#i really like making lore and stuff but like

[mechncheese]

PLEASE LORE DUMP ABOUT SUNSTREAKER TO ME

LET'S SEE.. IDW SUNSTREAKER MR. TRAGEDY HIMSELF.. Wow I have a lot of saved comic panels of him going through it so let's go on a journey together. I'm definitely forgetting details so for idw Sunstreaker knowers please feel free to add on.

SPOILERS. LOTS OF IDW SPOILERS. WOW.

On Earth he was taken by humans, tortured, and basically used for his transforming tech and they made Headmasters out of him. He was forcefully partially fused (?) with his human friend through Headmaster technology.

Upon being rescued and repaired he still suffers severely from the trauma that the torture had on him. I think he feels disconnected from himself like he can't recognize himself anymore.. AT LEAST THAT'S HOW I INTERPRETED THESE PANELS.

He makes a deal with Starscream and leads the Autobots into a Decepticon trap but it was because he wanted the humans to suffer for what they did to him and y'know what. I can't blame him, I would be the same way if I had to go through that. I WANT TO ALSO MENTION THAT IRONHIDE ACCUSED MIRAGE OF BEING A TRAITOR (it was Sunstreaker) AND ABSOLUTELY BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF MIRAGE OH MY GOD. He tears apart Mirage's Autobot badge and tells him he doesn't deserve to wear it. After finding out the truth, Ironhide is really regretful about it but it's a little too late.

Let's see.. They get attacked by some Insecticon beast things that Megatron made (I THINK THEY'RE ON CYBERTRON AT THIS POINT? I do not remember but they're def not on Earth) and Sunstreaker sacrifices himself to make it up to everyone for betraying them. THAT PANEL WAS HEART WRENCHING SEEING HIM IN THE LARGE HEAP OF CORPSES

So he's presumed dead until he isn't. Ironhide finds him and rescues him but Ironhide has no recollection of what happened to him (If I recall correctly Ironhide also had a fake-out death protecting Hotrod). They're alone on Cybertron(?) everyone left, but Alpha Trion's here and helps them out before ditching them LMAO. Oh also Sunstreaker has a wheelchair now

At some point, Sunstreaker gets a pet insecticon he affectionately nicknamed Bob and the two are besties forever.

Uhh A lot of stuff happens in-between but Sunstreaker eventually ends up on the Lost Light and he took Bob with him (he's no longer in a wheelchair). In Hoist's spotlight, Sunstreaker, Perceptor, Swerve and Hoist have a not so good time. On a mission, Sunstreaker crashes the ship and Perceptor gets fucking melted to the ceiling LMAO. Swerve is bleeding out and of course, Sunstreaker is at fault for crashing in the first place and he starts losing it

BUT IT'S OK THEY LIVE AND GET OUT OF THERE BAHAHA. More stuff in-between I do want to point out that Jetfire's drone D.0.C, Thundercracker's dog Buster, and Sunstreaker's insecticon are best friends and they hang out with each other. At some point, Thundercracker babysits D.0.C, Buster, and Bob on earth IT'S SO CUTE (this was in Revolution)

THAT'S ALL I CAN REMEMBER OF SIGNIFICANCE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. Oh yeah uh Combiner stuff happens with Sunstreaker, Ironhide, Prowl, Mirage, and Optimus, but that's like a whole other thing. Between Sunstreaker, Mirage, and Ironhide, they're chill with each other now.

Also please look at D.0.C and Buster cuddling Jetfire with Thundercracker in the background, thank you for coming to my bot talk

[interact-if]

Our fifth edition of the Black History Month Author Spotlight series, features Mila (@milaswriting)!

(Mila’s game Golden is one of the games I fell in love with when I first got into Interactive Fiction, and it feels like such a dream to be able to interview her now! It’s so interesting to interview someone who’s been in the IF community for a while now, and see how stories—and their authors—change and evolve as time goes by too.)

Author: Mila

Hello! I’m Mila, a twenty-three year old woman from the UK. Something readers may not know (or probably do considering how much I complain about university), I crave academic validation. I got 90% on an essay I did this year and I was so proud of myself that I’m considering doing a PhD. We’ll see if Dr Mila ever becomes a thing, haha.

Games: Golden (Fantasy, romance, mystery, supernatural)

Short blurb: You work for The Everbrook. A multi-agency organisation in the city of Lehsa that bridges the gap between the human and supernatural world. You’ve been working there for three years now, and you’re suddenly forced to work with a group of allies to solve mysteries that have landed right in the palm of your hand.

Quote from the interview

I wish I could say I’ve had amazing encounters with vampires, magical beings and werewolves to inspire Golden—but that isn’t exactly the case. I’ll let you know if that ever happens though! I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm, more so as a young adult than when I was much younger, but usually the portrayal of poc characters in media wasn’t always shown in a positive light. Or poc characters, when it came to romance, weren’t given the lead roles where a swoon-worthy romance story was played out. To, sort of right those wrongs, and have other black readers like myself, be able to see themselves in the characters of stories—I created a diverse cast of ROs.

Read on for the full interview!

Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?

I’m currently working on a fantasy supernatural interactive fiction, Golden. Officially, Golden is five years old now. I released it in December 2020 and was regularly writing and working on it for a couple of years. And then I noticed that as I grew from an eighteen/nineteen year old teenager, the ideas I had for my story were different, thus I wanted to make a few changes. A few changes turned into a lot of changes. And now I’m in the process of a whole rewrite, alongside moving to Twine. 

Covid was in 2020, and that’s ultimately the year I got into reading interactive fiction too. I first read fanfics of an interactive fiction game, then read the original story itself, and got really into the process of the reader being able to make meaningful choices that impact their reading experience. That was a supernatural story too, and that’s how I ended up creating my own. 

When it comes to the changes I’ve made to Golden, the inspiration came from a lot of things. One being my love for mystery, crime and psychology—I wanted that incorporated into the story I’m writing. I love the element of lore and world building, so that’s how I knew the fantasy/supernatural element would be in there. Additionally, my love for found family and complex characters also inspired me to write this story, but to also make the changes I have. Lastly, I’m a hopeless romantic at heart, I adore the stuff! So reading and writing good romance is everything to me. 

How has your identity, heritage/background, upbringing, or personal experiences influenced your storytelling or writing process? OR How does your work feature aspects of your identity / experience?

I wish I could say I’ve had amazing encounters with vampires, magical beings and werewolves to inspire Golden—but that isn’t exactly the case. I’ll let you know if that ever happens though! I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm, more so as a young adult than when I was much younger, but usually the portrayal of poc characters in media wasn’t always shown in a positive light. Or poc characters, when it came to romance, weren’t given the lead roles where a swoon-worthy romance story was played out. To, sort of right those wrongs, and have other black readers like myself, be able to see themselves in the characters of stories—I created a diverse cast of ROs.

B Holden was the first one I created. I already knew they were going to be a werewolf, and I wanted them as a character to be the complete opposite of how a werewolf is usually described and portrayed. Aggressive, animalistic, dangerous—yet, I’d like to think that B is, and comes off as, someone who is the sunshine that lights up a room, someone who’d make you feel good on a bad day, a kind of person you’ll always want around. From my own personal experiences, I’m a nursing student and I’ll be graduating this year and going into a working environment. I think the changes to Golden emulate that, instead of being a student, the MC is navigating the supernatural world themselves and they’re very immersed into it.

What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you?

Oh! So, the background is that I love The Naturals series and The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and I got to meet her at a book event in my hometown. And during her talk, she said that she writes with a ‘Writer’s Hit List’. On that list, the writer jots down all of their favourite things that they love about characters, or elements they want their story to have. It’s a bit like a word dump, for example, ‘loves characters that enjoys baked goods’ or ‘loves when character speaks multiple languages’. 

Then you end up with a super long list of traits you’d like to give your characters or factors you want your world to have. And you can get your inspiration from literally anything, so that’s something fun to have. You can add to it when you’re not thinking about writing, and then when you have writer’s block, or just want some inspiration, you can open your notes app and see what you wrote down.

Currently, whilst juggling uni and personal life, on my days off/working from home, when I get a burst of inspiration I usually open up my laptop and write in my bedroom or the living room. And whilst writing, I put on ROs’ playlists that I’ve made on Spotify. My new RO, Ireland Monroe, their playlist has been extremely helpful in motivating me to write.

What’re you excited to tackle/implement/work on next? Or anything you’re looking forward to in the year ahead?

I’m excited about getting this rewrite out! I’ve felt really guilty about keeping readers waiting so long for content from me, or just disappointed in myself that I haven’t been able to produce content as quickly as other authors. I know it’s a terrible thing to compare yourself to others, but sometimes it’s one of those things you can’t help. We’re into February now and I genuinely think that I’m getting better at telling myself to just work as best as I possibly can. 

But, yeah, I’m excited for people to read and see how Golden’s developed with me as an individual. It’s interesting considering the story has grown up with me, and it’s sort of taken its own shape and whispered to me, “I know you want to change me, don’t be afraid to do so”, and now my nerves about that are near enough gone. 

I just want it to be a good writing year overall! So, I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that the story ideas that play in my head everyday are able to be transferred to screen so others can enjoy them.

If you were to say one thing to your readers, other authors, and/or the interactive fiction community: what would it be? OR If you could change one thing about the interactive fiction community, what would it be?

My advice to readers would be that as writers, we definitely write our stories as an escape and whilst it’s important to write for ourselves, we write with the hopes that you enjoy it too. If there’s a particular scene or character or story that you love, definitely tell that author. It’ll make their day, their week, even. It’s such a wonderful feeling to hear from you guys. And also, just continue to consume the content that’s put out. And just a personal thank you to the readers I have for being patient with me. 

For authors, I’d say to have fun writing. If, in your gut, there are changes you’d love to make to your story, then do so. Remember that, no matter what, there’s always going to be at least one person that loves what you write. Always. So, if it’s motivation you want to continue putting words onto paper (or a screen), then that’s it. I also think it’s fun adding a little bit of yourself into your story.

Any books, music, movies etc. you’re obsessed with at the moment, or which changed your life (or perspectives on something)?

I read The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and it’s absolutely changed my brain chemistry for the better. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes mystery with a romantic side plot. I love YA murder mystery books, so A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, books by Karen McManus. I also love Taylor Jenkins Reid. And, as its black history month, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is my favourite black author and she writes queer mystery/thriller books. My favourite of hers is Where Sleeping Girls. 

Music: I adore Billie Eilish (Hit Me Hard and Soft should’ve won a Grammy, I will die on this hill!) Noah Kahan and Sam Barber are artists I’ve really been loving at the moment. Gigi Perez as well, Sailor Song and Fable are songs I can never skip. 

This-or-that segment: (red = Mila's pick)

Coffee or tea?

Early mornings or late nights?

City or countryside?

Angsty or Cozy romances? (Or enemies-to-lovers or best-friends-to-lovers?)  

Steady progress or frenzied binge-writing followed by periods of calm?

Summer or Winter?

First drafts or editing?

Introvert or extrovert? (Gosh, I’m SUCH an introvert)

Plotter or pantser?

Characters or plot first?

Write your own “either-or” pairing: vampires or werewolves? (don’t tell B or K I even asked… I can’t pick between my faves, so I’ll let you guys choose :D)

[khorren]

I really wish there was a way for norn to get their shapeshift abilities into play without it being the whole "oh it's a racial skill and it's just for shits and giggles", therefore no-one uses them.

They would make really cool combat tonic-like forms. Would revert to your normal form for things like mounting and other special things, much like how combat tonics already work. But imagine having a really cool animal form while still doing your normal combat stuff? Cmon, that'd be so baddass.

The models would also need a bit of a glow up to today's standards, rather than the 2012 model, cos man, some of them are a bit rough. Both looks and animations. Yeah yeah, I know, little payoff for a fair bit of work. I can dream ;_;

It would also allow for norn revs to get the forms! Since rev utility skills are bound to the legend. I've seen far too many rev norn players be completely unaware that norn can transform. They see an npc do it and go "holy crap what's that!?" like they completely missed out a whole chunk of lore about their chosen race.

I just really really want something unique for norn and can pull it away from "hurr hurr big humans" because I'm tired of throwing hands at people who do this.

[zsakuva]

I'm sure this has been asked, but I had found your stuff recently and absolutely love how the different characters are with each being just as charming as the next. My question is what is the thought/writing process? I am wanting to be better at defining my ocs and characters without falling into the same trope and behaviors the characters have exhibit. Obviously there are different methods for different people, but I'll like to know a little bit of the process for you. Do you have any tips to make the voices distinct and consistent through out a piece of writing?

Thank you!

For me, because I have a proclivity for world-building (meaning I am absolutely obsessed and must know the lore before I do anything), I like to understand the path a character has chosen. Their past experiences and upbringing have a dramatic impact on how they shape their own life, and that informs me of how a character acts, talks, and how they both see and react to the world around them.

I'll use Isaac Rhoades as a brief example (I wrote brief but this is not brief at all, my bad xD).

From the beginning, Isaac was written with a sealed heart and a cold personality. He's an articulate and smart man, a workaholic, but he lives in solitude.

I always ask myself how and why a character is who they are, and what decisions they made/experiences they've had to bring them to this point.

For Isaac, his background paints quite the picture:

Born to loving parents, and his grandfather is a successful private investigator — The early part of his childhood nurtured love and care. His mother in particular showed him what it meant to love unconditionally.

His parents are murdered because of his grandfather's choice — Isaac was taught that even the people you love can hurt you, and that nowhere is a safe space.

Learning under his grandfather — Because of his vast portfolio and cases, Isaac is taught more about the workings of the world, and how to stay cautious. There was no space for fun or games; his only objective was expanding his knowledge in many subjects that his grandfather deemed worthy.

Getting stabbed by the maid — This reinforced the thought of a perpetual threat and the need to stay vigilant. It instilled paranoia in him to trust no one.

University in England and Andrew — Here, he remembers the love of his childhood, but also the threat of losing someone else because of his own decisions, taught by his grandfather.

Learning the reason of his grandfather's decision — Isaac was taught that there is always more to one person, for better or worse, as taught by the maid. Due to this and what he's learnt thus far, Isaac decides to seclude himself so he's never forced to make that kind of choice.

Succeeding his grandfather — Being a private investigator opened his eyes to humanity's extremes: the lengths they would go for their own desires at the detriment of others, and the yearning others had to better the world. His work reminds him of his life experiences, and these beliefs constantly clash.

Isaac is distant and cold at first because his life taught him not to trust anyone—even the unassuming—and he doesn't want to let anyone in; they could either betray him, or he could lose them. And yet, despite that, his mother's teachings managed to peek through when he saw Pickle in the alley, alluding to his true nature. Through Isaac's story, his internal struggle begins to rear: desperately wanting to feel love again, but knowing the cost if he does give in and the inevitable choice he might have to make if he opens his heart again.

Isaac is articulate and smart because of his grandfather's teachings. One can assume he stayed in that house for the rest of his teenage years until he left for university, so the only person he really interacted with was his grandfather. Because of this, he's factual, precise, and seldom makes jokes because mostly every conversation had been connected to work in some form. Small talk is a waste of time, and he doesn't indulge others unless there's a reason for it. He's meticulous with when to speak and when to listen.

Isaac is a workaholic because that is what his life has been shaped to be, also likely influenced by his grandfather. He has money, but continues to work. Why? Perhaps it's because he'd be without purpose otherwise. Or is it because he feels it's his duty to continue in his grandfather's footsteps and find the one thing that matters in the ocean of bullshit?

All of this shapes who Isaac is. It wouldn't make sense for him to have the same disposition as Andrew. Though they are similar in ways (articulation, education, work addiction), they take different forms and stem from the unique experiences they've lived. Where Andrew can engage in small talk (he had a freer childhood, a rebellious and fun twin brother, and more public school education/social interactions), Isaac can't. And though they both carry the weight of their own regrets alone, Andrew chooses to live with what he has, but Isaac chooses to endlessly bear the weight of the world and live up to his grandfather's bravery.

SO. With that being said, a suggestion I can give is to constantly remind yourself who your character is with every decision they make. Is it true to them? Does it make sense for them? But remember, humans are also notoriously contradictive, and one is not the same as another. We experience and react to the same conditions in completely different ways; who you are and what you've been through can determine the outcome.

I hope this has helped in some form of way!

Again I apologise for this monstrous post have fun writing aaaaa-

[dr-spectre]

I heard about how in Bancala Walker there was a short story about Marina and Acht and their time in the domes. And I'm gonna be 100% honest with you. It kinda makes me mad, and it really highlights a massive problem with Splatoon as a whole, and that's how it treats its stories.

(Yep I'm rambling about Splatoon's storytelling for the 500th time, welcome to my blog.)

Since Splatoon 2, the series has had a weird relationship with its storytelling, the main stories of each campaign are very simplistic and are very video game like plots. "Go get the Great Zapfish back and save Captain Cuttlefish. Go get the Great Zapfish again and find Callie. Find the thangs and get out. GO GET THE ZAPFISH AGAIN AND SAVE CAPTAIN CUTTLEFISH AGAIN!!! Climb up the tower." Splatoon 1 got away with this because it's clearly the most "tutorial" mode out of any of the single player campaigns and it doesn't really try to say any deeper messages or express a character arc.

Now, obviously video game stories must have goals for the player to work towards, I'm not complaining about that, you gotta have that stuff in games to motivate the player, however, what really drives me up a wall is when they decide to add depth and interesting things relating to the characters and world, yet they intentionally throw away that same depth and chuck it to the side. Hell they sometimes retcon the optional hard to find lore or make it more confusing just because!! If you're gonna add depth and something else to these stories, you HAVE to actually explore it and expand upon it WITHIN THE STORY! You cannot add it as "extra lore" when it's stuff that should have been in the main storyline to begin with. It's like not adding seasoning to chicken and that you boiled the fucking chicken and wrapped it in lettuce and mayonnaise.

I could obviously talk about the elephant in the room... you know... this little goober right here. This freak.

And I'm going to.

From the concept art we were given, we know that Callie was originally gonna have more exploration into her troubling mental health issues as seen by her being in the shadows and being comforted by Octarians. It's a significantly different tone compared to the final product.

However in the final game, they tossed MOST of this shit away and say in the game as well as in official media, "naw she was kidnapped and brainwashed forcefully because she's a dumb clutz lmao." They tried to backtrack with an obscure relationship chart, the sunken scrolls and Squid Sisters web prequel series, but then they backtracked AGAIN with the Splatoon 3 artbook that states that she was "brainwashed." It's an incredibly simplified and frankly insulting version of events that are TECHNICALLY canon but Nintendo and others don't treat it as such and i don't know why. I dont know why they treat Callie like this. Is it because she's silly?

Wouldn't it be more interesting and more powerful as a story if they made Callie had more control and awareness of her actions? That she was truly acting upon her mental illness and isolation? Putting DJ Octavio, the fucking funny octopus guy on the same level as Talon from Overwatch and Hydra from Marvel, the literal nazis who damaged Bucky Barnes' brain and removed all of his memories, making him into the Winter Solider, is fucking psychotic and actually insane of Nintendo to do.

There is also Acht and how they were shown between Octo Expansion and Side Order.

Some of the most powerful stories in media have strong character arcs and characters overcoming their struggles and pain. It is inspirating and incredibly real to see a loved one reach out to a person that they care about who have lost their way, either from mental illness or drugs. Trying to bring them back and help them go through their pain together. When someone is under distress and mental health troubles, they can act like a completely different person and the fact that Nintendo half assed serious topics like this and made shit WAY WORSE boils my blood to no end.

In Octo Expansion, we were told that they went under Sanitization willingly in order to remove doubts in their mind and put their all into music. Now due to the unknowns of Sanitization at the time, this made for a really interesting character and brought up a lot of interesting questions as to why they would do this and who they are.

However, in Side Order when they explained Sanitization further and told us that Acht lost all of their free will and were FORCED to make music for Tartar, it kinda damaged their story a little bit. Like sure, Acht still probably wanted to go under Sanitization to clear their doubts and remove emotion, but the added information kinda goes against the interesting story they were trying to tell with Acht. Acht doesn't even mention why they went under Sanitization in Side Order and their reasoning is only found IN A SOCIAL MEDIA POST BACK IN 2018!!! THEY DON'T RESTATE IT AT ALL WHEN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT TO DO SO! They kinda tell us via their letters, but guess when you get those, IN THE POST GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This leads me to another big talking point, most of the lore is hidden and hard to find. You have to go out of your way to find most of the shit Splatoon has to offer. Sunken Scrolls are hidden collectables and most people don't wanna go through the effort of finding them all in the stages, the chat logs in Octo Expansion are completely optional due to entries being tied to specific stations and you can choose to easily skip them, the dev diaries are locked behind lockers and some people may complete Side Order in a manner where they can get to the final boss and be done with the main campaign before seeing most of the entries. Now I'm not saying that there cannot be extra lore tidbits for players to find, hell no, i love extra stuff like that, i think Splatoon 1 and 3's hero modes did a really job of that. BUT WHEN YOU HIDE AWAY IMPORTANT DETAILS LIKE CALLIE'S MOTIVATION IN SPLATOON 2 AND MARINA'S AND PEARL'S BACKSTORIES!?!? YEAH I GOT A FUCKING PROBLEM RIGHT THERE!

In other games, these would be cutscenes or a bunch of mandatory dialogue, BUT NOPE! THEY ARE IN HARD TO FIND SPOTS!

Some of the other lore details are found on social media posts and some of them are YEARS old or on Splatoon's dead Tumblr account. Most people would rather go to Inkipedia and even they can sometimes make vital mistakes or have wording that gives people the wrong idea on what happened in particular events, which heavily impacts the community and discussion. When i talk about my perspective on what happened to Callie in Splatoon 2, I've seen people say to me "wait really? Huh?! I didn't know that." The amount of research you gotta do to go into these characters is an absolute nightmare, AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE SPLATBANDS!!! Their lore is literally locked behind Japanese exclusive expensive artbooks!!! WHY?!?!

I really do wanna stress again, is it cool to get cool lore outside of the games and as collectables?! ABSOLUTELY! You know how awesome it was to read the Alterna logs for the first time? The smile on my face seeing Pearl and Marina back in the Final Fest in Side Order. But when the main stories suffer because of important information being tossed to the side and not applied to the main games... I dont know man, it just becomes incredibly frustrating to me personally. Especially with all the misconceptions and other things that occur within the community, the fandom has an information problem and honestly, it's Nintendo's fault. Imagine if Side Order had flashbacks to a younger Marina and Acht, it would have helped with the middle chunk of the story being so... nothing.

[klonoadreams]

IM LOSING MY SHITTTT

OUR NEW MANGA YUU IS A GYARU

IM JUSTB DJDKXKKF

You have to understand that Yuu (ewe) was made with gyaru in mind, as she slips in their usual slang and WHY she gets along with Cater the way she does.

Floof was also raised in the countryside with her grandparents before she was forced to move in with her bio dad and his family who want nothing to do with her (new lore drop: Floof was also an oopsie baby from a cheating fling, beyond just being an illegitimate child).

She admired the gyaru she would see and always wanted to be like them because of how lively and popular they were (and also how they stood out but were confident), but she couldn't really afford any of the fashion, make-up, and the like, as she was given the piss poor bare minimum by her bio dad.

She was unwanted by her new family, but she saw how even when gyaru weren't as accepted by others (gyaru subculture has a bad rep for party girl stuff of sleeping around, for its nonconforming nature against traditional Japanese beauty standards and just standing out in the crowd), they still stayed confident and outgoing. Even when getting into trouble.

Floof wanted that energy for herself. And now she's finally making use of it for herself, and look at where she is now. When two became one, Floof lost some of her inhibitions because she knows nothing and no one. She's freer than she's ever been before.

Floof and Yuuna would be best friends. I'm still laughing because it feels like I manifested this girly lmaooo.

REMEMBER, Floof's voice claim is Fairouz Ai, who solidified the gyaru aspect.

from Hibiki Sakura and especially FGO Sei Shonagon. Lmaooo

[e-vay]

I saw that you added Agent Stone to your AU and I wanted to ask about it—the EVay AU itself. I noticed that some parts of Sonic Boom are in it as well as parts from the games, and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think at some point you said that the Boom!Baby comic isn’t canon in the official universe? I got a little confused about what was canon for your AU and what wasn’t, so I wanted to ask if you could maybe provide a little guide on the EVay AU lore if it’s not too much trouble?

One thing you have to keep in mind is that I've been posting illustrations of my "AU" for over 11 years (and if you count just me creating "Aurora" herself, we're talking closer to 25 years) so there's going to be discrepancies from when I first started posting.

Back then, I didn't understand how AUs worked and so I thought I had to separate the game universe and the boom universe, so on my older posts you might see me say something like that. But having been doing this for awhile now, I realized that when it comes to fan-stuff it's really just whatever you want. There are no rules, you can mash things up and you can change things as you see fit.

I made a guide to my AU and I update it as things about my stories get added and changed. I also have a link to it saved in my pinned post. It's safe to say that if it's in the guide, it's canon to my AU.

I am sorry for any confusion I give any of you guys. I'm not one of the official writers/artists, I'm just a fan of Sonic like all of you are, so though I try to make my stories clear and consistent, I didn't hold myself up to the same standards as the official writers to keep my lore rigid and unchanging. I never expected my content to blow up the way it did, so it never occurred to me that I should have everything about my AU figured out before I started posting about it.

But again I think that's the beauty of fan content: it's not permanent, so it can be an ever-evolving thing without needing a 'reboot' like in official media.

[dandysworldhcs]

VERY SILLY KINDA LONG miscellaneous theater twins headcanons because theyre my children legitimately. also because if im not an annoyance with an ask constantly in the queue i feel like a disgrace<3

dazzle would be like a professional ultrakill p-ranker. he has that reaction time and that precision and that quick thinking also he'd just love ultrakill,,.

razzle would have a raging crush on folly regretevato r

they have extremely different tastes in music but they both think the other's is okay. razzle would listen to a lot of indie pop and dazzle would 100% fall alseep to breakcore and hardcore like i do

they would play roblox together and when pplaying something like murder mystery theyd always be each others first victim

dazzle would play rain world and be really into the lore side. he would lose sleep weeping over saint campaign. just like me

razzle would also play rain world but be more intrigued by the "haha im a silly creature in a big world" than the lore

razzle would be shellys a bajillion percent bestie and shelly would recommend him books and make him interested in zoology and stuff. he would be obsessed with wolves bc i said so

I LOVE THEM! i want to be known by tha fandom as "the razzle and dazzle guys"

oh my god these r so peak im adding some of these into my stash

[purpdrawsthings]

Immediately saw that post and went, HOLY I NEED TO SPEED RUN THIS

Took me like 1 hour and 23 mins 💥 [thx IbisPaint for recording teehee 💜]

@grinnames UR LUCKY cuz I swear both of their old designs were the most complex type of shi you've ever seen you're safe sihdishsidhdihdi

Funni fact those 'no texture' scars are actually scars from something that happened to GSP and also mentally + physically scarred him hehe it's canon lore 💥

Anyways, time to yap!

The weird looking GSP you see that looks like a ghost is a like a phantom form! Only 3 can see + hear him. GSP does love to annoy the hell out of 3 when he's trying to concentrate, though he'll try his best to find a way to get 3 outta his body and get it back.

3 now has GSP's abilities! This includes using his folders, and those star thingys!

Instead of the folder being able to uncorrupt glitched/corrupt beings, it can either absorb them and make 3 stronger, or he can make stuff corrupted with it =D

And the star thingys uh.. Throw them around + their very sharp?... Okay that's kinda cool.

As time goes on with GSP's plans of trying to get his body back repeatedly fail, miserably, he never gave up somehow. Though, he those start to get little.. 'Attached' to 3? It's like their frenemies but they're not [it's really complex lmao]

4 is still weirded out by the whole him shouting at the air thing but he does eventually know what was actually happening and teases 3 about it everytime he yells at GSP.

Anyways that's about all I wanna Yap about teehee I might do more maybe? Prolly not idrk I speed ran this too hard anyways yeetus I might send doodles about these two later AHHHHHH-

[xiomara42]

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe I've actually started writing a little something. I haven't written a story since I was 20 (that's more than 20 years ago folks!) and I think my last fanfic was about BG2! Guess all the fabulous fanfic writers in this community inspired me. And Emmrook of course, let's not forget that.

I have this little idea in my head, I'm taking some liberties as I'm really not a DA lore buff but I'm having fun! So here's a bit...

PS: I'm not a native english speaker so... like yeah...

Painted gold

The meeting had dragged on for four hours, and Rook had spent most of it wondering which of them would be the first to pull out a blade and knife the other.

She’d always been more of a let’s just get on with shit type of person, but today had been filled with faction meetings—endless talking, cajoling, and trying to sway people to her side. Absolutely exhausting. Her head had felt twice its normal size.

Even now, tension clings to her. Her body is still jittery, starved for movement. She contemplates hopping to Rivain with Taash, running a mile or two along the beach with the waves lapping at her heels, the breathing rush of the sea calming her frizzed nerve endings.

But no—it is late, and she doesn’t fancy breaking her neck running in the dark. Rivain’s beaches tend to be littered with bones. The thought of spearing her foot on one sends a shudder through her.

She steps from the rippling surface of the Eluvian, leaving a blurred vision of Antiva behind. The heels of her boots make echoing clicks as she walks from the Eluvian room to the library above. It must be later than she thought. There is no sign of her companions—only a cold cup of coffee left forgotten on the table.

She nabs the last biscuit from a plate littered with crumbs and stuffs it into her mouth. In three quick chews and a swallow, it’s gone.

Idly, she walks around the table, perusing the books left open or bookmarked. Is it too late to go to the kitchen to get something to eat? Lucanis would probably still be awake anyway—sleep seems just as elusive to him as it does to her some nights.

She sighs and puts down the book she’d been looking at. She isn’t hungry—just restless.

Maybe I can go count the fish in the aquarium…

Her feet drag a little as she mounts the stairs to the balcony, one hand trailing lightly along the railing. A soft flickering light spills from Emmrich’s doorway as it opens a crack.

“Rook?” His voice calls hesitantly.

Their relationship is still in its early days, and they’ve both come to an unspoken agreement that it should remain just between them—for now, at least. Not anyone else. Not just yet.

They’ve shared a kiss, some longing caresses… Rook is happy cupping their little flame in the palm of her hand. It’s far too delicate a thing to be out in the open.

“Emmrich,” she answers, her feet coming to a stop by his open door.

“Darling,” he breathes out.

[spoolziecore]

you dont know how much that question means to me.

OKAY. SO. the characters pictured are like. artistic depictions of me and my friends characters in this minecraft smp were in (RebootSmp) that is a moreorless peaceful server (with no griefing allowed, keep inventory on and overall just a peaceful vibe to it,) but what it lacks in in gameplay, it makes up for with lore!!!

The lore for RebootSMP is really long, but TLDR; back then, before the tribes existed, hybrids and non hybrids lived peacefully, some friends, some neighbors, some even lovers. Until, a group named the Reservists was formed, a group of non hybrids that despised hybrids and saw them as overpowered. Years and years flew by as the Reservists grew and grew— until, chaos struck.

The Calamity; devastating event that destroyed the human and hybrid connection forever. By that point, the Reservists had gained enough members to take down several communities; and so they did. They targeted the strongest hybrids, seeking to make the go extinct - but not without getting what they desired most first.

All hybrid species lost a significant amount of members, but several went completely extinct, these being the cave spider, elder guardian, endermen, ender dragon, warden, iron golem, piglin brute, wither and wither skeleton hybrid species. These species now no longer exist, yet remnants of their past can be found throughout the world. At most, it's possible that one or two have survived, but it's highly doubted.

The fish (the sun in this depiction) is named Deez. Copy pasted from his official lore that the creator of Deez sent; Deez was a literal doorstep baby, aka orphan. Ended up on a sweet old lady(who lived alone)'s door one day and he was taken in, he doesn't know who his real parents were and is pretty clueless about it. After he grew up, he moved out. Trying to find a place to settle and stuff, where he met Rowan. The reason why he was like. ditched and stuff; They (Deez's parents) were blessed with this dumb little shit and were happy one day, until they realized "hey maybe our child could grow up and have elder guardian features." And just had to find a new home for him, obviously he didn't inherit the cool features but they didn't knew since, he was still just a little fish fetus. So, they just put him in a basket and put him on a doorstep. Why didn't they choose to put him at an orphanage? I don't know, maybe because they didn't trust him with an organization that's run by non hybrids.

Rowan is the cat (the moon in this depiction), i havent exactly made a full backstory for them yet, but, heres what ive thought of so far; Rowan was a golden child, winning competitions left and right, being loved by their parents, until they found out who they really were.

They tried to come out to their parents, but their parents told them what they are is 'disgraceful' and 'going against gods order' or whatever, and kicked them out at 17 or so years old.

They wandered the taiga forests for a while, their fur growing to adapt to the cold, unforgiving winters and snowfalls, that was when they found Deez.

yeah. thats it!! this post is. so long i am so sorry UMMM BUT YEAH!! also sidenote Deez and Rowan see eachother more as siblings compared to partners in crime so do with that information as you will ^_^

heres them in minecraft :3 ignore the fact deez is headless his skin is literally a fish. ummm. Their duo name is Inverted Duo because blue inverted is orange!

like. this is literally his skin.

Bore the shadows that you made, With ⠀ no ⠀ light ⠀of ⠀ my ⠀own.

[tw1nkee28]

No one asked for this, but I really needed to infodump about him to someone or I was gonna go insane.

˙⋆✮ Info about my CoD oc, 'Dawn'! ✮⋆˙

⚠️Warning!⚠️ There will be a lot of words and one image containing (mild) nudity below the cut. (A shirtless man, in case you are uncomfortable with such)

The first image is a reference for the finer details of his character such as his hairstyle, his facial details like his nose and eyes, and his major scars.

The second image is more of how I envisioned his body type, but I struggle with consistency and being able to convey some bodies in different angles and intricate poses.

——————————————————————————

These are just some drawings I've made of his character as I was developing him.

While he is a rather calm individual, being stoic and silent most of the time, he does still get rather angry on the inside. Which is what I was trying to convey in the first image.

He respects his peers and superiors, but when they do legitimately stupid shit, he can and will rock their shit depending on how bad it was.

I've included this in his lore before but I am too nervous to share some of the finer details of his lore and will only be vaguely referencing it, sorry ☹️🫶

——————————————————————————

I made a janky, very brief timeline of his career above.

Now, I haven't filed through complete details so some things such as his rank and experience in the field may or may not be entirely accurate with the time he was working especially since I made his character on the fly and did little to no research at first. Only now am I actually trying to expand his character and lore and am realizing I did not do nearly enough research. Most of this is just what I thought sounded nice at first.

——————————————————————————

More in-detail information below ↓

Name: Julius Harper Aliases: Dawn, 7-28

Nationality: Filipino Ethnicity: Eastern Asian

Age: 32 DoB: June 19, 1992

Pronouns: He/Him Gender: Cis Man Sex: M

Sexuality: Unlabeled, prefers men

Height: 6'2

Languages: Tagalog, English, FSL (Filipino sign language, for Dusk)

Which CoD universe: Modern Warfare (ii)

Branches of Service: Marine Corps

Affiliation: Shadow Company

Specialities: hand to hand, a variety of front line infantry skills, long range, basic first aid

Personality: usually grumpy and quiet. switches between sassy, rude, and teasing(towards close people) and quiet, obedient, and stoic. He's technically a strong and silent type around most people, usually very distrusting and distant. He's very good at following orders unless they're outright stupid, then he'll put up a fight about them.

Backstory: (my attempt at being brief, sorry🙏) given to an (underground) training organization with unconventional training methods at a young age, was tortured and ridiculed for disobeying (his scars on his face and chest🫶), escaped with force when he was 17(nearly 18). Had to travel by himself to the US and rely on strangers to get him there (no money to his name).

Eventually joined the Marines at 20, met Dusk (his Colonel). Blah blah blah, went up the ranks. At 28 he dragged Dusk out of the field half exploded and left the Marines soon after Dusk did. Joined Shadow Company 🫶

Issues: PTSD, nightmares, paranoia, nervous at being touched randomly

Habits: never takes off his mask unless he's REALLY comfortable, sleeps with it on more often than not. Hovers close to people he likes cause he doesn't like to reach out and touch people, settling on subtle hands on shoulders or light brushes of skin. Watches and evaluates anyone and everyone in the same room as him, constantly searching for any red flags or threats.

Scars: One over each eye (resembling clown markings)

One running over his bottom lip and down his chin.

One running from his collar bone to below his navel.

A mix of bullet, knife, and other scars from his field work scattered over his arms and hands.

Preferred method of showing care/affection/love language: acts of service, quality time, ("secretly") physical touch.

Preferred way of receiving care/affection: words of affirmation, physical touch

Eye Color: left eye pale yellow with brown center, right eye green with yellow center. has heterochromia

Hair description: short and dusty brown with two streaks of early greying. Two long pieces in front of either ear, short in the back.

Clothing description: SC Uniform - beige tactical vest stocked with red and yellow(ish) Chem lights, roll of thin rope, and three mags. Black, long-sleeve zip-neck shirt with the shadow company insignia on the sleeve. Black balaclava, black helmet and goggles with attachable headphones connected to comms. Black tactical cargo pants, black belt with two storage pouches attached at either side of his hips, and a right handed gun holster. Very dark brown/black combat boots.

Not in uniform - form fitting short-sleeve shirts and jeans most of the time. Occasionally switching it up for loose shirts when his compression shirts feel too tight and strangling for a casual day. He wears belts to at least make it seem like he cares about his outfits, even though he doesn't really put effort. Picking up whatever dark colored shirts and jeans he can find and calling it a day most of the time.

Body description: well-built Filipino man with hooded eyes. He has a bit of stubble along his jaw, forgetting to shave often. Freckles are speckled over his face, arms, neck and shoulders, and legs. Body hair over his chest, arms, and legs mainly. Occasionally lets other Shadows paint his nails when they ask (requests black but can't say no if they choose another) so sometimes has painted nails.

Favorite activities: sitting outside with nature, playing guitar, going to the bar with Dusk to spend time and catch up, reteaching Dusk guitar

Blood type: O-

Favorite animal(s): Cats, snakes, birds in general

Favorite food/dessert: Pork Adobo, Graves' cooking (it's his guilty pleasure at cookouts, you can't convince me that Graves doesn't stand at a grill making food for his Shadows for a cookout on an off day)

• born in Marawi City; Mindanao, Philippines

——————————————————————————

He's generally like a big dog that doesn't realize it's own size, like a great Dane of sorts. Protective, loyal to a fault with aggressive tendencies towards those he doesn't know/trust. Silent and strong, unless he's with someone close to him

He enjoys his quiet time and regular meets up with an old friend of his, back from his Marine days, the both of them learning electric guitar and playing together sometimes to loosen up.

He's a workaholic all in all, not having many hobbies or activities out side of his work.

He lives at base, having been out on the streets before starting his career in the military.

——————————————————————————

He earned his scars on his face and chest when he was about 16-17, fleeing his state as soon as he was nearing 18 (lore reasons that I'm too nervous to share with people) and living on the streets with a lengthy theft history until he joined the Marines at 20 years old. Where he met his previously mentioned 'old friend', his Colonel, call sign 'Dusk'.

His shadow company number is 7-28. No I did not do research on the actual numbers, I just chose random ones that sounded nice on my tongue. Plus 28 is like,,, my number, if you couldn't tell by my user.

If anyone understands the number system better and would like to help me out by correcting me, I would appreciate that very much. But for now, it is Shadow 7-28.

His lore and titles were developed before I put him in Shadow Company canonically, so shit like him being a Lieutenant and other things that would require him to have years and years of experience to get would be from his career in the Marines before then. I'm assuming he would have to start fresh since he joined a new company? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believeeee he'd have to start fresh with SC with things like titles.

He does still keep his old mask since Dusk helped him with it, but now he really only wears the shadow company uniform and gear. Swapping his plain black balaclava for his old one with the skull-like details when he's back at base relaxing.

Smaller details about him!! ↓

Favorite color - Green !!

Favorite activities - sitting outside with nature, playing guitar, going to the bar with his found-family Brother (Dusk) to spend time and catch up

Favorite animal - cats ! Specifically black cats (he feels they're misunderstood)

• HATES ships and deep water

• used to (attempt to) pick up stray cats he found on the streets and try to bring them home as a kid.

• doesn't like training new recruits but is always put in charge of training them because of his leadership skills. (This happened to me in band a long while back, apparently my teacher thought I was a 'silent leader' and was really good at leading others subconsciously even if I hated being a leader??? That's him, that's Dawn. Silent leader)

• has nightmares frequently

• will deny liking someone, going as far as saying he hates them even if as soon as they leave the room he smiles on the inside because, hey! Someone wants to be close to him! That's new!

• tried drawing once, it looked like a kids drawing. he never picked up a pencil to draw again

• has really nice handwriting?? Wtf???

• He's a lieutenant!!

• spent years training to be a sniper that he's now unnecessarily still and silent while working on smaller tasks that require even the slightest bit of focus such as paperwork.

——————————————————————————

Info about 'Dusk' since he's a big part of their lore ↓

These are all the drawings I've done of him so far ↑

While I haven't gone deep into lore for him, I do have a few small facts about him that have played a part in Dawn's lore.

——————————————————————————

• He is 6'3, standing only an inch taller than Dawn.

• he was Dawn's Colonel for most of their career before they joined Shadow Company.

• just before Dawn had left to join SC, Dusk had gotten caught too close to an explosion. Having been dragged back to the base by Dawn himself and after healing, was left with very little sight and hearing on his left side. He struggled to be able to do many tasks that he needed to be able to complete to keep his job afterwards and had to quit.

• he cut off his long hair after the explosion burned off a lot of his hair, being left with very little long hair left on his right side. He felt it looked odd and cut it off so it could regrow at its own pace. Some parts of his scalp on his left side having damaged the actual skin there making it very hard/impossible to regrow it in some patches.

• he started learning guitar before joining the military, having been the one who inspired Dawn to learn and having lent Dawn their first ever guitar.

• was the one who gave Dawn his callsign

• he's Filipino, one of the many traits he and Dawn bonded over

• acts as Dawn's older brother later on in their career together after years of knowing each other. He has two siblings at home while Dawn is an only child

——————————————————————————

Fun fact! He was slightly based off of my older brother, named Dusk :)

While some parts of his character were based off of him, the name was surprisingly not, it just happened to match up with Dawn while I was making them 🫶

——————————————————————————

If you couldn't tell, Dawn is my baby and my favorite OC. I love him very much and will probably expand on his lore and such at some point, but for now, this is what we have.

Thank you if you read all of this ❤️

[bacchuschucklefuck]

class swap design masterpost for convenience (from top to bottom: bard!riz, cleric!gorgug, sorcerer!kristen, barbarian!fig, artificer!adaine, and rogue!fabian)

[magiertama]

Jiyan and the Rovers look incredible on brown paper

[madam-whim]

In all honesty, I think you're gonna have to make up any and all liturgy you might need. Create stuff from thin air to your heart's content.

Because in none of the games (including ESO) have I ever seen the clergy do much at all in that regard. They seem to mainly be there to distribute blessings and healing, and to perhaps provide services related to their respective god (i.e. marriage ceremonies for Mara, funeral rites for Arkay...). We know from Skyrim that there seem to be certain ritualized actions and words attached to these specific events, so I guess you could say at attempt at establishing some liturgy lore was made, but all in all, it seems to me that the priests of Tamriel perform certain rites when there is a demand for them, but that there is no weekly church service people would attend.

That said, I just think it's so funny that Oblivion especially makes us feel like there should be more liturgy, because it all looks so over the top catholic - with the cathedrals with their stained glass windows that very much look like half the city should fit into them on a Sundas. There are literal catholic monks running around in that game, complete with the iconic tonsure. And yet it doesn't seem like the priests ever conduct a service, and people just come in to pray whenever they like. And maaaybe that might just be because anyting else might have been a little hard to implement (back in 2006 in any case).

But also: We have this pantheon made up of nine divines, and while Akatosh does kind of appear as the "lead" deity in Imperial culture, we do have one chapel in each of the major cities, and each is dedicated to a different divine. And to me it appears that while most people in TES are, like, casually religious, those that are really dedicated to it usually have their "main" god that they follow. How would a service even look like, then? Would the priests just go "This is the chapel of Kynareth, so we're going to spread her teachings only"?(And then what happens to, for example, followers of Zenithar in that city? Are they just all expected to move to Leyawiin?) Or would the clergy instead say "Well, technically we are Kynareth's priests, but we serve the Nine!", and church service would be fairly generic, catering to everyone?

I also have not seen any sign of religious celebration of any holidays. This may be due to the fact that there are different regional customs and celebrations around certain holidays (like the New Life), and others are limited to certain regions from the get-go. There are a handful of holidays that are definitely celebrated in Imperial culture, though, and some of them have a religious aspect to them at least, South Winds Prayer for example. I've pulled this from the UESP holiday lore page: "The 15th of Morning Star is a holiday taken very seriously in Tamriel. The South Wind's Prayer is a plea by all the religions of Tamriel for a good planting season. Citizens flock to services in the cities' temples, as the clergy is known to perform free healings on this day." So I guess we have services for major holidays at least? Maybe the chapels are packed for those. But I doubt these things are a regular occurrence.

Oh, and then there's the distinct lack of sermons. I've literally never seen any TES priests giving any at all - I've only witnessed Heimskr's screeching and Maramal preaching to the... less than interested... patrons at the Bee & Barb. And that's not the same thing as someone giving a sermon to their congregation. Also, there is Martin canonically saying he's not used to public speaking, and that's not what I woud expect from a man who gives sermons or conducts church service on a regular basis. Kinda sad that I have to use a random thing this man says to his Blades as a source because the lore gives us nothing...

Personally, I do think the Oblivion chapels really just look the way they do because it fit the vibe of the game from a design (and storytelling, maybe) perspective, but then the devs decided the priests are mainly there to offer guidance on an individual basis and heal the sick and injured, like they do in Skyrim, where the temples seem much better suited to the services the priests provide in their respective divine's name.

Elder Scrolls lore enthusiasts, I am begging for any sources on the mainstream religious practices in Cyrodiil in the 3rd era, because I can't remember a single church service taking place in Oblivion. I just want to make sure I'm not contradicting the lore before I go ham inventing liturgy.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Why The Ending Sucks

Ok I figured it out. Hear me out:

The entire comic has a running theme best summed up as "who is controlling the narrative, and why are we listening to them?"

Hussie plays a caricaturized version of himself that he describes as "buffoonish" and "oafish". Caricature!Hussie is well-meaning, but a dumb idiot who's incredibly biased in favor of certain characters and in disfavor of others (the most obvious example being his "love" of Vriska, but there's also the way he constantly disparages Eridan). As a result, you have to be VERY SKEPTICAL and VERY CAREFUL when approaching Homestuck's narration, because even when the "best" narrator is at the helm, he's not 100% trustworthy and incapable of giving the readers an unbiased view of the story.

I say "best" because, importantly, Hussie isn't the story's only narrator. He and Doc Scratch explicitly fight over control of the story - Doc Scratch, the child abusing predator who engineered Alternia's fascist murder society, whose shaping of its history is explicitly described by character!Hussie as "fanfic". He is then killed by Lord English, who is described by Hussie as embodying the "toxically masculine" and by extension, the patriarchy, and Caliborn explicitly takes control of the story. John even grapples with Caliborn's version of events, calling out how sexist and misogynistic and shitty it is.

So if we're keeping score: control over the narrative is LITERALLY wrested away from Hussie (who was already struggling to be unbiased) by fascists, abusers, and the patriarchy. It's stressed multiple times that Caliborn/LE are responsible for literally everything that ever happens; the reason the Game Over timeline ends the way that it does is because the alpha timeline is, in essence, the narrative LE is telling: the forces of fascism get to claim the new universe, thereby propogating itself, while friendship dies and all hope is lost.

Who's in control of the narrative, and why are we listening to them?

There are other minor examples of this, too: Aranea is an exposition fairy, and she's biased as fuck and wrong ALL THE TIME about her own teammates. Karkat's explanations and rationalizations are constantly tinged with his own self-loathing and self-blame. Sollux and Meulin are both prophets as per their Mage class, but are both so bogged down by their own emotional issues that the futures they pick out are actively harmful. So on and so on. At nearly every turn, you have to interrogate who's telling the story, what their motivations are, and what they're overlooking or deliberately obfuscating.

So given that this theme is so prevalent, and so thoroughly weighted toward "well, actually, maybe you shouldn't take narration at face value and should interrogate it and come to your own conclusions," it would be Really Weird for the story to go "actually, you can totally trust the narrative now because everyone gets a happy ending".

So, I know that it makes me sound like a conspiracy theorist, but here's my genuine take on Homestuck's ending:

The ending is shitty on purpose because the viewer is intended to take it as a dare to refute the narration and make something better.

Why are we letting character!Hussie tell the story? He's a biased idiot. Why are we letting the various avatars of LE and Caliborn tell the story? They're fascist, misogynistic, predatory assholes.

And - because Homestuck is a story about life - why are we letting idiots, assholes, abusers, and creeps dictate the story of real life? The world is full of forces that would try to take control of the story and make everyone else play along, represented in microcosm within the text of Homestuck. We cannot let those forces win.

So please go out and do something kind and hopeful and loving in the world today. Thanks for reading.