#i think it might make me mad

[isa-grapes]

i think normal oak’s most harrowing battle is being the only kid with a sibling in a sea of only children

[whimzycle]

Old wayward au idea I used to have where Nightlight and Jack are twin nightlights that guard baby MIM.

Cuz I did not like the fact that Nightlight and Jack are the same person so I did this to cope ASDFGHJKLASJ

[disaster-magician]

When ur neighbor will reply to ur other neighbor but not u 😔

(Fake screenshots! These are fan made based on incorrect quotes and not in the game)

[orangechickenpillow]

Jayce Talis was 100% an "are you mad at me?" child. Breaks something? Immediate "are you mad at me" with the biggest wettest saddest eyes a 7 year old can muster without causing himself physical damage. Dad had a long day and greets him less energetically than usual? "Are you mad at me 🥺🥺🥺" The energy in the household is one degree off? "Are you guys mad at me?" Thinks there's a possibility he made a mistake? "I'm sorry please don't be mad."

It probably took Ximena like 15 years of gentle parenting to get it through Jayce's head that he doesn't have to constantly repent for things, that not everyone is mad at him all the time, and that someone actually being mad at him is not, in fact, the end of the world.

[jacqcrisis]

I like how in the first game, Aphrodite is like 'Mm Charon? Oh, cool, yeah, you bought my boon from the boatman and his nasty trash :/ As least he's a greedy weirdo, otherwise I couldn't make head or tails of him.'

And now she's all 'oh Charon! I love him. He's so tall and strong. Of course who wouldn't fantasize about him coming to your aid~'

I like to believe that this is because, as the goddess of love, she couldn't figure out a damn thing about Charon since he's in the underworld, and, canonically, the Olympians can't feel what's going on down there. But then she saw Hermes slobbering all over him at the post-game party, and after god knows how long with Charon and Hermes being topside and pining completely platonically over each other due to their separation, she's realized Charon is a prime cut of grade A Beef as she should have centuries ago.

I'm very proud of her.

[bunnieswithknives]

Okay but does Peri KNOW that Dev has a robotic leg when he shows up? Something about the fact that Peri's wand is a cane and the fact that Dev could have kept his leg and just had a cane for the rest of his life instead tickles my brain.

I mean he doesn't know immediately, he wasn't like briefed or anything, but he basically lives in Dev's house so he definitely finds out. Peri doesn't comment on or react to it all though really, there's no reason for him to think anything of it, plenty of people have missing limbs, a lot of people are born without them, it doesn't necessarily mean anything sinister happened. He had no reason to pry or ask and I think Peri's lack of reaction to it helped Dev feel a bit more comfortable in his skin. (Not by much but.. a little bit.)

[avocado62524]

[butchmammon]

obey me stoners who’s in your dream blunt rotation who’s in your nightmare blunt rotation I’ll go first

dream: mammon (says really stupid stuff that makes you laugh really hard, can keep up with insane and convoluted bits), beel (experienced stoner, keeps a cool head when everyone else is fried out of their minds, always has munchies), belphie (really good at finding the most comfortable spot to smoke, passes out early so you don’t feel bad about getting sleepy), asmo (will fill the silence with chatter when you’re too high to think anymore, looks really pretty with hooded eyelids <3)

nightmare: levi (the filter is always wet when he passes it back to you :/), solomon (he’s your dealer but the kind that it feels really weird to smoke with yet he insists on smoking with you every time you buy from him), lucifer (NEEDS to fucking relax, gets paranoid instead), barbatos (seems completely unaffected by the blunt and makes you feel stupid)

[ladyriot]

It's really all the mini romance arcs in this damn show...

3x08 Cuts Like a Knife

3x12 Love The Way You Lie

The undercurrent of season 3 is Maura trying to get Jane to drink more wine for her health and every single moment of it feels like a romantic B-plot.

[phantastragoria]

I can NOT remember if i already posted this here (it's old) but I didn't see it after a quick skim and I need to start cross-posting things everywhere more consistently so Have These Guys.

(Obviously inspired by that one ○lilalienz4ever image)

[oddlyzephyrous]

working on my KIY design... oughhhhh

I'm LOVING designing him, the king in yellow has long been my personal favorite elder god/entity, even before I got into malevolent, so it's all a bit of a dream come true for me to do this. DESIGN THOUGHTS INCOMINGGGG ->

when designing him, I take a lot of inspiration from the fact that the King in Yellow as a concept is not originally part of the Cthulu/lovecraft mythos proper, having been adopted by writers in that space from Chambers' work, so in my mind i kinda want to differentiate him from the classic aesthetics of cthulu mythos (i love tentacles as much as the next gal but wanted to try something different!)

I wanted to keep the "tattered" vibe here but make sure he was sufficiently beautiful and kingly, hence the tassels, scalloped layers, chains of sparkly metal, and the organic "crown" of bone/horn. Since the KIY in Malevolent is still the more cthulu mythos interpretation, the edges of his cloak flow out into tatters that move and writhe like tentacles without being actual tentacles.

It didn't fit with the composition of this particular sketch but part of the design is a two-ring halo representing the twin suns of Carcosa. (you can see it in this piece i did) I'm still messing with the specific look of that, maybe he only shows it sometimes when he's trying to be very beautiful and terrible X3

[muchmossymess]

*leans forward* lets discuss

[pigeonclaw]

All done! I tried not to use anybody more than once but some repeats were just unavoidable. If I reread the entire series again right now, I'm sure some of these would change, but here's who I thought of.

My reasons and a blank template under the cut.

Berryheart & Sunbeam: I was so stressed reading about them lol. But I appreciated how complex their relationship was, especially on Sunbeam's side. Berryheart loved her kids, and she hurt her kids quite badly because she thought she was doing the right thing. And that was a tough thing for Sunbeam to cope with. It's not a positive relationship but it is compelling, and I enjoyed that!

The Three: This is more for Lionblaze and Jayfeather (mainly since we've had more time with the two of them) but it would be wrong to leave Hollyleaf out! Most siblings in this series have some sort of strife between them, and these three have had their moments too, but they cared deeply about each other.

Rootspring & Shadowsight: I liked their friendship in TBC. Particularly I liked how insecure they both were, but how they admired each other for the very traits they were insecure about. It was sweet. Perhaps they should kiss.

Tree & Rootspring: This is largely just because Tree is the most supportive dad ever. I like that he stuck by Rootspring and helped him get Bramblestar's message out while still keeping his secret -- even though it was really inconvenient, his son's feelings mattered to him. I like that as soon as trouble came, he was ready to pack up and get his family out of the Clans, but he listened to their wishes and stayed and supported them.

Nightheart & Frostdawn: Their friendship was very sweet in Thunder. I love how Nightheart supported Frostpaw when she was at her lowest point, and how Frostpaw learned to rely on him, which helped her start trusting others again.

Brightheart & Cloudtail: A classic old pairing. I guess I'm a sucker for stories of one character being terribly wounded and at the worst point in their life and then another character supporting them through it and them bonding. Whether that's platonic (like Nightheart & Frostdawn) or romantic like Brightheart & Cloudtail, I'm a fan.

Tawnypelt & Birchfeather: I probably don't need to explain this one since everybody's talking about it. But Tawnypelt's support of Birchfeather when his own parents refuse to acknowledge him is sweet.

Fireheart & Cinderpaw: It's been a while since I last read the first arc, but I remember enjoying these two as both mentor and apprentice and as friends. Nothing too deep here, they were just fun to read about.

Sunbeam & Lightleap: It's a shame their friendship broke down so early into ASC. I enjoy a ship between someone who's calm and sensible and someone who would commit arson on a dare. They could balance each other out, or they could stress each other out. Either way would be interesting to read about!

Please talk to me about your favorite relationships of various types as well! I always enjoy hearing what kinds of characters, tropes, etc appeal to other people.

Here's the blank template!

[thelaurenshippen]

ah yes, the sweet sting of rejection from a billion dollar corporation who believes that "action stories don't appeal to romance audiences", welcome back my old familiar friend

[bigmfrat]

Having a rough time so have some spec evo crumbs that have been sitting in the squidcord for months that I only just got around to drawing to distract myself with

Teeth fall out regularly and are quickly replaced.

Only Minor and Minor/intercaste (more on this below the line) have feeding Tentacles.

Feeding Tentacles are stiffer than your regular tenties and remain in pockets when not in use. The ends also have very small teeth for gripping, they feel like velcro.

Teeth are dull but their jaws are for crushing bone so it doesnt matter.

"Venom" (bone melting enzyme) is black, sticky, and viscous, can be spit but is always a last resort. Most bites are dry bites.

Claws come out of the tip of the finger as apposed to the top like humanoids

Like cats and dogs, Illithid have a quick, if damaged it will bleed (a lot)

Claws dull with use and must be taken care of to be sharp

Caste System

The Primordial Illithid society resembled that of an ant colony but on a smaller scale, their species naturally came in three basic castes that had their own biological functions. The modern Terrestrial illithids have retained the physical characteristics of their ancestors, though are now much smaller, and they no longer serve any function in their society.

The three base castes are:

Major

Height Range: 6'8 - 7'5

Prey species: Humans, Half Orcs, Dragonborn, High Elves, Tiefling

Physical Traits: Longer tentacles, Longer and usually pointed braincase

Birthrate: 1

Media

Height Range: 5'7 - 6'9

Prey species: Humans, Elves, Tiefling, Drow

Physical Traits: Medium tentacles, Rounded head, Most often have "beaks" - but not always, this trait is seen less with each generation.

Birthrate: 3

Minor

Hight Range: 4'5 - 5'9

Prey Species: Gnomes, Halflings, dwarves, Drow

Physical Traits: Shorter tentacles, Longer and pointed braincase.

Birthrate: 4

Minors have a few unique features and are the most faithful to their home world ancestors, the first being two long and thin feeding tentacles that remain retracted in their throats until they find prey, and two specially adapted tentacles on their forehead used as communication displays, these two traits have been entirely lost on the other two castes, Despite these 4 extra "tentacles" they are not to be mistaken for Ulitharids. Minors are also extremely rare outside of colonies despite being the most plentiful caste, this is due to their function in their original society as caretakers and homemakers, a Minor is more likely to take re-education over expulsion due to their social needs and most renegade Minors tend to be Inter-caste.

Each caste is biologically inclined to its individual food items, even with free access to enthralled meals of any race, they will usually stick to their preferred prey.

Three additional castes:

Ulitharid

Height Range: A foot above the intended caste's average height

Prey Species: Humans, Elves, Tieflings, Dragonborn, Half Orcs

Physical traits: Two additional tentacles, usually thinner but longer than the main four.

Birthrate: 0.002

Any caste can become an Ulitharid.

Inter-caste Inter-caste is the closest thing you will get to a hybrid when it comes to Illithid. Each tadpole holds the full range of natural genetic code and has the potential to become any caste, what determines the end result is the tadpole's lineage; If the parent was a Media, the child will also be a Media. In the case of Inter-caste, however, one or two traits from one of the other castes may unintentionally come through. This can result in a Major with shorter tentacles or an unusually tall Minor.

Apex (more on Apex Illithid found here) Illithid super soldiers. Built like a tank with an intelligence to match, while their psionics are rather basic, they make up for it with an insane might and an ingrained determination to get the job done. Very rare and will ALWAYS be pure Majors.

None of these castes are natural, Ulitharids and Apex specifically did not exist until Elderbrains took over the race and while inter-castes did happen on occasion, they were much rarer before the Illithids were domesticated.

Other traits unrelating to castes:

Illithid DNA is very malleable and significant changes can be made in a single generation, while Elderbrain aren't the best at gene editing some differences can clearly be seen between colonies. The most noticeable example is their foot configuration: while Illithid living in a more aquatic environment will have the standard two webbed toes tipped with a large claw, their somewhat "dryer" cousins may sport a more humanoid approach with 3-4 webbed toes in the traditional Illithid style. A mindflayer with Human hands or feet however would be seen as deformed.