#just pure and simple infodumping

[pomefioredove]

Not necessarily an ask but what do you think the catalyst for Rook genuinely falling in love would be

ah... now that's a complicated question because, hypothetically, I think rook could really fall in love with anyone. it would be a soulmate situation, he would just know

if I had to put together a character profile for such a person...?

I suppose the first thing is that they wouldn't be famous, or have any ambitions for fame. in simple terms, they need to be available, and they need to be his. I characterize rook as a possessive lover, the last thing he would want is to have to share their attention (or worse, affection) with others. more so, the relationship needs to be very equal for him to function, to prevent him from feeling the need to distance himself. rook would need someone he feels he can share his world with.

in terms of personality...?

patient and trusting

like I said before, rook falling in love would be a gradual process. getting him to let his guard down would be, too.

and even after that, rook is still a private person. he's faithful, god he's faithful, but he needs his alone time, and he needs his partner to able to trust that his intentions are pure. it's not that he can't offer reassurance, but someone too clingy or insecure or suspicious wouldn't thrive in a relationship with rook.

2. warm and close

they can't be too clingy, but they can't be too distant, either. figures like vil and neige are completely unavailable: practically, physically, and emotionally, in one way or another (and that's how rook prefers it). while someone who's highly organized, busy, and important would be compatible with vil, that wouldn't work for rook. he needs closeness, he needs privacy and intimacy.

(their differences are really highlighted by their prospective career paths. vil going straight back to acting and modeling while rook pursues archaeology, which is such a personal and quiet profession).

romance with rook would be slow and tender. he would want to experience every part of being in love to the fullest extent, so there's absolutely no rush with him. he's happy to take his time exploring this feeling of vulnerability for the first time.

3. curious and open-minded

rook's soulmate-soulmate is someone he feels comfortable talking to about anything that crosses his mind, someone he can be bluntly honest with, someone with a similar love for life and a passion to understand the world.

...someone who can find happiness in the smallest of things, who can see the beauty in anything, like he does. he would be enamored with such a person.

a true relationship with rook wouldn't be the "owner and dog" thing he has going on with vil (bless his heart and sorry to everyone who likes that sort of thing in a man), it would be very equal. he would take so much joy in sharing his world with them, and having them share theirs in return.

he also needs someone to infodump to. badly.

4. committed

rook's jp suitor suit card states that he's not ready to settle down yet. he hasn't found "the one". but God, when he does? good luck.

the romance is a slow and gradual process, but he's absolutely the type to want to get married (the idea of unraveling the mystery of another person throughout a lifetime is very enchanting to him) and I can imagine he'd want a family at some point. it would be a quiet life, though there's never a dull moment between the two.

so, yeah, it's a for-life situation. once he's imprinted it's over

5. (bonus)

not necessary but certainly couldn't hurt: a love for the outdoors, an interest in the natural world and/or history, a passion for the arts (especially the classics like poetry, plays, opera, etc). being able to relate to someone is a comforting feeling for him.

I can also imagine rook being more attracted to someone caring and gentle and good. rook is a good person at his core, he strives to do the right thing. considering his fondness for neige and that one groovy I have in my gallery but can't be bothered to pull, he would be so enchanted with someone who just radiates kindness.

[supernal-shadows]

Science of Bird People

I was speaking to a friend, regarding the comfort of different sleeping positions in avian humans, which led to an infodump on the logistics of bird people and the adaptations they would need to be somewhat plausible. As a certified autistic bird nerd, I feel the need to share my considerations to all of you lovely sex-havers. (Sincerely, an ace.) -----------

1. In order to maintain powered flight, most birds have a bone called a keel, which is essentially an enlarged breast bone for wing/flight muscles to attach to. The logistics of how we would place wings on a human body, which already has shoulder-controlling muscles attaching to the breast bone, is a question unto itself, but considering that bird wings are in fact just a bird’s arms, we can safely assume that a six-limbed modified human, with both arms and wings, would need two sets of pectoral muscles.

-RIP to Scott’s chest dysphoria, but seeing as both male and female flighted birds have keels, I am choosing to believe it causes him no additional dysphoria. (Not from his birdy brain, anyway. Human brain may be another story…)

2. Regarding oxygen intake during flight:

True flight is one of the most energy-consuming abilities in nature. To sustain it for any long period of time, flighted birds have several adaptations to help them consume as much oxygen as possible. The first of these, which will be relevant later when considering a reasonable wingspan for a six-foot tall humanoid, are hollow bones. Hollow bones in birds are called pneumatic bones. They are not hollow in the way that a human’s would be if you stripped them of bone marrow; rather, they have “pockets” within them in which air can flow, which helps move oxygen more efficiently through their bodies. Contrary to popular belief, this does not make bird bones lighter or weaker. The bone is denser than in mammals, making them more difficult to break— but this also makes them brittle, more prone to shattering or splintering when significantly damaged, whereas a similarly-sized mammal might only receive a simple fracture. 

Additional information, less relevant to Scott’s external anatomy and durability, purely for additional context of how the bones themselves “breathe”; therefore, this is an optional read:

 The energy expended during powered flight is exponential, so oxygen needs to be flowing in at the same rate that carbon dioxide leaves. Air sacs connected to relatively small lungs help maintain that unidirectional, constant air flow, to provide the large amount of oxygen birds need to consume in order to fly. The hollow spaces of a bird's bones connect to these air sacs. Oxygen exchange does not happen in the bones or in the air sacs, but it does offer more space for air to be stored, giving them a greater overall lung capacity.

The actual process is quite difficult to explain in a quick summary, but if you know about “circular breathing” in humans, it’s almost similar, in the sense that air is moving around even while breathing in or out— though of course, the actual process is more complex than just pushing air out through cheeks. 

3. Wingspan

The most important thing to consider about wingspan is an animal’s weight. In a world with an atmospheric density similar to earth, there is no chance that a bird as large as Scott would be able to take off, especially considering the added feather weight. Large birds such as waterfowl and vultures already struggle quite a bit.

However, that said, this is fantasy. We can pretend it has a denser atmosphere and/or weaker gravitational pull, and beyond that we can simply suspend our scientific disbelief.

We’ve established that Scott’s hollow bones would not make him lighter. Therefore, we can assume he weighs about the same as any other six-foot tall humanoid (ignoring added weight from extra limbs and massive feathers for simplicity), and his wingspan therefore would not need to be larger than any bird proportionally the same. This is true even if we pretend that his bones would not be hollow, more similar to that of a mammal’s.

Barn owls are normally about 13-16 inches in length, with wingspans between 39 - 49 inches wide.

A small, 13-inch-long barn owl might have a wingspan close to 39 inches— three times that of the body’s length. If we assume the same is true of Scott, then his wingspan may be up to 18 feet long, with each wing measuring close to 9 feet.*

*Note: a bird’s length is typically measured from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail feathers. Scott may or may not have tail feathers, as discussed later in this post, but he does have meaty human legs which may create more weight and drag. It is well-worth considering that his wings may be even larger to overcompensate for the lack of a tail, in order to create that lift he’s missing otherwise.

4. All this raises the question of how Scott could possibly maintain all of his feathers. 

There are several steps to preening and maintaining feathers. Some are simple, such as simply shaking, raising, and ruffling feathers to get them all in place, but other steps are far more complicated and time-consuming, while being vital to a bird’s survival.

Scott, entering this new world where even breathing is different, would have had to go through a period of not only learning how to maintain his feathers, but also coming to terms with having to set aside potentially hours every single day for that purpose. 

Real birds have an oil-secreting gland at the base of their tail. They collect the oil with their beaks to spread it through their feathers. 

There are a few ways a humanoid avian might do this, such as collecting the oils from a special gland with their hands and spreading it through their feathers, but I’d lean toward the assumption that there is an oil he has to or can choose to buy, and specialized combs to help spread the oil evenly over each feather. 

By himself, going over each individual feather might take hours, so this could be a great way to bond with friends who help him, especially when it comes to feathers at the back of his wings that he can’t reach with his sad human arms and short, inflexible human neck. 

Along with learning to keep the feathers tidy, he also has to keep them clean. Shaking and oiling them would be required for daily maintenance, but as an owl, if he gets his feathers wet, he will be far too heavy to fly until they fully dry. If he gets them covered in mud, it might take weeks to get it out.

Owls, if you don’t already know, have “hairy” wings that help muffle sound during flight. The bottoms of the feathers are rigid, but the ends of each wing and tail feather are fuzzy to allow air to pass by without a sound, and the top of each feather also has a unique layer of “fuzz.”

Whereas most birds have some amount of water resistance and may be able to fly in the rain, an owl’s feathers make them uniquely vulnerable during wet weather, unable to fly in the rain. 

(Consider the vulnerability Scott must feel when it rains, particularly during adverse weather. Consider the angst potential, whether it’s during his adjustment to his new body; or his desperation when his friends forget he can’t fly in the rain, assuming he’s right behind them or somewhere overhead, while fleeing an enemy during a storm. Imagine Scott crying out for help as someone grabs and binds his wings, but his friends can’t hear him over the downpour.)

I had it in my notes for writing this page to also mention pin feathers and blood feathers. My ramble about feather maintenance was pretty long-winded as-is, so you’ll be spared… This time.

TLDR: Feathers as disability (in towns that are not tailored to avian, or even owlish-specific, races)

5. Tail Feathers!

I find it very difficult to imagine a humanoid (and therefore upright-walking) owl with tail feathers. How do they keep them from dragging on the ground and being useless? Do they have a different way of steering and controlling flight? Are their tails just incredibly perky? How does that work? 

I have nothing to say here except to point out how important it is to have some way to steer flight. Think of Toothless from HTTYD. Can’t fly without the tail fins, and for good reason. 

Bats control flight by having extra long fingers, but feathered wings don’t have those extra joints and feathers aren’t as maneuverable as skin.

Artists, I’m looking at you. Give me your wildest theories and ideas, if he doesn’t have tail feathers (or how we’d make that work).  I can envision some horrible and beautiful alternatives. Please ask me for my ideas; I have so many. 

(A perky tail is the most simple solution to Scott's tail problem-- funny, but we can be more creative.)

Ask me about Scott’s sleep habits and the logistics of that with extra and feathered limbs! Ask me about the weird ways he’d have to land after flying, particularly at high speeds, and whether or not that might cause joint issues over time! I have so many thoughts and notes that I was info-dumping onto @imfindingsolace, but not all are relevant to his physical anatomy as discussed here. [I want someone to make a meme that just says "GET AUTISMED" in a way that feels or looks like you're being punched with autism. Pretend that image is here to finish off this post.]

[gee-arid]

Hi, Your art is amazing, can I ask how you draw your kwamis? They look so pretty and soft, having their essence, without look like canon.

Haha! Youve unlocked my secret kwami lore!

To answer you're actual question though, I usually use the 'shape abstractions' and they are pretty much just shapes. I usually focus more on choosing a specific shape for a kwami, one that kinda reflects their personality.

So triangles and sharps for Plagg, Trixx, Longg.

Rounds and softs for Tikki, Wayzz, Fluff.

And so on.

I try to keep them simple and about the same level of detail to each other, but not just... boring. So i like to use patterns, the obvious spots for Tikki, but the stripes and splotches for Longg and Fluff.

How i decide whether limbs are attached is just wether or not i think they look good.

Lore headcanons under cut, infodump warning, but also doodles!

So i think its pretty much canon that kwamis can just??? shapeshift? or project a form that they want to be. So i never really got why they chose or stuck with the form in the show.

I like the idea that they are not normal, theyre magical, they dont work with physics. They dont need to breathe or sleep or eat (except to recharge), they dont even need a mouth to talk, they just do that for funzies. And their form would reflect that (abstraction).

Where does the food go when they eat it?? its certainly not going into their guts, they dont have any. Its converted into pure energy, the kind they use to power up.

Regarding the kwamis relationships with eachother, the zodiac kwamis are part of their own group, while the main five are alligned under Tikki and Plagg.

So really they should be separate boxes, i imagine some of the zodiac kwamis are abit peeved being stuck with them. Theyre essentially a found family, being stuck with another separate to theirs in the same house. or box even...

Kwamis choose their groups unless they are complementary (I.e. Tikki and Plagg), and when they do they bond for life, or eternity, since they arent mortal.

Not all kwamis get along, but within their own groups, wether or not they get along its more like family, i.e. sibling rivalry, falling out with a parent, whatever. But they will always back eachother up no matter what.

The zodiacs are not loyal to the creation/ destruction box and vice versa. They just happen to be put together by mortals.

Kwamis usually choose their primary forms as a group, so they match styles. Its usually done once every few decades unless a kwami chooses to bring it to attention and call a meeting. Sometimes if they bond enough with their mortals they might choose to reflect that in their forms, i.e. toys or truer to life versions.

Their true forms are similar to canon, giving biblically accurate angel vibes. Mortals dont usually react well, hense the smaller forms.

Kay, info dump over! For now anyway-

I once doodled a little comic strip explaining form shifting before, im not sure where it went, i never posted it 🤔

[blossoming-mind-palace]

Yu Iseol General Headcanons (SFW)

Yu Iseol my beloved! <3 Also thanks for sending requests for headcanons. They help me get back into my writing groove, and I needed that after the week I've had. Don't be afraid to ask for more! Any who, here's Yu Iseol's headcanons! She's getting easier to write for and idk why.

She's astronomically bad at social queues. (same)

I headcanon her as having a deeper monotone voice, and sometimes she struggles with expressing her emotions because of this. She’ll say something like “I’m so happy right now” but with 0 emotion in her voice and her face is like 😐. (also same)

I feel like if she lived in a modern au her favorite genre of anime would be shounen, purely because she wants to be jacked like the characters.

Like you know how people will make workouts inspired by characters like Zoro or Sukuna?? She probably makes routines like that. 

She also likes storylines that involve the main characters getting stronger and overcoming hardships. Despite watching similar stories over and over again, she still finds them inspiring.

One of those women who wear simple/basic clothing but somehow always makes it look like couture.

Someone will ask her “Omg what brand is your top??” and she'd be like “Idk my dad bought it for me five years ago. The material is comfy and it's well made so I keep wearing it.”

Doesn't care for women's clothes since the quality is almost always bad and it’s impractical. (Looking at you jeans without pockets)

Quality>Looks

Omg what if she wore her dad's hand-me-downs?? Dying that'd be so cute!!

Back to the original time period, she isn't a massive fan of alcohol but one time she tried it out and accidentally drank a little bit too much.

When she's drunk she'll do any dare with a straight face.

Like she’d jump off of a building, and then act like what she did wasn’t that extreme. Walks away with a straight face while everyone around her freaks out. Has to have a sober babysitter nearby when she’s drunk.

Accidentally injured herself the last time she drank, woke up hungover, and decided to never do it ever again.

She'd rather have deep philosophical conversations than small talk. Will make you question everything in life and change your opinions. She is really bad at arguing though, so please don’t argue with her.

If someone gets heated during a conversation with her she’ll still be emotionless, and then accidentally make them angrier with her lack of emotions. She’s angry, she’s just bad at showing it.

The best person to infodump on when it comes to your special interests. She will listen to you for hours and remember everything you told her.

[proxythe]

can i get your top glee headcanons??

or any glee stuff you just CANNOT stop thinking about

infodump pls king

i yapped so bad omg i’m serious … anyways here you go!!

i don’t have many specific hcs just kind of general stuff but let me get into this…

- bpd quinn fabray and bpd blaine anderson will always be famous to me

- bisexual finn & sam just real as hell… dare i even add bi4bi hudevans…?

- finntana bffs is literally my favorite thing of all time i fear </3 technically not completely hc since they’re actually friends but in my head they r Best Friends… its a need

- fuinn endgame 🙌 yall gotta stay w me on this ship fr hold on wait-!!!

- also technically canon friends but needed more quinncedes bffism ?? i still picture theyre very close. theyre occasionally lovers in my head as well

- i imagine college finn when i draw him but i love teacher finn bc i would die without the unique & finn dynamic in my head. hes her number 2 fan (kurt and mercedes are number 1). she is his favorite student TO ME!!!

- finn actually being protective and a good brother and friend is technically somewhat of an hc to me. they love acting like he’s an awesome friend but i always feel like it was never properly shown (aside from a few times, to my memory). needed him to whoop some ass protecting kurt at least once i fear!

- artana bffs… artie my beloved lowkey! i know him and santanas convos & texts are Crazy as hell… they love to talk shit it’s true it’s true…

- tina staying emo style wise is huge for me… i loved it so much on her… let her queen out idk.

- same w rachel lowk. her early season looks and outfits were soo cute, i always picture a similar style on her even when she’s older 😭 (honestly a lot of the characters s4-on i thought had kinda basic outfits ?? maybe it’s just me but idk. felt like they had more individual&unique styles in s1-3)

- honestly i mostly have so many friendship thoughts with no further elaboration. blaine/finn, britt/rachel, more mike/finn, more kurt/quinn, artie/mercedes, quinn/blaine ?!?!? def more but my mind is blanking…

- anything furt related i inject directly into my head and heart … siblings hit me in my chest like a bullet every time

- a more unserious one but kurt and quinn are literally sues gay son and thot daughter. her favorites i know this to be true

as for stuff i just can’t stop thinking about… oh you already know the first thing i’ll be bringing up…

- “can i show you something?… it’s my girlfriend. i used to have another photo but i like this one better” “why? she looks terrible” “cuz i think it’s the first one where you can really see her” TURN IT UP!!!😭😭😭

- “you’re the most beautiful girl i’ve ever seen in my life” …yall could never make me hate fuinn im sorry like look at the material

- finntana hugs, fuinn s4 hug specifically, furt hugs … its simple… finn hug = cinema

- quinn wanting mercedes there when she delivered her baby. this was serious for me

- “you’re gonna dance it with me dude” + him singing to kurt will forever live in my heart. mhm mhm lemme not forget my furt

- marley jake & unique. just pure bffism. theyre unique defenders 4L & i think thats beautiful as fuck

- “sam just tweeted that i smell good” “i wont stop til its trending” SAMCEDES!!! 😭😭😭

- sam’s “bring it” & finn’s “brung”

- samcedes, fuinn, brittana, klaine … my ultimate beloveds really. + jarley :-)

- and, lastly: “there’s only one person in this world who can tell you what you are” “me” “no, me. sue sylvester.”

[loaflovesdoodling]

ooh! can you tell us more about your metadad, perhaps (tumblr isn't letting me use interrogation marks wth)

If it's infodump you want, infodump you shall get! [small fic at the end too because writing is fun :)]

Ok, so, here's the thing:

In my AU Kirby isn't fully Meta Knight's biological child. That being for the simple reason that Nightmare tampered with Meta in the past, screwing his genetics; reason why Meta has wings even without being one of the heroes of Yore. Kirby, being made out of pure light matter is therefore Meta's chronological and -for the most part- biological child, but Nightmare's Influence on Meta basically cut off a lot of genetical/natural ligament with him.

That being said, Meta Knight loves him nontheless, he would literally give his own life away for him and he always tries to make him happy no matter how devastated he himself might be in that moment.

Here are some fun facts!

Meta Knight talks to Kirby about emotional stuff especially when he (the latter) is asleep.

After long and difficult fights with demon beasts, Meta Knight will refuse to go to sleep that day just to watch over Kirby the whole night, fearing that he'll be taken away.

Simply having him hold Kirby close can save Meta Knight from multiple panic attacks.

He spent months learning the perfect intonation and pronounciation of the best lullaby he could find just for Kirby.

He's apparently also very good at sewing (As seen in that one Pengi episode, where everyone sews their penguin disguise by themselves,) and he likes to take advantage of that skill to sew tiny beanies and plush friends for Kirby.

Now, onto the fic! (warning, extreme angst torwards the end)

The young knight had woken up in cold sweat. How could he had fallen asleep so easily?

Surely enough, his dreams hadn't been 'sweet' either: the familiar vision of blood on his hands was all he could remember. Meta Knight shook his head:

"Collect yourself, Meta, be cool. None of these dreams have meaning, you shouldn't take them so seriously." He scolded himself, sighing.

"Perhaps I should start today by putting a smile on; after all, I couldn't possibly give Kirby a bad example-..." He stopped immediately as he turned to the bed only to find no one there. Meta Knight frowned:

"And of course he's already out and about. I should've expected this, he is still a child after all." The knight said. He could not, however, hide the slightest glint of purple worry in his bright golden eyes:

"I'll start looking for him. you'll never know..." He anticipated, trying to justify that overwhelming feeling. Putting on his mask, cape and shoulder pads, he got off the bed and walked over to the counter to wish Sword and Blade a good morning; they, however, weren't present either: disappointed, the soldier walked out the room.

Patrolling Castle DeDeDe's corridors, Meta Knight noticed Dreamland's silence. The oh, so unusual, terrifying silence. He could feel the weight of each one of his quick steps on the cold tiled floor. Almost completely sinking in his own thoughts, he snapped back to reality upon recognizing the figure of Minister Parm's daughter; quickening his pace even more, he walked up to her:

"Fumu."

The young girl jumped: "Oh, it's just you, Sir Meta Knight."

"Have you, ah... perhaps, seen Kirby, this morning?"

"Not really, now that I think of it. Knowing Kirby he's probably out playing with Bun in the yard, though--"

"Thank you for your assistance." Meta interrupted her, before walking away, his subtle rudeness leaving the kid with her eyes widening in surprise.

In his search for the pink warrior, Meta Knight just so happened to come across the throne room. Convinced of the possibility of clues about Kirby's disappearance, he decided to eavesdrop on King DeDeDe's conversation:

"You have our gratitude, King D3."

"Aw yeah, ain't nothing like a deal as great as this one: I get rid of an annoyin' obstacle and y'all give me money fer it!" he cackled.

"I can assure you this decision will not be of any regret."

"It better not be!" he talked back.

"Very well then. I shall take my leave now." The familiar voice said before being cut off by a loud buzzing sound.

"Who knew defeating Kirby had always been as easy as just sending him over at Holy Nightmare? You sure are a genius, your majesty!" the snail added.

Meta Knight's eyes widened in shock, turning into a tint of blue-ish white as he started uncontrollably shaking. So many horrifying thoughts wouldn't leave his mind:

Kirby was gone.

He was in Nightmare's possession.

And God knows what he could've done to him already.

The knight's vision progressively blurring as he started to feel heavy, an increasingly louder heartbeat blocking out every other sound in the castle.

Immediately, Meta Knight awoke, jumping out of his bed. His heart rate completely unsteady, he started grasping for air: his breaths were dangerously short and fast, and he couldn't even feel his now shaking hands anymore. He gazed over to the other side of the bed: Kirby was there, he was safe, all that happened was just a horrible nightmare. He quickly picked up the sleeping child and wrapped him tightly in his arms: the warmth of his son's fragile little body transferring onto him as his breath started steadying. Calming down, the knight fell back asleep.

Sorry if it's a little long and incoherent, haha. This is my first fic <3

[snapscube]

You've probably gotten this question before but I don't know how I'd go looking for it so:

I know you're an expert on video capturing (and as a side note I always think your infodumps on the subject are really interesting, please feel free to use this ask as an excuse to give us more of your wisdom), so what would be your recommendation for a low to medium end capture card?

I've been interested in recording my VHS tapes into a digital format and I also want to try capturing gameplay on my Switch. I know about various devices from AverMedia and Elgato but I don't really know how to gauge which I should pick.

Elgato HD60X or HD60 S+ are definitely the way to go for game capture.

As for VHS capture, you're gonna need some extra equipment on top of a capture card. I've never done this exactly before so take my guidance on this front with a grain of salt, but if you're going for budget options and especially ease of use, I'd say just research "[analogue cable type] to HDMI converter" on your online store of choice. If I had to make an assumption you're going to want to look at composite converters, as those are generally the most common analogue cables lying around with pre-digital devices (they're the yellow, red, and white ones). At that point, it would hopefully be as simple as plugging your video player into the converter, then plugging that into a capture card. Again, this is purely in an "ease of use" scenario, I can't promise that would get you the best capture quality but if you're mainly looking for preservation then I assume this method would serve you well.

I'd encourage you to maybe look at some YouTube videos about VHS to digital conversion though and see if some who are more familiar with the needs of the format know anything better than I do!

[sonic-love-island-official]

Shadow (Bio/Character design ramble)

Behold, my sweet baby. Boy, do I have a lot to say about him. And some things I want to say about him can't really be incorporated fully into the fic, so what better place to infodump than here ?

Info under the cut x

Shadow is a 28 year old ex-G.U.N. agent. He was 'born' within the ARK, but moved to Westopolis later in life to rediscover his (then lost) identity. He joins Rouge on the Island with the intention of being her moral support.

Being a more reserved character, Shadow arrives full of scepticism, but with an indescribable, intricate set of standards. Shadow is the kind of man who knows exactly what he wants from a partner and a life going forward. He is stubborn to deviate from his plan of settling down and hoping to raise a family with someone who doesn't make him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. Normally on edge or awkward, Shadow typically struggles to interact with new people, but once he becomes comfortable with someone, he lets his true colours shine (both to his benefit and detriment). He can be gentle, deeply caring, passionate, even. However, he can also be sly, sharp-witted and harsh at times. Regardless of how anyone perceives him, Shadow's strong sense of identity drives him to pursue what he wants to have in his future. But having something entails having something to lose…

External design choices !! (visual appearance - incl. formation of base sim, references taken, makeup choices, fashion style… etc.)

You will never know how much time I spent trying to perfect this man 😭 Again, I immediately took inspiration from his Sonic Adventure 2 character design because he is both so striking in appearance but also has this soft cuteness (which initially did not make it into his sim version, until later modding the game). Along with Rouge, for Shadow I had a distinctive creative vision and although I can never make a sim exactly how I imagine them in my head, Shadow's design came close enough that I can't complain too much.

The real tough thing with Shadow came down to translation. Shadow has incredibly sharp/angular features that replicating it accurately in the sims would destroy any realistic appeal for his character in a more human form. So, my compromise was to do the best I could, while still keeping Shadow's features relatively human enough so he wouldn't look like he crawled out of a nightmare. Of course, I chose to keep the angle of his eyes and brows, but softened the degree to something still recognisable and so it didn't warp any of his other facial features. I kept the red colour of his eyes too. I could have went down a more realistic route, but I just thought it was so iconic of his character that without them, he'd just look weird. Same can be said for his makeup, actually. I gave him a simple black liner that runs from the top lash line, into the bottom and through his waterline, pairing that with a subtle red eyeshadow that mimics the red, triangular accent in the outer corners of his eyes (looking at sim Shadow without either of those is jarring, believe me). His nose I made a little pointed, characteristic of all the male hedgehogs. As for everything else ? It was purely up to my interpretation and working within the limitations of the game.

I couldn't get anything that was similar to Shadow's upturned quills, so I went for a hairstyle with a little bit of volume, just so there was enough resemblance. The hair I used was from the Supernatural pack (which is notorious for ugly CAS items, in my opinion) and surprisingly I don't hate it as much as when I first picked it. The red streaks are in his hair, but a little muted in comparison to the reference pictures, due to the fact it looked ridiculously bad when I tried the accurate, bright red streaks. I also wanted Shadow's sharp features to carry through into the base structure of his face, hence why he has a more squared jawline than what is seen on some of the other characters. He used to have more prominent cheekbones, but that that feature was softened out significantly after the modding (again, another 'for the best' situation). Overall, Shadow version 1 (pre-mod) wasn't all that attractive but once we got that visual overhaul for all the characters, he looks quite Pretty (I call him 'babygirl Shadow' due to his softer features). His skin tone evened out heaps better than before and looks quite lovely in-game (4th screenshot) but looks off when taking model photos in Stylist for the gallery </3

Over time, I've come to really appreciate Shadow's sim version !! He portrays everything I wanted him to be. Displaying a lot of his iconic features, while also representing my further, more abstract intentions for his character. Occasionally he makes expressions that do make him look a little older than the other characters and depending on who he's with, he can look the total opposite and look sweet, gentle and youthful. Other times he looks straight up creepy and all of these things blend so well for his character to an extent where it's both joyful and comical to witness. Nevertheless, I adore him, could you tell ;-;

*I forgot to mention here that although Shadow's sim does not have many tattoos (again, the selection we're given in TS3 is horrific and impossible to work with), he does in the AU. The red triangle designs on his forearms and calves are carried over (except they're not solid, rather more detailed with fluid lines and coils), his/the symbol of the Black Arms adorns his chest and creeps up to his neck and he has a small flower tattoo in memory of Maria <3

Shadow's fashion falls under three categories:

Stereotypical 'bad boy' outfits (leather jackets, boots, torn up jeans etc.)

Outfits typical of the show (plain t-shirts, baggy pants, chains, sneakers)

Outfits I personally think Shadow would pick and feel/seem comfortable wearing (tidy button-ups, dress pants/straight leg jeans)

They're pretty interchangeable throughout the series but the idea is that Shadow morphs to the expectation of being a Love Island contestant and wears things to fit that, but over the course of the series, gradually drops the act and becomes more himself. In any case, it gives a lot of variety and opportunity to try different clothing styles on Shadow and that in itself is fun to play with. Sometimes we even surprise ourselves seeing what items actually suit Shadow and which don't.

Internal design choices !! (personality, characteristics, psychology)

I am such a nit-pick when it comes to how Shadow is characterised in both official Sonic media and in fanworks. The two things that annoy me most is:

He's stuck in this constant loop of reliving his trauma, finding a sense of closure and learning/moving on from it. Repeatedly. He learns these beautiful, relatable life lessons and then. Forgets it. And has to do it all over again. For no real reason. (06 made that annoyance seem not as bad, seeing as Shadow had moved forward in his life but still kept to his ideals… but of course, they had to go and ruin that for him, didn't they 😒 Leading into my next point-)

He's reduced down to Edgy and Has No Friends

I am so so sick of seeing both of these things ?? So, I'm mostly just serving myself by helping Shadow along in this AU to be neither of these things because it doesn't at all fit the premise of the series. Most of the characters are a wild blend of their portrayals throughout Sonic media, so shitty Shadow pops up on occasion (for justifiable reasons, though) but primarily I've cherry-picked his better portrayals to represent him in the series, like the more introverted, soft-spoken Shadow from SA2 and Heroes, as well as the more level-headed, matured Shadow seen in 06. Of course, I don't write all of Shadow's moments in the series, as this fic is co-written alongside my sister, but my best efforts go towards representing Shadow in a way that makes him seem like Just A Guy.

Shadow enters the fic in a completely different stage in life. He's put his past behind him and is looking towards a brighter future. Naturally, he hasn't let his past go entirely and more so made a sense of peace with it. Here and there, there are a few blips where that is not the case and shows some of his old wounds haven't fully healed, but that's to add the ✨realism✨. The idea for Shadow is that he was once in a far worse state than when he entered the Island, but he isn't perfect. He has his own arc to go through, but for once it's fairly disjointed from his canon-typical baggage.

Simply enough, I want to allow Shadow the opportunity to develop connections — to make new friends (Rouge is his one pre-established friend), to express love. He has so much potential to be soft and kind and selfless and loving, without being locked behind bars of Edge and past horrors. As an introvert, he expresses things in his own subtle way that isn't easily understood by everyone, but he's constantly making the effort to show he cares for the people important to him.

Fun facts / trivia :

Shadow is older than Sonic by three years in this AU purely due to the fact that Shadow's character is more lore-heavy than Sonic's. Additionally, they're both at different stages in life, shown by their behaviour and actions and that, I feel, should also be realistically represented in the ages given to them. There is so much discourse surrounding Shadow's 'age' (now retconned) and it's exhaustingg.

Shadow's time in the Villa reveals some interesting themes around social relationships, such as making/maintaining friendships as an adult (a topic I find incredibly real and unique to this project)

I couldn't fit this anywhere else, and it might be a little self-serving but I allude to the fact that Shadow is on the aro/ace spectrum, which is a wild contradiction from the expectations of the show. We've also kept the genders of his previous partners vague-ish. Firstly due to the Twitter Takeovers, where Shadow has never expressed a gender preference (I think that's correct ?) and that's a detail I wanted to remain loyal to. Secondly, I didn't want to tie him down to any specific gender preference ?? I thought it banging just to leave it as is, because it does give some moments within the series an extra impact. Nevertheless, Shadow specifically doesn't experience sexual attraction and rarely/infrequently experiences romantic attraction. Alas, there seems to be this mutual consensus that Shadow's a bit of a horn monster and… funnily enough, I agree with that too- So AU Shadow's sexuality is incredibly layered and somehow it all still makes logical sense :)

There is a lot of Shadow's lore that transferred to the AU in a creative/slightly more realistic way, but I can't talk about it here, else this post will be longer than what it already is

[indigosabyss]

kay the last post got like. 23 notes. which is all a bitch w a hyperfixation needs to start infodumping about the nuances and minutia of crossovers and how to build them and what you'll get out of them.

*drumroll pls*

Fandom Fusion Crossovers: A Guide (Part 1)

In the first Breakdown, I touched upon Fandom Fusions as a concept. I realized that I was a bit too brief in retrospect, but that was because unlike the others, I have already worked through my love for these types of crossovers in stories longer than Moby Dick.

But, I'm here to rant into the void so lets give a quick definition, shall we?

Fandom Fusion is the type of crossover where the two stories exist side-by-side, the worlds slotting together with some overlap, but overall not interfering with each other. Until the plot of the fic kicks off.

The most interesting thing about this crossover is its potential for worldbuilding, and the way the power structures of both stories are balanced amongst each other. You need to make them belong together, create common threads, but also a degree of separation, and its not always easy to do that. Takes a lot of creativity.

I'll start with the 'making sure the worlds mesh' aspect first. Then maybe move onto the 'making the characters meet' aspect in another chapter.

Meshing & World-Building

There are a lot of different types of worlds, and genres. A common rule of thumb is that if you want a Fandom Fusion, the worlds should be in similar time periods, and both should exist in the same plane of reality. Generally, this means modern day Earth, but it can change.

With fantasy worlds, its a little tricky. Because all the worlds and continents have different names, which makes it pretty hard to do.

Or, you could simply not care for canon and worldbuilding and just have the characters hanging out together. (I cannot do that, it makes me break out in stress hives) In fact, the fic that started off the MordeTwi ship meme was this type of crossover. There isn't a reason for a humanoid bird to be in a world filled with the talking ponies, but there he was. No one cared. Do that, if you want. Fanfiction is anarchy, my dude.

If you do want to stress about it, here's some examples and vague combinations of genres.

Contemporary w/ Contemporary By 'contemporary' I mean showing people in their regular lives. Going to high school and college and doing regular jobs, with no major worldwide repercussions. The biggest problem w this is the geographical element of your worlds, and how the characters are supposed to meet. I will be going into this later. Otherwise, its easy to believe that these two stories happened at the same time. Don't really have much to add on this from a purely worldbuilding standpoint??

Celebrity w/ Contemporary or Celebrity By 'celebrity', I mean stories about the rich or famous or talented. Everything from athletes to actors are included in this. I personally classify it as a different style because it would require different worldbuilding. Esp if you're meshing together two different high-profile fields. From personal tastes, I will point out Yuri! on ice x Sk8 the Infinity crossovers. The similarities between the two are striking. One is about skateboarding, the other is figure skating. Parallels are drawn, but the characters have yet to meet. The geographical element with such crossovers is slightly lessened, because at least one party has the ability to travel easily.

Fantasy w/ Fantasy Here's where it gets interesting. You need to make the magic systems and lore compatible. They tend to line up alright, but best to keep an open mind. As an example, think of an Artemis Fowl and PJO crossover. The faerie would be considered spirits of folklore like any other. The Mist can be excused as weak around them because of a feud between the faerie and more powerful beings, which is why they are more at risk from being seen. Simple explanations like that which add on to the history of this shared world you've made.

Fantasy w/ Contemporary (or Celebrity?) These are always fun. Not only is there no tricky magic systems to shove together, but you also need to make sure that the normal-world's stakes are felt as heavily as the stakes from the magic-world story. Both of their problems should feel equally real and important to the reader. Depending on the type of fantasy series you're using, the geographic element and communication problem could be easier or harder to navigate, and a close eye should be kept on the interests and themes and motifs connected to each character to draw comparisons of them and have them meet characters from the other world.

There's a lot more I wish I could say. Maybe this would be easier w a graphical element? I can't draw very well but tell me if I should sketch something out if you're a visual learner and are trying to figure out wtf I'm trying to say.

My brain is hardwired to associate things with each other lol so if you want me to connect fandoms together fusion style, just... put the two fandoms in my ask box and I'll give you something back.

I'm only doing the meshing aspect rn, and will move onto how exactly characters are supposed to meet and what plots tend to occur on a basic scale later. If anyone rlly wants to know lol. I just really really like the background creativity that goes into crossovers and I think more people should do them and want to give a jumping off point if you're planning a crossover? Then again, I might just want to talk about things that everyone already intuitively knows and no one even wanted this but whatever

If I get around to it, I will link part two here.

[chaotic-orphan]

Have to jump on the Oskit discussion here because I am INVESTED. Not the biggest fan either but the other anon who said that Ambrose and Jude would be a power couple made me laugh out loud purely because Ambrose would totally bring up Jude’s ugly shoes later on and he might completely revamp Jude’s closet which….*snickers*

Now I am the biggest fan of Kit and Ambrose having somewhat sibling vibes but I think it might only happen if there’s like a forgiveness arc or something cuz I don’t know about Kit but I ain’t forgiving no one who essentially stole a month of life and cut me, like hello? But jeez have I begrudgingly started to like Ambrose. This is the problem with good writing lmao!! Also I love Kit with all my heart if I have to already mentioned it.

After mulling over the latest chapter (which was delicious by the way), I have decided Mr. Silver is indeed not the supervillain. Will be re-reading the story again this weekend to see if you’ve sneakily introduced a character 😤 that I might have forgotten about.

Can’t wait for the next chapter 🫶🏽

OMG AHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!! Ambrose would absolutely have to revamp Jude’s entire wardrobe because, and he would say this to Jude: “I can’t be seen with a slob” and then “we’re burning the shoes.”

Yes I completely agree, Kit will never be able to undo the scars that Ambrose forced Kit to give himself. Like you cannot get over that, and Ambrose sat and watched it the whole time while Kit cried for him to stop and show mercy and Ambrose *enjoyed* it. Kit could never kiss him because that is all he would see and he’d always wonder in the back of his mind, if Ambrose was compelling him to love him or not, which is a fun road for gay angst, but not in this timeline baybayyyyy!

No, stop, because I love absolutely cruel, sadistic, stoic, cold whumpers and now Ambrose is growing as a person and thinking about people other than himself and his found family of friends he built for himself, and it’s such a change in him that I am like wait, you’re kind of a decent-ish person? Doesn’t excuse or forgive his actions towards anyone but he’s trying to do better?!?!!! Or is he just doing it all for his own selfish gain of defeating not just Mentor publicly, but Supervillain too?🤔🤷

I’m a be so real rn, the Supervillain is going to have to be retroactively hinted at, because I only decided like two chapters ago who it was and how it could be, and like it’s going be a lot of exposition and infodumping and backstorying for it to make sense because I’m not the planning kind of writer I’m the go with the flow kind of writer and honestly Supervillain walking in and fucking everything up was so organic that i was like WAIT FUCK. WHO TF ARE YOU?! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!

And Supervillain was like: “i’ve always been here biiiitttccchh”

And I’m like: ???? You literally are not in the story?!?! Make it make sense?? Like that’s not how this works

*then Supervillain just appears in the story and fucks shit up and turns the whole thing upside down when it was just meant to be a simple fun whump fic of gratuitous violence and magic whump and control, but nope!*

He just showed up, announced his arrival and destroyed all the vibes and said: “this is my story now 3:)” Thank you for sharing ahahahahahhaha Ambrose would absolutely have to dress Jude, it would be a control thing or else he wouldn’t be seen with Jude😂😂😂

[ruthlesslistener]

11 and 12 for aeris?

MY BOIIII INFODUMP HOURS FOR MY BOIII. He's my blorbo that I insert into every game I play so he's got a variety of different flavors to him that I want to try to fit to a more generalized 'baseline' form, since he's mostly a Destiny 2 oc at this point despite starting off as a Bloodborne guy, and I want him to be more versatile so I can put him into my own homecooked scenarios. The ask is much appreciated!

11. What does your OC believe in? God(s)? Monsters? Love? The power of unbreakable bonds of friendship to overcome any obstacle? The ability of money to open any door? Or are they indifferent?

-Honestly, I don't think that Aeris believes in anything like, religiously. He knows that gods are real but he's indifferent to them- they are, in his mind, forces of nature that he is either resigned to deal with, or beings to be killed if they make a problem of their existence. He's either god's little meow meow (this is not a good thing) or a god's worst enemy because he is the knife wielded by his deity to draw blood, and that position is rooted in his mind as something that just is. Though I will say that the moment he cracked in Yharnam was when he realized that yes indeed, gods could be killed, and his sister was still way too far away to lead him away from the path of insanity and power tripping that pulled him down, which is not something that D2 Aeris ever had to deal with, since he always had a web of stability around him to give him the support he needed (+ the memories of his father got wiped). Nor does he necessarily believe in evil/monsters/the devil- entities are categorized as something to fight or not based purely on their actions and intentions, and he acts aggressively if they do not align with his own but remains neutral throughout the whole encounter unless they very specifically anger him. It's a very simple, black-and-white logic that is excellent for smoothing things over but is really quite terrible when it comes to nuance, because that is not something he...has, really.

I think that if he were to be asked about it, he believes in luck, skill, and the ability to hone oneself into whatever is necessary to achieve his goals, but luck is something he regards with a great deal of wariness, and his ability to force himself to complete a task is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it makes him terrifically efficient, and his extremely stubborn willpower + inability to be easily dissuaded means that he's fantastic at getting things done. On the other hand, it very quickly turns self-destructive, because he will focus on completing that one thing to the detriment of all else. If he determined that he had to kill you, you could break his leg and shatter his shoulder and he'd still stagger up despite the pain because the tunnel vision gets so extreme. If this energy is being put towards saving the universe, then great! If he's misguided...uh oh

12. Is your OC cynical or optimistic? Who or what shaped their outlook on life?

-Depends on which iteration of Aeris! I will say that Destiny-verse Aeris is way more optimistic than Bloodborne-verse/baseline Aeris, but that's because Destiny-verse Aeris had his memories wiped and a constant safety net around him in terms of Marcelline (his half-sister), Ghost, and the cast of D2 to keep him stable. I wouldn't say that he's optimistic- he still borders towards cynical, in that he tends to assume the worst before he thinks about the better- but he's way more gung-ho about it all and is always happy to have his predictions be proven wrong. He's dependent on a support net in more ways than just caring for his physical needs, and without it he crashes and burns rather quickly

Any iteration of Aeris outside of that, however, is way more bitterly cynical, and really only Marcie can temper that cynicism. This is entirely because of his strife with his father- his father was a very high-ranking, well-liked, charismatic fellow, until Aeris showed up on his doorstep one day as an infant right before he was due to be married to his fiance of two years. Turns out that having a bastard son who's clearly yours and clearly was conceived before you were due to be married tends to tarnish one's reputation as a good and honest fellow quite a bit! And, well, when your son is also autistic and special needs, its very easy to resent him all the more and to place emphasis on what he's doing wrong rather than the few things he's doing right- ESPECIALLY when he grows into a quiet, awkward, creepy teenager that you start to view as a genuine danger to yourself and society if not 'handled right' despite him just being easily fascinated by science and engineering. Which tends to make the son just naturally assume the worst things are going to happen because that's what always occurs, so why bother thinking otherwise? It's just the way of the world, and all you can do is be ready for it

(Marcie being the only one who can lift his moods isn't just because she's his little sister and he loves her with all the fierceness of a dying sun, it's also because she's somehow even more stubborn than he is and has their father's fiery temper to boot, so if she says something is going to go well, then he knows she will find a way to make it so by sheer brute force)

Ask me about my ocs

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Account Updates + More!

Greetings, everyone! Okay, so I decided to make some changes to the blog-

I will still be posting my regular content, but apparently my dumb of ass decided they want to try something new- I want to extend the hand of inspiration to @aster-saturn because I am but a simple pup; what I do mean is I want to create content for c.AI bots - as well as canon x reader asks for interested parties! For the x Readers, this also includes any specific headcanons you might want for canon characters as well! I'm down for accepting, well, almost anything-

To keep things organized, I'll list some of the regulations and guidelines for sending me asks!

a. be respectful. this is self explanatory, but i do have a life outside of tumblr and can't always be responding to asks; i will still do my best to answer as quickly as i can since i tend to come on at night anyway!

b. i do utilize a lot of self indulgent headcanons while still sticking true with their personalities as best i can (unless i feel this needs to be expanded upon). due to this, i am asking that you don't take my interpretations to be 'canon' as this is all just for fun

c. asks must remain sfw- while i do occasionally reblog some adult-themed content, this will not be applied to requests. this is mostly for my own safety and the comfort of others

d. you can request practically anything- from x reader asks about imagined romantic scenarios or you can also just ask for generic scenarios and/or headcanons for canons without needing to be about x reader!

e. in general, this page accepts self inserts and original characters - hence x reader asks! - so, if you don't support that- i have no idea why you're here-

f. c.AI bots can be a little suggestive, but i do ask that you're at least eighteen or older- if your blog doesn't have a way of confirming age, well, the ask might have to change

What kind of asks will I be accepting?

~ For starters, I accept anything from angst to lighthearted romcom tropes! I do lean a bit to angst but honestly anything is fine with me! The only exceptions are if it's heavy on the smut side or is something I would be uncomfortable with

~ For x Reader, it can be virtually any imagined scenario from fluff to angst and anything in between. I do highly ask that you don't send scenarios about characters cheating on one another as that makes me severely uncomfortable

~ Headcanons! This gives me a way to just freely infodump and depending on what is being shared, they may be debuting as official headcanons in my fanfics!

~ I only do fandom characters! Please do not send me anything to do with the actors; only their character selves

~ Requesting Alternate Universes and Crossovers is perfectly acceptable! Canon is also accepted, but please specify which version you want when sending in the requests!

Muses

*Anything tagged with ⭐️ is my most active hyperfixations and what I might feel more comfortable writing! Though I will make a separate post with a longer list of all of my muses!

TV SHOWS (Cartoons / Other)

⭐️ Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja

~ Randy Cunningham

~ First Ninja

⭐️ Danny Phantom

~ Danny Fenton / Phantom

She-Ra: Princesses of Power

~ Adora / She-Ra

~ Catra

Once Upon a Time

~ Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold

The Owl House

~ Luz Noceda

⭐️ My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

~ Twlight Sparkle

(Okay, this post is honestly getting massive- I am going to do something purely dedicated to exploring muses and whatnot in a different post; eventually, I might consider making something like a carrd but please be patient with me!)

[wordbunch]

Not the weird ask game, but what do you think Merry and Pippins Tumblrs would be like? URL, look, content etc

this ask is an absolute win 😂🎉

I'm terrible at coming up with URLs so I'll skip that part lmao.

Merry would have a more aesthetically looking tumblr, but not too much, a simple theme but with matchy colors and stuff. Pippin would use the default because he doesn't care 🤣 but the icon would be some random blurry picture

Tell me WHY I can see Merry posting shitty poetry attempts? 😆 Sometimes unironically, sometimes just for shits and giggles. He would be tagged in a LOT of tagging games fsr, and he would have hot takes and interact with controversial opinions just because 🤭 and it's up to interpretation whether he's being serious or actually thinks some things. Totally has a sideblog for pretty photos /art reblogging. Tries to tag stuff but over time it gets a bit messier.

Pippin would reblog stuff that he finds funny or he would just ramble/infodump about whatever crosses his mind in the moment. He would ALWAYS reblog so many ask games but he wouldn't really get that many asks 😂 maybe mostly from Merry. Would reblog videos such as "how it's made". No tags whatsoever, everything is ran purely on vibes 😂✨✌🏼

Thanks for this, I had a blast 😂🎉👌🏼 I wanna see your take on it👀

[nexus-nebulae]

whenever i see hollow knight theorists talk about the grubs i almost never see anyone mention certain things that i always think about so i'm just gonna infodump and see if these theories make any sense? I'm going to be such a nerd about taxonomy and real-life bugs. also note that i haven't genuinely studied this shit in school, i am running purely on wikipedia and Autism™

First things first: they're grubs. They're larvae. They're not finished growing, and as we see from the charm they give, they metamorphose into some form of flying being. It's not clear what, but if the Elegy charm in any way resembles what a Grubberfly actually looks like, then they would seem to have multiple wings and a thick, tapered body (with no apparent legs). We also know that the process of being eaten by the Grubfather involves some form of metamorphosis- either of the Grubs, or even the Grubfather itself. You can even hear them making noise within Grubfather, meaning they're not dead (yet. we don't know if they Will Be Eventually).

most of the time "grub" refers to beetle larvae, but... moth larvae can look pretty similar. grubs and caterpillars are often mistaken for one another. the main thing that gets me is the legs- the legs of the caterpillar are typically a lot thicker and better for movement. whereas most grubs have thinner, typically segmented legs and often can barely even move around with them. We see the grubs in hallownest with relatively thick legs- most other bugs in hallownest just get black lines for legs- and they're able to move incredibly freely.

Now- there's a lot of types of bugs in hallownest, which means a large variety of larval stages. We've got moths, obviously, which are caterpillars. We've got mantises, which have no larval stage and instead hatch directly into nymphs (So, the Mantis Youth enemy is likely a nymph). Baldurs are like woodlice, or isopods, meaning intstead of larvae they have manca, which essentially look just like tiny versions of the adult (e.g., the regular Baldur compared to the Elder Baldur). Bee larvae are simple white grubs, which are typically sealed inside of the surrounding honeycomb until they metamorphose. Spiders hatch as spiderlings, which we see plenty of in-game (and, before the Lifeblood update, Deeplings would even actually pop out of eggs when broken).

We have flukes, which seem to moreso resemble maggots, or fly larvae. The tiny flukes we see at the entrance to Flukemarm are clearly the youngest of the larvae (despite the Flukefey being labeled as such in the Hunter's Journal- the larvae in the walls aren't considered an enemy type in the Journal, however, so were likely not considered). Despite the fact that the Flukes more often resemble worms, we know they are not, as some varieties have legs or wings. Annelids (true worms, like earthworms, leeches, etc) never have legs, much less wings. Meaning the flukes are most likely arthropods, and thus most likely are something close to flies.

And then we have creatures that are in completely different phylums to arthropods, such as the jellyfish (cniderians), snails and slugs (molluscs), and mushrooms (fungi. not even in the animalia kingdom).

But by far the most common type of bug in Hallownest are beetles. Beetles are some of the most diverse insects on the planet even in real life, and in Hallownest it's no exception. We see plenty of beetles based on real life- Dung Defender being a dung beetle, the Nailsmith being a rhinoceros beetle, Willoh being a giraffe weevil. Most other insects in hallownest mostly resemble beetles than other insects, with hard, plated shells and often visible elytra (the hard shell casing that covers the wings). Because beetles are so abundant, and because most other insect species in the game tend to keep within their own separated groups, "grub" most likely became the colloquial form of "baby" within Hallownest. Therefore, these Grubs might not even be grubs at all, but another form of insect larvae that was labeled as grub due to its similarity to beetle young.

We never see any direct inclusions of the young of the Moth Tribe nor the various beetles found around hallownest. There is only a single known caterpillar seen in-game, and that is Marmu. It is not known if she is connected to the Moth Tribe or not, however Marmu's design was based on a Puss Moth caterpillar, of which the real-world equivalent grow up to be similarly fluffy moths to the ones seen in the Moth Tribe. The visual similarity between Marmu and the Grubs is striking- and they even sound remarkably similar, meaning they could be of related species.

Now, back to actual Hollow Knight Lore™:

We know that the Collector is definitely related to the Kingsmoulds, as they are both made of void and have the same body template. All Moulds were made as servants to the king, and do not seem to have their own motivations or interests. The Collector, however, definitely has a personality, ranting and raving about how much it loves the Grubs.

The corpse holding the Love Key in Queen's Gardens is a Husk Dandy, or one of the high elite of Hallownest. It was clearly a high-ranking member of society, and may have had some connections with Lurien, or even the Pale King himself. The Tower of Love was most likely this Dandy's tower, and it was likely the one who began the collection of grubs, with the Collector as some form of assistant (thank you mossbag for this one).

Now, the Dandy's Dream Nail dialogue says "Too long spent together... we become as one...". This, paired with the black streaks around the Dandy's eyes as well as the Void particles seen around the corpse, leads most people to assume that the Collector being made of Void somehow started to physically affect the Dandy, leading to its death. But what if it weren't simply one-way? What if, somehow, the Collector started to mirror the Dandy- if the Dandy was enthusiastic enough about its work, then the Collector may have become obsessed as well due to this.

We also know that the Pale King was attempting to snuff out almost everything he could about the Radiance. The Moth Tribe were apparently born from the Radiance, either metaphorically or literally. While the Moth Tribe did reject the Radiance and follow the Pale King, some moths still chose to remember their old god, until, according to the seer, "all of Hallownest began to dream of that forgotten light". Somehow, this hushed worship of the Radiance could have led to the infection taking hold in the world.

From what I could find, it was not entirely clear if any of the Void experiments began before or after the beginning of the Infection. The Collector could have been created any time in between the creation of Hallownest to its fall- it could be an early, perhaps unfinished form of a Kingsmould- it could be a typical Kingsmould that was altered in some way- it could be a late, more adavnced form of Kingsmould with traits unlike the other more typical Kingsmoulds (for example, it has a voice, where seemingly no other Void being does whatsoever).

Another thing to note- it's not made clear what kind of power exactly the Elegy charm draws from. Because of the Grubsong charm's connection to Soul, one might assume it is also Soul energy, however the slash doesn't draw from the Knight's Soul meter and any charms that directly affect spells or Soul use (other than Grubsong) don't have any sort of affect on the Elegy charm when equipped together.

So, my theory:

The Grubs are actually caterpillars, created by the Radiance in her return to Hallownest. The Pale King, or someone underneath him, noticed the appearance of these bugs and decided to study them- that, or they already knew of the bugs' connection to the moths and thus decided to trap them. The Dandy was the one in charge of this, the head researcher who collected and researched them. The Collector was a Kingsmould gifted to the Dandy by Lurien (or even the Pale King himself) to help with research- and perhaps, if they knew about the Radiance connection, also as a form of extra security (The vessels were Void beings created to contain the Radiance. The Collector is a Void being who obsessively contains Grubs. There's a reflection there). The Collector may have even specifically been granted a voice in order to be able to communicate with the Dandy.

Over time, the Dandy and the Collector being around each other so much caused them to start to become one. Not just in the Dandy becoming somehow infected with Void, but also in the Collector's obsession with the Grubs. This ultimately led to the Dandy locking the Collector in the Tower of Love and attempting to run away with the key before succumbing to the Void in the Queen's Gardens.

Being an experiment specifically created by the Pale King and his court, the Collector likely had some form of "programming" by the court to complete its intended tasks. Unlike the Kingsmoulds' simple programming to Defend the Pale King, instead the Collector's would have been to collect or trap bugs. It could have even been the case that the Collector was the Dandy's field agent- going to collect the Grubs itself so as to not put the Dandy in danger. We can even see this in its attacks- it doesn't necessarily slash at you, but instead makes a grabbing motion. Perhaps the Collector was programmed to Contain and Protect, with protect applying both to the Dandy and the collected specimens (a dead grub is no use for research, now is it?). However, now there seems to be some sort of bug in the programming (pun not intended) where the Collector doesn't seem to distinguish between what it should or shouldn't collect- we see bottles of Vengeflies and Aspids and Baldurs, and even the player's Shade, but these are only ever found within the Tower of Love where the Collector is locked away. It's likely it was the Dandy's orders that told the Collector exactly what to collect, and without those it simply overdoes its programmed task.

Unfortunately, the Knight eventually comes along and destroys the entire operation before we can find out the real truths regarding the Grubs. Hopefully the Grubberflies aren't actually tiny Radiances.

[smol-grey-tea]

for the ask game: tei? im curious about your thoughts on tei!!

Woah! :0 you funny, I already did Tei :) maybe I'll just go into a bit more detail and elaborate on the bullet points from last time!!! 😊

Chance for me to infodump about my thoughts on Tei :3 😊

Tei's so interesting. He pisses me off, he's the most boring one, but it's tbh mostly cuz he's the most popular within the fandom, that's why I don't as much like him. I think ppl only focus on the fact that he's a possessive yandere obsessed with purity and believes that no one should hurt his owner, but if anyone is going to, it should be him

Boring

Boring, boring boring

Get real. Get actually interesting. Oh. My. God.

Ppl rly think that's the most interesting aspect of his character?? It's certainly not the most relatable, at least not to me

Tei is a character wracked with anxiety and worry for his owner, who he places on a pedestal higher than the sun for smiling at him in place of treating him like the scum of the earth that he believes himself to be. He's not concerned about the owner abandoning him like Yeonho is, just about the owner's safety. He'll stop at nothing to keep that safety, and that's no exaggeration

In this way, he acts selflessly, say for all but his selfish desire to hurt the owner. He feels immense shame and disgust around it and blames it on his being dirty, but I think it's not so much a result of his being grotesque and disgusting, but simply lonely.

It must be incredibly isolating to shoulder so much pain and fear and worry all on his own, all while dealing with the painful memories of his previous owner. The best way I can interpret his desire to hurt Eri is by saying that deep down, he wants someone to lean on or relate to in his pain, and feel comfort thru their shared trauma.

He wants to dirty his owner, to make her like him, so that they may both finally be on the same level of purity and he can stand with her, and she can understand him. He cares for her deeply and sees her as safe but would feel guilty for burdening her with his issues if she was pure, but that wouldn't matter if she were just like him

He views this desire as selfish but I believe that this desire is manifesting from the simple desire for human connection, someone to be completely himself and honest around, which is something not nearly as selfish as he would believe ❤❤❤

Obviously, this doesn't excuse it. To change, he needs to learn to seek help, to reach out honestly about the pain he's going thru, taking one step at a time

Whether you romanticise his toxic behaviour or demonise it, I think it can still be agreed that simply removing him from the picture isn't a good solution to the danger that he is. Evidently, aside from Eri, Tei is the glue that holds the whole family together. He cooks, cleans, does the laundry and all the pecking he needs to, not just for Eri, but for the whole household

He gently urges Lance not to fight with Red; calms Yeonho's anxiety and teaches him cooking; nags Yuri but still feeds him and helps him just the same; and keeps Red happy and entertained with the justice warrior role playing

His relationships with each of the other boys are equally as complex as his with Eri, the way Red can feel comfortable enough with Tei to talk to him in a serious manner, and the way that Yuri warns Eri of Tei's dangers. Fascinating stuff behind the scenes that we don't even see!!!!!

I'm not sure how Cheritz would've been able to do this, since Nameless is told thru Eri's perspective, but based on the above, here's how I think that Tei's story could've been written a bit more realistically for him:

He cares for Eri deeply and his desire to hurt her doesn't just spring from nowhere, but comes more from the desire for human connection, someone to rely on or relate to, someone he can be his authentic honest self around. After hearing Tei's explanation, Eri agrees to help him thru his recovery, which is sweet of her, but I know that any relationship with someone you put on a pedestal can be extremely tough. It's incredibly easy to relapse and fall back when your entire day rests on whatever mood that one person is in

I've spoken about this before. In my opinion, Tei needs someone he can rely on, who is older than him, who he cannot hurt as easily, who he doesn't idolise, who he has much more stable of a relationship with

He needs Yuri. And Yuri needs him

It's the same for Yuri. Just like in his own route. He struggles with understanding emotions, especially sincerity that isn't tied to just empty flirting

The best way that Yuri can learn about authentic, sincere emotion is by trying to build a relationship with someone who he knows definitely isn't just interacting with him because of his good looks. Sure, Eri probably isn't, but being his owner (and a girl) that can kinda throw a wrench into things

Oh I haven't even mentioned that Tei's ocd is the biggest thing I can relate to him with. Hmm. It's 01:04. If I think of anything else to add, I'll make an addiction tomorrow. Idk how to conclude this essay, so I'll just say thanks again for sending the ask, n please keep em comin!!!!! I can do this for over 672 hours!!!!! ^^

[daggersandarrows]

I keep hearing a lot about Flight Rising but I have no real idea what it is about apart from dragons, can you tell me more about the game and what you enjoy about playing it?

ohhhhhh my god where do i even BEGIN...i love fr so much, it is the only browser game that has been able to capture me, lol. i hear a lot of people saying "it's basically draconic neopets" so i guess that's true but to be totally honest i know absolutely nothing about neopets lmao

anyway, flight rising is, essentially, a browser based dragon breeding game. when you first join the site you get one (1) custom dragon, the only custom you'll ever get, and one randomly rolled dragon, and from there you kinda pick your direction with what you wanna do on the site. the breeding mechanics are the main point in the game and they're kinda brilliant in how simple they are and how many possibilities you can have.

Dragons have seven inheritable features: the first being breed, the second being body color (primary color), the third being body pattern (primary gene), and then the same for the wings (secondary) and overlay (tertiary color is invisible if the dragon has "basic" as their tertiary gene). This is Perelandra, she is a guardian black/black/mint skink/butterfly/firefly. You can buy and change genes, breed, and eye type, but not color.

Dragons also have different eye types (hers is faceted) but those are rolled randomly. There's a bazillion colors, which makes breeding for rare combos really fun and rewarding just in that it's super satisfying to finally get the dragon you want after sinking a massive amount of time into it, depending on breeding cooldown length.

The dragons are also super customizable, there's tons of apparel and there are also usermade skins; this is my pride and joy, Tealeaf, who I completely gened myself in i think 8 months, wearing the skin odocoileus:

Apart from breeding you can also fight in the coliseum with a team of dragons to get item drops.

The really, really nice thing about this game is that the ratios of regular to premium currency are in this nice sweet spot where it's challenging to get the premium (gems) but certainly not impossible; I've not paid a dime to get where I am and have still gotten plenty of gems and been able to customize lots of dragons.

There's also just a really generous site culture where older members will frequently just give newbies (or anyone really) really expensive items purely just to help out.

ALSO, the site is divided into flights, which are basically clubs that determine the aesthetic of your page and the eye color of your dragons. There are eleven flights, I started in water but I'm currently in ice and am thinking about moving to lightning or arcane, not sure yet. There is a mechanic called dominance through which the top three flights for the week will get certain perks (marketplace items and lair upgrades are cheaper, mainly). This is a collective effort; the whole flight earns dominance points by exalting dragons (points are higher if those dragons have fought in the coliseum first). Dragons don't die so this is the only way to permanently remove them from the site. It's kind of brilliant; it keeps the site's servers functioning and users get really, REALLY into organizing dominance pushes. There's bingo games and raffles and art trades and all sorts of stuff, usually planned out a year in advance if it's meant to be a head to head dom battle. Like for example a while ago, water fought earth (and won!) and we'd been planning that at LEAST nine months in advance. I personally stored 200 dragons to be exalted and won a couple raffle prizes.

Dominance might be my favorite mechanic on the site, I just love how much it's like completely community run based on this relatively minor site mechanic and has become something so central to the community.

Thank youuuu for the ask, I never do not want to infodump about FR <3

(one last pic; i have yet to name this dragon rip)