about Bluey and how it's good for all ages 😭 Maybe I should give it a watch. Because I've been listening to this song for a few weeks and one of the lyrics is "my parents didn't teach me love but I know how to divorce" and as much as I want to get married (mostly so everyone will stop asking me when it will happen) I don't know if being married will cure everything. Okay, sorry for the heavy vent of this. Let's move on to FUN things. LIKE

HOW WAS HOT TA's LECTURE? I'm 2/3 of the way through my trashy book for the weekend and I am sorry to say I'm wishing for very inappropriate things on your behalf 🤭 maybe it will happen when I sit down to write TA Harry for you 😭

I've had most of Part 7 written for so long that I was like "Omg I need to add more" so Harry got to punch a few things more (I needed to make sure I didn't accidentally write him into legal trouble lol). Then I was like "You know we should have Louis tell her she did a good job too." hehehehehe I really loved writing this one too. It never really felt like I was at a loss of stuff to write.

Thank you for your message as always 💕

xoxo

[the-sprog]

LAST 3 EPISODES OF SEASON 1

Ep 6:

-So we're back at New Yolk and back to the purple one that loks like a persian(the pokemon) and oooh they got Rusty Rose back! I bet those plasma weapons were a Nine original

-oh fuck no ok Nine disapperared

-fuck they can triangulate his position via his energy readings shit fuck

-oh ffs Nine what cmon man I liked you. I should've figured though, I DID point out that he prioritized saving himself than helping them when it came to escaping.

-Also cool Knucks (or Knux?) activated his superspeed I'm assuming?

-Sonic you're putting too much faith on Nine...

-WHO'S THE PURPLE ONE

-Also Rebel cmon you're expecting Sonic NOT to make jokes?

-OOOOOOHHH THE PALM TREE!! It keeps coming back. C'mon Sonic I'm sure you can figure out what the connection is.

-Also Also, again, I love Nine, I really do, but man you're putting too much trust on him

-Big the Cat fights with a pipe. fair enough I guess

-OOOH he got a PLANE!! he's making teleportation stuff cool cool makes sense. Could've... told someone though lmao

-Something tells me Nine is more on a "I'm here to help Sonic and Sonic only"- yeah ok see there lmao. I fucking love Mangey

-Shadow is stuck somewhere here right? in the shatterzone.

-NINE DOESN'T HAVE THE ROBOT TAILS! Nvm he does it jsut didn't look like it when he was flying.

-Nine... that's a sweet sentiment but...

-Sonic completely forgot Shadow was stuck there. man had the oppportunity to look for him and jsut stright up forgot about him sob if I were shadow I would punch him as soon as we see each other

-I'm thinking about the different universes and they kinda confuse me because I feel like the reason why there aren't alternate Sonics is because he's the one that touched the... prism? emerald? when it shattered, but then why is Shadow nowhere to be found? and I don't know Shadow's backstoy so for all I know he could be a sonic clone so if there's no Sonic in a universe, there's no shadow. but it's alternative universes so there's no reason why his backstory should follow the same logic. but he DID find a chaos emerald before--

-heyyy nine to the rescue!

---before the whole thing started, but I don't know what a chaos emerald does so I can't tell if that's what's protecting him or something else. Maybe he IS clone of sonic and their... universal signatures are so similar that he's excluded just like Sonic is? I really hope they explain because i've been thinking about it a lot. Also I've been promised a Shadow explaination and it hasn't happened yet so I'm waiting here

-I'm really sad that Rusty is back with the bad guys, but also I'm happy she's not being forced to be one of the good guys by Nine

-Shit he's getting abducted...

-Alolan persian is getting more lines but still no introduction

EP 7

-OOh finally are we getting Shadow's POV?

-ok yeah that answers none of my questions about the chaos emeralds

-AH! "Sonic >:("

-Sonic's gettin back to the future-ed

-ahah is he bemusing a water level or can soic not swim in his games?

-also makes sense tgat he can use speed to travel since he has the same energy signature

-ok yeah assuming water=game over

-Who's the captain? Knuckles? aldo love that Tails still has some mechanical stuff

-landLUBBER not landLOVER! Gosh these subtitles suck

-i don't think that's their- it is ok ok. is eggman their captain?

-ok no it is knuckles- THE DREAD I love him

-Knuckles backstory???? via game footage?? I gotta remember it's called a spin dash

-but yeah that does make sense- AHHAHA what is happening im so cunfused but also hilarious

-I don't know if Sonic is being dumb trusting these people... but like, I also don't know Knuckles enough to tell if he'd being manipulative or not

-SONIC STOP TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT THE SHARDS! YOU DON'T KNOW IF THIS KNUCKLES IS EVIL and the signs point to yes. Ok yeah I'm going with Dumbass. You owe Rebel and Knux so much.

-I really want to know The Dread's backstory

-he hasn't fiured he can just... go fast to travel? that he does not, in fact, need the shard to do that?

-I'm assuming the old crew is Eggman. What happened to Dread, he's a coward now

-I never noticed ho wlong his nose is

-ok so it IS water=game over

-we don't know what Tail's name is here

-Blak Rose was out for blood

-wait captain? nooooo poor Dread!

-YES Dread's backstory gooooo

-ok so he is still called knuckles

-SAILS

-I was wrong though, eggman has othing to do with this. I'm starting to think he's only in New Yolk

-mutiny moment!!

-what's the point of a map if everything is water? what marks does it use? not LAND marks for sure.

-so THIS ONE is eggman, but it's the one from New Yolk

-I love that basically every episode ends with a cliffhanger of an Amy trying to kill Sonic

EP 9

-hello Nine

-the fucking subs calling it New Yoke or New York annoy me greatly

-Rusty Rose is fucking amazing omg "I wish I was programmed to laugh"

-I don't have much to say about this fight scene other than it was kinda pathetic to watch

-OOOH RUSTY SAW BLACKROSE

-dude you can walk on water

-"You don't give up! It's your most annoying vertue!" LMAO

-appealing to his ego I see

-CATFISH I love the different name for wvery universe

-oooh Dread is 100% going to betray them isn't he? don't trust his attitude mmmhh

-Nine you fuckign traitor

-ok I'm joking he might be doing it to save Sonic, but like ... he sounds suspicious. just like Dread

-i like his little smile

-It's not the shoes that make him fast my dude. Ah no right they make him walk him water right right forgot

-SAILS?? COMING IN WITH THE LUTE!

-the SEADOGS???? I'm crying why

-Rusty noooooooo

-nvm she's fine

-it makes sense that these robots are easy for him to destroy, theyve made by an eggman that hasnt had to deal and compensate for Sonic's speed, so they have more numbers because they also had more resources to make them, but they're not as resistant to Sonic's specific brand of power

-I need BlackRose to show up and fight RustyRose

-that was a Crash Bandicoot ass sound effect

-SO YOU DO HAVE GIZMOS!

-I hate that the gold tooth isn't one of his canines but a random one to the side

-he's a little power hungry

-SONIC JUST KEEPS BASICALLY SAYING FUCK SHADOW HUH. GO GET HIM YOU ASSHOLE

-absolutely DESERVED

And that marks the end of season 1! I will say, I'm really intrigued now. I've been suggested to watch a Sonic Adventures 2 gameplay and Sonic Unleashed, but RN Prime has my attention. I'm a little confused on some details because I am lacking some fundamental Sonic lore, but, I can deal. It has been a lot of fun and I WILL continue watching it.

I'm watching Sonic prime because you can't give me multiverse and unlikely allies and think I won't watch it.

But this is the first piece of Sonic media I've ever consumed (sonic underground doesn't count cause I remember nothing of it, and neither do the films) so. Live blog lmao.

-"Shadow is... Complicated. More on that later" can't wait bro

-Ok rouge the bat is a good guy? I thought she was vaguely anti hero ish.

-what the fuck is a paradox emerald. I stopped at chaos emeralds. What's the difference? How are they created? This one was just... In a cave???

-"sonic boom of a headache" ah ah I see what you did there.

-whats with the knuckles slander!!!

-THATS NEW YORK??????

-so they're not allowed to talk to other people I guess?

-why are they making it seem like it's his shoes that make him fast????

-are rings currency? I was under the impression they were currency. Why is he looking for cash rn

-fickeis???

-he knows what smog is. How does he know what smog is. He lives in a forest.

.

.

Does he live in a forest? It's like... All green.

OH ITS WHAT EGGMAN WANTED! A WORLD RESEMBLING HIM AND NOT SONIC.

-What is the prism shatter??? Do they mean the paradox emerald? So sure they called it the paradox emerald and not the paradox prism.

-WHATS WITH THE TAILS SLANDER!!!

-Yes I know he insulted sonic as well but I think sonic deserved it in that moment.

-ok shadow was just. There. Dudes not even helping. You live here you asshole! Do your part!

-"Tails never gets upset" that's unhealthy!

-is 1992 the year the first sonic game came out? Something tells me that's the year Sonic's first game came out.

-...what's the difference between a trap and a trick?

-why Rouge! The only thing I know is that you're a cat!

-WHY ARE THEY CALLINF IT A PARADOX PRISM NOW?

-the fact the place IS called "the loop-de-loop" and it's not just what Sonic calls it is. Priceless.

-ngl I thought sonic was gonna be more... Sassy? Clever? WITTY! but no. He's a lot more like how I imagined Knuckles to be. Knuckles is my favorite btw. I know nothing of him other than he's vaguely mean and dumb. But not like Shadow's angsty edgy mean. More like a jock kinda mean.

-also no one explained why it's called the paradox prism. Or why Rouge knows what it is/that that's what Eggman was looking for.

-oh there you go end of flashback. Also where the FUCK is shadow. How later sonic? How much later?

-Rusty Rose?? That's Amy isn't it? Like Evil alternate universe Amy.

-i don't know who Babbles is.

-IS THAT A BOP IT?

-Ok no it isn't.

- I don't understand what the shoes malfunctioning means. Is his speed artificial??? Are they like Spider-man's web-shooters?

-EGGMAN IS A FATHER? WHO'S THE MOM???

-Also Rose said there were other rebels. Wonder if it's the same squad- oh they answered my question. Rouge is not Rebel. And I guess Knuckles is also a rebel. Don't know if Tails is gonna be good or not. Cause I remember seeing something about a Tails with robot... Tails.

-YOURE IN AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE! WHY WOULD YOU THINK THINGS WOULD BE THE SAME.

-ok I was right. His name is... Nine? Also these episodes are really long.

-oh he still has the regular tails. It's more of a doc oc situation. I thought they were prosthetics.

-GEEZ "I was trained by the misery of life and this dark and heartless city" GEEZ

-gonna assume he's gonna be like "why'd you save me??? Why would you do this for me??"

-oh lord game footage that's cool as shit.

-sonic is not gonna pierce this together is he? And Nine is not gonna be like "yeah alright this guy is insane"

-MR.DR.EGGMAN. that's... Too much.

-Aww they're doing a little Tails bragging moment. Talking about how they're friends that's sweet.

-CHAOS COUNCIL? We're back to the chaos nomenclature??? what happened to the paradox shit? the hardest part of this is not that I don't have any sonic knowledge, it's that I have SOME sonic lore knowledge gained through osmosis and it's clashing with the lore that they're trying to establish in this cartoon.

-Nine is going for the full spider aesthetic huh?

-yeah. the tails are cool. I've always liked tails too, he's just too smart for me and i feel awkward when i don't understand him.

-COOL SHOES UPGRADE. Ok so the shoes are like... making it so that he doesn't explode due to the natural energy in his body, which i assume is what makes him fast. and that he'd be faster if he didn't have them, but also... more explode-y.

-HE ISN'T MISSING MEMORIES YOU IDIOT

-Oh the baby is back. I don't know how to feel about the baby.

-BLUE STREAK lol

-Ok that's an pixar's incredibles looking trap.

-OH SHIT SHE'S A ROBOT? oh not a robot. Rose is a cyborg and the way she talks about it amkes me sad.

-Nine??? is good or?? confused about his alliances.

-What. who. what. there's a whole family??? is... eggman their dad or?? who's the mom?

-of course he has hair in this "perfect" universe.

-are they like the chaos emeralds that can fuse to become the master emerald? and part of a whole??

-what's with casual dehumanization

-gosh he's such a dumbass but like an annoying one but also like indearingly so?

-I'm never gonna remember which eggaman is which. except babbles cause. yknow. toddler.

-omg the lasers effect is so ucking cool!! thay's a real nice scene ahhhh-

-they're like video games levels. alright. for now I'm really enying the visuals and the storytelling methods. on the story itself i'll see when it really gets going.

-oh no.

-ok I like the baby.

-OH THE PLOT THICKENS! the same energy as what powers the city? is the city powered by the emeralds? or by like- SHADOW??? IS THAT YOU-

-oh flashback 2. I don't know why but somethign about Tails' design looked... off. he felt naked. does he usually have like a scarf? goggles?

-Knuckled is just... hanging on the plane oh lord i'm dying.

-WHAT DO THE RINGS DO??? "in case eggeman gers in a lucky shot: rings" what??

-DOES SHADOW HAVE ROLLERBLADES?? ok he's raising on my list of favourite characters.

[stimmypaw]

Stimmypaw reads Darkest Night! The fourth text post!

Back with these uh live reading comments! Remember those? yeah! I'm on the fourth book of Warrior Cats: A Vision of Shadows :D I read The Apprentice's Quest and Thunder and Shadow and Shattered Sky and now!! I'm here :D and boy did I have a time. Click read more to see it!

NEEDLETAIL?????????

Needletail???????????

What?????

OH???????

Wh THIS GUY IS TALKIN 2 DEAD PEOPLE????

HOW WHO IS THAT

OH MY GOD

These guys are weak and dumb skyclan is epic and sharing the territory with them is good, but of course sparkpelt isn't dealing well with change wink wink nudge wink nudge nudge huh???? (this is a nod to how I project into her and say shes autistic)

I am getting anxious for tinycloud SERIOUSLY how much longer until those kits??? Everyday you show up and its WOW my tummy ssure is HUGE AND BULGING I just Wonder Oh When They'll Be Born, probably pretty soon!!! :) and then they arent!!!! Birth dammit!!!

Cherryfall cut the sick and hurt cats some slack jeez youre Fine, youre not feeding half the forest and you have THREE medicine cats ready to help you if youre not feeling well

Bastard Cherryfall I hate you /lh

Dovewing and Tigerheart have relationship drama again. What is UP with those two I simply do not understand them

Watching Bramblestar trying to control this bizarre situation is actually funny he is so close to screaming "PLEASE dont be mad :c"

SOON WHEN???? JUST KIT THOSE KITTENS DAMMIT

Get her, Alderheart

They LITERALLY said something about sharing the territory, they were like "Stars have five points baby and we need those 5 clans togetherrrr" what else do these cats want??? I know its a big change but its necessary

Wait everyone shut up that cat is named Podlight this is so important to me

Dang these cats are really still struggling :c I wish they didnt blame each other

Harestar is so cool

What the FUCK mistystar????

God what a disaster of a gathering Starclan is gonna be so pissed everyone is doing the opposite of what they should

I was holding my breath oof

I hope thunderclan gives some territory too thats too small a space for Skyclan

Oh boy oh boy oh boy i am Anxious for these Kitties

Violetpaw is me having nightmares every night

Macgyver is a heavily gringue name and I have No Clue how to say it how the hell do you say it

Update its either Mick Guyver or Mac Guyver apparently

Its fun to see how different the sisters are from one another, I love them both

I also love their mom with the name identical to puddleshine wish I got to meet her

IM CRYING BRO........M...MDB.....NFBANN.....VIOLETPAW BELONGS MY DARLING MY DAUGHTER

Sadly Twigpaw is for gender binarism 😔 /j

Twigpaw is often in her thoughts and doesn't pay attention to anything around her and I love her for that

Bad news Finpaw is gonna lose his tail, good news I can draw his tail fin-shaped

Puddleshine surgeon moment!!!

I love Graystripe and Millie

And I love that being flirty is a part of Sparkpelt's personality, I don't know what Alderheart is talking about she's always been dandelion-headed

Ok this is epic, I’m glad we’re breaking gender roles in Warrior Cats my heart dropped when the books called Briarlight cr*ppled, that’s the thing they promised not to do anymore recently right? I’m not sure but, I could use some uh less ableism on my Warrior Cats, the series is old but the newer books should be better, so yeah, good modernize these cats babyyy

OH COOL Skyclan journey!!! Fun I hope they find someone :] also fuck Molewhisker and Cherryfall bastards.

Jayfeather is gonna miss Alderheart too much for him to leave hehehe

ALL of Starclan showed up just to call out Riverclan pahahah

oooo is shadowclan haunted?????

FINALLY TINYCLOUD IS KITTING YES GOD YES GO QUEEN GOOOO!!!!

I wonder why Twigpaw wants to stay behind, there has to be more than just the camp stuff

"I wish I were more positive like Twigpaw, but at least I'm just as scarred by the death of my loved ones as my dad :] I like being like him"

Violetpaw witnesses a car crash 😔 that was a bit messy what happened to those cars also why the hell was one of them smaller was it a bike??? Or ???? Idk what's up with it!!!

Needletail just happens to have slow-down turned on for her on the discord chat so she can only say like a few words each hour :/ why the hell is she here tho Violetpaw needs to get OVER your death!!!!

This short exchange has made me love Dewpaw

Also, I love Twigpaw, I still wonder why she stayed behind tho

Ahh, is it cus she feels too estranged from her family :c ? I wish her mom was around maybe that would help

Jee Twigpaw be a tad more empathic, I can see Twigpaw struggles with that sometimes

You can't cheer him up right now he's grieving, just find him on common ground, talk to him, don't try to make him happy just try to keep him company

Oh wow finpaw that's a dangerous thing to say I hope Twigpaw doesn't crumble under the pressure to never be sad because people like her because she's happy and her being sad would be bad

ALSO I JUST REMMEMBRERD UH TWIGPAW MENTIONED BRIARLIGHT BUT BERRYNOSE IS RIGHT THERE???? HE IS RIGHT HE DIDNT DIE OFF SCREEN IM SURE OF IT WAIY

BERRYNOSS IS RIGHT THERE I CHDCKED!!!! HE LOST HIS TAIL TOO AND HES A GREAT WARRIOR, TWIGPAW!!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED IT ITS MORE RELATABLE

Okay I'm glad they're getting along this is nice

Oh look twigpaw you Are like your father :] this is cute

Skyclan begins to fish competitively I'm glad

I like it when medicine cats bicker about their leader's behaviors ehheheh, Jayfeather talking about how weak Shadowclan is, Alderheart being annoyed at his father for wanting to stay silent, the others worried about the tensions this is all cheff the kisser

Jayfeather spitting the truths about how Starclan doesn't know shit, and he is very much one to speak

Puddleshine: Rowanstar stepped up the patrols :c

Leadstar: He has warriors enough for that?? Damn good for him

Dang poor Skyclan I hope they manage stuff better soon

Oooo the girls are fighting!!!

Alderheart starclan anxiety time dang

Sheep :]

Needletail :[

I'm sad Ravenpaw isn't here, this is a lovely reunion scene but knowing Barley will be alone when they all leave breaks my heart

Oh, maybe not, but if they stay I'll be sad also cus Skyclan needs its warriors

Aw man, Twigpaw is struggling :c

OUCH

I WANT SKYCLAN 2 SWIM THO......

Omg crimes

That sounds kinda possessive twigpaw!

DOVEWING?????

T

WhHAHAGAHAHA WHERE DID THAT COME FROM

omg tigerstar 2 real

Whats he gonna do to rowanstar???

ALRIGHT THATA OVER THEN PAHAHA

Aw, I'm glad they're having fun tho, and that twigpaw sees herself as skyclan

Alderheart, as he meets someone for the first time in a while: ARE YOU OKAY???

Blackstar protagonist moment

The medicine cats: our gods are toying with us again and destiny is uncertain

Leaders: I cannot DO this right now PLEASE leave and let me care for The Real Issues

Alderheart: YOU WILL hang out at my house Willowshine this isn't up for debate

Riverclan suffered enough and it's their turn to throw a tantrum about it, honestly good for them hsghahah

Alderheart asks his father to go on a quest to check people's feet

WHAT THR HELL IS A CANTANKEROUS

Alderheart and Willowpelt sitting there watching Shadowclan fight

This is really funny

HEWWO????

Puddleshine, in his eyes: help help

I love Skyclan

Ok this sounds like it's gonna be very very fun

Mission impossible: Escape From São Paulo

Oh, is Fallowfern deaf? That's so poggers omg I wanna see more of her

Edit: fallowfern is an elder that lost her hearing with age and retired after that happened :/ boring

I love leafstar so much

Juniperclaw: aren't you gonna punish her????

Leafstar: why

Juniperclaw: when I tell rowanstar he's gonna be pissed

Leafstar: don't tell him

Juniperclaw: the fuck is wrong with you and your clan??? Where is everyone???????

Leafstar: busy

Icon

I don't trust abled people specially able-bodied people telling disabled people they just have to train harder and feeling sorry for yourself won't help.

But this is the closest to a positive message to disabled people we have ever had in warriors so I guess I'll take it but I want better

IVYPOOL!!!💖💖💖💖💕

Dang ivypool what a way to show someone you miss them hahaha

Twigpaw: uhhhh how's dovewing?

Ivypool: what do you mean did she do something illegal I'm sure she did

Ivypool is a seriously funny character WHY are you yelling at the young adult about your sisters illegal activities she doesn't know anything about it!!!!

Alderheart goes on an adventure

Feet inspector on the road!!!!

Jasper is so funny I love him

Omg what's he got against clan cats??? What's his sad backstory????

YEESSSS SPARKPELT MY LOVE 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕💕💕💕💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕

Sparkpelt your opinion sucks but I love you

I'm really really glad they had this moment this is really sweet, they hadn't talked for a while but this is genuine like, we hadn't had this sort of relationship in so long in the books with just, dialogue yknow??? THEYRE TALKING ABOUT THINGS

And the pause Sparkpelt takes between her speaking to fix what she's saying "I'm sorry for saving you :c no wait uhh not exactly but like" this is so good so natural so fun I love you sparkpelt

I get why she has a diferent opinion on Skyclan it's good for someone close to Alderheart to have a different mindset from him and for him to have someone like uh be opposites from him a lil yknow contrats his characteristics makes both siblings fun round and full of kitty do you get what I'm saying???

I love this

I love Sparkpelt, love her lil anxious moments, love her, love that she just wants to fool around with toms and enjoys Larksong but doesn't want to get serious you go girl

They wanted to write smart-ass they wanted to write smart-ass so bad

They're doing this in the rain?????

I'm quite certain Violetpaw is a young adult by this point its valid for her to go

Wh why did you let your cat out in the rain dude!!! When it comes back it's gonna dirty up the whole place it's wet out there!!!! And the cold is gonna get in the house!!!!!!!

I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH OH LORD

That was SO INTENSE AND SO FUNNY AND SO MUCH, IM SO GLAD SHE MADE IT I GOT SCARED

Oh this is so epic

That moment when your cat nearly dies and then it runs off and you go after it and then a bunch of other cats show up and start running with it

I hope Twigpaw can see the others soon

Glad to see her keeping her medicine cat knowledge ehehehe

???????

Sandynose I hate you you are so abled

Sandynose: I don't want my son to feel distanced from his peers so I'm distancing him from his peers

DOVEWING???

SANDYNOSE SHUT UP IM GOING TO KILL YOU ANS MURDER YOU

I'm so upset with Sandynose WHY isn't leafstar seeing this WHY DOESNG ANYONE SEE THIS SOMSONE PLEASE CONFORT AND LOVE MY CHILD TWIGPAW DOESNT DESERVE THIS

Angry sad upset why

Piscina

Thanks graystripe

Ok who's dying this time

Ok no one just a background cat got hurt he will survive otherwise it would be relevant

This was intense though what will happen now???

YES FINALLY

Oh this is lovely so good they're here!!! The rest of skyclan has arrived and we are all happy together

That dream felt good

NEEDLETAIL??? AGAIN

Where were you at!!!!

What!!!

Check this man's feet how many toes are there this could be good

What

Hegshahwha what the fuck is up with this guy

Okay I like him

Ohhh THATS tree

Change your name if you don't like it you sound trans already

Yeah nothing makes one smarter like dying

This is very fun I'm excited for more of whatever happening

Twigpaw :c

HIS SNIFFLES

Oh no

Hhhhnn I want Twigpaw to be happy so bad, I hate seeing her struggles

Sandynose you are so evil and very detested by me

You can and you SHOULD feel angry at Sandynose he SUCKS and he is being needlessly mean at you!!!!! There are much better ways to bring up the possibility that maybe you'd be happier with thunderclan!!! Fuck off Sandynose

Oh so Snowbush hasn't improved, maybe he will die?

Poor Alderheart

Oh fuck there he goes

Yeah

Aw man, rip to the background cat

That was a heavy death too

Aw, I was hoping the rest of Skyclan would show up before the gathering, maybe just after it???

I wonder what's going on in Shadowclan

TIGERHEARTS MISSING HUH???

The couple was kidnapped

HUH????

Oh my lord oh fuck

Can't anyone step up to lead why do they depend on Tigerheart so much???

Jesus christ

Alderheart kills his gods

This is so chaotic and funny I'm worried as hell for shadowclan but excited a lot is happening

HI TREE AGSGAHAH

Tawnypelt >:(

Puddleshine: WAIT DONT KICK HIM OUT, CHECK OUT HIS FREAKY FEET INSTEAD

Oh dear

Twigpaw :c

TWIGPAW :CCCC Man rememebr when I said I hope Twigpaw doesn't crumble under the pressure of being happy for others? yeah

GET OUT SANDYNOSE I DONT CARE YOURE BEING REASOMABLE FOR ONCE YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LATER

:C

I'm so heartbroken for them

Uh pdhsgahab okay then

Bye finpaw

Wow that was easy for him

This is fun

I'm still sad as hell

Okay there's a lot going on right now wow

The owl scene was funny as hell to picture, this dramatic prophetic moment and the cats just "uuggh is that a prophecy??? Nooo"

Okay so

There's some shadowclan cats missing, considering the many sleekwhisker maps I'm sure she's up to no good but I have no clue what happened to the others and I hope they're okay

Wow! That was really something

Fantastic ending to a very good book its, definitely a different energy from the third but I'm really enjoying this I'm still excited as hell!!! I got worried things would get kinda bad from here but nope!!!! Very fun stuff for now this is very very good and I am enjoying it

This is definitely one of the most fun arcs I've read so far!!! The drama the stakes the little moments everything is tying together really well into a very fun story I'm enjoying a lot!

I worry for Twigpaw and hope for her happiness, and Violetshine too, hope her and Hawkwing deal well with missing her. Tree is being interesting. Alderheart wasn't much of a focus here but always fun to see him trying to solve the damn prophecy no leaders seem to care about. Mousewhisker was okay??? Lots of very fantastic turns for all events and uh let's see where this all goes next!!!

[sayumia]

Wow

So hey it's your local casual attendant and lover of all things Tofu Twin related (within reason) and I'm about to unleash some brain juice. Just hear me out- (edit: for some heccing reason tumblr shifted and reformatted this entire post, so hopefully I've fixed it, mobile tumblr sucks man)

Have you ever really looked at those clips in their hair? No, well here's a quick scoop.

Sweet and Salty have clips in their hair. Sweet has the roman numeral IX, or nine if you don't already know and Salty has XI, or 11.

NOTE: The Tarot card meaning description is based on the Rider Waite cards.

Sure it's just a 9 and 11, why does that matter? Well this is why.

IX-9 for all you tarot loving (or persona players) attendants out there is the Hermit.

The Hermit suggests that you are in a phase of introspection where you are drawing your attention inwards and looking for answers within. You are in need of a period of inner reflection, away from the current demands of your position.

When reversed, you are perhaps in a situation where you'd like to be alone; there is nothing wrong about that. However, there is a possibility that your seclusion may become harmful to both yourself and others. 

I do spoiler alerts so if you haven't read/translated Sweet or Salty's backstories I reccomend you do! Otherwise here we go. Since they're basically mirrors of each other they both embody traits from either card.

When it comes to the Hermit both brothers embody the need for self reflection, loneliness, isolation, withdrawing from loved ones and contemplation.

Both Sweet and Salty are in a state of forced solitude due to Sweet taking action to stop his attendant and protect his brother by taking on the title of the Light Kingdom's infamous serial killer, who took countless lives alongside his master attendant.

Though the Hermit sets forwards with noble intentions, his path inward may also be filled with great danger. Reflecting may lead to madness and the abyss, for the unconscious is filled with images that he may not yet understand, lurking and waiting to lure you ever inside. Like a man that gets lost in his own dreams, the hermit may find himself stuck in a world of his own, alone, trapped, unreal.

Salty can't stand his brother, even hearing his name is enough to drive him up a wall or cause him to become violent. From his backstory we can see that he doesn't interact with other food souls and barely with humans. He secludes himself with thoughts of one thing. Making his brother his toy, out of anger and the belief that Sweet is dangerous without a leash, much like a rabid dog. (This part is speculation now because translating of Salty's backstory should really be done by someone with a better understanding of Chinese) While Salty seems to be aware that Sweet didn't actually kill all the people (the bodies in the freezer) he seems reluctant and apprehensive of facing Sweet to find out the truth- something maybe deep down he already knows.

Also the Herrmit's desire for real love and real change are the highest in their soul.

So the "Everytime this happens, it makes me wanna give you more love," and "Give me more, more of that love," makes so much sense now I'm in a tizzy. It also explains the whole "Can you make me happier?" that both share.

Hermit also carries emotional baggage and tends to focus on the past- and just who does that sound like?

Now to quickly explain XI, 11, the Justice tarot.

At its core, Justice is about the search for truth. As you explore your truth, you will discover that things are not as clear-cut as you had thought. You must be prepared to dip into the murky waters and explore what truth means to you. Be consciously aware of what you believe to be true and what you believe to be fair and ethical. It may not be as clear-cut as you think, so prepare to challenge yourself and to explore new territories of your belief system.

This fits Salty because throughout his backstory he struggles with the "truth" that his older brother is a murderer and took away the man that they both bad in a sense trusted and loved as a son would a father. He grows to despise Sweet Tofu but after being told his attendant was the one who was actually orchestrating the mass killings he begins to question everything he thought he knew to the point that after a chance encounter with Boston Lobster and Spicy Gluten he runs off before Sweet can be alerted to his presence- because he is most likely afraid of hearing what he most likely has already put together.

From Sweet's perspective, he bore a lot of shit for the sake of his little brother. From poisoning customers to taking the wrap for his attendant, Sweet hasn't had much of a charmed life, especially considering the two people he loved most are not really apart of his life anymore. His attendant is dead and his brother wants him dead. And even though he seems to stick around Boston Lobster (who he seems to enjoy torturing in his own special way i.e. making sure his medicine is intentionally painful) and Spicy Gluten he seems to not have much of a plan for himself, as both brothers wanted to stay with their attendant until he died naturally and travel around together, both of which didn't happen the way either wanted.

That also aligns with the card being reversed. Justice reversed suggests that you are not willing to take full accountability for your actions and may try to ‘dodge the bullet’ and blame others for your mistakes. You are being dishonest with yourself and others – and your unwillingness to look beyond your own fears and ego blinds you to the broader lesson. 

I hope that this design choice was intentional because I went full on game theory on this and I couldn't sleep until I typed this out. If you managed to get through all this listen to It Looks Tasty, and good luck and happy cooking all you master attendants.