#bit of corruption overlap too

[jazzically]

oh god i just had an idea for a really horrible spiral- and spaghetti-related statement

Turns Michael into noodles and slurps her up like spaghetti before your very eyes

you wouldnt do that to lil ol michael, would you?? you wouldnt slurp up poor ol mike, thatd be cruel!

[felassan]

The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard Deluxe edition (DA:TV artbook bonus stuff). [source, via]

"The deluxe edition features: - An elegant foil-stamped slipcase and cover - Gilded pages - A ribbon book marker - Two lithographic art prints housed in a sleek portfolio" [source]

It looks like the two lithographic prints are this mural (which is from the 2020 TGA teaser iirc) and this art of Solas with a wolf by Matt Rhodes (which is from the Gamescom 2020 video iirc). The packaging's color theme-ing is black and gold, reminding of this version (that pic is from 2021) of the game's branding/color theme-ing, and also of course bringing to mind the Golden/Black City. the Golden/Black City was featured on the vinyl cover arts.

The knife here on this cover looks like the 'blue lyrium' [?] dagger, but also simultaneously not like it.

This artbook cover one is more gnarled in appearance and the 'ring' of the handle isn't complete (the way the 'broken' handle could almost be an Evanuris headpiece-shape... if it was a bit more symmetrical, it would look like Elgar'nan's headpiece).

It has extra spiky bits protruding off it too and it looks like something is growing on it. Maybe this is what happens if/when the blue [lyrium?] dagger becomes red (Blighted)? because this gnarled kinda vibe reminds me a bit of Meredith's sword Certainty in DA2, and of that body horror way in which red lyrium growth looks on people. It also reminds me of the tendrils of Blight corruption on walls and the ground and stuff in DA:TV screenshots, and the gnarled red lyrium darkspawn we've seen (look at this darkspawn's back for example).

Or maybe there's simply more than one dagger? There's two rising Evil Gods.

in the background of that image is the now-familiar geometric patterning with the concentric rings around the outside that tend to represent the Veil, and also the multiple almooost-overlapping circles/spheres inside that is suggestive of an eclipse* (something which we can see in the DA:TV screenshot with the dragon, which keeps coming up, which speaks to a lot of the pertinent imagery/symbolism e.g. Elgar'nan overthrowing his father the Sun and darkening the sky, and something which to me makes sense in a Witcher-style Conjunction of the Spheres kinda vibe, multiple realms colliding, like, if you tear down the Veil, you're bringing two 'bodies' or realms together to 'overlap' once again - the Fade and the waking world). [*in the 'eclipse' link there it's just searching the word on my blog btw, since I've banged on and on about that lots before and I don't wanna repeat myself loads in this post hhh]. the placement of the dagger over that design and what it represents makes sense; as we saw in the gameplay reveal video, the dagger was part of Solas' ritual to tear down the Veil/move the Evanuris prison.

On this cover, we can see two eyeballs in two of the corners (the eyes remind me of the Inquisition hairy eyeball, the eye motifs cropping up around Lucanis, Pride, and the Fade peacock feather/eye motif [image from this post]). in the other two corners is a sword that reminds again of Certainty. Meredith brandishing the sword is part of this DA:TV mural in the bottom left, underneath Ghil. surely not a coincidence. :D maybe a Certainty-like sword is the final corrupted form of the dagger, or one of them? in TN, the red lyrium idol changed shape enough that a ritual-blade sprang from its base.

the background of this middle cover also contains triangles, reminding of ancient elven artifacts and ancient elven magic-tech (like with Bellara, the Veil Jumpers etc) and the recurring triangle symbols in DA art around Fade/Veil/magic-y stuff (example from the Tevinter Nights map below).

The cover on the right has more geometric patterns, circles, rings etc. (all these patterns remind of the art in the vinyl booklet btw). and, in the center, the eye again. 👁️

[waokevale]

The Overlapped AU [Aka Superhumans disguisted as Dinner Theater workers]

The Owners

The Managers (Engineer & the HR person)

The Waiters

The Security

The Performers (Wes is mostly on cleaning duty though)

The Kitchen staff (the others are usually tasked to help, though very few are actually trusted at all times to be there)

The Bartender and the Host

The Dishwashers

The Clerk & The Supplier

So this AU came to me upon a dream, and I just had to make it real...

The synopsis below:

The event of April 17th 1906 does happen, however instead of Charlie and Maxwell being kidnapped into the Constant, the Constant overlaps with the real world and spreads itself onto Earth.

Charlie and Maxwell in the process become corrupted and have to hide away temporarily. Both of them soon began to hear strange voices, source of which neither is quite sure, telling them, compelling them to hide the corruption's effect from the publicity, for the time being.

They come to a mutual realization they have to fix this mess somehow and hunt down any and all corrupted by the tome, by any means necessary.

(Maxwell still has codex umbra, but it is sealed shut for the time being until he's sure it won't spread more if Their influence. )

But the corruption didn't just appear out of nowhere, it's been leaking way long before Maxwell found the Codex, if to a less prominent extent.

Thus, in few years passing, they form a Dinner Theater, a rather inconspicuous establishment from the first glance. Very quickly they began "hiring" employees, which in reality means tracking down and blackmailing those who have been corrupted but not fully lost themselves to its effects, in order to hunt those who had.

Winona was against the idea at first, as she found out. But seeing the effects of corruption first hand, she quickly had a change of heart and integrated herself into Charlie's new environment.

Eventually they gathered a rather generous amount of people. Once a person's proven to be trustworthy to a point, they're give higher positions in the company.

However those who aren't, are likely to be shunned or "fired" which...you could probably guess what that means.

Many of these people gradually come to terms with the reality of their situation and accept their newfound purpose, being thankful that at least they still have a roof over their head and a warm meal, instead of being viewed as monsters or outcasts to the greater society.

(Wilson though, can't quite accept this notion. He keeps claiming that "this is just a big misunderstanding, I'm just a normal guy!" Yet the truth could be far from it.)

When Maxwell and Charlie hear of the danger looming, they immediately inform their "staff" of the matter. Those who are more experienced in combat come along to face whatever opponent may cross them, while those who aren't, stay behind, to be an additional aid or a medic in case the battle gets too intense.

Whenever any suspicion arises in the town about the shady business going on in that particular building, the two owners alongside their employees practically gaslight anyone and everyone into believing they're but the most regular entertainment center.

The characters who have either willingly or unwillingly lost their humanity, mostly in the physical sense, are given special devices constructed of Thulecite and bits of nightmare fuel (made by Winona, Wicker and the main two), which effectively hide away their true identity, or surpress the effects of their ailment.

There's also a few other people important to this story, especially the One, which even Charlie and Maxwell refer to as "The Boss", though what many most recent hires don't know, is that there's someone who's in a position much higher than the owners themselves, controlling their every move.

Correlating to that, another person, or rather, a set of people per se, working for a much different cause. Though most of them are "people" in only a visual sense of the word.

And while, there might be someone inside the well-known around town diner, who just might be more than what appears on the surface, literally and metaphorically this time.

__________

If you're interested to learn more about this AU, do let me know. If you have any questions, I'm happy to hear and answer them!

[entities-of-posts]

Hi, I have a question not directly tied to the roleplay (though I don't mind if you answer it in that direction): A while ago, you talked about your theory of a potential 16th Fear emerging to balance the emerging Extinction: the Dull. I find that concept compelling, but in that post you also said that each of the powers has an "opposite" due to how people like to categorise things and I'd be curious what you would consider the opposite of each power. (Mostly because I like lists and sorting things xD)

Some do have a pretty clear opposite (Vast/Buried, Lonely/Corruption), but with a lot of the others it's less immediately obvious or simply up to a bit more interpretation. iirc Elias says the Stranger is the antithesis to the Eye, but the Dark and the Spiral similarly foil its central concepts, and I'm not sure what else their opposites would be, really.

Let me just preface this list by saying that this is my own opinion and interpretation, and thus 100% right and correct and indisputable.

I will also say that there are Fears which I would call near opposites, but imperfect mirrors - such as the Stranger and the Eye - and some that just seem to hate each other without being antithesis - such as the Desolation and the Corruption. It’s also worth mentioning that overlap always exist between mirrors, of course; this is why there is a classic duality between the moon and the sun, but no one talks about the duality between the moon and a giraffe, even though they have much less in common.

That said, here is my list:

The Vast - The Buried: the most widely agreed upon. Spaces too large versus too small. The terrible freedom of being adrift in an endless ocean, of freefall, versus being crushed in place with not the space to crawl an inch. You get it. The comparison is so clear and easy that it kickstarts the speculation about all the others.

The Eye - the Dark: extremely straightforward; just as much as the Vast and the Buried, to me. Knowledge versus the lack of it. Stark light versus impenetrable darkness. What sees you versus what you cannot see. Literally symbolized respectively by an open eye and a closed one.

The Corruption - the Lonely: Toxic love versus miserable isolation. An overabundance of company, much too close, under your very skin, a swarm of uninvited guests within your deepest sanctuary who will not leave, versus a life so barren of any company at all that that you might almost start to crave the former. The heat of fever versus the cold of fog.

The Web - the Desolation: careful planning versus reckless destruction. A trap so intricately laid, hundreds of delicate moving pieces and redundancy measures waiting for just the right time… so easily laid to waste by an unthinking, spontaneous act of cruel hunger for rubbles. Man’s quest, since the dawn of time, has been to tame and leash fire. And we still haven’t mastered it.

The Hunt - the End: a wild fight for life versus its cold ending. The journey versus the destination. The two oldest fears. The Chase wants more than anything to never End. The End doesn’t Chase; it just waits. And you’re the one that walks towards it every instant.

The Stranger - the Slaughter: here is the part of the list where people start to look at me oddly, because they’ve often never considered those pairings; but hear me out, and remember that I am inarguably correct. The fear of something Else pretending to be human versus the fear of what truly lies at the core of every human person. The fear of being tricked by an elaborate disguise versus the intimate knowledge of the truth: that those who hurt others aren’t monsters disguised as people. They’re just people. And the urge is in you too. Masks, versus what is revealed when all masks are cast off. And they both have musical motifs which makes for some fun parallels.

The Spiral - the Flesh: the horror of the mind versus the horror of the body. Unreality versus a reality only too physical, only too inescapable. Your brain is lying to you, but your body keeps the score. Follow the patterns, the Spiral says, there is more, they are lying to you, just follow me down - this is all there is, the Flesh whispers, this is the raw and dripping truth, this is all you are and you will never escape it. The Distortion even admits it can’t digest an avatar of the Flesh.

[raayllum]

Do you think Callum will do dark magic again?

Oh yeah, not a doubt in my mind. This is for 3 main reasons:

1) You don't have a character say "But beware, if you ever do dark magic again, the darkness will overwhelm and corrupt you" and escalate the stakes of usage unless you're going to go there. It's kind of like how I know Callum is going to be possessed Again at one point (s7 dark my beloved) precisely because he's worried about it and more than that, that he's brought another character (Rayla) into the fold with a decision to make. No reason to have setup and then no payoff

2) Unless Callum does dark magic again, Aaravos can't possess him again. And as previously mentioned, Callum has to get possessed unless they want to throw away multiple episodes (4x04, 4x05, 4x07, 5x04, 5x08, all S6 + orb shots, 6x03) out the window. Ergo, he has to do dark magic again. Setup like this (i.e. Rayla as Callum's light being hinted at in framing in s2 and then much more overtly in s4 before being brought mostly home in s6) always comes back around in some manner, just gotta look for it

3) Viren parallels. Viren and Callum have always had oppositional (arc 1) and then mirrored (switching) foil arcs throughout the show (think Callum with wings vs Viren falling to his death in 3x09, or Viren swearing dark magic off in 5x09 and Callum having opened that door back up again an episode prior, etc). Viren, as stated, had sworn off dark magic saying he would never ever do it again, nor did he want to do it in 6x08 for a multitude of reasons.

However, someone he loved (Soren) as well as the extenuating circumstances caused him to use dark magic as a full on sacrifice that likewise only sacrificed himself. A couple episodes we had Callum 'fix' the hole dark magic had made inside him, but if he's following Viren's path, there's two likely angles: the first is that he, like Viren, will use dark magic even after trying so hard to rid himself of it (the mirrored arc). The second, overlapping angle is that Callum will refuse to sacrifice his heart (switching) because his heart is Rayla.

'I will think of you under every full moon. Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.' —Dear Callum

Kinda like how Aaravos demanded that Viren should make the sacrifice in 5x09, and Viren refused vs Rayla demanding that Callum should make the sacrifice in 6x03 (and Finnegrin a bit honestly) and Callum inevitably refusing cause Rayla can't permanently die lmao.

Other:

There's also the unsavoury implication that "restores bodies to spirits" spell Callum did in 5x09 has unique associations with the dark ritual spell Claudia did in killing Sir Sparklepuff that was undeniably dark magic usage.

The coin has been seemingly wiped clean now that Runaan is out (though maybe there's the symbol still on the other side?) but it does make me wonder of a potential plotline where Callum knew ahead of time, or belatedly, that this spell would require something adjacent to dark magic and he's done it, but the corruption Kosmo spoke of is gradual, making him more irritated, paranoid, etc. like the King of a 1000 Eyes that Amaya talked about. I think that'd be really interesting

The indirectness / the fact we'd only know it'd Happened retroactively makes me lean that we'll outright see another blatant usage in S7 since that's more Dramatic (which I've always been in favour of Callum viewing "I get possessed again bc I make a 'bad' choice and hand myself over to Aaravos" as a sacrifice of himself into "i'm already dead so kill me" territory). And if he breaks his promise to Rayla that he won't pick her over the greater good, then she can break her promise to him that she'll kill him (this is exactly beat for beat what I've wanted since s4 dropped and even before tbh)

TLDR; Absolutely Yes. S7 being Book Seven: Dark only adds to this and the stakes / set up are all there. I'm pumped

[ex-mortis-evie]

Would you mind doing me a bit of a favor real quick?

It’s no big, just hear me out okay?

So I’ve been studying hypnosis for a pretty long time now, and I’ve discovered, well, let’s call them quirks for now.

These quirks are what makes a brain different from other brains around them, it’s what makes us ourselves.

It’s remarkable too, seeing how our little quirks can be affected by what’s around us.

Some people are intelligent, so they tend to read books or listen to other intelligent people.

Others though are dumb. Like, really dumb.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s something I’ve picked up on.

What’s fascinating though is how much they tend to overlap.

What do I mean by that? Well, I’m showing you right now.

Even the smartest people or the dumbest can listen to somebody talk.

And that overlap can be exploited, to say the least.

After all, it’s getting harder to tear yourself away from listening to me, right?

Nod that head.

Good listener.

I can’t even blame you though. All humans are naturally curious. Especially those on both sides of the intelligence spectrum.

The intelligent seek out knowledge and the dumb tend to lose it.

The dumb will fall into any trap you set for them.

And the intelligent will fall into any trap, too. You just have to convince them to listen.

Just look at the world outside.

How many smart people are taken advantage of daily.

How many dumb people are taken advantage of daily.

The overlap keeps spiraling and spiraling.

And as it does, you’re starting to see the similarities too, right?

Nod your head.

Good listener.

It’s not hard to see how the smart and the dumb relate to each other.

One gains intelligence, the other loses it.

But, what if they overlapped?

What if that dumb blonde you gawked at the other day was corrupted into an honor grad from Harvard?

What if that scholarship standard guy was made into a bumbling mess at the snap of some fingers?

It’s not hard for either.

All it takes is for them to overlap a bit.

For their minds to mesh together a bit.

Feeling thoughts bubble and pop.

And bubbles form into thoughts.

Memories fading.

And new ones being made.

You were always dumb.

You were always smart.

You’re so stupid.

You’re so intelligent.

After all, it’s so easy to be dumb.

After all, it’s so easy to be smart.

All you have to do is be pretty and sexy.

All you have to do is think and talk.

People will listen to a ditz.

People will listen to a genius.

They’ll understand why it’s so good to be dumb.

They’ll understand why it’s so good to be smart.

Don’t think about it.

Think about it.

It just makes sense.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

personally i think color has way too much integrity to go undercover as a spy he's gonna out himself after some time (although killer might cover for him a bit). however, now i'm thinking of people who can be undercover inside nightmare's gang of hooligans. fiest thought when i think of hooligan is delta, which is just... no 💀 he'll break his cover after five minutes. epic might be an interesting one - he's very chaotically good and doesn't have much qualms with violence himself.

the funniest option is fresh honestly. he has an amicable relationship with core frisk, who might have qualms with nightmare (or not - there's not much interaction or overlap between the two there). although, would be funny if fresh goes undercover because nightmare sometimes allies with error, who definitely has beef with core (why are bad sanses having beef with children this is embarassing 😭🙏).

That’s precisely why i think it’d be funny watching color struggle to go against his integrity 💀. Little bro gonna have to walk a hardline between the truth and the lie and he gonna have to keep his story straight.

I think his biggest issue would be the whole hurting people though, spreading negativity part. It’s probably become extremely obvious the toll it takes on him, even if his hand is eventually forced and he has no choice but to hurt.

When push comes to shove and there’s seemingly no other option, Color has shown to be able to kill—such as with his AU’s human—but here i think he’d struggle a lot. In most other cases, his choice to use violence was always for a reason (punching Undyne) or against an enemy who has proven that they won’t stop until they’re truly dead (the human.)

Thankfully he doesn’t really have to kill, because Nightmare needs victims alive. Perhaps Color earns his spot by preventing Killer from killing, since he does have enough strength and power to overpower Killer before Stage 4 factors into the equation.

Which would make an interesting dynamic if Nightmare assigns Color to be like, Killer’s handler or something… 🤔 Perhaps this is how Color comes to learn more about Killer’s situation because he’s put in a position to see him at his most vulnerable, but in sharp contrast, this only makes Killer more wary of and distrustful of Color—especially if it appears like Color joined willingly. I’d imagine it’d be a lot harder to get Killer to leave Nightmare willingly, because Color would either be a trap or a test that he’s not “stupid enough” to fall for.

Imagine both Color and Fresh undercover underneath Nightmare, it’d be hilarious. I like to imagine that both Killer and now Fresh find ways to disturb and creep Nightmare out.

I wonder what reasons Color would give for wanting to join Nightmare. Trying to save his universe? Get Gaster out of the Void? Defeat Corrupted Chara? Try and Reset Othertale back into Undertale so he’ll be remembered and have his brother back again?

I’m sure the last one, a part of Killer could empathize with—although it’d bring up a debate between Color and ST1 on if it’s better to be forgotten or not. Especially since, in contrast to eachother, being forgotten was one choice Color never got to make himself and being forgotten was one choice Killer ever made himself— without any outside influences.

[scarletlight-has-issues]

Welcome to Night Vale/The Magnus Archives au.

Hey! So @orca-in-disguise asked me to elaborate on the TMA/WTNV au my girlfriend @rainbowwscarab and I have been crafting that I mentioned in this post. I thought it was a bit too long to put in the replies, so I’m making an actual post for it! Fair warning, a good amount of it is just her and I fucking around and having fun so it’s not going to be 100% air-tight.

So this took me a few hours, a lot of procrastination, and waiting for a really bad migraine that meant I couldn’t look at screens at all to end to fully write out (I started an hour after orca made their comment) and ended up being very long. It’s your fault for giving me an excuse to talk about this lmao. I’m so sorry, it’s over 3000 words. Full rant that includes each fear and how they apply to Cecil and Kevin as well as the premise of the au itself below the cut!

The fears and how they apply to Kevin and Cecil

So in terms of justifications for Cecil and Kevin’s alignments, it mostly stemmed from the idea that Kevin fits as most of the more visceral, physical, and violent fears whereas Cecil fits in with the more cerebral, psychological ones. The main exception of this is the spiral. Honestly, I could see the spiral working for either one of them, and it could definitely be another area where they overlap, but in the end it just came down to vibes.

For the heck of it, and since I like talking my thoughts out, I think I’ll rundown each fear, how it applies here and why I assigned them to who. Forgive me for my long-winded infodumping.

First there’s Kevin. Slaughter is a bit of an obvious one. The senseless violence as well as the delight he takes in it is fair enough classification.

The hunt is similar due to the violence of it. Additionally, for the purposes of this au, Kevin also has a significantly more animalistic demeanor and instinct, given he was assigned the two main animal fears of the 15.

Speaking of animal fears, there’s the flesh. While also fitting for reasons discussed above, Kevin’s attitude towards the body, blood, viscera, and self-mutilation fits in very well here. Additionally, while Kevin is not canonically canibalistic, I really don’t think it’s much of a stretch.

Desolation’s a bit less obvious, but the attitude towards destruction as well as the general delighting in pain and suffering works well. Also, the unmoving sun and its heat that he reveres can easily be transferred to heat of fire.

Corruption is one that did not initially seem obvious, but when I began looking deeper I realized just how strong of a tie Kevin is for it. There’s the centipede tie in for insects, as well as the obsessive, cult-like mentality towards love and adoration in terms of being devoured that he talks about with the smiling god. I read a fantastic character study fic between him and Jane Prentis once (just shout if you want the link, it was great) that utterly sold me on the concept and opened my eyes to just how corruption-aligned Kevin is and how easily he’d fall to it. Also, less of an in depth character study answer, but the mental image of a centipede crawling out of Kevin’s eye sockets and in through one of the gaps in his carved smile is a fantastically horrific one that I love.

Stranger is a fun one, as Kevin upon introduction was very much portrayed as a bizarro, twisted, stranger-esc reflection of Cecil, just as Desert bluffs acts as one of Night Vale. Additionally, there’s the sense of “othering” yourself the entirety of strexcorp has, with Kevin’s own transformation, and their encouragement to make a better, happier, and more productive you. The lack of eyes, the carved smiles, and the masked happiness are also all very stranger.

Spiral, as mentioned above, is I think the most cerebral of the fears I assigned to Kevin (aside from the eye, though I don’t think I have to explain that one) and I could also see it going to Cecil, though the madness-inducing vibe Kevin and desert bluffs as a whole has works. Additionally, the way he twists his own perceptions and reality to align with how his own damaged mind processes things, and the way he distorts events when he presents them to others is all very spiral. I could perhaps see the spiral and the extinction swapping places or perhaps both residing on the line between the two of them, like the eye. Extinction also works for Kevin given the apocalypse-esc energy desert bluffs has and the similarities it bears to the famine world (in vibes not direct application) in one of Season 4’s extinction statements, as well as the links it could potentially have to the self-destructive nature of capitalism and how it dooms all who live under its oppression. But anyway, that’s enough of my rambling about Kevin, onto Cecil!

Cecil’s alignments, as @/orca-in-disguise pointed out, are significantly subtler and less obvious than Kevin’s, and I think this owes much to the subtler aspects of many of the fears he was assigned. While they are often very extreme and intense in manifestation, many of them at their core come from a much more subdued place. Of course, every fear can be drawn back to that kind of distinction, but just bear with me.

The dark is not very obvious, but the core of the fear of the dark is the fear of the unknown, of what might happen to you when you cannot perceive your surroundings. It’s a fear of absence of perception, and isn’t not knowing and not understanding a core theme of Night Vale as a whole?

The end is slightly more understandable. Death is a common theme that crops up in much of Cecil’s narration and in Night vale as a whole. Additionally, The End is also a fear of inevitability, of unavoidable consequence, and of the future, all prominent points in the comforting kind of existential dread Night Vale and Cecil himself employs.

The web is about control, manipulation, and unseen connections or plans. While Cecil isn’t quite a master puppeteer, there are definitely themes of control in his character, whether he be subject or object, and the theories/headcanons of him being able to influence the town and those who hear him with his Voice definitely fit in here.

The vast is one that ties in with a lot of the things Cecil talks about. There are countless times when Cecil talks about the endless and the insignificance of a single human life in the face of eternity. The repeating motif of the sky being “mostly void, partially stars” works extremely well here too. The themes of Night Vale as a whole align very well with the vast.

The lonely works for Cecil for similar reasons above, repeated statements of the insignificance of humanity as a whole and himself in the face of the universe. Additionally, while Cecil is often defined by his relationships, he’s also been shown to be very prone to loneliness, depression, and self-isolation as shown by season 3. There have also been several moments depicting Cecil’s role in his recording booth speaking out into the air as being a quite lonely and isolating thing, completely cut off from the rest of the town he speaks his words to.

The extinction is one that works through the themes of inevitability and consequence I discussed through the end, but also because Night Vale itself as it is now with all its strangeness was at least partially created by Huntokar through the result of a near extinction event, her attempting to save it from the nuclear missile that would have destroyed it. This theme of nuclear destruction is one that is strong with the extinction and is something that runs through a lot of Night Vale’s narrative.

The buried is an odd one, and is perhaps the one that is the least fitting, but I wouldn’t say that it is completely without base. In addition to claustrophobia and being buried alive, the buried is also representative of restraint, of being trapped (literally or metaphorically), and of crushing circumstances that you cannot escape. This ties into the same sense of inevitability that I talked about above. An argument could also be made that Cecil can be viewed as being stuck in place and unable to move on from different perceptions and his own role.

Lastly, there’s the eye. Thought id leave it for the end so I can discuss how it applies to both Cecil and Kevin. I don’t think I need to discuss too in-depth about it. After all, in almost all other aus I’ve seen of a similar nature, Cecil is almost always pegged as an eye avatar. Kevin falls into this for similar reasons. Both of them have shown abilities to see and know things about their town that they should have no possible way of knowing, describing events as they happen across town, and discuss things as if they are standing there in real time. This all-seeing theme is one that ties into heavily to the eye. Additionally, they are both radio hosts. They’re both the Voices of their towns. Whether this is simply a fun way to describe the role of radio hosts or a more metaphysical title and role as many fans have speculated/headcanoned, it’s worth taking into account. The role of Voice can easily be seen as a role similar to that of Archivist. Their role is to describe their town, to bring information and events into light and spread information to those that hear them. Often they describe awful things that have happened or will happen, and forbidden knowledge is a theme with both of them.

Now that that’s out if the way, (and anyone can also take that conceit and run with it should they so desire) onto the actual plot of the au.

The au premise

As I stated in the post I linked above, the initial conception of this classification turned into a full au that spiraled (no pun intended) into much more. The au’s premise is that back when the fears as TMA knows them were relatively young and humanity was new, two monsters, two beings were created, poured into the world before the classifications for the fear were distinct. They acted as two halves of the same whole, two sides of the same coin, two different sides to Fear and they were as intertwined as any person is with their own reflection. One of them represented the cerebral; the mind and soul, and the other the visceral; the body.

Of course, to a certain extent every fear can be interpreted as both visceral and cerebral. So as previously stated, they have significant overlap and their divide is indistinct, just as the entities themselves are.

Conflict is in these two beings’ very nature, but they were never truly separated from echother, for they relied on each other just as much as they clashed against echother. I’d compare their relationship to that of the shifting mound and the long quiet from Slay The Princess if anyone reading this is as into that game as I am. Kevin would be the former and Cecil would be the latter in that comparison.

After a while, as the minds that feared them evolved, these two beings grew to have minds beyond the entities that they stemmed from and wished to explore their distinct individuality as independent beings. Eventually, after extensively exploring the diverse array of fear each could evoke, they settled down in a small deserted area in the American Midwest, close together and yet separated by space. The land itself around where these two entities settled down gradually began to warp and distort from their influence, their essence seeping into the place that surrounded them and changing the area in which they settled, as well as the people who decided to populate it. Although at first unintentionally, this created the towns of Night Vale and Desert Bluffs.

The Night Vale entity had a longing to be human. It desired to join and understand the minds that formed it, to walk among them. It started attempting to do so with various puppets it either created or fashioned from humans. Almost all of these served is simply flesh puppets it used without fully joining with, and that is when Cecil came along. Cecil was an ordinary human being. He was perhaps unusual to humanity as a whole for where he was born and had grown up, but he was no stranger than most in Night vale. The being that affected the town lived in the radio station, and it was commonplace in town for those who chose (or were compelled) to work there to act as its puppets. Attitudes towards the being varied, but most lived in fear or it. Cecil became the first puppet it used to become a true vessel, joining with the being to become both the combined whole of two parts and something entirely new.

This transformation cut him off from most of the people he was close with in town, most notably his sister Abby. Abby was incredibly adverse to this decision from the beginning and now holds the belief that the entity in the radio station killed her brother and is using him like a puppet and lying to everyone about what it is. He lived a very odd existence, mostly alone and living above most, until a very handsome man working for a strange university with affiliations to the eye by the name of Carlos showed up to research his little town.

Moving back a bit in the timeline and shifting our attention a few miles away, the desert bluffs entity had no real desire to become human. It wanted independence, it wanted to explore its own abilities, and it wanted power, but it didn’t want to become human. The humans who settles around it, like those in night vale, had been warped and affected by proximity to it (thus creating the… eccentricities of desert bluffs) and had created a religion around its worship. They saw those as having been directly blessed by it (avatars, of which there are a large number in both Night vale and Desert Bluffs) as divine, and dying by the being’s hand was the most pure way to do so. Think of it like how in Viking culture, dying in battle was the most honorable way to go. They saw fear itself as holy and they offered up their terror of it as a means of worship. The being loved this attention and the existence it had built for itself, and it was quite happy until a corporation called Strexcorp Synergists inc. moved into its little town.

Strexcorp is much the same as it is in canon save for that in this au, they’re heavily tied to the web, though with definite Stranger, Spiral, and Slaughter influences as well. I have a couple OCs I fashioned to be Strexcorp’s upper management (if anyone wants to hear about them, just ask. As evident by this massive rant I love talking about things I’ve created) who all, at least in this application, act as ties to different entities Strex is influenced by, but it’s primarily web. Strex saw the potential of having something like the desert bluffs entity under their control, but knew that as it currently was, it was too powerful to fully contain and utilize for their purposes. They decided that it would be easier to exploit if it were bound to a vessel, and so they chose their pawn in Kevin.

Kevin, a pillar of the community, one of the most devout in his worship of the entity that made its home in his town, and one of the most outspoken against Strex and their goals. Using him to bind it took out two birds with one stone, getting rid of one of their significant obstacles in taking this town, and utilizing him the exploitation of what would become their most valuable resource. And so they used him, tricking and manipulating him as the web does and effectively forcing the two to join, for Kevin to become the thing’s vessel, and weakening it in that moment just enough for them to extert their control. They bound the newly formed being to/in the temple the residents of that town had erected for its worship, caging it in the very walls that had once been home to its reverence and reducing it to a tool for their means.

Lauren, who in this is just a straight web avatar, is assigned to serve as what is effectively Kevin’s handler, keeping him under control. They use him as a symbol to control desert bluffs, utilize him in situations where his abilities are deemed useful, and offer sacrifices to him in the form of people they want to get rid of. The rest of the time, he’s kept bound and isolated, depriving him of fear so he’s kept weak enough to contain.

As a small clarification after all that: post-joining, both Kevin and Cecil are two complete wholes. They don’t act as two separate entities in the same body fighting for control. Kevin is more unstable than Cecil for obvious reasons, both because of his nature, circumstances, and the fears he represents, but also because his joining was violent and unwilling for both parties. Think Michael as the distortion for how its nature works, though in this instance Kevin didn’t die. He’s still very much himself, just more.

As the au starts, the entities before Kevin and Cecil know and recognize each other as one would recognize themself, but Kevin and Cecil as people have never met. They both know each other more intimately than any one person can ever know anyone else and are complete strangers. It has been many years, perhaps centuries, since they have seen each other.

Additionally, the relationship between Kevin and Cecil in this is intended to be romantic because my girlfriend and I are both multishippers, Radioscientology (the ship name for Kevin, Cecil, Carlos, and Charles as a polycule) fans, and we think they should kiss, but it does not have to be interpreted that way if Kevin and Cecil isn’t a ship you’re into! If you want to see them as friends or family or queer-platonic partners or something weird and metaphysical, go right ahead!

And with that, we have the basic premise of the au! If anyone wants to hear more or wants me to elaborate on anything, please let me know, but I’m getting a bit self conscious over having written over 3000 words on this, so I think I’m going to end it here! Please give me any thoughts you might have, I’d love to hear what other people think about this stilly thing I made!

[manytoonepoet13]

What is a rose truly for?

~~~🌹🥀~~~

This music video has left me quite... confused? Perhaps a bit frustrated? Because I can tell there is something in this mv, in this song, but I can't put my finger on it on what it is exactly. Particularly, I am torn over the symbolisms, why these specific visuals were used, why these specific transitions, and so on, how they would fit in with the general timeline and the overall story, it's confusing, at least, as of now where there's a lack of English translation. I'm certain everything will fall into place, but until then, I want to discuss my theories.

1.) "I'm Stitch Dot." I first approached the title quite literally, stitch as in stitches and it may relate to the tapestry and quilts Roma's kingdom is known for. Then I looked at the possible meanings it could have in literature, to which I have discovered that "stitch" may refer to a sudden pain, which is understandable since you get hurt when you get stitches, or, you get hurt which is why you need to get stitches but you end up hurting yourself more because of those stitches.

That last thought was close, it made me relate it to roses, and my thought looked a little bit like this: "A rose, it's beautiful, but it has thorns. Find yourself pricking yourself, you get hurt. And it's somewhat similar to a dot. But sometimes, that aside, sometimes when you get hurt, the pain is not similar to a mere dot. Sometimes, the pain is too much that you need to get stitches to fix yourself and keep yourself together." That thought is VERY close to what the title wanted to convey because, vague it may be, I tried to actually say the title out loud "I'm Stitch Dot" and, perhaps it's just me, but it sounded something similar to "I'm stitched up."

That thought made me compare it to the visuals, where different fabrics were stitched up to form one quilt, one tapestry. Those different fabrics were supposed to symbolize the different parts of Romarriche...

2.) Fabrics.

The fabric here is most likely representing the "old french" or "old american" aesthetic they wanted him to convey through his clothing, and perhaps a part of his personality. This is Roma on surface level.

There's a lot going on here, but let me break it down for you.

a.) The white fabric with pink flowers: Most probably relating to an "innocent" kind of love, one that symbolizes his kind heart, his caring and generous nature.

b.) The purple (or magenta?) fabric with pink flowers: Most probably relating to a slightly more intense love than the other fabric, probably representing his want and determination to protect others, which may relate to this line from his wiki used to describe him: "Determination Hidden Deep Within a Tolerant Nature."

c.) The blackened red fabric that looks like it has roses but also has this white thingy that looks like it was scribbled down randomly: An extension of the previous fabric, but here, it got intense to the point of disarray and this is where the SEEDS take place. Roma dislikes it when his friends are hurt, while this may not be an insecurity, it is a dislike, therefore a negative emotion, therefore the SEEDS would provoke him so they could feed on those negative emotions. The rose pattern is him, the white scribbles is him being plagued by paranoia of not being able to protect his friends or anyone if the situation calls it. This leads him spiralling down and overthinking and over-worrying which will lead the SEEDS right to where they are and the cycle will continue on until the unfortunate happens.

d.) The black fabric: Him getting corrupted. Easy as that.

This struggle to remain calm but at the same time to be on guard to protect whoever dear to him will be the main thing that will lead the SEEDS right to him if he doesn't balance it out.

The same thing applied here, only half of the screen is mixed with the red textile overlapping the black fabric. Most probably, if meant in a good way (to which I hope it is), means that he managed to balance it out. The fabric we talked about became more vibrant, and perhaps a bit more orderly now. While the fabric that consumes the second part of the screen, the black fabric with red textiles, most probably means how even with these negative emotions, he managed to find that point where he managed to find good in it, he managed to find the power he has, how instead of paranoia, he sees determination, and covered it with the intense emotions that he has now embraced.

And Merold? Why does he have the purple fabric? Well, his intense emotions has been "tamed" in a way during Your Melody and had now learned his lesson.

3.) Frames.

Most probably, the frames being used in this mv is to show how Roma used to confine himself, or his emotions rather to keep them from being too intense or scare people off, kind of like Merold in that broken mirror. But throughout, he has learn to open up, and be free.

Which is why he went from this:

To this:

But unfortunately, I don't think I could end this happily. Perhaps bittersweet.

4.) The distance between the lords and knights.

This is something very interesting I found in the comments section. (Thank you and credit to these people, by the way.)

They highlighted how even though the knights and their lords are close, there is still a distinct line, this distance that none of them dare to cross. And this speaks a lot considering Roma's relationship with his lord is probably the closest out of all the knights. Marroncream was the one who taught him how to make sweets and sewing, this solidified their bond and brought them closer together. They cherish each other, care for each other, yes, but still, there is this distance between them that never seems to close. Perhaps it is their titles? Their duties? The sense of professionalism? This is most probably why gray roses was shown - they symbolize formality and sophistication. Or perhaps he just struggles to convey it properly. The knights do have this "sickness" where they don't know how to express their feelings properly and do things they think is for the best for the people they love without thinking clearly (sometimes).

But what I really like about the second comment is this line "Although you don't your love isn't very beautiful, do you also think it's as important as the needlework of your beloved master?"

This love grew because of his bond with Marroncream, primarily because of them bonding over needlework. If ever he considers his love as something that is not very beautiful, the same love that grew from needleworking with his beloved master, and the love that came from seeing the finished art his master has made, would he consider the needlework of his master not very beautiful like his love? Would it be as important as his "not very beautiful" love? He would most probably answer no, but what he is implying is leading to the answer yes. Why?

Like I said, this love grew from needleworking with his master and the awe and admiration from seeing the finish product of his master's finished needlework. If he were to consider his love "not very beautiful" he would deem his master's needlework "not very beautiful" as well.

That would most probably leave him silent. Contemplating. Wondering about his answer. This is a common problem with the knights, one that I would relate to my earlier statement about the red fabric (c). Him feeling so much yet all of this thoughts are practically scribbles that he can't think clearly and wouldn't know how to express it properly... That is something he would have to learn. That is something he has learn thought the mv.

5.) Eyes Closed.

Perfect! I was wondering about this, and it's quite fitting as well. I've said this in passing before where eyes have been quite the prominent symbol in Fragaria. First shown in Ever Red, then Your Melody, so on so forth. But the most recent one is Bouquet of Wishes, and now, this.

And it's quite interesting to know this point because the story this comment has mentioned (Thank you and credits to this person), fits the overall world of Fragaria in a way that I've never thought about before. Cover your right eye, then you won't see your past — how the first timeline of the Fragaria world has fallen. Cover your left eyes, and you won't see your future — the uncertainty, the potential of having history repeat itself when they least expect it because they lost their memories. Right, applies to Roma, left, applies to both Merold and Puruth, But what does it mean to have both eyes closed then? I haven't read the story myself, but, if I were to connect this with the mv and the overall world of Fragaria, it could be described as momentary peace.

You close your eyes, free yourself from looking at the horrible things that has occured for too long, and let yourself relax... breathe... think... reflect... You close your eyes and see black. The void of color, or lack thereof, you usually associate with the SEEDS, but in this moment where it is just you, you would be able to breathe and free yourself of paranoia and anxiety, and reflect... You close your eyes and see your friends, your beloved master, your people, you see how they have supported you all throughout, you see how far you have come despite the consequences. You close your eyes and see everything. Everything you have done. Everything you haven't done. Everything that needs to be done.

You close your eyes, and suddenly, everything is falling into place... The only thing you need to do now is open them, but keep that sight in your heart, stitch it into your very being, your very should... And take it from there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The knights ask nothing in return for their love.”

[modernmessydisaster]

Pre-Arcane S2 Act 2 Thoughts

With hours away until it drops, gonna list all my predictions & wishes. Hopefully, I get at least one or two right.

Ep 4, Obviously, a Jinx centered episode. But it's more so the effects of what Jinx did in Ep 3. The people of Zaun rallying behind her, wearing her colors & fighting back.

Jinx has been absent since the attack, probably watching after Vi and trying to figure out where she goes from here. How to finish herself off or something similar :(

It isn't until Sevika convinces her, especially finding out Isha got arrested & taken to Stillwater with the rest of her "followers". That Jinx finally takes up the role she's been given by Zaun, their hero.

Probably other parts of the episode, back n forth. How Cait is doing as Commander, the people of Piltover looking to her as guidance. Strict curfews, large number of enforcers & noxus soldiers patrolling. The once shiny Piltover looks empty of life and dreary. Muted, darker colors. Maybe at some points, Cait sees reason and slowly letting go of her anger/grief BUT Ambessa stops that and fuels Cait's vengeance again.

Leading to the mass arrest of Jinx's followers, probably calling Jinx a hero sent Cait over the edge a bit without Ambessa in her ear. Either way, Jinx comes and saves them. It's a whole big show! Which in the eyes of Piltover, a huge failure on Cait. Which probably shakes their trust in her, until Ambessa smooths it over. By declaring that an army of enforcers & noxus soldiers will march down into Zaun and finally bring it's people to justice. Maybe this is the start of Cait realizing she's wrong, Ambessa is using her, but it's too late.

Her mother & Vi's words haunt her now, at the choices she's made.

□□□

Ep 5, hmmm I wanna say a Vi centered episode. What she was doing in the timeskip. Underground fighting, her trauma & grief. Girl is going through it. Maybe we will see flashbacks to her time with Vander & her parents.

Honestly, don't know where this episode would go. Maybe more hints & build up of Viktor's cult in the background. Some Zaun people hating her for being an ex-Enforcer and her part in unleashing the Grey. I wanna say this is the episode where the Warwick/Vander fight happens. Perhaps this episode near the end lines up with Ep 4, timeline wise.

As in Vi, fighting for Zaun again. Going to help the breakout at Stillwater. Probably wanting to make it her final stance, her grave. But Singed unleashed Warwick/Vander at Stillwater. Vi goes to fight him, with help from Jinx later. OR Jinx was almost going to die going against Warwick/Vander and Vi jumps into the fight to save her/die doing what Vander told her, "protect/take care of Powder."

Basically Vi pouring out all her emotions into this fight. Flashbacks with "Remember Me" playing and Warwick/Vander seeing Vi's familiar fight style, Jinx's yells. He starts remembering, just the faces of his children. His own flashbacks with each kid, Vi being the last. Her child version overlapping who she is bow as an adult. Warwick/Vander letting out an anguish howl and trying to say Vi's name in a distorted voice.

Alternative thought, just struck me.

Ep 4, is about Jinx & Vi, combining what I wrote about each. I'm not about to rewrite this whole thing

Ep 5, being about Jayce/Ekko/Viktor/Mel. More so Mel & the Black Roses. Her journey in whatever maguc prison they put her into paralleling Jayce's own journey in the Hexcore/Arcane Time/Dimension Magic? Ekko, idk if he got separated from Jayce. Instead having his own journey in that Time Magic Fuckery with Heimerdinger.

Probably both groups seeing the danger of this Arcane corruption, one in the past, and one in the future.

Either way, all three groups break out. Mel goes to stop & get answers from her Mother. After learning everything she could from the Black Roses after defeating whoever was holding her. Awakening her own powers. Ekko going to save Zaun, and Jayce going to stop & save Viktor.

□□□

Ep 6, I feel like the episode will start with Viktor & his cult. Seeing how much it's grown during the time skip. Long haired Viktor, but while he should be happy. Idk maybe there is an unease brewing in Viktor, especially how weird his followers/hexcore Sky hallucination act. With tales of his miracles spreading, wouldn't be surprised if Ambessa tried making a deal with Viktor or something similar to have that magic on her side.

Viktor's cult has been in the background for Ep 4 & 5. So yeah, finally seeing what is going on with him. Probably eldritch horrors he can't comprehend and that disguise themselves as Sky, but can't or won't anyone. Since their influence & power is growing. Probably soon, they are going to do a ritual, maybe sacrifice of the followers to unleash something.

Viktor slowly realizing this. Adding in that with Ambessa's ruthless attacks on Zaun. Almost everyone has migrated to the lower levels where Viktor & his cult are. So when Ambessa attacks as we see in the trailer. Viktor & his followers are gonna be caught up in it.

Maybe Viktor & his followers will join the fight for Zaun, maybe the Hexcore/Void? Uses this opposite to do something? Honestly do not know, again all speculation.

Probably WRONG on everything here, but it was fun to theorize.

Lastly, quick things I want to happen in Act 2.

JINX & VIKTOR MEETING, they gotta at least have a conversation! Something something of Jinx commenting that Viktor isn't the only one who has hallucinations & hears voice. OR at least a long glance at each other

ISHA NOT DYING, I refuse to believe she's gonna die. Maybe almost dying, but Jinx saving her, thus how she lost her braids.

Slico hallucinations & voices being supportive

Jinx kicking Noxus soldiers ass especially with her own hextech/magic.

Mel having magic because she was touch/blessed by Kindred in the womb. Which unknown to her, is how she kept escaping death. Essentially, Mel is the lamb, fox, snd wolf. Death's champion.

Viktor & Singed meeting again.

Probably Maddie dying or her being horrified by her actions OR Maddie isn't horrified by her actions but CAIT IS

Steb, quitting the enforcers, starts a chain event of other enforcers quitting cause this is all going too far. Probably later, Cait asking him & others for help to stop Ambessa

Now to prepare myself to what an emotional mess I'll be in a few hours:

[wormconsumer]

Based off a post I saw with the idea that Robert Smirke had fourteen friends, each falling too/representing a different entity, with Smirke himself being the Extinction.

To get the obvious ones out of the way: Jonah Magnus as the Eye, Mordechai Lukas as the Lonely, Maxwell Rayner as the Dark, and George Gilbert Scott as the Buried; these ones are all canon. Not directly canon but a pretty reasonable assumption is Simon Fairchild as the Vast; we know Simon had Maxwell Rayner help him with his Awful Deep ritual in 1853, which was only a few years before Smirke died, and Smirke hung out with Rayner a ton, so it makes sense for Simon to be part of the group (though by a different name; he only started going by “Simon Fairchild” in the 1930s). Another fairly reasonable assumption, in my opinion, is John Franklin for the Hunt. Franklin is canonically a Hunt avatar in The Magnus Archives, his real-life timeline overlaps with Smirke and the rest, and Rayner was canonically interested in his expedition, which was probably because he wanted to use Franklin’s knowledge of arctic exploration for his ritual, but could also imply they knew each other, and therefore, Smirke’s gang.

For the Corruption, my first thought was John Amherst, but he only became an avatar during the Second Boer War, which was about half a century after Smirke’s time. Instead, John Snow is a better fit. He was an English physician who lived during the same time as Smirke, and he had something going on; his descendant Neil Thompson has a syringe that belonged to Snow that had Corruption properties, so Snow fits. For the Slaughter, we could go with Charles Fleming. We know he was in China from at least the beginning of the First Opium War in 1839, and Smirke and Jonah and the rest were up and active on their supernatural studies since at least the 1810s, so it’s theoretical Fleming could have hung out with them, even though he didn’t become touched by the Slaughter until he went to China. Maybe he came back later, though he was in China at least until 1862. Alternatively, William Hall, the actual captain of the Nemesis, could be an option, his lifetime overlaps pretty well with Smirke’s, though there is no evidence he interacted with the Slaughter besides his interactions with Fleming and the Nemesis. Still, he was probably a bit more high-society that Fleming, so I kind of prefer him. Finally, for the more reasonable ones, we have Joey Grimaldi for the Stranger. Grimaldi’s timeline overlaps with Smirke’s, and we know he was affected by the Stranger even before he was turned into Nikola Orsinov. The reason I’m choosing Grimaldi instead of Gregor Orsinov or Nikolai Denikin is that we know for sure he was in England while Smirke was, unlike the other two.

Now for the more out-there guesses. For the Flesh, there are a few options. One is Eustace Wick, the Lutheran priest-turned-cannibal, who did live at the same time as Smirke, but he became an avatar in 1832, died in 1845, and has no evidence that he’d even been to England, considering he’s American. The other options would be Benjamin Carlisle, Benjamin’s unnamed wife, or possibly some other relative or descendant of theirs. I find this one the more likely choice, because Jonathan Sims specifically wonders how Benjamin Carlisle’s wife was able to give her statement to the Magnus Institute, considering she starved to death in a cave on the Oregon Trail in 1845, as well as the fact that an apparent descendant of her, Toby Carlisle, is living in England by the 21st Century and has enough of a connection with the Flesh to be pretty severely affected by the failure of the Last Feast ritual. The unnamed Mrs. Carlisle being the Flesh representative does mean she presumably gave in and cannibalized her husband, and the timeline only gives her about a decade to have hung out with the rest before Smirke’s death, but I think that fits, considering what Smirke said about just coming up with theories about the Flesh in his statement.

The Spiral has similarly not a lot to go on. I would just say the Distortion, seeing as it’s an immortal manifestation of the Spiral itself. We know that Ivo Lenshik’s father was tormented by the Distortion in a human form, and apparently Lenshik’s great-uncle did too, implying that the Distortion did assume a humanoid form sometimes, before it was forced to by the failure of the Great Twisting ritual. Plus, Jonah Magnus clearly knows who the Distortion is, which yes, he could have learned at literally any point from the past two hundred years, but seeing as we’ve got nothing else, I’ll choose to believe. For the Web, the only older avatars of the Web we’re aware of would be the historical owners of the house at Hill Top Road. We don’t know who owned it during Smirke’s time; the closest we have are the unnamed blackmailer who died during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, and Walter Fielding, who died in 1923. Walter’s son and grandson both owned the house for about thirty years before dying, so with the same amount of time applied, Walter couldn’t be our Web avatar. Honestly, the answer might just have to be “whichever Web avatar was owning the house at Hill Top Road during the first half of the 19th Century.”

For the Desolation, we have even less. Diego Molina founded the Cult of the Lightless Flame at some point prior to World War II, but we have no idea when, and it couldn’t have been that long, considering what Eugene Vanderstock says about the immortality of Desolation avatars having some kind of limit. The same is true of the End. The only known End avatar who was alive during Smirke’s time was Nathaniel Thorp, who was a Death at the time, and didn’t become human again until 1970. It’s unlikely that Deaths got breaks to socialize.

So, in summary, we know for sure about:

* Jonah Magnus — The Eye

* Mordechai Lukas — The Lonely

* Maxwell Rayner — The Dark

* George Gilbert Scott — The Buried

We can make some reasonable assumptions about:

* Simon Fairchild — The Vast

* John Franklin — The Hunt

We can make educated guesses about:

* John Snow — The Corruption

* William Hall — The Slaughter

* Joey Grimaldi — The Stranger

We can make complete guesses about:

* Mrs. Carlisle — The Flesh

* The Distortion — The Spiral

* Owner of the house at Hill Top Road — The Web

And we have nothing for:

* The Desolation

* The End

If anyone has ideas or things I missed, let me know.

[votederpycausemufins]

And here's my Evil X gemcyt design sheet thing. I already posted the Xisuma one, so check that one out too.

the whole gemcyt au got kicked off by @chrisrin so make sure to check out their stuff and all the stuff they reblogged if you haven't already.

Another version of the sheet above but with more notes on and for it is below the cut.

Alright! I had a lot of fun figuring Evil X out, probably bc of him being one of my blorbos.

Evil X has a lot of 'theories' surrounding what he is and I've seen some variations. He and X are siblings, they're X's clone, he's a glitched version of X, they're X's hels. etc etc. And so trying to figure out what to do for him.

While I already borrowed sweetest-honeybee's design in the second part of my Zed/WM gemcyt post, I didn't want to do like that and make him corrupted. I know the gemcyt stuff seems to play with corruption a little looser, but it still didn't feel right. So, I went researching and found a fun lil mix that seems to fit well.

First off, the closest thing you can get to a glitch in terms of gems is being off-color. I mean technically you glitch when you're cracked, but we're not doing that. Anyway, off-color gem Evil X, which is why there's the gem comparison. Next, the clone/hels part. I don't mention it on the sheet, but specifically, I think of this Evil X as a sort of gem experiment. No wait wait don't leave let me explain!

We saw that there were gem experiments of some type on the show. They were more fusion experiments using shards, and were experiments for the cluster (which technically don't work since they only emerged slightly before the cluster so there was no telling if they worked and if then the cluster would work). Also on the show, we're told that there's a resource problem on Homeworld which results in 'Era 2' gems like Peridot, who don't have all the abilities a normal gem would have. Also also in the show, when Steven and Lars are with the off colors on Homeworld, we see the kindergartens there. And while there are normal holes, there are also holes that overlap, as well as holes that look like there's been a chunk scooped out of them.

The analogy I could think of was like when you're making cookies. you roll out the dough, get a cookie cutter, and get all the cookies, but assuming you weren't using a square cutter, there's extra dough left between the cuts. Instead of just leaving it, usually you reroll it to cut out more cookies. Well, why can't Homeworld try the same?

Evil X is meant to be an experiment on if Homeworld can successfully do that. They scooped out extra rock from a kindergarten or two, compressed it into a new boulder, then used an injector on it. Eventually after a long while, out came Evil X. And that whole thing also leans into the clone thing because I imagine some of the scooped rock was from part of where Xisuma emerged.

Anyway, with all that, I originally thought about making Evil X look similar to Amethyst's pseudo buff reformation, but trying to draw that was a mess. I meant to go back and make him look a little more lopsided, but you'll have to just imagine that. Whoops. At the very least he has the funky stripes. I imagine that's probably from where the different rock pieces met or something, and since it wasn't as solid as regular rock, he was like that.

Coloring him was tough, but eventually I just copied Xisuma over, inverted his colors, and then shifted the hue to be more red. I considered making the green parts more black, but it didn't fit, so they're just more purpley to show that Xisuma connection or smthn.

Speaking of his gem, I show what I picture a normal Cuprite to look like. Meanwhile Evil X's is a bit misshapen, as well as that darker area that mimics the one reference I had. specifically that darker bit is chrysocolla, but he's still just cuprite.

Instead of a mask, he's just got a visor similar to what we've seen with Peridot and Doc and technically those zircons. And also instead of a mask he has those... blade things. Look, the best name i could find for them were blade gauntlets, but they look more like sword brass knuckles to me so I don't know. Also yes they are based on a weapon a digimon had, what of it?

And then, he is hella amethyst coded. Popped out of his rock thing in a chamber under the kindergarten (similar to the other experiments in the show) with no one around. He was an experiment and uses rock from different gems and is off color, so he doesn't know what he's for. Doesn't even know what diamond he should belong to, so that's why he's got a grey one on his chest. And there's a lot of little things and ideas for him that are inspired by Amethyst's characterization on the show, to the point I was planning a screenshot redraw even before I had his and Xisuma's designs even close to finalized.

I also have a fic I'm working on with him and Gemsuma, as well as that quick Jevin design plus a few teeny tiny references to other people's gem designs. If my adhd allows it, i should post that 1 shot fic tomorrow.

[jazzically]

MAG 32 HIVEEE BABYYY!!!!!!! oh my god this one. this one is sooooooooo fricking good. i loved every single word of it when i first listened to it and i still do now. its written SO GORGEOUSLY

just the simple fact of this literally being a firsthand account of someone being taken over by the corruption, the infiltrator, that utter terror that comes with every disgusting thing thriving under rotted floorboards makes the concept beautiful by itself

cause jane wrote this just after she became too far gone, fallen helplessly to the worms' song, but before she was completely incoherent due to the lovely harmonies formed by the slithering of thousands of individual bodies through her vital organs. you can hear her despair manifesting, those last dredges of what she truly was struggling through the cloudy haze of unearthly love. and she lets it speak through her so beautifully. remember this is the making of an avatar transcribed. she describes how her relationship with the hive grew into something far more personal than a threat to her safety or sanitation. it's about the confusion that drops in on you at the beginnings of addiction and the combination of desire and sunk-cost that makes you want nothing more than to sink deep into its open arms and fully give yourself over to the only thing that says it can save you.

and throughout it all, she somehow makes this Crawling Rot — this mysterious thing that we know to be inherently gross and despicably filthy, that jeopardizes the security of the archives and its staff — sound hypnotic, in its own twisted way. enticing, even. that is the true horror. that is the most terrifying part, to me: that we are suddenly able to see where she is coming from. it's kinda like how jon spoke on how it unsettled him that the distortion said it wanted to help them instead of hurt them.

plus!!!!! i mean!!!!!! its so viscerally horrible and i love it!!!!!! its literally the corruption its the bending and destruction of things we find familiar and safe (ooOOo stranger and desolation overlap?) like its not just plain old disease and dirt yknow? its the SYMBOLISM of that disease and dirt and what it means to people whose lives become infected :3 love how jonny prolly went "hmm what are people afraid of? bugs? sickness? germs? what does that tie into? ah yes corruption" i feel like this specific statement was a great opportunity to really showcase how the corruption affects the mind and jonny maximized the writing to that effect. that was a lot of unnecessary words but basically what im trying to get at here is that jane prentiss's statement didnt reframe the corruption and her worms for me, it took the whole situation and flipped it on its head, upside down and inside out. it made the flesh hive seem so graceful.

umm not to mention the way the statement drops foreshadowing for the institute being eye-aligned omgomgogmgfndibf

EDIT...

OLIVER BANKS!!!!!!!!!! OOOOLLLLLIVERRR

edit 2 :3

I KNEW THAT IT WAS NOT SO SIMPLE AS TO CALL OUT TO WELL-TRODDEN GODS!!!!!!!!!!

god that line has stuck with me ever since i first heard it. it's SO GOOD. it is a perfect way of putting that feeling

RRRAAAAHHHH the web and the hive are so awesome when taken together

AND THIS. the Hive, more infinite than it can describe itself, is beautiful in a way most will never understand, for beauty is subjective. its indescribability alone is astonishing. the radiance of its power, seen as simple and dismissed without true understanding ever permeating its frothing membranes, is far more than we could ever deserve

i think this paragraph is just SO well done dude like go listen to it feel the impact of those words again because it's so raw: i see now why the hive hates you. you can see it and log it and note its every detail but you can never understand it. you rob it of its fear even though your weak words have no right to do so.

that bit was introduced and explained perfectly. its so satisfying nnnnrrrrrgggghhhhhfnkkffncnnfr

the sheer poetry of this series never fails to amaze me. oh my god

also i love how when jane is addressing gertrude it's done more vaguely so that it's almost like she could be talking to jon and the institute of the present day

poor jane she mustve been suffering for a very long time

[hyog-blog]

Under the Microscope

This is such a neatly made little historical drama, based on an actual case from the Ming dynasty, that you could absolutely binge-watch it in a day or two (just 14 eps). What starts as a simple math problem, a discrepancy in numbers between the actual field measurements and what is written in the registry reports, later blooms into a huge case of corruption on different levels of the government system in 8 different counties along with tax evasion, murders, false witnesses, and whatnot.

Chinese bureaucratic system of that period seems like a real nightmare, even more so, when someone is trying to investigate a case (and, in many ways, things really haven't changed that much in modern times). The story revolves around Shuai Jia Mo, a math genius who lacks social skills and is probably mildly autistic. His parents die in a fire under mysterious circumstances. All he's left with are a few memories and the number 3530, which turns out to be the exact number of taxes his whole county is paying out of thin air. No one knows where the tax came from and why people have to pay it, so he starts the investigation with the help of his friend. Naturally, all the powers involved try to silence them as soon as possible.

I really had no idea a show about ancient Chinese taxes could be so captivating - mostly thanks to a well-written plot and superb acting, as well as interesting, shrewd, and excessively scheming characters. I guess this is a story more about human nature, that's why it's so relatable today, and the quest for justice, because for each bad and greedy person out there in the world, there is one with a pure heart and soul who wants to do good. And sometimes, that person could actually win (well, at least in a cdrama :)

We see quite a few charismatic faces here. Wang Yang (Teng Zijing in JOL) seems to be very compatible with Zhang Ruoyun. Here he starts as an antagonist, Cheng Renqing, a lawyer who defends anyone who pays him more (in this case, the bad guys). For a good half of the show, he's just an increasingly annoying lil' shit with a broad smile and a sharp tongue, but then things change, we get to know his story, and he turns to our boy's side eventually. Wu Gang (Chen PingPing from Joy of Life) is a welcome treat no matter what role he takes. He's so good at playing skin-crawling bad guys, it's just remarkable. I also fell in love with Feng Biyu, a feisty lady-owner of a meat shop, who can beat the hell out of quite a few bullies who go after her little bro and the ML.

Needless to say, Zhang Ruoyun's performance was top-notch. I can't imagine how hard it is to depict such a character - but I totally believed him! Both his math genius side and the slightly autistic side. It actually leads to some pretty funny scenes because of how straightforward he is, not understanding the intricacies of human behavior (and the lies and the games between people).

I was not-really-surprised to hear Liu Yuning's voice at the ending OST of the series (the guy is literally everywhere:) but ah, he's just such a good singer and the song really got me hooked from the first notes. I also want to say that style-wise the show is quite beautifully made, too. It's a true-to-life historical depiction of the Ming period, but the shots, the light, the colors - everything was just very pretty!

The show is a kind of detective case story about tax evasion, but the characters make it very alive and entertaining to watch. There's some drama sprinkled with a bit of comedy, some math, 0,1% romance, but everything comes together so nicely that you really don't have any complaints in the end. The show is exactly what it promises to be, not overlapping with other genres. I, personally, was in the mood for it and it's definitely a 10/10 for me.

P.S. also, there's a cat)))

[cliff-and-the-kid]

Sunset

(Haven't been in a good headspace to roleplay much lately, but I did start writing one of about four variant options for the Cyberkid AU today, and this is the one I think I'm gonna use as a 'verse on here)

He is a Seeker. Like her. Tall, broad shoulders, tapered waist. Elegant wings. Cruel face. He is Commander Starscream. Her- not progenitor. CNA donor. Supervisor, mentor, flight leader. Not guardian, never guardian. He is in charge of her training, her preparation for battle, for facing the Autobot threat. He is not liable for her injuries; those are her responsibility. He is given the credit when she completes an assignment, passes a benchmark, as if she’s only a trained pet.

He named her Sunset - the End of Days, the Blazing Conclusion.

It doesn’t feel right.

---

An Autobot is captured and thrown in the brig.

She’s not supposed to know about it, but the foot soldiers are constant gossips, and despite her bright colors Sunset is small and slim and knows how to stay out of the way, unnoticed, so she can listen without anyone growing uneasy and editing their words.

She follows Starscream’s voice as he crosses the ship, bragging to Knockout about all the ways he’s already hurt the bot and all the options that yet remain. He says something about show off the human, but that- that makes something in her processor skip, data catching and coiling unhappily until she shoves the entire thread aside, focuses on sneaking down the corridors unseen.

Starscream and Knockout stay in the main interrogation room for a long time. Sunset finds a good perch to climb up and brace herself against, waiting. Eventually, the Air Commander and Doctor leave, radiating smug fields that overlap and make her tank churn.

No one else lingers in the hall. The regular patrol that circles through the brig won’t make another pass for 2.1 breems seventeen minutes so she needs to make this quick.

What exactly ‘this’ is, Sunset hasn’t quite figured out yet, but- but.

She needs to get into that room.

She needs to see the Autobot.

Blunt fingers pick at the door’s control panel, so she can tweak a few wires within. Sunset has access to most of the Nemesis, but not all. And just trying to blindly blunder around down here of all places will almost certainly send an alert to Soundwave, who will pass it along to Starscream, and then Sunset will really be in trouble. At least if the Eradicons catch her down here, she might be able to play the ‘I’m just a clueless little freshpaint’ card and keep them from reporting the incident-

All concerns of getting caught are wiped away in an instant, when she gets the door to slide open and sees the Autobot.

Cliffjumper

He’s bulky. Not elegant. Scuffed and scratched and missing chunks of plating, opening up his protoform to painful injury. He’s red, like her.

His name is Cliffjumper

“Back for more, Screamer?” He rasps, not looking up. Clamps around each arm and energy restraints keep him hanging from the ceiling. He isn’t actively leaking energon, but there’s an obvious puddle on the ground below his dangling legs.

Sunset is maybe about as tall as his chestplates. She’s supposed to be smaller.

Her lack of response must catch his attention. One blue optic weakly flickers to life, and the Autobot raises his head to peer towards the door. He sees her. His ragged ventilations stop. The silence crystalizes around them, something delicate, entirely too fragile like glass, like a thin wall separating breathable air from deadly gas-

And then the ‘bot gasps, “Sierra?” and corrupted data slams into her frontal processing hey kid want a lift You go to school with Jack Darby right My partner’s the one he got that motorcycle from Well it’s a bit of a long story Oh right I’m not the one who said I’m a remote-controlled car that was your line My name’s Cliffjumper Cliffjumper CLIFFJUMPER

It hurts.

Keening agony wells up from her spark- crackles through her voicebox- spills out her mouth. She staggers, almost falling to the ground, but- but she can’t, not while Cliff needs her-

“Sierra,” he repeats, alarmed, entire frame jolting as he strains against the restraints. She can hear the glyphs layered over it, utterly unlike the ones Starscream uses; warm and soft-edged, Cherished and Gift and Light of Dawn- “Kid-!”

A whine. A step. She needs to- to get to the controls. She has to. She has to save him-

He.

He tried to save her.

The glass cracked, and gravity twisted, the world spun, and Cliffjumper tried to save her.

Her hands find the control panel. She doesn’t waste time hacking it, only in seeking the right key sequence. The clamps disengage- Cliff drops to the floor- Cliff immediately shoves himself upright, sparks jumping from exposed circuits, and he’s halfway across the floor but he reaches out regardless-

Sierra slides in for the hug.

---

They have 1.8 breems- fourteen minutes before the regular patrol, potentially far less if Soundwave received an alert from the interrogation room’s controls. Sierra puts herself under Cliffjumper’s better arm, and helps him limp along as quick as they can, down another level and straight towards the nearest airlock.

She only has to shoot two Vehicons. She doesn’t pause to look and see if they were ones she liked.

Cliff doesn’t say a word about her wings, before or after Sierra transforms. He only asks, “You sure?” when she tells him to lay over her narrow cockpit.

“I won’t be able to gain altitude,” Sierra tells him. “But I can control our fall. Come on, we’re wasting time!”

They need to descend swiftly, get away from the shielding that surrounds the Nemesis and call-

Not base. Not the silo. Static catches in her voicebox, because she remembers, but the silo is gone now, Starscream took her to fly over its ruins and gloat-

Sierra shoves the memory files away. Cliff will call someone, he said they could get a groundbridge and they will. She isn’t going to let him die here, not at Starscream or Megatron or anyone else’s hands.

The airlock opens. Sierra fires her thrusters, straining under Cliffjumper’s weight. They take off, and immediately start dropping. But it’s okay, it’s fine, she can manage, she will manage, she will get to go-

-home.

Where is home, now?

Engines roar above them. Eradicons, taking flight from the top deck and descending fast. Sierra tracks them with her sensors, readies herself to spin and dodge as best she can with Cliffjumper clinging onto her wings - but it isn’t necessary.

Green light flares to life, directly below.

Where doesn’t matter. Home is with Cliffjumper.

They drop through the bridge.

[sporco-filth]

I've been thinking of doing this for a while and I guess here it is: a series on how to write slob stories. I'll go through things in a sort of order that kind of follows how I do things. Without further ado:

How to Write: Plots

I'd say there are a few main flavours of slob stories:

Corruption (becoming a slob, caused by an external force)

Letting go (becoming a slob because they let themselves relax)

Slice of life (character is already a slob and it's just a day in the life)

Reversed values (where being a slob is seen as a virtue)

Slob education (someone is taught how to be a slob)

Forbidden desires (character wants to be a slob/loves a slob but society prevents them)

Humiliation (character is mocked for being a slob or punished by becoming one)

They overlap, but in general they can be split into these groupings. All of them play on the themes of transformation, the taboo/sinfulness of slob or the pleasure/freedom of slob.

The other thing to consider is dominance/submission aspects. This power play stuff can also alter the story. The intricacies of the power dynamics are what separate corruption and education stories: in the former, there's a lack of consent, or a pressuring, while in the latter there's an element of respect built on trust and it's something undergone willingly with full understanding.

I actually don't have much advice for plot ideas because 75% of my ideas come to me from the aether and 25% from my audience. If anything, it's the easiest part.

A good thing to consider is the concept of orientation, conflict, resolution: you introduce the characters, a problem arises and then it gets resolved. Most of my stories have the conflict be a character's reluctance to be a slob and the resolution is their mindset change.

The main conflict might carry through the whole story, but each chapter often has its own rising conflict and mini resolution, even if it is as simple as Lee in Slob City trying to work out what to do with his rubbish.

A story without conflict can feel meandering and boring. You also need to make sure the resolution has enough time too: if there's a big problem and it's fixed in a sentence, it feels anticlimactic.

All things (music, writing, sex, eating, etc) derive pleasure from tension and resolution. For example, in Slob City it's Lee's teetering desire that provides the tension: we know he's going to become a slob eventually, we're just waiting for the tipping point. Once it finally arrives, we have a moment of tension where we wonder how he will react, and then there's the final resolution where he accepts it fully. But that whole scene, even though it has tension, is part of the resolution. Resolution is both a section of the story (the part where the problem is fixed) and the emotion of relieving tension (which can happen whenever, not just the very end).

Sometimes a lack of resolution is a decent choice too. It may leave the audience unsatisfied, but sometimes leaving a bit of mystery or tension is interesting. Cliffhangers are a simple example but it's also possible to end a story without a resolution (a particularly famous one I know is Picnic at Hanging Rock which is a splendid novel if you like reading stuff other than slob fiction. It's also a decent film but I like the book more).

Having a conflict in mind and working towards it makes writing easier. I typically write as if I'm driving a car and I know where my destination is, and maybe a few places I want to stop by along the way, but the exact route I make up as I go. I can take detours, but as long as I don't go too far off the course and make sure I still end up at my goal, things are good. The resolution typically follows easily on from the conflict.

Also, you can use other people's ideas. It's not illegal. Just don't make a carbon copy of the story: if you're going to explore an idea someone else already used, you need to bring something new to the table otherwise there's no point to it. Like, change the characters' personalities or roles, or change the viewpoint. (by this I should note I don't mean using the names and everything (unless you ask first, just because some people are fussy (I'm not btw, do whatever you want with my characters)) I just mean you can reuse the types of characters).

One other thing I can say: I like to plan stories (if I do plan them, because a lot of the time I don't) by just writing dot points describing everything that will happen. You skip details you haven't decided on and you go into extreme specifics when you know exactly what you'll do, but you just write all the ideas down in chronological order.

A fun sort of practice exercise you can do is to come up with a basic plot. Start with a theme or main idea based on something that turns you on, what type of slob story you want it to be, and then think of what issues could result from it. Even a day in the life story can have problems: even something as mundane as a slob not being able to reach the remote could make for a funny (and hot) story if you play it right. Which leads to the last step: think about how the story will be resolved. How has the status quo introduced at the beginning changed, or have you gone back to the status quo ante?

There is no right choice when it comes to writing, but there are wrong choices. Plotting is when this is most important.

Next up: how to come up with characters for your story.