#i just. wish people recognized this for the brainworms it is

[p-inkbrush]

...

[moltensmusings]

If there were 2 companions I would wish more proper content from it would be Wyll and Halsin.

Wyll is a core companion. He's important to the entire story, a hero of baldurs gate that people know from title alone. He should be known and recognized throughout the city. I want a quest for him that is about him and not just him pushing the main plot. He has an abysmal amount of content and deserves so much better. I entirely missed his act 1 quest because I had no idea how to complete it without killing people, and even then I had no clue those people were important because I wasn't with him the first time I ran through. In act 2 he has almost no content, sure we save Mizora but unless you manage to save florence we miss content for him. How are none of the enemies going to react to the literal son of the Duke being brainwormed and present when their plan heavily involves Duke Ravengard.

This is also coming after the recent patch made his act 3 quest of finding the dragon A SUBQUEST. Updated kisses for him are nice, but not only does he have 1 maybe 2 greetings, but he's also lacking so much content that most companions already have.

Why couldn't we get content of meeting people wyll knew as a teenager who he was maybe friends with? I'm guessing we couldn't visit his estate because they removed the uppercity (which also removed Karlach's fully happy ending). I'm holding out hope that one day we get an upper city release and more content for my boy that gives us people we can ask about his childhood.

Now for Halsin, I love him, he's my favorite, but I'm aware he comes second to Wyll as a character who needs more integration. He's a possible companion you get if you side with the Grove and im fine with that, but please can he get more content. Maybe some dialogue, maybe a not exactly romantic scene after his act 2 quest. Just something more. I've also heart that prerelease he was the one who actually killed Isobel and part of his need to fix the shadowcursed land was due to his guilt about that and knowledge that he's largely to blame for Ketheric. That's so incredibly interesting.

We already know Halsin can be angry from how he acts once we reach the city, I'd love to explore what led up to Isobel's death and the connection between him and Ketheric. Can you imagine an act 2 confrontation if they kept that in? Imagine if having him on the team made it impossible to convince Ketheric to stand down. Meeting isobel again and him knowing who she is but being unwilling to speak because he's already guilty enough. A lot of people's biggest issue with Halsin is they find him boring, removing such an interesting part of the lore was such a bad call. Let him be complex.

Give my boys some proper lore Larian, I'm begging you to give them content.

[captain-mj]

WEREBEAR KÖNIG, WEREBEAR KÖNIG, WEREBEAR KÖNIG

First of all thank you for indulging my König x Ghost brainworms. SECOND, I loved it. The implication that König has been heavily collared and probably controlled in the past. *Mwah* good shit. Ghost going feral when he shifts? I need to know more! König and Ghost fully shifted encounter when? I think their dynamic here has a lot of potential.

If you are up for another part I will stay away from your teeth for now, but they are on thin ice.

I’ve thought about this more and I’m prepared!!

Part 1

König was cautious for a while. Being stripped of his mask by Ghost had caught him off guard. He felt weird about it. Not quite as angry as he should be honestly. More just... flustered and embarrassed. Ghost had immediately looked at his scars.

König had at one point started to consider himself handsome. It took him ages honestly, he had just joined the army and bulked up a little instead of being as skinny as a twig. Finally eating properly probably helped.

Then the scars happened. The ones across his face at the very least came from the battlefield. While he definitely thought they were ugly, hideous, nothing like Horangi's or Stilleto's, he didn't hate them quite as much as the ones around his throat. Shame filled him.

He honestly wanted to head back to KorTac. This was only temporary after all, but he needed to stay a bit longer. They were partnering with SpecGru for the time being which means he had to be here... With the angry, scary.... kinda hot lieutenant.

König blushed, wondering where that came. Yes, Ghost was tall. Not König height, but tall enough that he didn't feel like he had to back up and look down to speak to him. Ghost was also so commanding. Broad shouldered and willing to put whoever and whatever in their place. It was admirable. König wished he had that confidence.

One thing they had in common though was the unearthly silence they both had. With Ghost, it felt right. He was The Ghost. A Specter more than a Man. When König snuck up on his teammates or appeared out of nowhere, it was creepy. Off-putting. Where Ghost could lean in that, his whole persona hinging on it, König couldn't. Instead he just freaked people out and got called out for sneaking up on them.

König did not like training very much, Yes, he was well aware he needed to and he did regularly, but he didn't like it. And today, something in the air felt wrong.

He told himself it was just his anxiety again, but it didn't feel like he was being stared at. The air itself had a charge to it. König hesitated and considered just leaving. If anyone asked him why he was leaving before touching a single machine, he'd claim he suddenly remembered a meeting he had to go to. Yeah. That made sense. He could...

Ghost moved to spar. The hoodie he wore over his clothing fell to the floor with a thump, leaving him in an short sleeved shirt. König didn't recognize the other person, so not 141 and not KorTac. Maybe some recruit? Or another person like him from a different group? He didn't know.

They sized each other up. The other person looked very, very determined, but that was how most people looked when sparring with Ghost. König wasn't sure why because Ghost was willing to spar anyone if asked. Just no one was brave enough to ask half the time.

"Need me to go easy on you? Don't really learn if its just me tossing you around." Anyone else and König would've rolled his eyes and chalked it up to him being cocky. But with Ghost, it was just true. He was extremely adept at fighting and sparring was pointless if it was just getting your ass handed to you.

König decided to watch. As did half the room.

"For the first round. Need to warm up." Their voice was deep. König tried to guess his accent, but nothing really came to mind.

They were off. The stranger mostly went with quick jabs and tried their best to avoid Ghost. It wasn't the worst strategy, but Ghost had an impressive amount of stamina for his size, so it wasn't the most effective either.

König noticed someone recording and he thought that was odd. Some people recorded their workouts but this was sparring and it didn���t seem like Ghost to allow it. He shrugged it off. What was the saying? Not my circus, not my monkeys?

Ghost took the person down and they bounced right back up. “How did you do that exactly?”

König crossed his arms. Were they… flirting? Gross. Ghost didn’t pick up on it, instead actually instructing them on exactly how.

König noticed seconds before Ghost did.

The recruit grabbed the back of his mask and yanked.

There was a list of reasons this was bad. Besides the fact that Ghost had broken someone’s arm for touching him before (he insisted it was an accident but didn’t apologize) and could be downright evil in his cruelty with people he interrogated, it was also just mean. Why would someone want to do that? Ghost could be a hardass but never without reason. He was never mean without reason. He was cold and distant but König had a feeling that had little to do with his actual personality.

Of course every one was curious about his face. No one got to see it.

Before the cloth had moved an inch, Ghost shredded his clothing with his shift. People started screaming and fleeing, most of them having intimate knowledge of the fact that Wolf Ghost and Human Ghost were very different creatures.

König decided to stop this before there was a casualty. If he took a second to walk forward, he’d blame it on surprise.

The stranger currently had one of the ropes of the arena in front of them as Ghost frantically tried to get to them through it. Ghost hadn’t had time to think, to busy trying to go right for the throat.

König slammed into his side, sending him skidding across the floor. He stood up and quickly realized his mistake.

Ghost was big. It made sense. Big human equals big animal. But he looked more like the direwolves his omi would tell him than the wolves he had seen on missions.

Ghost had intense black fur and he stalked around König, snarling. But König didn’t think he looked angry. No, he looked scared. It made sense. Wolves were not supposed to be alone and not only did Ghost probably feel alone, this person had just cruelly tricked him.

“Simon.” König tried to reason. Someone was yelling about tranquilizers and he immediately grimaced. “No, just all of you leave.”

Ghost threw himself at König, teeth bared. König quickly tried to dodge, watching those giant dripping fangs almost graze him. He panted softly, backing up.

Ghost stalked forward, standing defensively when König simply stepped forward as well. He knew if he shifted, he could more easily pin Ghost down BUT an equal amount of pettiness for getting yelled at and worry they’d both end up tranqued and with giant headaches later kept him from doing so.

König snapped his fingers and Ghost’s attention fell on his hand. He spoke calmly to the stranger. “Go. Quietly. But keep close by. I’m sure Captain Price will be happy to hear of this.” The confidence he usually got on missions kept him steady.

Ghost glared at him. Bright brown eyes That struck fear into people’s hearts. That appeared from the shadows and dragged the soul to the ferryman personally.

Right now, he looked like a nervous puppy.

König softened a tad, now that everyone was gone he took off his hood slowly and then his jacket, glad he went with a zip up one. They had the room and no one else would come in until one of them gave the all clear. Its why they paired them up.

“You’re not feral.” He spoke softly. “Just spooked. Like a horse. Shifting has never been pleasant for you, has it?”

If Ghost could understand him was still up for debate. But clearly something agitated him because he was trying to get to König’s throat again. Killing bite, fast and efficient.

König finally shifted and they wrestled with each other. He knew normally, Ghost could beat his ass. Hell, if he was a bit more sound, he probably could with both of them shifted. But as is, Ghost couldn’t strategize and König could. Its how he ended up with Ghost on his back, König’s teeth around his throat, careful not to sink in, and his paw on Ghost’s surprisingly soft feeling tummy.

They sat there a while. König able to feel the pulse through his teeth.

It slowed once he realized König wasn’t killing him. He tried to wiggle away but König applied more pressure to his paw and he stilled.

Ghost melted back to a person. It was… shockingly graceful considering how he had acted. König suddenly dwarfed him. He pulled back slowly, ignoring the copious amounts of drool on Ghost’s throat.

Oh.

Ghost was pretty.

He had a strong nose, soft lips and a lot more hair than König had been expecting. It looked bleached and slightly curly, maybe wavy was better. Like König, he had scars. Glasgows along with a few on his cheek that connected to a slice on his ear. König wondered if he had been able to pay attention, if he would’ve seen the chunk from his ear in wolf form too.

Ghost stared at him. Both of them were half naked, bodies aching from unexpected shifts. Ghost also looked lost. Something soft in his eyes. König was careful not to look down, both of them remaining eye contact as is making sure neither broke that rule.

His eyes seemed to freeze over as he came back to himself. “Fucking bastard. Ill eat him alive, shifted or not.” He grimaced as he moved and König wanted to ask how long it had been. Ghost kept himself under wraps pretty well but tons of people snuck out too shift occasionally. Let out steam.

Ghost’s mask had been torn to shreds in the shift. “Fucking hell.”

König didn’t let himself think. He dropped the sniper hood over Ghost. “I had been wearing a neck gaiter in case the hood got too hot. Ill wear that.”

Ghost looked up at him and the word pitiful came to mind. König didn’t like it. “Thank you, König.” He pulled on the hoodie he had dropped before going into the ring. His pants were half shredded but he pulled those on anyway. It would have to do until they got to their room.

König also pulled on his half shredded clothing to follow him.

He wondered if Ghost would join him on a night out if he asked.

[gabessquishytum]

swimsuit issue Dream hath borne brainworms:

so human!au where Dream's workplace is making a swimsuit calendar for fundraising and Dream has been bitching about it constantly to Hob, his only non-work friend.

Though sympathetic, Hob thinks it's absolutely hilarious. So the moment it's on sale, Hob goes out and buys a copy. Matthew, who recognizes Hob as Dream's "friend" (eyebrow wiggles all around), helpfully points that Dream's on the October spread. They joke about it because of course Dream would insist on having a spooky month themed shoot. But the moment Hob turns to October page, he realizes his mistake. It is very much a Halloween themed shoot but it's Dream so he's very much committed to the bit and dressed up like...if the king of dreams and nightmares decided to swan around in teeny bathing suit and a dramatic billowing cape. Hob, face burning and brain melting from his ears, escapes the conversation with Matthew (who abstolutely knows what he was doing).

Next time Hob and Dream meet up for their weekly coffee not-date date, Hob just has a constant litany of "I Know What You Look Like In A Teeny Tiny Bathing Suit. It Was Hot. Might Want You Carnally. And Romantically. And All the Shades In Between." all while Dream, oblivious to Hob's inner turmoil, continues to complain about the idiotic calendar because Desire found out about it and has been so, so irritating about it on the sibling's group chat.

- 🪡

Absolutely yes, all of this.

Dream has NO idea that Hob now has his calendar set to October on a permanent basis. Honestly, he even admits to Hob that he's a bit insecure about the whole thing. The other people at his workplace look so good in their photos, and he's had a lot of friendly teasing about his own photo. He's pretty sure it was flirty teasing but he's not sure and he basically wishes that he'd never agreed to do the stupid thing in the first place.

Hob is like "but??? you look so good??" Thus doubly outing the fact that 1) he's seen the calendar and 2) he thinks that Dream looks good.

But Dream still assumes that Hob is just being a good friend and shakes his head in disbelief. By which point Hob figures in for a penny, in for a pound.

He tells Dream in a hushed voice that he has wanked no less than seven times thinking about Dream in that photoshoot. And he's only had the calendar for a week.

Dream should probably be weirded out, right? But no, he turns the sweetest shade of pink and brushes his foot against Hob’s thigh under the table. There's something rather charming about Hob’s way of getting to the point. Dream’s feelings of insecurity certainly just got blown right out of the water.

Maybe next year they'll make their own calendar together. It's definitely not something that Desire will want to see 😉

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/740123102285086720/all-the-griping-about-ownvoices-claiming-to?source=share

Re: your response:

It's interesting because in the DS9 slash shipping fandom and particularly with Garashir, a lot of people DO write Julian Bashir, a character of color as their perfect woobie they projected on to - he probably gets that more than any other character in that fandom. And then there ended up being a backlash that people were "writing him as white," including in an actual academic paper I saw from someone who is on Tumblr, while they were willing to explore writing him as fully queer and neurodivergent headcanons in fic.

Which is interesting to me because most of the stuff that writes him as queer is stuff that just ships him with Garak or another dude, but doesn't spend a ton of time on his queer *identity*. And I'm personally fine with that; I've read enough coming-out stories and didactic identity explanations in both fic and professionally published/released original work to last me a lifetime. But if writing a COC without drawing attention to their racial/ethnic/cultural identity is "writing them as white," shouldn't writing a non-heterosexual character without drawing attention to their queer identity similarly count as "writing them as straight"?

Anyway, I go back and forth on this because I also understand how Islamophobia and general racism against MENA works, how the "good Muslim" or "good Arab" is one who is as assimilated as possible, and how it can feel with fic that has a COC but doesn't go into their background like that person is only ok with POC *up to a point*. As well as the issues with how in canon, Star Trek's diversity shows a lot of POC but has only started to recognize actual non-Western "cultural" touchstones very recently. (E.g. When they referenced literature, it was always Shakespeare or the ancient Greeks or Poe, never the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Rumi.) I get that. At the same time, I've definitely read stuff especially by non-MENA people which wrote about "his culture" in a very exotifying way that seemed to suggest that that kind of cultural identity is only "real" if it happens in a very stereotypical way. And I also think especially with a character who is so heavily framed as British, with a British accent, played by an actor who is half-English and grew up there.... I've also seen the brainworms in fandoms from Star Wars to Bridgerton with how people can't accept European characters/actors of color as European, and I do wish people would consider how they're suggesting that English identity can only be "white" by acting like it's wrong to ever portray Bashir as English. Something I've heard plenty of British POC complain about as like an attitude in their country that actually harms them.

I think these questions are complicated, because you have racist phenomena on both ends. There definitely are racists who only accept POC if they are as un-POC as possible, if they are assimilated, and see them wearing or saying or doing things that mark them as culturally different as "threatening." But there are other racists who think the only right way to write "diverse stories" is to have them be heavily cultural and represent stereotypes - the poor, urban black American, the Arab who lives in the desert and wears a thawb and is a devout Muslim - and that POC who are not like that talking about their own lives are somehow not "authentic enough." The thing that the movie American Fiction is about.

--

Yeah. Fandom isn't nearly as bad about characters of color overall as some wank would say. Fandom fucking loves Asian characters who are the unmarked leads of Asian media (and no, I don't think it's just because they're pale or because some idiots in the 90s thought anime characters were white).

Bashir was treated in canon in a way that fandom likes. Naturally, fandom took note.

My own woobie blorbo is Rico from Miami Vice. He's much less the single perfect tear woobie than Sonny (his buddy cop partner who is white), but he still comes in for lots of whump and screen time and narrative focus. Ye Olde zine fandom was unkind to him, at least in the m/m parts (though a lot of that is because all of the old slash zines were edited by the same couple who were... like... kinning the ship that he's a rival to).

But a lot of fans who watch that show see a very pretty, very cultured man with epic buddy cop tension with his partner, nice suits, and tons of whump plots, and they're like "God damn, where is the fic???" If canon provides, the fannish interest will be there to at least some degree. (Getting enough good writers in the same fandom at the same time to launch it as a place readers will stick around is another story, unfortunately.)

My personal view, admittedly as a white girl, is that Sturgeon's Law means what we really need is a bunch of canons that dangle tasty blorbos at us and much less policing of fic. And then a solid reccing culture to sort through the bad stuff.

I've seen a lot of complaints about writing characters as "white", and they often strike me as clueless or disingenuous. I'd rather have a bunch of "Oopsie, Garak caught Bashir using the holodeck for kinky roleplay about himself" fics than people with no clue trying to inject MENA stuff that wasn't in the show and that they aren't personally competent to handle. And half the time, this complaint seems to be some sort of unintentionally racist bilge where the speaker thinks the fic is making someone too cultured or too upper class or too kinky or some other shit that has nothing to do with anything.

Honestly, I sometimes think that the real complaint is "How dare fandom sound like the upper-middle class suburbanite bookworms that so many of us are?!?!"

[felikatze]

Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the brainworms you have been giving me and my friends for the past few hours about Ayin and all the analyses you've been doing about him.

I have been losing my mind in the middle of the night thinking about all the things you've said, turning it over like crazy and trying to compare it with the gameplay I've had of Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina.

Please do more analysis and share more of your ideas! Please? Please, with cherry on top? Please, I beg of you?

Especially if you have in-depth ideas of analyses for the Sephirah and how it relates to both their own characters and Ayin and Angela.

I thank you greatly in advance!

the implication that i've infected an entire friend group with my brainworms is power that will 100% go to my head i feel amazing. what else is analysis posting except trying to inflict people with the same thoughts bouncing around your skull on repeat

i DO have shit on the sephirah but mostly netzach, because i love netzach, and i in fact found my discord ramble about him (and chesed)

i dont have things on how they relate to A and Angela specifically because I mainly kept thinking abt Reverbaration Ensemble parallels... i have so many thoughs abt Netzach and Bremen.

(but if you want me to talk about, say, a specific core supression, or floor realization... i have a lot of thoughts on floor realizations.)

First off I am so sorry that you seem to think I'm smart because that means i have the perfect opportunity to inflict you with this

okay now we can get to the serious stuff

[transcript:

containment breach:

quick ramble abt lor again but i love the ensemble receptions so much. i'm at chesed's rn, and i know he's been chill the entire game, but him just refusing to comment on jae-hoon's tragedy seems, out of context, a dick move, but also is so important for chesed to do? he recognizes that another's suffering is not related to him, that he can't do anything about it, and that this is fine. The closest i'd describe chesed in lobcorp would be "activist burnout." Due to betraying the lab from garion's pressure, chesed was so consumed by guilt, he just blamed himself for everything and became more callous because it's already his fault, right? There's nothing he can do. But in lor, he knows what his responsibilities are, and allows himself joy where he can find it. I love the ensemble receptions bcuz they are just examplary of each patron libriarian's growth and i iqbfjc (sobs)

GOD this sure is a paragraph

also have to salute netzach for carrying his scene all by himself as the musicians of bremen just (animal noises) :pray:

ykno being online i realize that i'm not quiet at all i am a complete and utter chatterbox /end]

[transcript:

containment breach:

thinking abt netzach's scene where he doesn't talk to bremen, because he can't, but recognizes this who has not only lost themself in their own art but also their own suffering

i just i love netzach so much his entire character arc is abt learning to live with depression and learning to want to live again

so he becomes unable to understand, really, why someone would sacrifice themselves for their own art

when he started out just, similar yet different from bremen, completely submerged in his own misery

musicians of bremen reminds me i still have bremen bon bons at home i should eat those. they r tasty /end]

i wanna specifically dig into this scene more because i love that scene, a lot.

Art as we get to know it in the City is irrevocably tied to violence. Puppets are made of human bodies, music is played on bones and sinews. To the artists of the City, to create art is to make someone suffer. Rewatching Netzach's story bits, Roland describes it as doing nothing but seeking stimulation and being provocative.

Furthermore, there is a direct comparison between art and alcohol. To paraphrase more, the Pianist must've been one hell of a stimulant, like getting hit by a strong booze. A performance some are still hungover from.

Netzach's main struggle was addiction because of depression, and his growing appreciation for art is a continuation of that arc. He says himself that art and alcohol are linked.

However, alcohol is a step down from hard drugs. Netzach hasn't quit, but just that step down shows he learned moderation, which makes me very proud of him.

Moderation is what the other.. let's just call them artists, lack. I said in the screencaps above, initially, Netzach was lost in his own suffering, and the musicians of bremen are lost in their art. And if art is seen as equal to suffering, that just means Netzach and Bremen are more similar than expected. (Especially considering what we see of the musicians previously; they’re always trying to chase the same high they experienced listening to the Pianist by any means necessary. The addiction parallels are not suprising.)

I rewatched most of Netzach's lor scenes, and what rlly gets me is that in his first one, he seems almost the exact same as in lobcorp. He doesn't want to work, he got dragged into this against his will, he feels as if his accomplishments are futile.

But! He eventually invites Roland for drinks. He's not drinking to forget alone anymore, he's doing it as social activity. Furthermore, the more time he spends as Patron Librarian of Arts, the more he grows to appreciate art. Art is tied to suffering, still, but it is an expression of suffering. It does not produce any. Or should not, in any case. He sure wishes it wouldn’t.

So we arrive at his Ensemble Reception. This one makes a rather interesting comparison: art as the pursuit of the light. Let me elaborate.

To quote, “Honestly, I wanna tell people to stop doing the kind of art that requires ‘em to immolate themselves and others. Although, on the other hand... I can kinda see where they’re coming from. Art narrows your vision, after all.

You stop caring about the things around you. That’s how most artists seem to act, I think. And so, you indulge in the craft, not realizing that you’re throwing yourself and your surroundings into the fire you started.”

I pose this: Netzach speaks of his experience as Giovanni. Giovanni was a researcher who, when push came to shove, willingly sacrificed himself to advance the project, in hopes of seeing the light, seeing Carmen, again.

Though he dislikes Bremen’s actions, he does not judge them for it, because he recognized that it would be hypocritical. Even so, what shows that he’s grown is that he.. doesn’t want to see people harm themselves anymore. The focus here isn’t if Bremen hurt other people, which they have, but how much of themselves they’ve given up for their performance. He condemns the act, and not the people.

“If I can see that light once more... If I have to muster up the courage to reach it, I’ll gladly do it. It’s easier said than done, though; you need a lot of fearlessness for it.

And I guess you saw the same kind of light I was so desperate to see, yeah? Even if yours was a twisted creature... [...] Though, I don’t think I can tell you off like the others. At least I can see the reason behind it.”

He even explicitly mentions the light. The funny thing is, both Giovanni and Bremen tried to reach the Seed of Light, and Carmen. It’s tragically hilarious that we know Carmen is the voice the Distortions hear.

Hell, the more I think about it, the more you can just compare the Ensemble as a whole to the Outskirts Lab crew, down to Angelica’s puppet body and Carmen’s desecrated corpse.

“And I know pretty well that we have no right to devilishly pick apart each other’s way of art. I’m not very proud of mine, really...”

Netzach just.. gets it. I can’t remember atm, but I don’t think the other Patron Librarians really draw parallels like that. I’m seeing all the parallels now and I can’t unsee them ever. Bro.

His “art,” his way of protecting the light, is still violent. But he sees that perhaps it didn’t have to be, or rather shouldn’t be. I fucking love Netzach so much. His arc just means a lot to me personally, and I’d wager a lot of people who’ve struggled with mental illness would agree.

I’m not gonna get into Netzach’s floor realization here because this post is already long enough, but like, look at the specific flashback of Angela shown in Netzach’s story bits and contrast it to his arc of learning to want to live, and. Yeah.