#but i keep seeing posts about speculation/clowning

[toddandersonn]

What's happening on Swiftie village today?

[thewertsearch]

Decided to take a little look at the Formspring over the weekend. 

I’m not sure exactly where I left off last time, so I decided to start from the last question I commented on - which means that these are old questions, from way back in the Hivebent era. 

I don’t know if it’s because I’m fairly young, or because I’m not American, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reference to either of these shows. I haven’t even heard of the second one.

Let me live, Hussie!

We get some hard numbers for Homestuck’s readership, although I’m sure it had grown significantly by the time Cascade rolled around. For reference, this was posted around the time of WV: Rise up.

Karkat originally described Semi-Perfect Jack as ‘something higher than a queen or a king’, which really made it sound like Jack was stronger than either - but I suppose this makes sense, too. 

Jack’s not necessarily stronger than the Queen was - but he’s definitely more dangerous, because he doesn’t follow the normal rules of a Ringbearer. The Queen was a bad-tempered moderator, but Jack is a troll who’s stolen the moderator’s password. 

Hussie’s constant teasing of Team Sleuth is honestly pretty funny. 

I suppose it makes sense that Prospitian Agents would have different priorities - but what about Prospitian Exiles, Hussie? We’re about to be introduced to four new ones, and they could be anyone. 

I like Hussie’s take on creating web content. I agree - you should be making what you want to make, not what gets you the most clicks. 

If I had to knock one point off of Homestuck’s rating, it would be due to the comic’s obsession with clowns. My apologies to all the clown lovers out there, but I simply cannot get into them.

I’ve never seen Lost, myself. I hear it initially had potential, but fell apart later on when it had to keep the promises made by its premise. 

But I think was sold it for me was when I got the idea to mix the pairs of slime from their respective guardians. The whole weird mess struck me as an especially novel origin story, and the thought of making these 8 babies all at once was just ridiculous enough to be irresistible. Not just because of the mad science/time travel/paradoxical novelty, but because of the new light it put the characters under. Especially the guardians I think. These weird automaton-like authority figures, mostly obstacles in the early going, are quite probably very much like the kids, just at different stages in their weird lives (i.e. the ones where they lose their facial features). They're all kind of like siblings in a way, even if not all biological. (Though some are!) And I think you could pick up on that from some of the early interactions, that for instance Rose was likely a very similar person to her mom. Her mom just happened to be an adult!

Hussie originally saw the Guardians as pretty similar to their kids - and Rose, in particular, would be quite similar to Mom. We’ve already seen that Rose takes after her father, but it sounds like Roxy’s going to match her vibes, too. 

Laughing my ass off at the implication that there’s an upper limit to that number. 

Damn it, I really was hoping for some sort of anime showdown during the finale. 

Mind you, Hussie’s not saying it won’t happen - just that if it does, it won’t take up a third of the comic’s runtime. 

God, I am so here for nunchuck Sollux, and I’m getting sadder and sadder that these forum threads are all gone. I wonder what other early headcanons people had for the trolls? 

Heh.

See, I kind of figured that Homestuck wouldn’t get fully into the nitty-gritty of a Sburb campaign - but damn, would I still love to see it. I suppose speculating about the game’s mechanics is just as fun, though. 

This answer seems to confirm that Terezi had no idea what the Doomsday Scale really was. 

I wonder what she thought about the fact that it bore her sign? Did she wonder about the Pyrope who left it there, or did she already have a pretty good idea of who it was likely to be? 

[disneyprincemuke]

the best of (instagram) * bother figures

they always somehow manage the ruin the pictures she looks good in

pairings: max verstappen x fem!driver, lando norris x reader, alex albon x fem!driver

notes: LMFAO guySSSS I TOOK SOOOO LONG TO GET PICS FOR THIS IF U DONT LIKE THIS IM GOING TO RETIRE AND U WONT GET ANY LOGAN AND MICK STUFF

(series masterlist) | (📂 smau specials)

rockysroads

👤 tagged lily zneimer

liked by oscarpiastri, maxverstappen1 and 67,929 others

kidy/n you might look at me and think you’re going crazy or something like that

view all 2,797 comments…

user1 rocky being a fnaf fan was NOT on my bingo card

rockysroads yeah i just love josh hutcherson a lot too :/

user2 no cause WHO are you leaning on in that picture

oscarpiastri interesting choice of pictures

user3 so ur telling me u know something

user4 is that u?? or…

user5 is that logan

user6 if i speak.

user7 secret boyfriend??

maxverstappen1 who did u crop out wtf

rockysroads none of ur business

maxverstappen1 excuuuuuse me for being curious

user8 wow even being wdc doesnt exempt u from y/n’s disrespect

rockysroads so true like he’s not special just bc he’s a 2 time wdc

logansargeant did u crop me out

user9 SPEAK YOUR TRUTH LOGAN

user10 STAND UR GROUND LFG

user11 am i crazy or is y/n soft launching u

user12 i might have to check myself into the mental hospital after this one i fear

rockysroads yo shut up

rockysroads posted on their story!

user13 who is this man

user14 r u softlaunching 💀

rockysroads what does that mean

user15 is that loGAN’S WATCH

user16 whats this softlaunch

rockysroads

liked by oscarpiastri, logansargeant and 67,898 others

rockysroads ive looked SO good lately ugh

view all 5,987 comments…

user17 WHY IS SHE ALWAYS CUTTING SOMEONE OUT OF THE PICTURE DO U HAVE A BF

user18 blink twice if youve got a bf…?

user19 why he hold u like that

user20 my working theory is that she’s out and about on dates and these are all different guys

landonorris

liked by rockysroads, oscarpiastri and 68,376 others

landonorris guys it wasnt a soft launch it was just me :/

view all 10,478 comments…

user21 oh. i see.

user22 not on my bingo card but ok

rockysroads why would u do this

landonorris to ruin ur life idk

user23 HELP WHY DID SHE CUT U GUYS OUT FROM THE PICTURE??

rockysroads they were ruining the picture :/

user24 IMF UVKINNNNN HOWLINGGGG

user25 if this one is u, who r the other guys in the photos???

rockysroads sighpie okay i'll expose myself then

rockysroads

👤 tagged alex_albon

liked by oscarpiastri, sebastianvettel and 45,693 others

rockysroads please stop speculating it's literally just alex :/ they just keep ruining my pictures with their boyness

view all 4,123 comments...

user26 why do you keep messing with us is this funny to you

rockysroads little bit actually

user27 honesty is the best policy ig?

rockysroads u get it fr user27

alex_albon i'll try not to be offended

rockysroads i appreciate that

maxverstappen1

👤 tagged rockysroads

liked by kellypiquet, rockysroads and 104,303 others

maxverstappen1 here's to the best addition the grid's ever seen

view all 50,498 others...

user28 no wtf she's the worst

kidy/n boy if u dont shut up

user29 wow guys its time to go to clown school i think

user30 real. i just know she's tired of us being delusional

rockysroads it's ok same haha

user31 i'm so tired of hER GAMES

user32 like i cant do this anymore

rockysroads u ALWAYS ruin my pictures

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @inejismywife @vellicora @leilanixx @meadhgbcavanagh @2bormaybenot @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @cashtons-wife @love4lando @sadg3 @bborra @a10vely-yutazen @mellowarcadefun @glitterf1 @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @gentlyweeps-world @woozarts

[t-t-tau-me]

Sweet Lies, Bitter Truth: Shadow Milk

Minor spoilers for Beast yeast episodes 7

Time for another beast theory/speculation, This time on everyone's favorite clown!

I already speculated heavily on the psychology of Burning Spice Cookie when it comes to his love of Destruction, But what about Shadow Milk Cookie and is obsession with lying? I honestly think the answer is pretty obvious.

If you played Beast-yeast episode 7 with the crumbling cookie scene, or have seen Shadow Milk Cookie's gotcha animation, You might know what I'm going to say. Cookies didn't want to hear the truth. Let's start with the gotcha animation since technically you can see that before you go through the story.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7fF33p3d1o8?si=hqTD0ZtudVh9RAAv

The part that's important is the one scene of Shadow Milk holding up a key while cookies are nearby, with some of them becoming dark and feeding into a black tree that grows a blue apple. It can be assumed that the cookies there we're seeking the knowledge of shadow milk cookie, with some of them being unable to handle it. Later on those same cookies become blue and begin to dance while smiling, obviously under the influence of shadow milk cookie.

I think what this scene is showing us is shadow milk giving knowledge to cookies and the harsh truth being too much for them, causing them to spiral into despair As they simply couldn't handle the information. So as an act of "mercy" Shadow milk chose to give them lies they could handle so they could live in ignorant bliss. The truth isn't always a good thing, anyone who's told a white lie to spare someone's feelings knows this.

Imagine being made for the purpose of giving out knowledge the people, only to realize you've driven those same people insane with You're attempts to help. Now to make that feeling even worse, look no further than the crumbled cookie scene from Beast yeast episode 7. It's a simple but effective one.

After pure vanilla and the gang deal with some critters, they're left with a heavily injured cookie. The injured cookie is so badly damage that not even Pure Vanilla can heal them. In most cases, a lot of people would probably lie to the kid until the very end, making sure that their last moments could at least be a little less scary. Pure Vanilla Cookie can't seem to quite do this so he gets chastised by the dying child.

Could you imagine telling a kid they're going to die? Could you imagine looking Their parents and siblings in the eyes and telling that? How a cookie with practically the powers of a God failed to save the very people they were made for. Now imagine the hate and sorrow on their face when you give them the news, the rumors and lies that spread about your intentions, perhaps claiming that you had let the child die on purpose. After all, You clearly had to power to do something, Why didn't you?

Decade after decade...Centuries after centuries. The malice of the people you've tried to help for so long piles up over generations, Their lies curling around your mind like a constricting snake... Are they really lies though? At the beginning you probably would have denied it, But after being beaten down for so long... You can't help it question your own morality.

This is another reason why the beasts as a whole were sort of doomed to fail. It doesn't matter how powerful a person is, there's only so much you can take mentally over centuries upon centuries of the people you're trying to help actively hurting you in some way. In the end, Shadow milk probably couldn't handle such a reality. So he just made up his own! Everyone loves a good play, right? It always keeps them smiling and even at the most devastating at times they're entertained, who needs harsh truths when we can all just play pretend!

It's probably not as detailed as my last post with burning, But I hope I got my point across.

[ofmdrecaps]

09/23-25/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Kristian Nairn: Beyond The Throne Release!; Rhys Darby; Leslie Jones; Rachel House; CW: Roaches: Samba Schutte; Vico Ortiz; Lindsey Cantrell; Crew For Life Hoody; Adopt Our Crew: Prompts/Research; Bi+Sexuality Day; Watch Party Reminders; Fan Spotlight; Love Notes;

Hey crew, sorry I've been completely exhausted the last few days, having to be up early with kiddo and drive down to see my dad + crazy work hours. I am just... flat out of it, sorry! Trying to get caught up today, this is going to be a 3 dayer to try and catch up quickly. Hope you all are doing well and having fun honking!

== Kristian Nairn ==

On September 23, Kristan's Beyond the Throne was finally released!!!

Kristan was on NBCNews and Pix11News!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New York Live (@newyorklivetv)

Kristian was featured in the New York Post and Screenrant!

A lot of the crew has been expressing excitement for the book!

Still looking for a copy? Maybe a signed copy? You can grab one on his linktree!

== Rhys Darby ==

Sept 23rd was Rhys and Rosie's 27th anniversary! Happy Anniversary you two!

Speaking of Rhys and Rosie -- Friday Sept 27, Rhys and Rosie will be doing an episode together!

Source: David Booth's Twitter

Rhys is going to be taking a big part in BadJelly! (Guess who else is there? Pop Pop (Cohen Halloway!)

Source: BadJellyTv / Rosie's IG

Are you gonna be in LA on Oct 1? You can check out Rhys' "Saying Funny Things Society" at the Largo Los Angelos! Get tickets here.

Source: Rhys Darby's Twitter

== Leslie Jones ==

Leslie's off to see the yankees!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leslie Jones (@lesdogggg)

Source: Leslie's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

For Latine Heritage Month, Vico was featured in a Glaad article!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Samba Schutte ==

There's quite a lot of speculation going around because of how active Samba is regarding AoNZ and OFMD....he's been sharing a LOT of @adoptourcrew's Glaad Media Awards stories...

And reminding us he went to New Zealand 2 years ago...

And.. what is with these Roaches in a box? Some folks have said... 3 pictures = S3, some have said they see S3 in the roaches themselves. What do you think?

Source: Samba's Instagram Stories

PS: I love that the Advanced Chemistry Movie Socials are clowning with us all.

Source: AdvancedChemistry Twitter

== Rachel House ==

Can it be? Is The Mountain finally coming to dvd and digital! Apparently! Oct 2 is the day in the US - AoNZ Oct 1!

Source: TeMaunga's Instagram == Linds Cantrell ==

Lindsey with a new Haircut!

Source: Linds Cantrell's Instagram Stories

== Crew For Life Hoody ==

Final hours for the ShopStands Crew For Life Hoodie!

Source: ShopStands.com

== Adopt Our Crew ==

Our crewmates over at @adoptourcrew have been trying to keep engagement gowing with a couple prompts! If you have twitter please hit them up, they'd love to hear from you!

Source: AOC's Twitter

Source: AOC Twitter

Our Friends over at @adoptourcrew also put together some cool research regarding shows that have been picked up by Netflix! Check it out here!

Source: AOC Tumblr

== Watch Party Reminders ==

Sept 26 is the end of Season 1 of OFMD with @adoptourcrew and @astroglideofficial!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Articles ==

The Mary Sue put an article out about the OFMD Cancellation, but it caused a little controversy because of this glaring error:

If you wanna check the article out below here it is:

Source: Sorry I can't remember who I found it from initially!

== Bi+Sexuality Day ==

Happy very belated Bi+ Sexuality day! As always-- you are seen, you are valued, you are valid; no matter who you've chosen to partner with, or who you've been with in the past. So much love your way lovelies <3

Source: Glaad Instagram

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

New Episode of Our Flag Means Fanfiction-- this time The Fluff Episode! Check it out on their linktr.ee!

And new episode of Gay Pirate News Hour on October 5th! Check it out on Our Flag Means Fanfiction Youtube!

Source: Our Flag Means Fanfiction Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Alrighty lovelies, I wanted to get so much more done today but I ran out of picture room and I'm catching up on so many things so everything is behind. I want you to know that you are doing a great job out there. Not just with clowning/honking, but with life in general. Things keep happening, and you keep on kicking, and that means so much to me, so much to your crew! We care so deeply about you and so when you succeed, or you struggle, we want to be there with you every time. <3

This world is hard, but you keep being kind regardless, and we're so proud of you for that. Sending so much love crew <3

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katie Abey 🌈 (@katieabey)

Source: Katie Abey's Instagram

[accio-victuuri]

Sugar Rush : November CPNs

What started out as a relatively quiet month after a chaotic October, turned into something else because of a few candies. Especially the whole 11/19 fiasco that surprised us all. LOL. As usual, this is for cpn-loving turtles only. Keep an open mind but still clown responsibly. I can’t believe we only have one month left for this year!

If you wanna recap other years I have archived : 2021 ( one | two ) 2022 ( one | two ) 2023 ( one, july, august, september, october ) 2020 candies and some other sweets before I was doing round up posts may be found on my masterlist.

Let’s review the past month…

• Some side by side / parallel photos of GG ( Tod’s Milan ) and WYB ( Chanel Shenzhen ). They are both photographed with the very beautiful Liu ShiShi. Also the way they are the center of attention. KINGS! 👑

• hoping they play tennis together 🎾 ; there is also a cpn out there about yibo being fully prepared for the game cause he had lacoste shoes and bag then a jacket that he used in wuzhen. people are speculating that XZ bought stuff for him to use cause he is the one who knows more and thought of this brand. this may seem like a stretch but you never know with this fandom when a seemingly insignificant observation becomes a big candy along the way.

• 2021 vs 2023 beach photos similarities + xiamen coincidence and it’s connection to ZZ’s ideal life painting

• LHK ( Liu Haikuan ) giving clues about BJYX? + Part 2 of comments

11/7, GG was announced as Boucheron’s global brand ambassador, then people remembered that one time WYB wore stuff from the brand. So now we have an unintentional couple jewelry incidence😂😂

• the sound of an eagle 🦅

• some similarities in forwarding 119 message, yeah i know celebrities like them are sort of required to bring attention to stuff like this. however, WYB is known to support this cause and even made a VCR specifically for it. if you look at the actual post, theirs is the top 2 in terms of likes and the rest of the celebrities are not the usual ones similar to the boys’ caliber. Another clue that this is WYB’s advocacy of sorts, most, if not all top comments are from his fans. so ZZ joining in on spreading the message seems ( to me and some cpfs ) like influenced by WYB.

Next is they both filmed VCRs for "People in My Heart" - "Classic Characters" series. We just love seeing them support the same projects ^^

• NARS live drawing

• Candies from WYB’s 11/12 douyin post. Mainly the parallel about the same walls and floor.

• XZ fell asleep on WYB during the golden core scene

• Interpreting YBO’s 11/16 weibo caption

• 11/19/23 double update candies

• similar necklace??? ( cough in vain )

• the full story ( so far ) behind 11/19 📝

• Talking about this a bit late considering when the whole CPN started about this GG mural for GG. There are side by side comparisons of the eyes on the mural and Yibo’s. The CPN being they used WYB’s eyes for that mural.

I usually let people have free reign on clowning but this one isn’t for me personally. just because it’s obviously a mural commissioned by GUCCI which a big brand that couldn’t care less about the CP. Maybe it’s a coincidence how similar it is? Because there is a reference photo that should be followed. Also, this is GG’s time to shine. This mural is his & him. I think this is an example for cpfs to learn to separate the boys as individuals, especially for things that are work related and most especially their achievements. While I do believe they influence each other greatly, it’s important to not make every single thing a romantic relation.

• the mystery driver is seen again 👀

• 11/22 Yibo scenery post 🍬

• One night in Beijing Song + 11/23 XZS post

• I don’t really wanna clown with Redmi but the black and white theme from XZS and then the next day it’s Redmi. I was surprised with this cause all the promos were supposed to be related to the scifi themed ad blockbuster!

A coincidence 👀👀👀👀

• small candies form IQIYI scream night 😱

• wyb acknowledging light signs and calls us wangba

• XZ’s 11/27 Airport and Selfie Clues

• there is some talk with BXGs regarding WYB’s redmi appearance, it looks like he was bitten by the mosquito again. lol. I usually just find cpn like this funny cause there is always deniability. also hello to the mosquito who loves to bite the center of his neck.

I’m separating these next entries cause it’s not new. I just found myself revisiting bts content and clowning about it. old candy still tastes good! 💯

WYB signs 520 to GG

WYB’s small steps to GG but robe gets caught

Something is funny and XZ has to tell WYB

Flirting and Fighting? “WYB’s love you”

XZ got hurt and WYB said he is gonna kiss it better?

-END.

[goldrosh]

in the last sugar rush post from 2023, @accio-victuuri asked us to list our top 5 cpns from last year but since I'm late I thought on doing a post. thank you for those recopilatory monthly posts, btw! they're very helpful and when you read them you also relive those beautiful moments. and overall for always keeping us updated about everything going on with our boys.

so here's my top 5 cpns from 2023

the inner mongolia saga: I decided to call it like that for everthing that happened from the moment xz went to film there. it started with yb's first selfie of 2023 and all the clowning about him perhaps visiting the loch set, the infamous black cloth, all the speculation about him owning a leica camera, the confirmation of him owning a leica camera, xz's birthday post that also had him posing with a leica camera, the camping pic, and everything culminating with yb's own pics taken in inner mongolia. honestly, september and october were such busy months to being a clown, I love how everything just developed little by little and fell like pieces of a puzzle.

the suspicious change on xz's filming schedule: when ybo reported that yb won't be able to participate in the star of the one and only promo period, everyone got worried, since when yb takes days off while sick? the next day tho, some reports came in; after days of going to film at a certain early time, xz was going a little bit late. "interesting" said every turtle in the world, "let's see how this continues". and boy, it did continue, casually until yb's recovery. a happy coincidence.

anniversary?: when we all thought nothing was toping the inner mongolia saga, november 19 happened. and to think everything started very innocently with yb updating his douyin and then everything scalating into the possibility of them sorting out the seriousness of their relationship one november 19... I honestly loved how everyone started to bring up years of clues and how it just made sense.

wedding outfit: this one is very self explanatory, their weinbo night outfits that strangely looked like wedding outfit. I would have loved to see them both walking out the red carpet but we all know how weinbo loves to self sabotage I mean I enjoy when they do that but not that night! I like to think that the reason why they chose those outfits is because their first weinbo night is also called "divorce night" and, after years of not attending the same event, they wanted to give us a wedding night. yes, I am that much of a clown, thank you.

ybo's birthday post: this one hit me so hard that I still tear up whenever I read "yb, the sunset is very beautiful". to most, that post it's just a very well written birthday wish, but if you're like me and believe xz wrote it then knowing that these two boys love each other so deeply is reason enough to warm your heart. "time does not have a pause button, yet you seem to hold the password for the occasional pauses in the world". cry with me 🥲

honorific mention to: THE hat (yb made it hard to ignore lmao), everything is lovely and its promo (at first I wasn't trying to read too much into the colors that were used to promote the ep but then the bone necklace appeared and changed my mind), mysterious driver (just so you all know I'm totally sold on this) and overall this year that seemed to have them together for longer periods of time.

[neuroticbookworm]

I was not planning on writing a Step by Step analysis this week, because my mind was too frayed from all the anticipation for the next episode. But then @lurkingshan posted this, and it knocked something loose in my brain, and now here I am.

Shan talks about how even though Jeng and Pat felt the spark of desire when they met a couple of times before they became boss and subordinate, once they knew they had to be professional, they dialed it back using very different mechanisms.

Jeng chose to keep his emotions under control in the workplace, and he harbored and nurtured those feelings in private. Pat, on the other hand, was already under stress in the workplace, and as @ginnymoonbeam and @bengiyo discuss here, he also misinterprets the initial strict mentoring from Jeng as proof that the spark he felt must've been all in his head. That his gaydar made an error, and therefore Jeng must be straight.

So when episode 8 begins, the mutual interest from their initial interactions is the only thing Jeng knows for certain, to assume that Pat might want a relationship with him. He also tells Tae that Pat never looks at him the way he looks at Pat, which makes the confession a pretty huge leap of faith from Jeng.

In the dance floor confession, Jeng observes that Pat is not ready for another relationship yet. He still confesses his feelings, but adds that he can be the safe space for Pat if that is all he wants from him. And that he will never want for anything more. He has already resigned himself here to the fate that he might never get to be Pat's boyfriend.

@respectthepetty explains here that Jeng would've fully gone along with Pat's understanding that Jeng is straight. He was forced to show his hand and come out when Pat referred to himself as Jeng's friend. Here, Jeng was no longer planning on making his feelings clear to Pat. He had no choice but to do it.

In the aftermath, Pat reacts with confusion, dawning realization and horror, and we know that Pat is reeling from this information because his mind is now doing a speedrun of all of their interactions and reevaluating them with the fact that Jeng is gay. But Jeng, oh my poor Jeng, thinks Pat is horrified for two reasons: the previously stated reason offered by his rational and logical brain, and the reason offered by his panicked and frantic brain that Pat is horrified by his advances, and that Pat never liked him in the first place. That he was utterly and completely wrong, right from the glass jelly incident. This thought may not have found deep roots in his mind yet, but it is there, floating and waiting for confirmation.

Now, some speculation for episode 9 (aka clowning). We see Pat has taken the day off, which further fuels Jeng's fears. And later Pat looks visibly unmoored and exhausted, like he hasn't slept for a few nights in a row. I was talking to @chicademartinica and she mentioned how Pat looks like he is disassociating in this episode. And I agree, he looks fully out of it.

Whatever happens that forces Jeng to confess AGAIN, I don't know yet. But what I do know is that there is a high possibility that Pat might say no after this confession, because he needs more time to process things. But, in Jeng's mind, that floating thought will finally get its confirmation and take root, and it will go, AHA I KNEW IT, HE HAS NEVER LIKED YOU, EVER.

I know we are all anxiously waiting for the slowburn to end (hopefully it'll happen before the sun swallows us whole), but we may need to hold our horses. Because the possible roadmap I see right now is: Jeng confesses -> Pat says no -> Jeng thinks Pat has never liked him and drowns himself (and us) in angst -> Pat finally finishes thinking and realizes that he does like Jeng -> Pat tries to tell Jeng -> Jeng is already packing his suitcases to flee the country OR Jeng has built his mental walls so high that Put can't get through to him without a massive effort -> Pat convinces Jeng to hear him out -> They finally sit down and talk to each other -> JengPat FINALLY BURNS

My fellow sufferers of this cursed show, I will be the happiest clown if I get proven wrong, but I think it will take a while for these two to work this mess out, and I think it might take more than one episode *runs*

[stargazelasagna]

excited for the spring update? any speculations or predictions?

HM HM HM OKKAYY SOO I DO HAVE SOME THOUGHTS... BUT IDK keep in mind I might be a littttle behind on some updates... have to get caught up i do!! but haven't just yet so.. gulp gonna do this ol thingamajiggy n hope it works!

I might ramble a bit... who knows? I'm not proofreading this because i'm lazy! i should also preface this by saying that i am by no means very good at theories or figuring this stuff out on my own LOL so take everrrything i say with a grain of salt and probably dont base anything on what i say cause i'm sure itll be wrong LOL i also havent looked at what anyone else has said either so im sure that doesnt help very much HONESTLY IM SO SO SO VERY EXCITED i think i went to like half of my welcome home oomfs and was like "CLOWN GAVE AN UPDATE CLOWN GAVE AN UPDATE!!" and i lowkkkey was soo excited i had to take a breather LOL my first initial thoughts was that somethiing might happen to Julie this time since on the kofi theres sooo many things that point to her and her siblings but looking back now with a bit fresher eyes (and now that im not jumping around and running around my room) i wonder if its not really about her at all i was looking through the kofi again and i've noticed that whoever the update is mainly about (or at least whoever has something happen to them) they dont usually get anyy postings whatsoever about them... unless clown has deleted some stuff on their kofi n i just dont rememeber and or im getting the dates wrong LOL so to my relief or perhaps denial im going to keep telling myself that nothing happens to julie whatsoever because shes slowly becoming my favorite character and i would hate for anything bad to happen to her LOL so i guess im not really saying anything but something at the same timeeee LOL since most of it is pretty obvious if you've seen the kofi that we are going to see more of julie and her familyyyy... maybe perhaps before she left the cave??whooo knows ehehehe BUT IM SOO EXCITED

[aestheticallynotdeerlightful]

POSTING THESE BEFORE I WATCH PART 2

These are ALLL the DR jay designs I have made for part 2 based on given info on the time. some of them are just silly ideas that could probably be aus, and some are just speculation but I thought I’d share them all here before I watch to see if I got even slightly close!

These are all speculative designs that I just had fun designing, I might keep some of these for au funsies

(Please do not use, trace, or repost my works anywhere without explicit permission from me thank you <3)

These are the only ones I’ve drawn out but to explain some of them I’ll put them under a readmore incase because it was predictions and theories from leaks!

So 1) we only knew about his memory loss at the time and he was working for someone, but we didn’t know who, it was the first jay design I did (excluding an au with the same premise of after the merge jay loses his memory etc)

2) Clown jay and Agent jay (the one where he’s wearing a suit) these are one in the same. The Circus act was a disguise for the administration to do their shady business (before we got the trailer that showed it was just a warehouse) and the suit look was when he wasn’t working as a clown

3) This one was based on the banshee- screechers- ghosts? In the first trailer with them. Where doc said they were very vocal on Twitter and they were blue so many thought maybe it’s jay but this disguise specifically is based on the idea that he isn’t the ghost himself but he lets the ghost possess him for mutual gain. As sort of coworkers

4) Four is the most recent and what we knew from all the trailers and leaks. I thought hey maybe he’s just working in the basement of the administration building weapons and tech that’s powered by his powers so he’s all dressed up in an engineers outfit!

[theslotherin18]

Ok, so quick question fellow HH fans. What is Velvet supposed to be based off exactly, like her theme? Yes, I know she was a maid cosplayer in her earlier design but they kinda got rid of that.

Edit: I saw someone say she is a clown/jester which I think is pretty cool ngl.

Valentino is very clearly based off a moth with his fluff and wings and its obvious he is the porn overlord with his pimp fit. The moth theme is quite clever given how irl moths emit pheromones during sex to make it more inticing. His red and white color pallet gets this across as well.

Vox likewise has a tv head and Wi-Fi symbols, blatantly signalling what he has power over along with an electric themed color pallet. The more subtle shark theming with his lair and coat tail shape is a nod to the sin of greed given how shark demons come from the greed ring(helluva boss). His wardrobe being a parallel to Alastor (which I made a post about) and theming makes it clear what he is all about even if it’s nor 100% original (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)

The character designs, despite all the bashing from haters of Vivzies art style get their point across which is the most important role of character design.

Velvet on the other hand, I am not so sure. If she is based off an animal, idk what she is. Looking at her upfront, you can get the idea that she is an edgy bitch. The only thing she kinda has to play into her social media stuff is the hearts on her vest(?) and the constantly changing hairstyle and scene kid outfit. If I had no prior info, I would think she was Valentinos evil assistant with the repeating heart theme or Val and Vox’s love child incarnate. She doesn’t give Social Media overlord on her own.

I did notice she had a line that is perpendicular to her lips that gives her a doll like appearance which could play into the social media perfection angle but nothing else from her current design seems to go along with this theme.

Now, I have my gripes with a certain genre of character redesigns(the ones who in bad faith trash the originals and try to “fix it” by making the exact same mistakes in their improved one) but if I had to redesign her, I would give her a clear theme.

You could lean into an ocean theme based off internet lingo like “surfing the net” and how the Envy ring in helluva boss is speculated to have a deep sea theme and be ruled over by leviathan(if you like the theory that sinner’s demon form takes inspo from the native born demons that originated from the ring of hell their corresponding vice they most indulged in their earthly life was.). Or perhaps a cat theme given how ubiquitous they are in the early internet, social media and memes.

Perhaps instead of hearts, Vivzie could of used thumbs up, which on social media is an almost universally understood symbol. Maybe more phone or app based iconagraphy(copyright free of course)

Maybe a color pallet that looks less like a blend of Vox and Val’s color pallet that could stand on its own. I think keeping red would be a good call given how vox and Val also have that color, which would unify them as a trio. She has a tendency to blend into the background given how her pallet is both muted(the reddish looking color) and neutral (white and grey)

Idk, I am not expert on this stuff but that’s just what I see.

[houseofbrat]

These covers are nauseating because she. doesn’t. have. cancer and have literally exploited it to get out of the comms mess they made.

I expect the headlines going forward to be:

Anytime a member of the RF does any engagement it will be because “they working to support Kate” even The King who actually has cancer

When The King recovers from cancer it will be framed as he was inspired by Kate who again doesn’t have cancer

There will be zero calls for William especially to step up and work and they are never going to be criticized for not working again. Anyone who expects them to will be shamed

Also not how mercenary Kensington Palace is. When the King was diagnosed, they made no public statement of support. They didn’t even like or share his announcement message. Nothing leaked about how they were supporting him, if the grandkids sent him cards etc. Now suddenly to prop up this fake cancer storyline, The King is used as a prop for “heartfelt lunches” and “emotional hospital visits”. They don’t care about him - it’s just useful to use him now.

People falling for this are chumps are it says a lot about the moral rot at Kensington Palace. William truly is Diana’s son in the worst way and I wonder if their dishonesty and opportunism will ever catch up to them.

Sorry for the long ask but I’m frankly pissed!

I think Heath Ledger's Joker pretty much sums up the situation at this point.

I will also say that I completely side-eye the excuse of giving a public statement now due to the kids' term break & Easter holiday. I've seen plenty of rumors that the UK press has known since January that Kate had a medical diagnosis of cancer regarding her operation. This certainly fits in with Tom Bower's statements at the end of February.

If that's true, then KP could have made a simple statement in February when the kids were on their half-term break about her condition, even if they didn't release that specific diagnosis. That statement would have quelled and quieted down all the speculation weeks ago. Except they didn't do that.

I don't buy this notion of making a statement right before they go hide away for three and a half weeks to protect their kids from their school chums, is it? Do six-, nine-, and eleven-year-olds at Lambrook really care about what the media says about their classmates' mother? I find this really hard to believe given that there hardly seems to be any social media pictures of them attending school functions in the two years the kids have been attending school there. Sure, there's one pic here or there, but when the world is wondering "Where is Kate?," I didn't see any news reports quoting Lambrook parents supporting the speculation that Will had secretly offed Kate. Instead the Lambrook parents seem to be pretty keen on keeping the media/press out of their children's schooling. I don't buy the rationale of Kate announced it now due to the kids' break.

I think the British media is a bunch of clowns, and they are still set about continuing to be so. There were rumors circulating that the BBC was on alert for news about Kate a week ago. Lo and behold, the Beeb filmed Kate's video on Wednesday for a Friday night news dump. But last weekend, Roya Nikkhah was publishing KP pr about how Kate would only talk about her health in person to people she visited on engagements. This weekend Roya is writing about how Charles & Kate's cancer is bringing them both together! And yet, she will continue to post drivel-like scraps even if it's a complete fabrication by KP. KP already had a plan to do a video of Kate if rumors were already circulating at the BBC. When is Roya going to stop accepting nonsense from her KP-related sources? When will all of them? I wonder...

[kettricken]

Welcome to my blog!

Mira · she/they/phe/per · 21 yrs · sweden

twitter · anilist · goodreads · backloggd · mfc

Hello I'm Mira! I'm an autistic femme lesbian from sweden who loves lots and lots of things! My interests include speculative fiction, shojosei, jrpgs, horror games and movies, retro anime, cats, nature, art, nerd culture, furoku, figures and a buuuuunch of other stuff that you will see me post about!

Feel free to follow me, send me a message (or unfollow/block/soft) FUB FREE! I don't keep track of who unfollows or softblocks me so my bad if I refollow (￣▽￣*)ゞ

Sideblogs and tags below the read more ↓

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[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Hello! A fellow arcana writer here - ( this is from my main account, the account where I post my arcana content is @thefishermansharbor ) just wondering, do you have an tips or tricks with writing for Lucio? I feel like I always make him too agitating, and I want to make him seem a little more human. Anyways, great work so far and answer this whenever! <3

Yes, I've read your stuff! I've really enjoyed it too!

I can't tell you how honored I am to be asked for tips like this, so there will a whole (very long and detailed) Lucio character analysis under the cut if you desire to read it ^.^ (spoiler warning, of course)

There's two things I like to keep in mind when I'm writing Lucio: who and what he is, and where he is on what he does with that. Lucio as a human being, for example, is an extrovert who loves parties and attention. What he used to do with that, on the other hand, was focus all of his attention on throwing lavish parties when there were more pressing matters that he chose not to address (pre-prologue).

So who or what is Lucio? You could start with his MBTI personality type (ESTP), or his sign (Capricorn), or how he presents himself. This is the person the reader gets to know in his route, and when I write headcanons, this is the person I pay more attention to. He's extroverted, he loves attention and excitement, he likes to act first and think later, he's an adventure seeker, he's loud and expressive and an open book, he likes to be happy, and he likes people to be happy with him. As person, that's who Lucio is, and that's who MC falls in love with in his route.

But that's not who we see in the rest of the story, whether it be the prologue, the "Dawn of the Grub" tale, or the other character's routes. That's because in those stories, we're meeting Lucio through the eyes of the characters we're with, and they see him for what he's done and continues to do. Julian's route shows us a self-centered tyrant, Nadia's shows a petulant teenager playing at royalty, Asra's shows him as useless scum, Muriel's as a terrifying demon turned clown, and Portia's doesn't even address him at all. This is all in line with the things those characters experienced (or didn't experience) because of him. Asra lost his parents and MC, Julian was locked in a dungeon and force-fed a plague beetle, Nadia was married to someone out of desperation who dimmed her spark, Muriel was enslaved and coerced into murdering hundreds of innocents, and Portia didn't even know who he was until she showed up in Vesuvia.

So how does all of this play into MC and Lucio's relationship? Assuming that we're working with the upright ending, most of this depends on how much time has passed since defeating the Devil. The game leaves off with MC and Lucio becoming journeymen, or traveling adventurers, deciding their future one new commission at a time. Because Lucio's relationship with MC is what transforms him from being himself with only himself in mind to being himself with the wellbeing of others in mind, the longer he's had the chance to practice that, the more of a good person he has practice being.

If it's been a few months, he is probably still rude to strangers out of habit and regularly puts himself before other people (including MC half the time) because he's still learning how to think of others when he makes decisions and how to say "I was wrong" after making a big mistake. He's probably still settling into the fact that someone loves him for him, and that if he asks for forgiveness there's a chance he'll receive it.

~ from here on out is much more speculative. some fans like Lucio for his more "villainous" traits, like his tendency to prioritize himself or his willingness to forget about people in the pursuit of his own pleasure. what I'm about to describe is a continued trajectory from his route and upright ending, where Lucio is committed to continuing to better himself and build a healthy future, and MC is playing an active role in reconciling and connecting him to the people around him ~

If it's been closer to a year, he's more likely to have learned how to make friends with new people out of his extroversion instead of trying to dominate them out of his need for attention. He's still working on his manners, but he's better at acknowledging his oopsies. This is most likely the point where he gets into the deeper work - his own trauma from growing up in a "hunt or be hunted" family, his addiction to deal making, his time on the battlefield, dying of the plague, spending three years as a tortured, incorporeal form while the world continues without him, etc.

This is also when the weight of all the things he's done wrong really starts to sink in. He'll likely go from "yeah, that was a thing I did and it was bad," to "oh, I'm directly responsible for thousands of deaths and immeasurable suffering, and nothing I do can change that." He'll be more love-hungry than he's ever been, and every day will be a struggle of living with the nuances of trauma and forgiveness and generational cycles of violence and death, all with a brain that doesn't like nuance or deep thinking at all.

Several years down the line, he has the potential to be one of the most intentionally healthy characters after the astronomical amount of work he'll need to do to build and maintain a good life with MC. While nobody becomes perfect, we'd see him fully become the person that MC fell in love with (an energetic, excited, creative adventurer who loves people and animals and who loves to be loved). At this point, he's also started to make his own reputation as the fighter who travels with a magician and takes odd jobs for a decent commission, and not the ex-count of Vesuvia. The people who meet him now will see the same person MC saw all along, and they'll most likely find him endearing and want to be friends with him. He'll have good connections that he's made on his own merit.

It's unlikely that he'll ever be fully welcome in Vesuvia. While he's changed and grown and likely addressed what he's done to the best of his ability, he can't undo the past. For the rest of his lifetime, memories of the plague will be fresh in that city's memory, with not a single citizen who hasn't suffered from it. It's very likely that he'll still stop by with MC a few times to catch up, but that's it. The city won't want him back after knowing the truth. And Lucio doesn't like living with his mistakes - he'd much prefer to move on and do better. As much as he's learned to apologize and do better, he'll do anything to avoid wallowing in his own suffering.

To write him, then, I like to start with who MC knows he is, figure out how long he's had to grow, and work from there. If I'm working with an MC-related prompt (an MC who likes to draw, or who uses a cane, for example), then Lucio will first encounter that quality as the person he is when he first meets MC in his route (ghostly mr goatman). It's also fun to track how his behavior is likely to change over time as he grows as a person.

If it's a future situation for an established relationship, like getting married, or having kids, or daily routines and domestic habits, then I write for the Lucio we see developing at the end of the Upright ending.

The two often play into each other, of course. If MC has PTSD, and Lucio's come far enough to help them with that, it also means that he's drawing from all of his own trauma. If we see him being petty about something, we have examples of how he would have reacted, and how he reacts instead.

That's the fun of being human, after all. We are the amalgamation of all the versions of ourselves we've ever been, and growth is the product of acknowledging every one of those and aiming for goodness in whoever we become next.

Hope that helped, @thefishermansharbor! Happy writing, and cheers!

brainrot

[theneighborhoodwatch]

an update

apologies for any erratic or otherwise concerning behavior on my part that you may have noticed, neighbors! i won't get into the gritty details, but as it turns out, i May have been experiencing a nervous breakdown over these past few weeks. not because of welcome home, mind you. it was a number of things in my personal life, and i've been feeling much better since i've been finally able to address it - but it has made me Reevaluate a few things wrt how i've been going about things here, so i'll be going over those in a quick little numbered list under the cut:

i am no longer running or even in the discord server. one of the moderators, @/doctorcottonghost, offered to take it off my hands, and i accepted. ergo, i will no longer be able to answer any questions about whether or not invites or open.

in a similar vein, i've removed the "community areas" section on my links page. i do not think it was doing me any favors to be Constantly Aware of these large swathes of people. if you came from r/WelcomeHomeNeighbor, however, you are still free to peruse my observation document and send in questions/findings/etc. once my inbox opens back up (and do see if they need more mods over there!)

i do not plan on abandoning the observation document! i will still update it to the best of my ability as each update comes. i love archiving/cataloguing/etc., so it's a source of great joy in my life (and i really need to move the backup links section to its own page, anyway. it's been hard to find time for it since my computer broke.)

more of a reminder than an update, and i'm aware that i have no Actual control over people's actions, but i'll restate this in no uncertain terms for anyone who cares (at the risk of looking like a bit of a kiss-ass): please do keep clown's boundaries in mind - TL;DR: no public nsfw, no merch. both of these are subject to change in the future. that's it. do not exaggerate, do not try to find loopholes, and for the love of god, do not threaten people into following these boundaries or spread misinformation just to make it seem like you have a point. if you see someone continue to ignore these boundaries while they are still up - or even your own personal ones! - after being informed of them, be a goddamn adult, use the goddamn block button, and don't give them any more of your time or attention. (and probably report them, if we're talking about merch.)

i may need more time before i open my inbox back up. i haven't been in quite the right State of Mind for deep speculation, so i want to get through the more lighthearted stuff first before working my way up to those. once i've cleared everything out, i'll probably open my inbox back up - but anon may stay off for some time.

and i think that's everything! now i am going to have a nice big dinner and then i'll come back and Attempt to answer some asks. i've also taken down my more mopey posts from the past 2 days, so i don't clog this blog. have a nice evenin'.

[arsonsara]

[The phone rings twice, but in the middle of its third ring the phone is answered] Howdy dowdy, you've reached the home of one Arsons Ara!~ With whom am I speaking to on this loverly day?

[Silence] ...Hullo? Anyone there? You weren't spooked by my name, were you? Oh well, don't worry, it's just my internet handle! I don't actually set stuff on fire if that's what your worried about. I made it up a long time ago when I was a teenager, it even has this whole meaning I ascribed to it with the constellation Ara and...Hehe, gosh it's silly to think about now but the naming scheme was based off this old web-comic I used to read. But, that's a long story, and I don't wanna ramble for too long! Still, is there anything I can help you with? [Silence] Hulloooo?...You theeeere? I didn't make you nervous, did I?...

[Silence] Hmmm...Well, someones got to be on the other end of the line. And it'd be such a shame to just hang up now, I don't get calls like this as often as I'd like...Oh! Did you just need someone to listen to, stranger? Is that why you called? It's okay if it was, I understand that feeling. Sometimes it's just nice to just listen to someone chat about what's on their noggin.~ ...Actually, now that I think about it, you called at the perfect time! Something happened not too long ago, and it's been rattling around in my head for such a long time! Iffin' you don't mind, I think it'd be really fun to talk about it with someone else! It's about this cute little puppet show that some folks found! It's all really cute and charming, but there isn't a lot of information about it, seems like it's become lost media. I'unno why, but I just can't seem to stop thinking about it lately! And I think it'd be a lot of fun to talk about it! But let me know if you need anything else or if you also wanna talk, okay stranger? [Silence] ...Well, I...suppose you're still there! Might as well get started.

[Arson clears her throat, and there's the sound of her straightening her dress for a few moments as she hums and has to herself.]

Welcome Home is an Anti-Fiction, Alternate Reality Game based on a fictional lost media puppet show of the same name. Created by the artist Clown, also known as PartyCoffin, alongside a small team of artists and voice actors, the bulk of Welcome Home's story is delivered through a website that was released to the public on February 16th (according to research I did on Clown's tumblr anyhow, but i'm no historian or Tom Scott, so take my sources with a grain of salt and trust that I try my best. =w='') and details the Welcome Home television show that aired in the early 70s.

The Website is in an old-web style, reminiscent of the Geocities era. In the fiction of the story, it is run by a team of anonymous lost media preservationists called the Welcome Home Restoration Project, and the WHRP hosts information regarding the show itself, including a Biography page for all of the characters, Secondary media for the show like books, audio from vinyl and tape recordings, promotional art, speculative recreations for certain aspects of the show, and News sections for the WHRP to keep readers posted on their most recent findings and updates. On the surface, Welcome Home is a colorful, cheery & cartoony childrens puppet show, heavily inspired by shows created by The Jim Henson Company, such as The Muppets, Sesame Street & Fraggle Rock. The show took place in a small cul-de-sac neighborhood called Home, (Not to be confused with the character of the same name, Home, who is a literal house) and focused on the residents within it. Each episode would start with the main character of the show, Wally Darling, introducing the audience to the happenings in Home and the general theme of the episode. As the episode continued, the audience would follow along as they got to see the rest of the cast interact with one another in delightfully quaint & cutesy hi-jinks, alongside animated breaks and story book segments. However, deeper within the website itself, there's a darker story being told. Astute visitors will find doodles seemingly being drawn out of thin air, leading to macabre recordings of Wally Darling speaking to the audience. Bugs lead to video recordings that aren't listed on the Lost Media sections of the website, of characters from the show interacting with each other, only to cut out just as Wally is mentioned. Eye symbols continue to crop up, Deeper secrets of the WHRP become revealed where the line between reality and fiction start to blur, and among it all, is You. Wallys best friend.

That's all pretty much a surface level introduction to Welcome Home. If you're curious and want to experience everything Welcome Home has to offer yourself, I suggest you visit the Welcome Home website and just start exploring! Anything I could summarize, abridge or describe wouldn't even be half as substantive as what's actually on the website itself, and I feel like doing so would be a disservice to Welcome Homes narrative. Do be warned ahead of time that it IS a horror story dealing in themes of unreality and scopophobia when you dig deeper, so it's good to bare that in mind going in. That being said, Welcome Home's horror aspects are very subtle and understated. I wouldn't call Welcome Home R-Rated, if anything i'd say it's a wonderful introduction to the Horror genre for those who are easily scared, but i'll get more into that later. For everyone else: Harken and listen! For a nerdy trans girl is about to gush at length about topics of niche interest, literary devices of the genre and dissection galore! First things first, I might as well start with how I was introduced to Welcome Home. Which is to say, I don't remember! All I can remember is that I found it, and as soon as I did it sunk its little felt claws into the synapses of my brain and didn't let go. Which, considering the subject matter, is pretty fitting! But as soon as I did, I was enraptured. I found Welcome Home prior to the July 22nd Update, which was the largest thus far since I started writing this, so there was a lot less content to be found than there is now.

Best way I can describe what it felt like, is that it was like watching the Pilot Episode to Welcome Home. And I mean that in the best way possible. All that existed was various bits of art of all the characters, their biographies, a few secrets, and a final page that pulled back the curtain on Welcome Home being an ARG and more of its sinister secrets. At the time, I was entertained and intrigued, but there wasn't enough content for me to properly sink my teeth into. Which was understandable, when Welcome Home started, it seemed as though it was just Clown who was at the helm as the sole captain of the ship! However despite their being a lack of content at the start, what was there made me fall in love. One of the aspects about Welcome Home that I want to sing the praises of to the high heavens is how genuine it is. Lemme break it down like this: Mascot Horror is very popular nowadays, ever since the boom that Five Nights At Freddy's created. Take a nostalgic element from a lot of people's childhoods, twist it on it's head and turn it into a horror story, and go from there.

Now going into the deeper aspects of Mascot Horror, it's origins and effect on popular culture and the Horror Genre at large isn't even a can of worms, it'd be more like digging my hands straight into the Earth to gather every Worm to put on a Worm Boat, Noahs Ark style. BUT I'll summarize a bit, alongside my own personal opinions, in hopes to give some perspective. Now, I can't speak for everyone, but from what i've seen Mascot Horror doesn't have a good reputation at large. Five Nights at Freddy's jumped the shark and sold-out and that's JUST the games themselves, Bendy and The Ink Machine fell flat on its face and the scandals behind the scenes were numerous, Hello Neighbor was a desperate attempt to follow a fad and failed its way into success...somehow??? And to top it all off, Baldis Basics, a game that was intended to be a parody of Mascot Horror, started selling figurines in toy shops to kids because it stopped becoming a parody once children who thought it wasn't a parody actually took interest. Whilst one could argue the early era of FNAF held weight and still hold up to this day (and I wouldn't even argue against that myself), there are a lot of examples of Mascot Horror that are disingenuous, desperate attempts for some level of fame or fortune. If the media you create consists of something targeted towards kids, but also has horror elements for adults, you cast a wider net for your audience, and sometimes that's all people see. Welcome Home is different in one major way, and is one if the most fascinating aspects of it, and i'll describe it in a single sentence: Welcome Home didn't need to be a horror story. Now this isn't a criticism of Welcome Home, or me saying that it's Horror elements are superfluous! Far from it! But so many of Welcome Homes surface elements, in regards to the show being a piece of lost media, are created with such gentle, intentional, home-made style care and genuine love for the story of Welcome Home that I believe if you wiped away all the horror elements of Welcome Home and kept everything else as is, it would still have an audience. I mean, a fictional lost media puppets show with colorful characters, wonderfully crafted art, voice actors putting in their absolute best to portray such a saccharinely sweet cast of characters, with the melancholy of a majority of it being lost to time, juxtaposed by the love, the TRUE kind of love, that it takes for a group of people to recover and find the most they can about a show they might've grown up with? A show YOU might've grown up with? I mean come on, that's so fun and adorable! There ABSOLUTELY would've been an audience for that! Would it be as big as Welcome Home's audience is in reality, horror elements and all? Whilst I can't say for certain, my opinion is that it probably wouldn't. Not for a lack of effort, but as I said before: Mascot Horror casts a wider net. The demographic is far larger if it can cater to a younger audience and an older audience. That's just how advertising works sometimes, as dour and dull as that is to say.

But in spite of that, I believe wholeheartedly that there would've been an audience for that and that the sheer uniqueness of the concept would've sold a lot of people on it. Think about it: When was the last time you heard of an ARG that wasn't horror adjacent? What if you wanted an ARG that WASN'T a horror story? It absolutely would've worked, because the amount of commitment, effort, time, talent and love, pure unadulterated love that's poured into by the Welcome Home Team shines as bright as Sally Starlet herself!

However, as I said previously, I don't believe the horror elements are to Welcome Home's detriment. If anything, the fact that Welcome Home could've existed perfectly fine without a secret horror angle hidden deeper within, makes the horror feel far more tangible and real. As I said previously, one of Mascot Horrors tools of the trade is taking something familiar and nostalgic and corrupting it from within. FNAF worked so well because a lot of kids in the 80's and 90's went to places like ShowBiz Pizza or Chuck E. Cheese, and people who grew up with them tended to be in two camps:

They either looked back on their childhood memories fondly and yearn for the day they were 7, having their birthday party with Chucky & Friends, playing in the arcades and taking home a prize with their hard-earned tickets.

or

They were absolutely and utterly goddamn terrified by the animatronics and it gave them a fun new phobia. Like me!

That was extremely fertile ground for a horror story, and part of the reason it worked so well is because it played at audiences nostalgia and twisted it into something darker. It showed a world where being afraid of the animatronics up on stage wasn't irrational. It could potentially save your life. It took the memories the audience had of places like that and said in a low, gravelly tone of voice, rife with malicious intent, "What if?"

That sticks with people, and it works best when the nostalgic analogue the story is trying to replicate feels real! That there are people in the story who don't know they're in a horror story. Parents that don't know celebrating their childs birthday party at Freddys could harm them. People who don't know that Freddys wasn't going out of business due to lack of funds or a gas leak, but for a reason even darker than that. People who don't know why the animatronics smelled like rotting meat and never will.

Because the more that line is blurred, the more the audience can suspend their disbelief, and the more it drives them to want to know more. To dig deeper into that abyss, to truly hear the wails that come from within, even if they shouldn't. However, the issue that most Mascot Horror falls into is that the false-media that it creates feels flat and lacking of substance. To give an example, we'll use Bendy and The Ink Machine. As opposed to Five Nights at Freddy's using 90's Animatronics and Arcades, Bendy used 1920's Rubberhose animation. And one of Bendys greatest flaws is that it never used that inspiration for anything more than set dressing. You could take the cartoon aesthetic away from Bendy, and all it would be is your standard "Someone summoned Demons for their own gain and it went tits up" story. Aesthetically, Bendy didn't have any legs to stand on because the subject matter of Bendy the Dancing Demon and his silent cartoons didn't feel real or substantive! Bendy didn't feel like they were a cartoon character that had been corrupted from within by demons. Bendy felt like a cartoon character that was purposefully made to harbor demons because the writers couldn't think of a way to make Bendy stand out in a vacuum outside the horror elements.

Early Era FNAF worked because it was carried by a strong aesthetic, clever arcade game-play that created tension and anxiety, and a simple-but-effective horror mystery underlying it all that engaged its audience and made it far easier for them to suspend their disbelief and play in the space. Welcome Home does this as well, but it employs a different tactic: By making the show a piece of lost media, it evokes a curiosity that any other piece of lost media invokes. Starting off with cookie crumbs before building up to finding the cookie itself, but it's broken into pieces with large chunks bitten out, and the trail only gets more fascinating and crummier as it goes.

However, some folks will look at those cookie chunks and think to themselves "How does it taste?" They hold up a chunk to their mouth, take a bite, and are met with the comfort of a home-made chocolate chip cookie, the sweetness inciting them and giving them a sense of comfort and warmth. And just as it started, its gone. All that's left is a void where once there was joy, and a trail of crumbs, and the question of why someone would destroy such a wonderful cookie in the first place? Was it out of malice? Or was it for our own good? But there's no other way to know but to follow the trail.

THAT'S what Welcome Home is. Welcome Home is the metaphor cookie! It's Horror Elements supplement the Lost Media content, and also does something that i've not seen any other Lost Media ARG or Mascot Horror do, much less do successfully: Employ empathy. The cast of Welcome Home are all sweethearts, every last one of them. They're caring, they're funny, they all have different quirks that bounce off of each-other in ways that make them feel like a community just bursting with love! Which makes the darker elements feel less scary and more...sad.

All of Welcome Home's horror elements are draped in melancholy, information getting lost, memories forgotten, friends disappearing, loosing part of yourself to a hungry maw whilst the parts of you that are left wonder "Where did they go? Am I all alone now?" And that feeling couldn't be portrayed more perfectly than everyone's host whose the most, Wally Darling. Wally is special, not just because he's a curios little goober who is fascinated by everything around him, but because there's something that separates him from the rest of the cast. He's the only one who exists in the present tense. Lemme explain:

We only learn about the rest of the cast of Welcome Home in past-tense. In old audio recordings, lost story books, discarded animation cels, they don't exist within the present anymore. They only exist in the past. But Wally, darling Wally Darling, is different. Throughout the website you can find crayon drawings that materialize from nothing, almost as if they're drawing themselves or...being drawn by someone else. Clicking on them leads to small audio recordings of Wally talking to the listener, about how "He can see you", how "He has more eyes than he used to", and wanting to be "Let inside."

All of these audio recordings contain a level of dread, yes, but beneath that, a level of desperation as well. If you go through the website, you'll learn that one of Wally's core character traits is curiosity. He blythley asks questions that most people wouldn't, always fascinated by the world around him in a multitude of ways.

Now, Welcome Home isn't finished. Far from it, I get the feeling that it's only just starting! But with that in mind, there are a lot of things we don't know about the story and whats going on, but one of the core themes is lost memories and trying to find them again. A lot of the WHRP Staff is shown to be desperate for answers, that Welcome Home is absorbing a part of their mind and that they can't let go until they find out whats going on.

And this is only a theory, but I think the exact same can be said for Wally. Wally, as I said before, is the only character who exists in the present tense. He left drawings on the Guest Book for people who left their mark, and the image files of his drawings are him responding to the Guest in question. He's talking to them. He's talking to us. He sees us. He hears us. But only faintly. Only briefly. And he doesn't know why.

But chief among that? He's alone. None of his friends are here anymore, all that remains are the spaces they used to occupy. All that remain are their ghosts...and us. He's reaching out just as much as we are reaching towards him, and neither of us know what we're going to find on the other side. Or if it'll be worth it. Because in truth, Wally is probably just as scared as we are.

"But Arson!" I pretend to hear you cry because you're still not talking, and that's okay I don't want to pressure you but I need a hypothetical straw-man to bounce off of so i'm just going to pretend that you or someone else is refuting my statements so that I can further make a point down the road, but again I want to reiterate it's okay if you don't want to talk I don't want to pressure you and also thank you for listening to me this far in it's very sweet of you!

[Arson takes a large, exaggerated exhale after saying that entire run-on-sentence without taking a breath]

"But Arson!" You cry! "How do we know Wally can be trusted? How do we know he wont do something bad?!" Well i'm glad I am pretending you asked and also glad you're playing in the space! In truth, we don't know if Wally has ulterior motives, or if we're even talking to Wally or we're talking to """Wally""". There isn't enough conclusive evidence for us to figure out his motives, and there are hints that they could potentially have darker machinations. Some of the art that existed prior to the July 22nd Update, on the page that pulled back the curtain, showed art of Wally puppeting around an empty Barnaby walk-around-puppet without it's head on, cheering about how he "Made a dog", and one in particular where he can be seen in the Baphomet pose. However, considering Welcome Home has solidified its concepts more as the series has gone on, it's uncertain whether or not these pieces of art can be considered canon.

But at the same time: We don't know why Wally can see us! How Wally is able to hear our faint whispers, answer us back when we call his name, find the secrets that he himself is potentially leaving behind, or why video files suddenly cut out as soon as another character starts to mention Wally by name. Wally could be under the effects of some sort of curse that he's trying to use as a blessing, or he could be a wolf in sheeps clothing! We don't know!

But the aspect that makes him sympathetic, that makes me believe he's not just a villain, are his friends and how he interacts with them. To the audience, Wally may be some mysterious machevellian entity pushing past the barriers of the fourth wall, but to Barnaby? Frank, Julie, Poppy, Sally, Eddie, Howdy & Home? He's their neighbor! He's their friend! And he acts like it, too! He may be socially awkward and a bit dry, but you can truly tell that he cares for and loves his neighbors! His friends! Us!

Whether or not that love has been twisted, whether the road to heaven paves the way to hell, is yet to be seen, but the clues we do have don't really point at Wally being a traditional horror villain! An antagonist? Maybe, but he's yet to show any outward malice. Thus far...he's just shown hes scared. And all he can hear is us. And he wants to be let in...so...so badly. One last thing i'll go over before I wrap this up is the medium in which Welcome Home tells its story: The Website! Welcome Home's website is chock full of interactive pages full of audio, video, written stories, and secrets to uncover and find. Whether you're interacting with the lost media aspect of the story, or digging deeper into the ARG, there is always a sense of active participation on the audiences part. Like when a character in a childrens show asks a question and leaves a beat for the kids at home to answer, Welcome Home encourages and expects audience participation! You're just as much of a neighbor as the characters in the show! It's engaging, it feeds curiosity and it's a fantastic way to ensure audience engagement! It reminded me a lot of how HypnoSpace Outlaw gameified the process of exploring the early internet and turned it into a puzzle game! Honestly, If the budget is there, I could easily see Welcome Home's website being turned into a stand-alone video game removed from a deprecated browser in the same way Hypnospace works! But funnily enough, whilst the comparison to Hypnospace was what came to my mind first, the more I thought about it, the more Welcome Home reminded me a lot of Homestar Runner! Now, I already spent a large part of this essay/review/ramble/i-want-to-talk-about-something-so-i'm-going-to-write-seven-pages-or-more-about-it-thingy and expected my readers to at least have passing knowledge about FNAF & Bendy through cultural osmosis.

And considering how niche Homestar Runner is in the year 2023, i'm not going to go in-depth about it here, but to put it in very, very, VERY small perspective: Homestar Runner was a flash-cartoon series that began in 2000 and ran through most of 2010 (and still does update from time to time) that hosted all of its content on a single website made by its creators, The Brothers Chaps. One of Homestar Runners defining features were its Easter Eggs, that you could wander around the website and find secret pages and games filled with even more gags and jokes! Now, Homestar Runner wasn't an ARG, and it didn't really have "Lore Drops" in the same way that Welcome Home does except for that one time.

But a lot of its interactive elements and Easter eggs functioned very similarly to how Welcome Home tells it story! Which is a really creative way to iterate on how Homestar Runner worked! Now, I don't know if Welcome Homes interactive website was inspired by Homestar Runner, and my comparisons aren't meant to debase either Welcome Home or Homestar, I just find it fascinating how two different types of stories can use the same interactive elements to completely different effect. That being said, no piece of media is without its flaws, and Welcome Home can sometimes be a bit...obtuse when it comes to its secrets. Specifically in finding them, there are a few secrets that feel too hidden and their solutions too cryptic. The Safe Puzzle comes to mind, for those that know. I wouldn't have ever found that if I wasn't given a hint, because I essentially had to pixel-hunt for the one clickable link in a completely featureless white void. And maybe it's just me, but the answer to the Safe Puzzle felt a little unsatisfying. I essentially had the answer, but without spoiling the puzzle itself, I had to abbreviate the answer instead of writing it all out, and there's no way I would've figured that out on my own.

As for anything else I could criticize, I feel like they aren't substantial enough criticisms to warrant mentioning, especially considering how Welcome Home is still in the process of being told. It wouldn't be fair for me to correct a storyteller when they're still in the middle of telling the story.

To get more personal, i'll end it off with this: During the early stages of the Welcome Home website being up, it had a Guest Book, like how old websites would have one, where people who visited the website could leave their name and a little message for people to find. Since the July 22nd update, the Guest Book had been closed. Whether this was for a Lore reason, or simply to prevent excess traffic to the website slowing things down (Welcome Home is an independent project, after-all) people can't sign the Guest Book anymore, but they left the remaining signatures up for history's sake and...

I was able to sign it before it was closed. On Page 3, you can find me, playing in the space and pretending I grew up with Welcome Home as a kid. Wally if you're reading this, I'm very very sorry, I lied. I didn't grow up with your show, but I wish I did! I just thought it was a game of pretend. I was telling the truth when I said Julie was my favorite though, so I hope that makes up for it a little. Gomen nasai.

And something about that...it feels special. I was able to make my tiny little mark on Welcome Home and how much I loved it. And there's something magic about that, but sad all at the same time. For whatever reason the Guest Book closed is understandable, and I feel it would be indignant of me to tell them to open it back up, but i'm sad that there are some folk who won't get to have the chance I did.

I didn't even know it would be a "chance". In my mind, the Guest Book was going to stay open forever. It was always going to be there, and anyone could get their chance to leave their personal mark on Welcome Home. But now that's gone, and all that remains is what me and everyone else left behind. And I can't help but get this small, lingering feeling that maybe I could've left something else behind. But we can't go back, we can only go forwards and we can only live with what little remains...

Funny, how that works, isn't it?

---------

[Arson lets out a fluterry exhale, almost as if they're reminiscing on something.]

...Good golly, Miss Molly, I sure did go on for a long while, didn't I? I suppose I can't help myself, give me enough time and i'll start gushing about my favorite types of stationary or the stitches on my favorite skirt for another hour!

[Arson giggles] Oh jeez-louise, I should probably go get some tea, sometimes I just talk so long I almost loose my voice! I'm sure my arm isn't feeling very happy having me hold up the phone to my face for so long...

[Another bout of silence, broken up for a moment by the sound of Arson letting out a melancholy sigh]

Thank you for listening, though...I-if you're still there...

I hope you're still there. I guess I...don't really know if you were ever there to begin with but...I guess it's...fun to pretend sometimes. ...Goodbye, stranger...and...thanks for listening.

[Arson hangs up the phone]

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If you want to visit the neighborhood, go to: https://www.clownillustration.com/welcome-home

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