#but also this game being non-canon made it so they can do whatever they want basically

[darklight-owl]

Now that I know that the witches aren't actually burning I'm pretty sure Layton is in some dungeon somewhere and the Layton statue actually is just a statue (I was expecting him to come back from the dead again after this) which makes Golden Court 10x funnier actually:

"Woah this statue is so well made it really looks real I have no difficulty believing this is a real person because the craftsmanship is incredible" -the guy who made the statue trying to gaslight people into thinking it's well made when in reality it looks cobbled together

Or alternatively

Layton: Why is there a life-sized mold of me in your basement

Storyteller: There is a life-sized mold of literally everyone in this town.

Also

"Damn sorry Layton we kind of replaced you with this life sized golden statue of yourself he just does the pointing thing better and makes better arguments I hope you enjoy the dungeon" -Phoenix Wright

[thankskenpenders]

Today we got some news regarding a big change for the Ian Flynn's Q&A podcast, the BumbleKast. As outlined in a blog post by Ian, starting in 2025, all Sonic-related questions submitted to the show will first need to be screened by Sega. (I have to assume this is also why Ian announced they'll no longer be doing live Q&As starting next year.)

Frankly, I can't say this is particularly surprising.

While the BumbleKast is ostensibly a podcast about Ian's work as a freelance writer for all sorts of things, and also just a place for him to shoot the shit about stuff he likes, he's still predominantly seen as The Sonic Guy. Sure, he also does a bunch of other freelance work for other series, and original comics like Drogune, and he's also the narrative mastermind for the whole Rivals of Aether franchise these days, but it's his insights into what goes on behind the scenes with Sonic that people really care about. Your average Sonic fan can't just go up to Iizuka or whoever and ask him a question about the current state of the lore, but Ian's inbox is always open.

Because of this, I've thought a lot about the BumbleKast's place in the fandom and The Discourse in recent years. Ian wants to be as open and honest as he can about his work, and I think that's admirable. To me, hearing about creators' struggles and the shit they go through just to get a story out the door tends to make me sympathize with them more. Sometimes a story just doesn't turn out as well as you'd hoped, but you're on a tight deadline and all you can do is move on to the next project. I've even softened a bit on Penders over the years as he's shared more about the absurd situations and odd creative demands made behind the scenes at Archie. Unfortunately, not everyone has that mindset.

Ian's basically always had obsessive haters who were eager to take everything he says out of context to try and stir up shit, but that used to be contained by the niche nature of the Archie comics. Most of the fandom didn't give a shit about what Ian was doing with Sonic and Sally's love life or whatever. Most of the fandom wasn't even reading those comics. But Ian's gone from being a writer for a non-canon spinoff comic, to being the initial lead writer for the first ever canon Sonic comic series, to being the new main writer for the games themselves as part of the official Sonic Lore Team. Way more Sonic fans care about his work now, and when he's so open about his work that makes him an easy scapegoat.

It feels like damn near every week on Twitter Ian's personal trolls have posted yet another BumbleKast clip out of context to rile up the fandom and make it look like he has no idea what he's talking about or like he has some kind of agenda. And, unfortunately, people often fall for this. Of course, it also goes the other way, with people more sympathetic towards Ian taking things he says about Sega and framing them as proof that Sega has no idea what they're doing with the brand. Which, well, let's be real, isn't always the most unreasonable thing to think, given Sonic's rocky history. But I'm surprised it took this long for Sega to start paying more attention to what gets said on the BumbleKast when fans use it so regularly as a source of drama.

I've also often felt that they just need to be WAY more selective about what messages they respond to on the show. Questions Ian can't actually answer due to NDAs, questions that are borderline incomprehensible, "questions" that are really just fan ideas. And the haters, oh, the haters. Ian does not need to put up with angry rants about how he should make SonAmy canon or what the fuck ever. Even if Ian's willing to put up with it, as a listener it can make the show just super unpleasant at times when someone aggressive pops up with an inflammatory question. There have been entire BumbleKast Mini episodes I had to skip because they were just obsessive critics of Ian's paying to grill him on a dozen different things and treat him like an idiot.

But at the same time, I get why the show got to be this way. It's become a part-time job for Ian with multiple new episode a week. Given how piss poor the pay tends to be for freelance writers, I can't really blame him for wanting to keep this secondary stream of income open, and to not have to refund people left and right for rejecting their questions. The man's got bills to pay. (And so does Kyle, for whom managing the BumbleKast seems to have become a full-time job.)

I dunno. The man's got the patience of a fucking saint. I would've quit the franchise if I was in his shoes, with people wishing he would die for shit like minor disagreements over Sonic's characterization or him misremembering an obscure old lore thing. While I do hope that Sega doesn't keep too tight of a leash on him moving forward, and I hope that he's still able to speak his mind about his work, part of me also hopes that having to be much more selective about Sonic questions results in less bullshit like this.

[oc-ology]

How to OC post without being an artist (or spending money)!

As much as I yelled about OC-posting, some people said that they struggled to know what exactly they should be posting. Obviously the answer is whatever you feel like but if you’re already aimless, that answer isn’t very helpful. Additionally, not everyone knows how to draw (which I think is an obvious method of OC-posting) so I wanted to give some ideas for what people could post for their OC! This will be split up into different sections.

Creating visual representations of your OC

Disclaimer: I will not suggest nor support the usage of generative AI. OCs are about creating something yourself, not allowing a computer to do it for you.

Outside of commissioning someone else for art, it can be disappointing and frustrating to not have any visual representation for your character. An easy way to get a representation of your character is to use Picrew, Meiker and other similar sites. There’s a large number of art styles, types of fashion, species, that can all be used to make your OC and that amount only grows by the day. Many of these websites can be accessed on PC and mobile and take very little processing power.

However, this can be limiting at times since you might not find exactly what you’re looking for, especially if your OC has a unique combination of features. For something with more customisation, you can use video games with character creation to make a version of your character. I personally would recommend games like The Sims or Skyrim as both have very active modding communities. This way, if a certain type of clothing or facial feature isn’t present in the base game then you can often find someone who has created a mod that adds it in instead. This does require you to have access to a computer that can run not only the game but the mods as well.

Another option would be using a program like Vroid Studio to make your character from a base model. This has both a mobile and PC version, although I will primarily be speaking from a PC perspective. The mobile app, while able to create a character from scratch, is a lot more limited than the PC version. The great thing about Vroid is that there’s a lot of user-made content that you can often get for free through websites like Booth, as well as many tutorials for beginners to follow along with. Again, this requires a computer that is able to run it. I would recommend against using Vroid on a laptop as it will likely be too intensive for it.

My final suggestion for character visuals is to take a character from anime or cartoons and simply edit them. This was actually how I first got into making original characters! You can recolour their hair or outfits with an editing program (with some free examples being FireAlpaca, Krita or GIMP) and even edit different images together to create something more unique. Please only do this with characters from existing media and avoid using fanart for this.

Other OC visuals

Other than just what your OC looks like, there are other ways to visually put together your OC. Moodboards are the most obvious example of this, but you can also edit other things such as putting together outfits for them or finding pictures of items they would keep in their bag.

If you have multiple OCs, you can create fake text conversations between them using a number of websites. These can be as silly or as serious as you like!

Finally, you can always build them a pinterest board. I am a massive pinterest enjoyer and not only can you use pins that others have posted to pinterest, you can add your own from off the site. 

Writing

Beyond writing out your characters’ story, there are numerous other things you can write. Keeping in line with what you’ve already written, you can re-write scenes from alternative perspectives. These can add context to what is seen in the main story, as well as flesh out background or side characters and their relationship to your other OCs.

Another fun thing to write is non-canon scenes. Write a beach episode! Write about a character getting sick and someone else having to take care of them! There are countless ways to draw your OCs interacting with their world or other characters that wouldn’t necessarily ever fit into the “main” story.

Next is genre changes. If you had to categorise the genre of your OCs’ current story, what would it be? Now image what if the genre was something completely different? Romance to mystery… Slice of life to horror… Part of the challenge is figuring out what story beats remain the same and what gets changed, including character dynamics! And of course… Alternate Universes. There are too many types of AUs to list but some of my favourites are superpowers, mafia, zombies, time loops and time-travel-fix-its. These are similar to genre-changes but often include a number of AU specific tropes. If you’re struggling to figure out the staples of a certain AU or what kind of AUs exist, there’s a really good page about alternate universes on Fanlore.org!

Other ideas

These are ideas that didn’t quite fit into the other categories.

First is music playlists! There are two types of these. The first is a playlist of songs that describe a character and their story while the second is a playlist of songs that the character would listen to. Some people like to combine the two as well! There are no rules to this, simply have fun listening to music and picking out songs that remind you of your OCs.

Second is incorrect quotes. I remember these used to be beloved by fandom and now they can be beloved by you and your OCs! The concept of incorrect quotes is that well-known and funny quotes from pop culture (such as memes or movies) get written out and your characters are assigned a line of dialogue. While there’s a website that’ll generate these incorrect quotes for you, I personally find more fun in coming across quotes organically while scrolling social media and realising that they fit my OCs almost perfectly.

Finally, ask games. These typically take the form of lists of questions or prompts with emojis or numbers next to them. People can send in the relevant emoji or number and you then answer the corresponding prompt. There used to be a kind of “ask game etiquette” where if you reblogged an ask game from someone, you sent an ask from the list to them as well. This way, it allows the game to continue circulating and you can spread the joy of OC-posting with others! It can also lead you to making friends within the community.

And that’s it for my post! If you have other suggestions for kinds of OC-posting then I would love to see them!

[aclassitag]

Announcing Krem Week!

#kremweek2024 — 22-28 July 2024

background art credit: @xfreischutz [link to original post]

*text prompt list under the readmore

This year will mark 10 years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition! In celebration of that anniversary and the game that gave us our first trans character, here is a prompt list - and dates - for any who would like to participate! All sorts of creative content is accepted so long as they are not A/I generated. (See examples below)

*If you want to portray Maevaris Tilani instead, that is also fine!

Please read the guidelines!

If you have any questions, reply to this post and I will do my best to answer :)

Prompt list:

1 — Anniversary 2 — Euphoria / Expression 3 — Casual / Formal 4 — Family / Love 5 — Respite / Fight 6 — Play / Satiate 7 — (Free space!)

Guidelines:

Use the tag: #kremweek2024 (@ this blog is fine too) — If you want to portray Maevaris Tilani instead of Krem, that is also welcome! Please @ me so I can rb :) For non-Tumblr folks that somehow got here: You may post submissions, please link your socials. You may choose one of two prompts in a day or do both. You may also combine as many prompts as you want from any or all of the days into a single work, just mention it somewhere.

Types of content allowed:

Illustration and writing are the most obvious forms of art allowed, but they're not the only ones! Literary arts fanfics, drabbles, poetry, plays, lengthy headcanon/meta posts (for headcanon and meta posts, minimum of 100 words+) Visual arts doodles, paintings, graphic design, photoshop memes, photography, animation, tiktok skits, abstract, fiber arts (embroidery, knitting, etc), ceramics Audio art fanmixes(curated playlists), original or cover songs Other crafts are also welcome! e.g. culinary, resin, woodworking, etc etc ..essentially, whatever type of art it is, I'll accept it so long as it falls within rules and is related to Krem or Maevaris :) For things that are more abstract, do include an explanation of your thought process on how it relates to Krem. E.g. you made Krem's Seheron Fish Wrap or Rice Pudding, take photos of your cooking, and post that (with the explanation that it is Krem's recipes) - that's an acceptable submission! You're allowed to explore different mediums everyday! You don't have to stick to one form of art for the whole week. I will be attempting to schedule reblogs in the 'prime time' for engagement, and in the interest of fairness, things like headcanon posts, fanmixes, and WIPs will not take priority in that time slot over fully rendered illustrations or complete fanfics. They will still be reblogged, but scheduled for other time slots.

Content Rules:

No A/I generated content. (Specifically GenAI content) As above, any and all forms of art is welcome. It must be human made, and by you. The whole point of working off a prompt is to explore a creative process, anyway - do yourself a favour and just enjoy making something! It doesn't have to be pretty! No reposting of other people's works. This must be your own creation. Obviously, no transphobic content. No harrassing others over their specific headcanons - be it in regards to any trait or quirks that come with being a person. People come in all sorts of wonderful variety, please respect that. In addition to above: No whitewashing, racism etc. Please note that Krem is not pale-skinned in canon, and I will not be reblogging content of him being portrayed as pale. 18+ works need to be labelled. On this blog, its tagged as "#adult art". Please add content warnings as appropriate. (E.g. portrayal of binding with bandages should have a warning label of "cw: unsafe binding", etc.) If your post/submission is lengthy, please insert a read more. This helps readability on the dashboard. Progress / WIPs are fine too!

General tips:

First and foremost, do what you are able to! Don't feel pressured to complete a full week if you need to take care of yourself first. Some people work on the prompts before the week even begins, and only post it day of. You are not required to do this, but if you really want to fill something for each day, this helps reduce stress day of.

Mod things:

The mod isn't from the Americas, so due to timezone differences, there may be a delay in reblogging people's works. Either way I will not reblog the moment that it's posted in order to screen properly. Posts will be queued between 30mins-1hr apart, if there are multiple entries being submitted at the same time. All submissions will also be requeued after a week for later perusal :)

[jean-dieu]

Dragon age the Veilguard: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Don't expect too much there, I'm just writing my own subjective, non-organized, badly written critic of the game. Spoilers ahead, so be warned!

The Good is the good stuff, The Bad is the bad stuff that aren't too jarring or that don't threaten the whole setting so much so it's okay to just ignore them, and The Ugly is the bad stuff that DO make me want to fucking die and explode.

The Good:

-It's beautiful. Not a fan of a lot of design choices but it's obviously well made. The landscapes are very pretty.

-The character creator. It's always funny to me when I see some dudebros complaining about it as if they're not purposefully making ugly characters. It has quite a lot of option, nice skin details, scars, tattoos and all.

-I really like the combat. I still think DAO is the superior system but I'm much more happy with a true action rpg than whatever Inquisition was trying to do.

-I'm going to be more objective there and say the maps are better than Inquisition. THAT BEING SAID I love the Hinterlands so I still prefer Inquisiton's bloated open world lmao.

-There's a lot of nice details all around! Neve's metallic prothesis walking sound, the decorations all around, tears in character's eyes, ect.

-Solas. Can't believe I'm saying it as I didn't like him much in DAI and I don't like Solavellan but DATV made me like him very much. He's much more morally grey and less uwu wet cat and I'm here for that. Excellent voice acting of course.

-Mythal. Again, I love whatever Solas and Mythal have going on. It's toxic, it's passionate, it's one sided, and Mythal is a very interesting character IMO.

-Felassan. Again, such a cool and compelling character.

-A lot of NPCs were very cool. Antoine who's singlehandly saving the French's reputation, Evka, The Viper, Strife, Viago, Teia, etc. They're cool and rather compelling.

-I did enjoy a lot of the companion's personal quests. Davrin and Bellara especially as they felt more in line with Dragon Age in general.

-For a game where the Bad Guys are Comically Evil... Johanna Hezenkoss fits the bill and yet she's a delight.

-There's really cool codex entries. Irelin's letter about mourning Arlathan for example. Antoine's letter to Evka should he ever be Called.

-Ghilahn'ain's design.

-I liked the living Blight! OK the darkspawns were ugly af but I still really enjoyed the idea.

-I actually liked the puzzles lmao? I'm sorry but I usually find puzzles fucking annoying in that type of game so I'd rather have something easy and fun than scratching my head in a rpg.

-I was glad to see Valta again!

The Bad: (vaguely in order of importance)

-Unpopular opinion but Assan and Manfred felt forced af. Yeah I got it, they're cute... Now can we go back on uh, the apocalypse.

-The music is boring. Fuck man Inquisition and Origins musics make me cry, but Veilguard's main them... Exists.

-I would prefer the companion to be stationary and being able to talk to them whenever want. They tried something but it didn't deliver.

-The fuck is Inky wearing.

-The fuck is Isabela wearing, but racist edition. Oh well. At least it's an easy fix with a mod.

-The companions have potential but they often lack something. I wish we got more than Lucanis liking coffee. Also, some characters concept from the art book felt so much more interesting. The only character I REALLY was interested in was Davrin because he feels very dragon age-y. A Dalish Grey Warden! That's interesting!

-The Lore seems alright and coherent with the serie so far, but it was just lore drops after lore drops, with no time for reactions, and your companions being sometimes waaaaay too chill about it.

-The overall sanitazing of the world while the grim stuff still somehow being there regarding Tevinter. It's very close to be in the Ugly category but because it's supposed to be there, I'm encline to believe it's still canon and not a retcon, and just a poor presentation. Where are the slaves? We see some of course, and some stuff were legitimately jarring... But because we're confined in docktowns, we don't get to see the ruling magisters and slavers. Docktowns almost seem... Nice. But it doesnt stop there. The Lords of Fortune not stealing artifacts because they respect cultures. The Crows being patriotic vigilantes. Lucanis being a mage killer but only for evil tevene magisters.

-I understand the impossibility to be Evil as you're recruited by Varric and he wouldn't have recruited the local serial killer that drowns kitties for fun. But... You should be able to be aggressive, stern, serious and all. You should be able to play a no-nonsense character who is authoritative and assertive while still following the plot.

-Again, I understand the companions being healthier than whatever DA2 crew had going on (love them tho) but it should have been more like Inquisition. People working together and forcing themselves to make it work for the sake of the world YET fighting and disagreeing on plenty of subjects. And Rook should be able to tell the companion to stfu sometimes. To tell Taash that they're an ass. To tell Emmerich you don't give a shit about his magic and that Manfred is fucking weird and shouldn't exist. To tell Bellara to stop whining.

-On the same note, the companions are all WAY too nice. One their own they're alright, but none of them have some true flaws/secrets/dark past/opposing convictions or whatever. Davrin and Lucanis are almost the only one who are arguing and fighting a bit but it's very tame. We never hear them arguing over politics, religion, or even ways of doing things (except for food lol. why is this game so much about food). If you take Inquisition for example, the companions are ALL working together in the face of a Ancient Evil threatening Thedas. Yet, they still argue about plenty of things. Solas and Iron Bull about the Qun. Vivienne and Solas about the existence of Circles. Varric and Cassandra's fighting is ruthless even when it's about nothing important. Try to show your pride as a Dalish to Sera and she won't take it well. Tell Cassandra that you don't give a shit about the Chantry and she'll disapprove. And still, these persons managed to work together. The excuse of "They put their differences aside because of the current threat" doesn't hold. The companions don't necessarily need DA2's level of animosity between them, but they don't need to all be best friends forever second one. Bellara could be suspicious of Neve for the sole reason of her being a Tevinter Mage. Lucanis too ("Mage Killer"!!!), but because he doesn't trust magic at all. Davrin and Bellara could argue about what it means to be Dalish to them, or argue about their faith!! EVERYONE Should be more worried about Lucanis being an abomination, damn it!

-I understand the Crows we see are not the one experiencing the worst of the organisation since they're highranking members but c'mon... It should be acknowledged at least.

-Some of the dialogues are fucking awful especially at the begining. They repeat themselves so much. The scene with "Nooo Rook you need to help us resolve our problems otherwise we will be too weak to fight the gods!! Rook, do my personal quests or I'll be too sad to fight!!". Harding's "Awkwaaaard". Bellara's quirky uwu manic pixie girl vibes at the begining.

The Ugly:

-Anything related to the elves. For a game centered on elven gods... We get so much yet nothing. Why are they all more or less cool about their "Gods" being real and evil? No one freaking out about having Elgarnan's vallaslin on their face? No crisis of faith? No elves joining them, really? Not a single one? No dalish celebrating their return before realizing the awful truth? No city elves or elven slaves fleeing to them because they have nothing to lose anyway? That's unrealistic. I can understand the Veil Jumpers already knowing the truth, it's more or less explained in the books anyway, but there's no way it's commonly accepted among all dalish clans. Speaking of dalish clans, were are they? And Briala ? Didn't she also control the Eluvian? What about city elves in general? And elven slaves? There's just nothing. The elven pantheon wasn't some myths for the Dalish. It was a religion. Their religion. Damn, imagine Christians learning Jesus is coming back BUT he's in fact very evil and is launching nuclear weapons everywhere? And their only reaction is "Oh no, we have to stop Jesus :(" ? I'm taking the christian example but you could say that about pretty much every religion.

-Where are Fen'harel agents? A few lines and one or two NPC mentioning Solas parting ways with them or even making the Veil Jumpers the ex-agents left behind would have been SO much more interesting than whatever they justified in the AMA. I can't believe they didn't even put A CODEX ENTRY explaining their absence in game. That's lazy af.

-No repercussion on the elves AT ALL? Seriously, realistically speaking, what is the future for the elves at the end of DATV? "Their" Gods almost destroyed the world, "Their" Gods killed countless, "Their" Gods created the Blight, "Their" Gods that many dalish still worshipped only a few years ago. What do you mean humans aren't going to declare open season on them? Like OF COURSE I don't want that to happen, and I'm hoping that idk, they'll found their own country in a reclaimed Arlathan, or that the instability in the south allows some of them to grab positions of power but don't tell me the humans aren't going to feel so fucking justify in their hatred, especially towards the Dalish who never converted to the Chantry. The fact that the endgame doesn't mention ANYTHING about it is jarring. Bioware ffs drop a book or whatever soon I need answers. I need hope. The game is treating the racism against Elves as... Some prejudices humans soooometimes have against them and not... centuries of systematic oppression, genocide, cultural erasure. The City Elf origins, Chevaliers killing Alienage elves for funsies, Celene burning down a whole Alienage, the genocide of dalish clans anyone? All of this is stuff that happened like... Between 8 and 20 years ago. It's not ancient history.

-Blighting Ferelden Beyond Repair, the Venatori Coup in Orlais and Kirkwall's evacuation was mean. Of cours the South is dealing with the blight and a shitload of problem but the "we lost Denerim. And Redcliff. And anything really. Idk if there's survivors. But if there is they'll starve anyway. xoxo the Inky." was just mean spirited I'm sorry. Same as above, Bioware. I fucking need hope for the South. Anything really. They could have stopped as "Yo there's a big Blight in the south and it sucks, Denerim is struggling and we lost villages and all" and that would have been FINE. No need to go scorched earth damnit.

-The lack of worldstate choices. C'mon. I understand not having a lot of them but a list of 6-10 easy questions would have been nice. Who's Divine? Who's ruling in the South? Who drank from the Well of Sorrow? It wouldn't have asked much work to just personalize a few sentences to adjust that. Also, saying they only kept 3 choices so they could really mean something... Liar. The only thing that really has an impact is did u date solas or not. Which fine, of course it matters! But all the other romances, the inquisition disbanded or not, stopping solas or not had NO IMPACT whatsoever.

-Where the fuck is Fenris. Idgaf Inquisition had Leliana when she could die in DAO, so bring Fenris in the Shadow Dragon. He needs to be there.

-The Antaam is such a fucking racist trope I can't believe they did it. Yeah, let make them growl like damn animals.

-Speaking of Qunari, even Taash is... Urgh. Why do you mean they sniff people. Also, their whole storyline on their gender identity was badly written. That scene with Isabela... No. That's not how you apologize. You misgender someone by mistake? Say sorry, correct yourself, move on. That's it.

-Dwarves had cool moments in the game but dang, we really, REALLY needed more of it. So many revelation about them, and while some of them were very well written, it doesn't have enough impact.

-The absence of reactions and dialogues related to your race is jarring. Can't believe I'm begging the game for racial slurs but here we are. EVERYONE in Origins commented on you playing an Elf. A non-human Inquisitor faced struggles as the Herald. Why is Qunari Rook able to roam freely in Minrathous without a SINGLE comment on their race? Same for the elves, to a lesser degree since at least they are not a rare occurence in Tevinter. Can't believe dwarves get so little reaction for all the big reveals. Can't believe elves barely get to react to ELVEN GODS destroying the world or Bellara's guilt about it.

-WHERE'S THE CHANTRY. WHERE. DAMN IT. Even if it's not the focus of the game, I'd expect to still see its influence. Man I'm almost wishing Harding was more of a Chantry Girl.

-Morrigan's whole storyline is an insult to her character.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I used to be part of the TOH fandom but left after the finale - I felt it was very lacking and was a huge letdown for all the reasons you said. Patting itself on the back and lore erasure. But I'd like to ask about something different.

It's no secret Dana hates Disney. But saying it everywhere, the jabs at Disney in the actual show, the attitude of fans parroting her, especially when the news of the shortening was first out - it was legitimately intense. Disney the company has done bad things. But there was a period where I felt like a bad person for even remotely enjoying Disney movies and Disney-published books. I hated myself and felt I was 'betraying' the show, because I had been told Disney was the enemy and nothing more. Disney shortening the show was not a good decision. But it also provided fans with a convenient scapegoat to put every bit of blame on when the show had the tiniest flaw. Comics of beating up Mickey Mouse, 'Disney' being treated like a swear word, praising TOH as the holy grail of animation and saying Disney hated gay people - it made me feel I was a traitor to the show and to myself. (I'm still figuring out my sexuality, but I know I'm not straight.)

Do you think the Disney blame game was too much?

The toh fandom has this incredibly binary way of thinking; the show is the greatest thing in animation and if you don't agree then you're a bigot. Lumity is the best sapphic ship ever and if you don't think so then you're lesbophobic. Shipping non canon ships is tantamount to a war crime. And of course, any criticism of the show has the convenient Disney defense. Any and all flaws of the show is because Disney is evil for not letting the show reach its full potential.

Listen, getting your show cancelled or shortened sucks. But, unfortunately, it's not unique and writers need to prepare for that because it seems to be an occupational hazard in the entertainment industry. A lot of shows get cancelled without even having a conclusion (thank you Netflix for ending the Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on a cliffhanger! even after the show won a got dang Emmy! 😤) so people should be thankful that at least the toh crew were allowed to finish the story.

I can give grace when analyzing a show's elements knowing what the writers had to deal with. But if they make decisions knowing ahead of time that they only have half a season and 3 specials left, and proceed to add more characters and plot lines that would require a longer season, then those are all fair game.

Dana knew of the Shortening around the production of Eda's Requiem, yet decided to add the Collector, because screw it! We like this little guy and want to see where it goes! They had Hunter get possessed and kill his best friend, yet barely any time is given to him to process that trauma. In the penultimate episode, Boscha, of all people, gets a mini sub plot despite not being relevant for a full season. Luz's angst arc gets 4. separate. resolutions.

None of this is Disney's fault. This all on the crew for not using their precious time wisely and tossing whatever they can to the wall to see what sticks.

So yeah, the Disney blame game is too much but it's also a blessing in disguise because now it's a convenient shield for whoever doesn't want to hear criticism about the show.

As for feeling guilty about liking Disney; listen, Disney has been foundational for literally millions of people for decades. Its presence and influence is seemingly inescapable. And the company has done some awful things in the name of corporate greed and profit.

But you should never feel guilty for liking something that brings you joy.

Remember that writers and artists are responsible for the shows you love. Many queer folks have seen themselves in Disney movies for a variety of reasons and there are many queer artists that have worked for Disney (hi Howard Ashman and Andreas Deja!)

So no, you're not a traitor for liking Disney.

The toh fandom has a very reactionary, us-vs-them attitude and it's incredibly toxic. So don't let the haters get you down!

I wish you well on your journey and hope you're in a better place.

Thank you for the ask!

[starrysilvalley]

Time for the secondary protagonist of this tale, Emmet! He may have a familiar face— if only he had the same understanding of himself. He occupies more of a Virgil/mentor archetype, and within the Pokémon games universe he would be the closest to a Professor role.

To emphasize again, this project takes place in distant future of the Pokémon in-game universe. The plotlines of previous games are all considered canon up until Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Anything past that is considered non-canon within the context of Spectrum. Emmet’s place in particular was based on the context of PLA and my own interpretations/theories on the subject of the twins when playing it (mostly answering questions like “where is Emmet”, “is he in present-day Unova or another time/place entirely”, “what happened to cause the separation”, etc.)

✨⭐️✨

Emmet is an amnesiac and fugitive against the New Unova League, as well as a surrogate father to Una. Despite being a verrry blunt and open book, Emmet remains a bit of a mystery. His earliest memory is waking up in the custody of the Pokémon League with nothing but his ratty coat and hat that just so happened to have his name stitched inside. Interregators told him he was found with illegal possessions (what type of possessions, he still doesn't know) and had been conspiring to eliminate the Champion. It was only through an intervention that he was able to escape with a mysterious little girl in tow. To this day, he still has no idea where he came from before his captivity or if he has any roots somewhere in New Unova. Although there will always remain the desire to know his true self, under the current circumstances, Emmet is focused more on his found family in Una and his business partner Fajra.

Due to his experiences, Emmet has a tendency to be more reserved… at least, sometimes. He is more mischievous than he first appears and typically uses this to his advantage when faced with more sketchy characters. He is very observant, but learned that his commentary can get him into trouble. It also may just be that he has become more restrained with his trickster side in order to show a good example to the young rascal in his charge. If he wants her to follow his safety guidelines, he should probably learn to follow them himself, right?

Emmet currently only has one Pokémon— a Neo Variant Liepard. If he had any other Pokémon prior to his amnesia, he has no way of knowing where they are or what they were. He acquired Liepard during his incarceration, but he’s never spoken on the specifics of how he acquired her. Regardless, their experiences together led to a strong comradery between them. Liepard is almost always out of her pokéball and flanking his side. For whatever reason, Emmet never pursued acquiring more Pokémon and seems to avoid Pokémon battles altogether. He’s never made it clear why this is the case. However, on the rare occasion where he and Liepard do battle, they are notoriously ruthless and almost perfectly in-sync. At the very least, he has shown to have a strong knowledge of battling, even if he doesn't seek it out.

I currently do not have as many sketches of Emmet as I do Una since I'm building Una from the ground u, and I struggle to find a design/style I like for him. This sketch of the pair and their Pokémon is one of my favorites.

My one other drawing I liked was an even chibi-er version of him (I don't usually draw in chibi style, but its proven to be the easiest to use), including some character notes from the time.

I've gone back and forth on a LOT of his character since I wanted to have his character explore a twist in the themes originally given to him by the creators. I know there are theories that Emmet is meant to embody truth while his brother embodies ideals, so its been an interesting challenge to work with this character in the dystopian context where truth is oppressed and often requires characters to abandon honesty. Its also difficult because Emmet is known for his optimism and I don't want to take that from him, even in a dystopian context. I believe his upbeat/mischievous nature helps him stand out from his brother, and quite frankly, I think even dystopian worlds could use some hope. I'm just more use to writing Ingo characters rather than Emmets. I'm hoping I can do this little guy justice :’)

[thegeminisage]

lucanis/rook good. lucanis/neve good. lucanis/davrin DEFINITELY good. but i think we are sleeping on lucanis/harding. here's a link to some of their banter, though i'm not sure it's everything in the game.

harding starts the game casually threatening lucanis (like davrin) with her very fancy demon-killing arrow. and yet, aside from the one line where he points out that she only has the ONE arrow, instead of getting bitchy with her the way he does with davrin, lucanis seems to respect her bravery. he notes in another cutscene (i'll get to it later) that her being so small physically might have made it easier for other people to intimidate her when she was young, so it's possibly he was making incorrect assumptions about her based on her size and easy-going nature, and is surprised to find she's made out of pretty tough stuff after all, despite of those things

she then throws him totally off-guard by assuring him she isn't brave at all, but terrified of him (or spite), and she knows that if he does lose control, it won't even be his fault - but she'll put him down no matter how scared she is. lucanis's reaction to this is to first try to laugh it off as brutal honesty, and then grow sober and TELL HER TO KEEP HER BOW CLOSE? one little shred of sympathy and kindness totally obliterated whatever combative sarcasm he was gearing up to give her with that "only one arrow" business.

later, lucanis urges her to watch their enemies rather than him - he's genuinely concerned that she's so scared of him and distracted by him she's going to get herself hurt.

lucanis, who canonically doesn't sleep and gets lots of bad dreams, talks through all of harding's dreams with her - from the silly and mundane to the genuinely terrifying - and goes out of his way to buy her spearmint to help with her nightmares. like he cares SO MUCH

after weisshaupt (on my playthrough, anyway) we learn that harding has since GIVEN her demon-killing arrow to him to prove to him she trusts him, and he wants to give it back to prove that he trusts her. it's genuinely very sweet

also after weisshaupt, harding comforts lucanis and tries to get him to stop torturing himself over his missed shot at ghilan'nain. she's not alone in doing this, but it's still good

COFFEE SCENE. not only does this scene prove lucanis pays close attention to harding, he looks at her with so much fondness here...and after this scene, their party banter involves her working through what he's pointed out about her. his dialogue implies that she shouldn't change to appease other people - because he cares about her well-being AND because he thinks she's great just the way she is.

NOT ONLY THAT, but harding realizes lucanis's evaluation was so keen because he himself is a little bit of a people-pleaser - and with that observation, once again manages to catch him off-guard. she surprises him throughout their relationship

one of my favorite bits with them is comparing notes on their various magical situations. both of them are firmly non-mages who have been unwillingly saddled with magical or magic-adjacent abilities. lucanis is the first to figure out why constantly using magic always makes her hungry (from experience) and he can also relate to being completely freaked out the first time her magical abilities manifested.

near the end of the game, lucanis admits that harding's reputation with the bow is more than earned, and even expresses interest in working with her in the future, after the war against the gods has ended, for an absurd amount of coin. i've seen people point to this banter as proof that lucanis doesn't know the value of money ("it's a banana, michael, how much could it cost? ten dollars?"), but he does his own shopping - he absolutely does know the value of money, he just ALSO places a high value on harding's skills and trustworthiness. i would dare to venture he is smitten!

also, this. OWWW MY HEART

[unitezine]

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a Zine?

A fanzine, or zine- short for magazine- is essentially what it says on the tin! It's a fan-made magazine based around whatever topic!

This zine is based around Nicktoons! Specifically, Nicktoons Unite, which reaches its 20th anniversary near the end of 2025! The theme is crossovers- looking

What Nicktoons can I use?

If it's a Nicktoon, you're in! Of course, there are a few restrictions- ex. if it's a show based on a pre-existing media, you must be creating your pieces based on the show specifically.

If your idea includes a show that isn't necessarily a Nicktoon but has aired on Nickelodeon, feel free to ask about it!! As a mod team, we have a few select shows that we'd allow in that aren't EXACTLY Nicktoons, but can be seen as one somehow. Take a second and ask!!

Is there a Theme?

As I mentioned before, the theme for this zine is Crossovers! Nicktoons Unite is a crossover at heart, and we want to highlight that!!

Want to make a piece featuring the classic Jimmy Neutron and Fairly Odd Parents crossover? Or maybe one between Doug and Robot and Monster? Perhaps Star Trek: Prodigy and Hey Arnold! Whatever you want to bring to the table, we'd love to hear it!

The layout of the zine is planned to be reminiscent of a late 90s/early 2000s Nickelodeon Magazine! So, magazine games, articles, ads- it's all fair game and we'd love to see people get creative!

What Can I Make?

Most zines are based around fanfic and art, and yes, that is the main mediums we are planning on working with here!

But! We'd also love to see anything else you guys can come up with! Magazine games, articles, cosplays, anything! There's a whole section in the sign-ups specifically for this, and you can throw in any ideas you want!!

What's Required?

Artists will have a variety of different sizes for their pieces, depending on what they sign up for/what they end up choosing (this may or may not change depending on how many artists we end up with!)

Two Page illustrations will be 5,100x3,300

Singular Page Illustrations will be 2,550x3,300

Comics will be one to two pages, with page size at 2,550×3,300 !!

There will be a few other options that will have specifics brought up later, with others being case by case!

Fanfic writers have a minimum of around 1.5k words! We have a tentative maximum of around 5k, so it doesn't get too long, but it'd be alright if it goes a little over, or even a little under that 1.5k. :)

Are there any Restrictions?

This is a SFW Zine. Nickelodeon is a children's TV channel and we want this to be a family friendly zine!!

No non-canon romances please! We'd like to keep it open to a lot of fans and shipping can be a touchy subject to some!!

No OCs, please. We are planning on adding them to the credits page, so they will get their spotlight, I promise!

If you plan on joining, please be ready to reply to check-ins and get your pieces completed on time! - Please, if you do get behind as well, let us know!

Pieces cannot be shared outside of the discord until the zine has been posted and the mods have given the go-ahead! - There may be times where contributors are allowed to post wips publicly in order to advertise and the like! Listen to the mods on that front!

If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask!! Thank you all so much and I'm very excited to get this thing started!!

[egg-emperor]

Eggman will truly do whatever it takes to get what he wants. He doesn't care what method it takes and that's not just the death and mass destruction he'll cause. That also includes the ways he'll willingly and happily take control of minds

One of the common ways is with manipulation and deceit as he's very intelligent and knows how to mess with people's heads and emotions. But literal mind and thought control are options he's open to and has tried to take too

In Colors, he makes the mind control cannon, tries to test it on Sonic but it hits Tails and he has a blast with it, and plans on using it to mind control the entire planet so that he'll literally be the only thing on their minds. He's very pleased and excited by this idea

Then you have the Forces promo video of Eggman Empire propaganda where he advertises the Robotomy Treatment, listing never having to think again as one of the perks. You'll lose all thought and become mindless, literally lobotomized and controlled

I feel this counts as game canon as it was made to promote Forces. But then of course the previous example is within a solid finalized canon game, so it is indeed something he is indeed interested in attempting in game canon either way

It doesn't matter whether you consciously surrender and submit due to his threats/manipulation/deceit etc or if he literally mentally or physically forces you by taking over your body and mind. He'll be happy if he gets what he wants

This is why Sunshine Balls brainwashing people, Metal Virus that turned everyone into mindless zombies, or the Lego skits of Eggman mind controlling a guy in non canon media suits his character, it's something he's attempted in games too

Yeah I can also see him thinking it's not so appealing if he uses that method on literally everyone because he actually likes threatening, forcing, and controlling them while conscious and aware of his power and brilliance

So I could see him having this approach at times as he does express sadistic enjoyment in his threats and force and getting to demand people to praise and obey him for the assertion of his dominance and the power trip

If they were all completely mindless in it, he wouldn't be able to dominate them further and repeatedly enjoy the power of putting them in their place and also the entertainment of them being conscious to suffer under his rule

But at the same time, he'd love for everyone to be extremely obedient and submissive, totally under his control, and always giving him what he wants above everything, not constant nuisances he has to keep beating into submission

But it's not something he's above morally or won't do for any other reasons. The games show he will and enjoys it. It also shows he doesn't care whether expressed love and admiration for him comes from a completely genuine place

Love him or hate him, if he's the center of attention and praised- "genuinely" (through manipulation and brainwashing most of the time lol), by force, or total literal direct mind control, he gets what he wants and he's happy

TailsTube didn't exactly say it was about always wanting to be 100% genuinely loved by everyone by their own beliefs and choice, just being the center of attention and in control. (The whole point of TailsTube is to inform about game canon)

Also I think he could have all the love in the world and find it'll never be enough for him, I wouldn't be surprised. And the reason would be that he's so greedy and attention whoring, he still feels he deserves more after he has the world

I can't see it being in a sad desperation. More like, with his ego and self love, he just wants everyone to praise him and see highly of him just like he already does himself and that's why he's so bold, confident, and forceful in demanding it-

Aside from genuinely loving the evil angle too! He's seen to purposefully take the evil approach, not out of implied force or last resort but just finding evil super fun with his sadistic enjoyment and gleefully labelling himself evil

He could do things the good way, he's a genius with a 300 IQ and he's great at trickery so he could at least fake it. But he doesn't always try to fool by acting like the good guy, he'll embrace and call himself evil and make serious threats too

He enjoys all the different evil and deceitful methods he can take and has the most fun with them! I love that so much because they're usually what results in all of his most thrilling and badass moments in the series 💜🥰

I find the mental mind control approach just as interesting as his deceitful/manipulative/brainwashing and threatening physically forceful approaches, I'm always down to see more. It's game canon and I love it!

[sailorgundam308]

Being the angst sucker that I am (but also a coward that doesn’t want to feel too depressed about bad endings), I headcanon a lot about the dynamics and end/post game canons for Astarion and Karlach as a couple (no shit!).

I know a lot of people ship Karlach with Dammon. I obviously don’t, but not because I think they don’t fit well together or whatever. I have this thing in my head of how I view Karlach which puts her relationship with Astarion as more realistic, more fulfilling, and more attractive to me (duh).

Dammon as a character is a nice, hard working guy. He’s also crazy handsome, has the hots for Karlach and some mechanics knowledge to be able to help her a bit. So yea, cool. I like him a lot so that’s not it.

BUT.

Just gonna blurt it out: I think Karlach is too fucked up to be with him in the canon universe we have. It’s a similar reason I have for how I see her reaction to the love test in the Circus in Act 3, which I made a post about. Had Karlach never been betrayed by Gortash, had not been irreversibly damaged (in more ways than one) and not been transformed by her 10 years ordeal, Dammon would be the ‘perfect pairing’ for her - a gentle, good hearted, generous and hot piece of ass. Thumbs up.

HOWEVER.

She’s not that girl anymore. She keeps it bottled up, pushes it down and shuts herself to what her trauma did to her and while it’s commendable, imo, it’s not real. She wants it to be so bad because she’s got so little time and is desperately clinging to her life before she started making mistakes (now being back in the Material Plane after so long). If she doesn’t die, though, she won’t keep this up forever. She’s carrying pain, remorse, ANGER, jealousy, self pity. A LOT of it. Much more than she let out in her post-Gortash breakdown. All these are very human emotions, and very understandable in her situation. She also changed, physically, mentally, emotionally. She grew, she learned- and it wasn’t all pretty and nice things. I like the idea that she’s being the most genuine character in the game while ALSO being the one wearing the most impenetrable mask. It’s wild and damn cool to see her through that lens.

Which brings me to Astarion.

He is also wearing a mask, but a much more frail one. He’s cracked. He tells and shows us these ugly emotions, his selfishness and hurt, much more directly than Karlach does. He’s broken, wicked, mean. It’s clear his trauma completely changed him (though I don’t think he was a good guy before it either), and is entrenched into who he is when we meet him - and will continue to be part of him even after he heals.

I think Karlach is attracted to him not in spite of how mean he is - but because of it. I don’t think she’s aware of it, though. She says something about Astarion having a good heart beneath it all - and while he might have something like a better heart inside that can be rescued, he’s not inherently good, nor he was before being turned (nor he wants to be). The dynamic of Karlach using goodness and positivity as a lifeline, as if to counter the decade of (literally) pure evil she’s been forced to endure, while also ‘surprisingly’ getting along so well with Astarion from the start, also being attracted to his wickedness, gives an incredible depth to their relationship. I see not only the idea of Karlach’s kindness, non-judgement and patience being a refuge for Astarion, but Astarion’s grey personality being a refuge where Karlach will be able to let her walls down - show the ugliness bottled up inside - without fear or shame, and knowing it will be completely and utterly understood. Astarion will never judge her for whatever impulses or thoughts she might have, for displays of selfishness, jealousy or violence. Imo, they can even work some of those out together (wink wink, but not only in that way lol). At the same time, I do believe Astarion saw from the first glance he had at Karlach (or in the first couple of days) that she carried a pain much like his. It’s why he respects her, why he is so quick to apologize to her and only to her, why he feels empathy for her suffering while being absolutely cold to the others. She’s the first one who gives him the opportunity of allowing himself to feel safe, to let his guard down if only for a night. His connection with her might be based on a selfish start (it’s about him - she is like him), but it grows to be more complex as they grow closer. I see him slowly falling in love with her as a parallel to him slowly learning to love himself, to forgive himself.

It’s all so beautiful, poetic and layered and shit (wow, me so eloquent).

But in all honesty, that’s all to say, while I think Karlach and Dammon look nice together, I see him as being the person who’d have been the one for her if she was just Karlach Cliffgate. However, she is not. She is Karlach Cliffgate and she is also Karlach Demonsbane - and for that ‘her’, Astarion - with his imperfections, his wicked ways and his darkness - is the one who truly fits her perfectly (or imperfectly, which imo is even better).

Thank you for reading all this rambling. I love rambling and will (can) never stop so good for you :V

AGH I LOVE bittersweet gritty messy romanceeeeeeee (but I wanna give them a better ending than the one in game - though if the patches weren’t broken, it’s improved a bit already)

[hollowblxxd]

[ BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE THEORY / SPECULATIONS / AU THAT FIXES SHIT ]

This time with DEVIL MAY CRY my devoted love

To those who dont know me I love DMC a lot but I have a lot of issues with the ongoing story. So fuck it here in my AU about how to make DMC a overall better storyline cuz I can do

Whatever I wanna

So this whole AU focuses a lot on Nero because this theory spawned in due to the uncertainty over Neros character and the idea that DMC was kinda over since the 4th game unfortunately "killed" the series. It also tied together when DMC2 cuz when DMC4 came out the sequel was considered non-canon cuz it was such a horrible flop.

I personally loved the game with a PASSION cuz the pile of unfortunate garbage that was DMC2 was the first game I ever played and one of the first "mature" games i ever got. I remember begging my grandmother who was baby sitting me to let me play one game and I picked the coolest looking one. Of course being this

ANYYYYWAYYY Im getting off track

My theory is Nero was in fact a clone of Sparda, and not only was he a clone of Sparda but hes ACTUALLY Dante in DMC2.

Let me explain.

The order in DMC4 was obviously an isolated group at the time that was very involved with the CREATION of demons and the worship of SPARDA.

The whole game of DMC4 is about the order trying to recreate their god and I highly doubt this was their first attempt, most likely it was more of their most extreme attempt.

Which as sad it is to say I think Nero was one of the first but messed up attempts. They wanted to bring Spardas power out of the demon world and they got it but NOT as they expected... Instead of resssurecting theyre great glorified devil god. They got a human child.

Cuz in the end Sparda had a human heart and Nero was a reflection OF that. He was a full demon but you'd never know at first glance. So he was discarded as just some abandoned baby.

Nero was luckily found by Kyries family and just seen as poor person forsaken kid. And it wasnt until Nero was SEVERALLY INJURED did Nero demonic nature reveal itself in REPLACING HIS MORTAL BODY WITH A DEMONIC ONE.

Even Nero rebellious nature could actually be a reflection of who Sparda was in the past because you dont just turn against everything youve ever known on a whim. Sparda rebelled, Nero again reflected that.

Even him FALLING IN LOVE WITH A MORTAL WOMAN, again is another REFLECTION on Sparda history. Nero following all the exact footsteps Sparda did. Rebels against his people, Falls in love with a human girl, Defeats a power hungry overlord before slapping the hell gate closed trapping the demons away with his own sword.

Nero also wears BOTH blue and red, which combined and in ORIGINAL CONCEPT ART Nero was actually dressed in PURPLE with a white scarf much like Sparda wearing coat with a white ruffle.

Other things that makes me think hes far stronger than merely a 1/4 demon.

Nero made Dante almost demon trigger from just HITTING him. Dante been stabbed, shot, burnt, thrown off building, eaten, etc. and has NEVER forcefully demon triggered the whole time and suddenly some punk punches him and Dante starts to flash? The last time thst happened is in DMC3 when the tower was drilling closer to hell and getting him closer to

You guessed it SPARDAS POWER.

On top of that, no matter how much his Holiness tried to use the sword of Sparda, the power would not be granted to him, but you know who did use it? WITH EASE? Nero.

Nero used not only Sparda, but Rebellion AND Yamato WITH EASE. And before anyone says "But Rebellions and Yamato is Dante and Vergils sword"

WRONG.

Dante and Vergil INHERITED those swords FROM their father. They were always originally SPARDAS SWORDS. ALWAYS.

The one sword that returns to Nero is the one WITHOUT AN OWNER. Vergil in DMC4 is dead. He died in DMC1 and I dont care what anyone says, Vergil. Is. Dead. He should stay dead cuz it literally ruins his whole character arc to be alive again. Let the man be dead.

In the end the overwhelming evidence that Nero is Sparda is endless and I would email Capcom myself to tell them theyre wrong If I had the power to. Cuz theyre wrong.

ONTO THE NEXT POINT

DMC2 Dante is actually Nero

The Order was revealed to be manipulating the essence of demons into ANGELIC beings that would follow there commands.

At the time theyre secrets were hidden but in the events of DMC4 their secrets could have easily been revealed. And you know what REALLY loves secrets especially when it comes to making free slaves?

Big fucking Business baby.

I believe that the methods of the Order were leaked to the public allowing Business to stsrt using their methods to produce specific demons to serve specific purposes. Taking on the angelic look already provided by the Order to make it "friendlier" to the general populace.

And big business being business it COULDNT really be stopped as they tamper with forces beyond their control...

Dante was getting older and getting overwhelmed and despite it I think the original Dante died.

How? Why? Unknown but what I believe happened is Nero took over for Dante.

Prehaps to simply honor him, Prehaps he still thought the world needed Dante. In the end Nero choice Dante name and even another Alias of "The Son of Sparda" as being a clone of Sparda still technically applies as being a "son".

Noticable the DMC2 Dante personally very muted compared to any other Dante in any other game. But you know who kinda a little quiet boy? Nero...

Also a specific thing that I LOVE about DMC2 is when Dante gets an upgrade the piece would fly towards him and try to hit his heart but DANTE ALWAYS GRABBED IT WITH HIS RIGHT HAND the SAME hand that Nero uses to grab his items and absorb! He could have just let it absorb naturally but he SPECIFICALLY grabbed it with that hand.

Whats more convincing is the fact DMC2 dante has almost the weird... arm sleeve thing that Im pretty sure was a poor render of a gun or back hustle but it honestly to me at the time looks like his sleeve could be removed. Maybe prehaps to reveal his arm? Hmm

Also going with the idea that Nero being technically a creation of the Order could easily bond well with Lucia too since she struggle with the fact SHES a creation. Not a devil hunter of this great legacy but just "some monster" something Nero HAD TO STRUGGLE WITH TOO.

The bond between them could have started a new legacy similar to Dante with Lady and Trish.

It starts all over again. A new bloodline of Sparda saving the world as it always will.

Much like the company of DMC2 being Ourboros, the snake that bites its own tail.

As long as the demon world tries it shit, a sparda one way or another will be there to stop them

THAT CONCLUDES MY TEDTALK ABOUT DMC

PLEASE EMAIL CAPCOM FOR ME AND TELL THEM MY THEORY SO THEY CAN FIX DMC AND MAKE ME HAPPY

[chil-aglia]

First Christmas

I made a poll on my tumblr and asked everyone if they were interested in seeing a special Christmas chapter for Giovanni. And well, no surprise that the votes said yes, so here we are.

This special chapter may or may not be long or short, we���ll see as I type this. This is also for now going to be non-canon to the main storyline (unless I decide in the future that it’s going be canon).

Anyway, enjoy this little gift to you all. Hope you all have a merry Christmas and happy holidays or if you don’t celebrate it, have a great day in general!

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

Giovanni was left baffled; this season he had noticed the changes in the lair and the atmosphere of everyone around. They were all joyous, and decorated the lair with strange lights and decorations that Giovanni didn’t know what to make of it.

His brothers also got dressed up in strange clothing. When Giovanni asked what was happening, the brothers realised that their dear, sweet, older brother had never celebrated Christmas before, let alone knew what it was. 

Mikey by tried to explain the holiday but Giovanni still didn’t quite understand. 

He didn’t understand any of it. And that made him feel…well, to put it simply, sad.

This is what he felt all month; he tried to do his own research, but he still couldn’t quite comprehend the holiday. But he let the family do as they pleased, they were enjoying themselves after all. Why should he ruin it with numerous questions.

“Raph! The tree is supposed to be in the centre. Otherwise, it throws the whole thing off!”

Giovanni raised his head up to watch how Donatello was scolding Raphael for misplacing the tree. That was another thing Giovanni couldn’t get. Why did they need a tree?

”It’s fine, Don. Christmas isn’t about where to put the tree.” Raph rolls his eyes playfully as Donnie huffed, poking his tech bō at Raph’s chest. “Move it. To the. Centre.” He hissed to which Raph sighed in brief annoyance but complied none the less to sooth Donnie’s worries.

Leo came up behind Giovanni, smirking in amusement as he dangled his upper half over the chair his oldest sibling sat in. “Another Christmas of Donnie snapping at Raph on where to the put the train.” He teased lightly as Giovanni side eyed his blue bandanna wearing brother.

”Oh yeah, got you this!” Leo grins delightfully as he slaps on a Christmas Santa hat onto Giovanni who lightly flinched at the sudden thing being placed on his head.

He blinked owlishly, raising his hand and softly touching the hat. There was a dangly bit with a white soft ball at the end hanging over.

Santa hat…?

He recalled Mikey showing a drawing of this infamous Santa Clause that comes, and leaves presents under the tree for everyone before he left on his sleigh. 

Giovanni didn’t know what to make of this Santa Clause guy, but he sounded nice enough. “So, are we going to be meeting Santa?” Giovanni innocently inquired, he stared as Leo looks down at him with…adoration?

Whatever it was, Leo couldn’t help himself as he lightly tackled Giovanni into a hug. “Aww, you are too innocent for this world! Guys! Giovanni wants to meet Santa!” Leo cooed before storming his way to Donnie and Raph.

Giovanni sweats at them but remained seated. He shivered from the sudden coldness hitting his skin. “Should start warming up soon. I turned on the heater.” Mikey assures, making his way over as he noticed the shiver.

“So, how are you so far finding Christmas? I mean this is just the start. We normally decorate the tree together, might play a board game later. And April brings us Christmas dinner!”

Mikey rants on, as Giovanni listened. How was he liking Christmas? Hm….he didn’t know. To him it was just like any other day with a few differences.

”It’s…weird. I still don’t know what it’s about.”

”Ah, that’s okay! Christmas can be about whatever you want it to be!”

Mikey assured with a heartwarming smile, which eased Giovanni’s spirits as he nods. Mikey glanced back to see his brothers were somehow fighting over the tree decorations. “What?! Guys, we promised to set it up with Pops and Gio!” Mikey yells, running over to them as he joined in on the sibling fight.

Splinter arrived soon after Mikey jumped into the pile of his brother's brawl. The rat groans and rolls his eyes, “Just once, I would like to not have these boys brawling in the living room.” 

He turns to Giovanni and pats his head lightly in affection. “Well, at least one of you is behaved. Santa is going to be bringing you lots of gifts.”

”So we are seeing him?”

Splinter blinked, he mostly mentioned Santa out of light teasing. He didn’t think that Giovanni would actually believe the imaginary large red man. “Uh…! Well, we…he…” He was struggling to come up with an excuse, and the more he stuttered, the more Giovanni tilted his head in curiosity.

Thankfully he was saved by Raph who somehow got out the brother pile and chuckled a bit awkwardly. “Santa only comes when everyone is asleep. So, if you’re awake, he won’t come.”

”Oh, I guess…that makes sense?”

No, it didn’t. But Giovanni didn’t think it was his place to try and argue.

Splinter gave Raph a thumbs up with a wink.

”Now that everyone is here, let’s decorate the tree!” Mikey excitedly announces, taking out the Christmas decoration box for everyone to get their hands on.

Raph held his hand out for Giovanni to take, to which the grey masked turtle accepted and was gently led over to the large tree. 

And thus, began the decorating.

Giovanni watched how the others put in the tinsel and the ornaments, copying them. Mikey happily wrapped the tree in the lights. Donnie went ahead to look for the star that goes on top, but he let out an irritated click. 

“I can’t find the star. How are we going to get one on top now?”

Leo perks up before he smirks cockily, “I got it!” He assured, running over and began climbing the tree to get on top. But the tree started swaying as Raph, Mikey and Splinter began panicking.

”Leo! Quick jump off, don’t ruin the tree!”

”I’m the…Star!” Leo yelps as he started falling, Raph quickly held the tree up as Leo free felled. Giovanni instinctively got under Leo and caught him in his arms.

”At least one of my brothers cared about my wellbeing.” Leo jokes, rubbing his face against Gio’s cheeks to which the latter only sighed in relief that no one was hurt.

”Hey! Found the star!” Donnie exclaims with a grin, giving it to Shelldon who flies the star up and placed it on the tree.

Mikey plugs in the light into an outlet and the lights wrapped around the green tree lights up. Giovanni had put Leo down as he watched on with wide eyes at the bright lights dancing across the tree in front of him.

April and Casey had soon arrived with bags of food that they brought along from April’s own house where she spent Christmas with her parents and Casey who had been living with them when the Krang invasion was over.

Of course, Leo and Donnie decided to also have a food fight which erupted for everyone to join in. Giovanni had crept away to not get caught in the crossfire as he let out a tired sigh but when he looked back to witness his family having fun. He felt a smile inching across his lips.

Christmas…it’s about family.

He decided that was the conclusion he came to. The next time someone asked him what he thought about Christmas, he would simply say family.

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

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you enjoyed this lil cute chapter of Giovanni with his first Christmas with the family. The boy deserves all the happiness fr.

I APOLOGISE FOR ANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE, I TYPE REALLY FAST AND OFTEN DON'T SEE THEM UNTIL I ACTUALLY PUBLISH THE CHAPTER. 

quotev - 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 |ROTTMNT| (Male OC)

Ao3 - 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 |ROTTMNT| (Male OC)

[fondofcowboys]

here's my very all over the place feelings on certain aspects of baldur's gate 3 as a romani immigrant. warnings for spoilers of course. mind you i have not finished the game yet!

1. i really can't believe there aren't more people talking about the very blatant racism in astarion's questline. im quite sure it's because the game already touches on it, even giving you the choice to call astarion a racist, and also because everytime we roma talk about anything that makes us uncomfortable we're immediately shunned and "well actually!"'d.

the problem is that it feels Extra icky because the man who was the inspiration for the original dracula, Vlad the Impaler, kept romani slaves. this is the ONLY part of vampire history that, no matter how different the media, will always stay relevant for some reason.

castlevania has the seekers, a nomadic group of magic users who pass their history down orally. while they are *mostly* treated well, the first arc of the show literally shows them being hunted out of town for the simple act of existing.

vampire the masquerade... well.. that's an entire other can of racism worms.

curse of strahd has the "vistani", a nomadic group of people who are treated like third class citizens everywhere they go, and are of course, most known for being tarot readers and drunkards.

the vampire diaries have the "travellers", who get called "gypsies" explicitly as a derogatory word by other vampires.

i want you to take any vampire media you enjoy and ask yourself, "is there anti-roma racism in this?". i guarantee you, if you look for it, you're going to find it. for SOME reason, the only thing that stays consistent with all these different vampire IPs, is that romani people are hated and scrutinized at every moment of their lives.

i MORE than understand that astarion's racial insensitivity is part of him. it's part of what makes him malleable by the player. you can help him understand why he's wrong, or you can lead him down a worse path.

i still reserve the right to feel some sort of way about astarion sacrificing fantasy-romani children for power, willingly. don't get me wrong, he's my favourite character, right up there with halsin. which is why i obviously have so many feelings about this.

(yes, the Gur were written inspired by romani people, if you were not aware)

2. the anti-immigrant sentiment is such an inherent part of the story that i did not think was going to stick around for SO long. i dont really have much to say about this, i think i should've expected it. as a fan of dragon age (i know, tragic) i'm quite used to unnecessary fantasy racism everywhere i go, i just hoped it wouldn't be part of the main crucial story.

3. larian studios i am so so so thankful for the halsin romance. eternally. forever and ever. he's my pookie bear and i'm so grateful some extra time was made to create a romance for him.

can i ask you why the hell does halsin want to LEAVE. At The End. i've noticed how much he contradicts himself throughout his questline and i just... I don't know. i've seen some other people complaining about how non-chalantly he talks about being a sex slave and i understand too, but i think it's part of his character to not take the horrible things that happened to him seriously like he does with others. that, or someone at larian took an unknown substance that led them to make halsin Very inconsistent.

with the poly situation, some people are strictly polyamorous! some people are strictly non-monogamous and do not feel comfortable being in a monogamous relationship. i understand the frustration everyone, but that's how halsin is. i dont know if that was the writers' intention, but that's certainly what he comes across as to me; strictly non-monogamous.

what i DONT understand is why he says he only wants you, calls you "my heart", is so fondly and lovingly attached to you, and then he just.... Dips? Whatever. I'm ignoring that part forever. it's not canon to ME!

anyways. yeah. feel free to Engage in some Friendly conversation. emphasis on friendly, for the love of g-d

[decimal86]

Failtopia Headcanons 2

Title says it all. Gonna say now that this list is a mix of serious and non-serious ideas, plus a few ideas for post-S2. Shared a lot of these with one of my mutuals, but I figured I'd share more with all of y'all. Enjoy!

While all fitting for warriors of some kind, there are a few minor specific differences in Erica, Orion, and Bob's starter gear. (Ex. Orion's armor is more well-kept and matching, since he was part of the royal guard. Meanwhile, Erica's is more worn down and mismatched since she at this point doesn't know how to maintain it and likely bought it on a budget from how much of a spur-of-the-moment decision it was.)

Bo's weird floating hands are more akin to an incorporeal extra pair to grab otherwise untouchable objects and interact with other undeads. Essentially, that one D&D ability, Mage Hand.

Due to being part fish, Shrimp is more heat sensitive than the rest of the cast. Neksdor would hypothetically be tough but doable, while Karkaton or the Powdered Peaks would be almost impossible if traversing alone. Luckily, she's not :D

Orion takes Slapo out trick-or-treating with whatever costumes she wants, so long as they're appropriate. One year, she was a brick. After S2, Chat and Petunyawn go, too with C!Failboat accompanying the latter.

Erica spent weeks after Bo's transformation into a vampire trying to raise her defense so her partner wouldn't have to stress over piercing her flesh while kissing and accidentally turning her into an undead.

Mar has an alcohol tolerance higher than any other living thing, being a demon, and thus has never been intoxicated. Still, he does his best to cure whatever hangovers may the others have with only the finest recipes he knows; if there's one thing he was passionate about since the start of his redemption arc, it's food.

Erica and C!Failboat remain close friends as, despite their less than ideal relationship in S1, Fail was Erica's first true friend after her string of terrible parties, and similarly, Erica was one of the first people that made him consider as more than a character—a real person, with struggles and emotions—that made him try taking his job seriously.

Deko now lives a quiet life in an off-the-map village somewhere in the Fey Realm. He works as a scout, finally able to live out his wish to help protect a community without fighting gods or being stuck in an overly tight demon suit. He also makes sketches and edgy poetry in his free time.

Chi celebrated her 21st birthday with a bowl of whiskey-flavored ice cream but, surprisingly, never felt any ill effects besides slight dizziness and a sugar crash.

Part of Piranhyawn being a terrible boyfriend comes simply from his species not requiring two individuals to mate, with both he and his daughter being a product of budding. (Note: not a justification, only an explanation)

Lanc was forced to learn how to play piano from their royal background—however, they dropped it and now play the accordion in their off time. Chi, of course, loves it.

C!Failboat actually does own some other clothes besides the cat onesie: a single white anchor-patterned button-up with jeans and tennis shoes, plus a full-on captain's uniform for some reason. He only wears it when the cat suit's in the wash.

While they haven't met yet, I'm certain Slapo and Purple Shep would get along perfectly.

I'm not sure if post-game can even be considered canon anymore, but the Deltarune fan song Megalo Clamour plays in Spamtang's head when he fights. Like the canon character's theme, but slightly more put-together and malicious.

Erica's actually more skilled with a spear than a sword, but only learns how to use it after the finale due to getting more free time to perfect her fighting style.

Chi has an excellent singing voice. Nobody knows why, not even Chi herself.

And that's all for now! Might do a part 3, but thank you for reading.

[dunadaan]

Still annoyed at the Angle of Mitheithel quests and honestly the lack of good quests and general world building.

Like you introduce the first and only permanent settlement of the Dúnedain and have like. Barely any info on their culture. Like they give us hints of things but little more- why do the old couple not live among the Dúnedain, their own kind? Non-Dúnedain I don’t think would live in the Angle and Tolkien is very strict abt the Rangers being Dúnedain- so maybe Thorn is Dúnedain on his moms side, and decided to live with her husband in Bree? Like you could’ve delved into THAT as a story- how Thorn found out he was a a dúnedain and set off to join them. How it might’ve been a struggle for him to fit in at first and the complications of (presumably, since she wouldn’t keep her own name if she had a last name but take her husbands) her mom leaving to be with a man of Bree. There’s a lot that could be explored there with that story alone.

I want to know more about daily life for the people here, the domestic things. I want to know more about them hiding in the caves- we could’ve had quests where we help prep and move things to said caves and gotten some background or stories of times where they did have to flee. (Which like. Could’ve played into the main story had they not WRITTEN it weirdly).

I wanna know more about their customs or how they raise their children, on stories or if their children get to go on little road trips to Rivendell or if elves come to Tornhad to teach them lessons. Like the little info you get in the deed log says “some (of the children) are additionally fostered in Rivendell.” But how do you choose which ones?? Like I shouldn’t have to read that in a deed log only.

I wanna know more about the women, like Ivoreth! That was a really neat inclusion and honestly highlights even more that Tolkien ignored most the women in family lines in his stories. Halbarad’s got a mom who’s ALIVE and kicking. We LOVE to see old rangers. Calenglad Golodir Ivoreth old ranger club.

I wanna know more about their housing situation…do houses stay with the same families? Do they ever build new homes for newer rangers who have no ties, or simply open up rooms? If you decide to be a ranger, do you keep your own room to return to, or is every house open to whichever Ranger needs a place to lay their head, since you’re not around long anyways? Who are the ones that go into civilization to trade? (I’m thinking more along book canon than the game) There’s little to no places of real trade beyond Bree or Rivendell, so they’d have to be pretty self reliant.

What about little quests where it talks more about the other jobs and duties…like sewing or carpentry or whatever. Parents excited for their child becoming an adult and sewing them clothes for the journey to be sworn in, lovingly stitching each seam. A father carving a truly fine bow as a gift, teaching his child to hunt and track. The community coming together and giving them a newly made pack, and it can never be gifted empty- freshly made rations and jerky and a lovingly sewn cloak and warm gloves and boots and sigghhhh. I think about it too much but we robbed of seeing these dynamics tbh…..

Also another thing that annoys me is the places being called Hidden Place and being glaringly obvious as to where tf it is. You couldn’t have maybe thrown some trees and bushes and shit to cover the place a little better? Put it more off the beaten path maybe?? SSG what is up with that design