#like its still the whole elemental power stuffs

[4-beans-in-a-bog-askblog]

Did you play the Fontaine archon quest? If so: are you going to adjust your OCs stories to fit into it or are you going to fit the archon quest to fit your OCs? What would change exactly? Are they involved in any of the events related to the Traveler?

(hiiii so to respond to this, umm 1 i havent played the quest- i know a little through spoilers? but i havent played genshin much in past months. and no i am not going to change my story based on the genshin one. i havent made fully fully official yet but right now im actually changing the blog to reflect the world ive made for these ocs! theres a whole giant world and a lot of lore ive made for all of this so hope enjoy it even if its not gonna be connected to genshin.)

[areyoufuckingcrazy]

I love how you write tech! And how you have him all flustered is written amazingly!

As someone who is high functioning, I love hearing people talk about what they’re interested in. Could you do a tech x Fem!reader where she loves listening to him and he gets flustered and add some of your own flare to it? Xx

“Sweet Circuits”

Tech x Reader

⸻

The cantina was its usual mess of sour drinks, old booths, and worse music. A storm brewed outside, the dusty kind that stuck to your clothes and made the whole world feel static-charged. Inside, though, it was warm. Dim. Safe.

And across from you, Tech was talking—hands animated, datapad in one hand, drink in the other (untouched, as usual).

“You see, the issue with the ion displacer isn’t so much the core processor as it is the overcompensating voltage feedback. Most engineers forget to recalibrate the thermal sync, which is frankly a rookie mistake.”

You nodded slowly, chin in your hand. Not because you were bored—but because watching him talk was like being allowed to peek inside a galaxy of stars. Not many people noticed how his eyes lit up, how fast he moved when he was in his element. He was like a hyperdrive: complex, brilliant, and far too often overlooked.

“I mean,” he went on, tapping something on his datapad, “with the right calibration, you can amplify power efficiency by at least 23.8 percent. If you’re clever about it. Which, most are not.”

“You’re clever,” you said simply, before you could think to dial it back.

He paused. Blinked. Looked up from the pad, blinking again behind his goggles as if the compliment hadn’t quite registered.

“Pardon?”

“You’re clever,” you repeated, letting a little smile curve your lips. “I like hearing you talk about this stuff.”

Tech straightened, shoulders going stiff like someone had just issued a direct order. His ears flushed a soft pink beneath the curl of his hair.

“You… do?” His voice had gone up just slightly, like you’d knocked him off-balance. “I was under the impression that most people find my commentary… verbose. Occasionally overwhelming.”

“Not me.” You shrugged. “It’s nice. Makes me feel like the galaxy still has things worth understanding. Even if I’ll never understand them as well as you.”

He stared at you for a moment too long.

Then, very slowly, he lowered the datapad. His fingers twitched near the edge of it, like they weren’t sure what to do without typing.

“I… appreciate that.”

Silence settled between you. Not awkward. Just… soft. Outside, thunder rolled. Inside, Tech leaned back in the booth, flustered but visibly trying to play it cool.

“If you’d like,” he added, voice quieter now, “I could explain the modular wiring system I built for Hunter’s blade gauntlet. It incorporates… well, it incorporates some rather interesting electroreactive alloy.”

You grinned.

“I’d love that.”

And so he talked, and you listened, both of you orbiting the same quiet space—two people who had survived too much, holding on to the little things that still made the galaxy feel… good.

Tech was halfway into an explanation about conductive filament lengths—his voice smoothing out, more relaxed now that he knew you actually wanted to hear him—when a sharp voice cut through the low hum of the cantina.

“Well, well. Isn’t this cozy.”

You turned to see Cid standing a few feet away, arms crossed, one brow raised like she’d caught the two of you holding hands under the table—which, for the record, you weren’t. Yet.

Tech sat up straighter immediately, clearly thrown, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.

“Good evening, Cid,” he said, formal as ever.

Cid glanced between the two of you, unimpressed. “You sweet on him or just have a death wish sittin’ through all that tech talk?” she asked, jabbing a clawed thumb toward you, then Tech.

You smirked. “A little from column A, little from column B.”

Cid snorted. “Well, hate to break up the love-in, but if you two are done whispering sweet circuits to each other, we’ve got a situation.”

Tech’s expression snapped back into mission-mode like a switch had been flipped. “What sort of situation?”

“Kind that pays, if you don’t mess it up,” she said, tossing a datapad onto the table with a clatter. “Package needs retrieving. Discreetly. You’re the brains, and she”—she gestured to you with a smirk—“is the only one who doesn’t treat the clientele like targets.”

“I do not—” Tech started, clearly offended.

You cut him off gently, patting his arm. “It’s fine, Tech. She’s just mad she interrupted the best lecture I’ve had all week.”

Cid made a gagging sound and walked off, muttering about nerd love and people trying to run a business.

Once she was gone, Tech turned to you with a strange look—half embarrassed, half something warmer.

“Did you… mean that?”

You looked at him.

“Of course I did. You’re brilliant. And kind. And you make me feel like I can actually understand the stars, not just look up at them.”

That flushed-pink look returned to his ears again. He swallowed.

“Well then,” he said, offering you his hand with a shy, almost formal air. “Shall we retrieve a package, Miss…?”

You took his hand, letting your fingers linger just a bit longer than necessary.

“We shall, Mr Genius.”

And as you stood, his hand still holding yours, you noticed the datapad had been left behind on the table—still open to the schematic he’d made just for fun, just to show you something he loved.

And you realized, maybe he hadn’t really been explaining it for the sake of talking.

Maybe he’d just wanted you to understand him.

⸻

[masterbuilderintern]

HAII HAIII CAN I KNOW MORE AN UR NOSTALGIA AU?!?

HAII HAIIII HAIIIII nostalgia au is mostly reliant on how much i changed lloyd specifically, he's no longer the center of a prophecy (though the rise of the overlord himself is still prophesied) and no longer an elemental kinda?

all his powers are purely based around his dragoni heritage, if he didnt have said heritage he wouldnt have powers at all, really

he also ages VERY SLOWLY but i think he'll end up an adult by SOG anyway

this change causes a lot of stuff to shift around, including the whole kai and morro egotism issue, which is still a problem they both have to get over! just not based around a prophecy, i might have to make a whole other post about that

then theres some canon adjustments in the plot, like the OVERLORD FUCKS OFF FOREVER IM NEVER BRINGING HIM BACK

"so how does rebooted go without the overlord?" um. best example i can think of is Access Denied from Minecraft Story Mode...... pixal's role in the au is so fun to brainstorm, they dont hack her they CONVINCE her to put trust in humanity to work on themselves and to value the complexities of human experiences outside of optimizing themselves

she takes that "protect humanity" directive and pursues it in a much healthier and kind way that doesnt involve stripping them of agency, however she does take it very seriously still so if she thinks you're a threat to humanity she won't kill you but shes going to beat you within an inch of your life and i love her so much

i have multiple drafts of zane's death so im not going to give a solid response to that yet lmaooooooo

COLE ALSO STAYS THE LEADER AND THEY. ACKNOWLEDGE IT. ive been brainstorming how to make it more obvious he has control over the team

jay is a girl but she doesnt know it yet lol

morro's whole thang has been super duper changed but that needs its own post, just know possession is like this the whole time

character dynamics are also a bit different! but thats also a long talk because theres a lot of combos to talk about

ill try to make more in-depth posts about everything!!

[soclearlytosee]

Stranger Things, Peter Pan, Mothers, and Wendys

Some Peter Pan artifact, I'd guess a Disney movie tie-in book, hanging out in Holly's room

I recently watched The Lost Boys and read Peter Pan (really Peter and Wendy in The Annotated Peter Pan but what version of the story is "the original" is infamously convoluted). 

The Lost Boys was a viewing experience that made me feel like I understood the Duffers’ whole deal in a completely new way - like watching Election finally made me understand what Ryan Murphy has actually been trying to do all this time. I know we’re always like Spielberg, King, Carpenter, etc but how much of this movie is in ST’s DNA is pretty wild, there even is a “barricading the house against a supernatural threat with everyday items as makeshift weapons" montage with a synth score. Joel Schumacher we gotta start giving you your proper due in this conversation, we do simply owe gay ppl everything (also as with any worthwhile ST reference to pull at @/threemanoperation has already been on this beat)

Anyways, The Lost Boys is a spiritual Peter Pan adaptation and one big current that shows up from its source text is a real preoccupation with the mother.

These aren’t the only ST reference texts with a lot of mom stuff going on. We’re getting probably the icon of genre movie motherhood herself with Linda Hamilton joining the show in s5, and pregnancy body horror is like the entire thing in extremely obvious ST creature design touchpoint Alien.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Linda Hamilton seems to be playing a female counterpoint to Brenner/Papa, so all signs point to them intentionally invoking that reference at least.

Joyce is our purest Spielberg mom: the harried single parent, doing her best, a bit eccentric. She’s taken a backseat in recent seasons, but a new maybe-Mama taking on Papa's mantle as s5’s primary human antagonist points to Joyce taking more of a lead again. 

Joyce seeming to spend a substantial chunk of s5 separated from Hopper gives me hope, as does her seeming to be the most connected with Henry of our ST-adult-cast-as-teens in The First Shadow. We heard Victor’s story last season, so turning to Virginia’s role in the tragedy of Henry might be another narrative element that pulls Joyce out as a foil.

One of our other established moms, Karen, also looks to be getting an expanded role in s5. If Holly is indeed taken by the military, she should join Joyce to take on Linda Hamilton (are we ever going to learn her character name good lord). 

If Joyce and Karen are our Mrs. Darlings, then we have the Wendy-coded among us: "mothergate" creator El, and Alienesque body horror victim/slug incubator Will.

Like Wendy, El and Will both have their own personal playhouses even within the broader kid kingdoms of Neverland, Mike’s basement, and the woods.

And, of course, once Wendy leaves Neverland and grows up, she has a daughter named Jane who eventually journeys to Neverland with Peter herself.

Wendy’s primary “power” in Peter Pan is storytelling, which lives with mothers in the book/play in a very fairy tale logic sort of way. Peter is initially attracted to the Darlings’ nursery window by Mrs. Darling’s bedtime stories. And that's the reason he is convinced to bring Wendy to Neverland (she "tempts him" with stories).

This actually convinces Peter to bring Wendy to Neverland even if he isn't so hot on the idea of mothers himself. "The Boy Who Hated Mothers" was a working title for Peter Pan the play.

There is an interesting relationship between storytelling and time in Peter Pan that probably deserves more exploration, maybe a topic for a later post. The residents of Neverland exist out of time, which means they can’t conceptualize beginnings or endings - and that's why they can’t tell stories and Wendy's ability to do so has such allure.

in Neverland, time has literally been killed

I still haven’t totally made sense of what this implies for our Neverlandesque-frozen-in-time Upside Down and El and friends’ preoccupation with stories in s5. But it feels significant in the final act of our coming-of-age story, especially considering why the Upside Down is stuck on November 6, 1986 is allegedly a driving mystery of what's to come, according to the Duffers.

[eternal-moss]

Good Lord I cannot stop Simonposting

Anyway. The Golbetty shrine. Is incredibly messed up and delightfully feels like the sort of thing someone would construct after comprehending the god of chaos.

It’s clearly not Simon’s first time doing the ritual in vain (we’ve already seen him try many times in the montage at the end of the show to get her back, including consulting the Cosmic Owl and Prismo), so there’s holes in the wall that correspond to Golb’s symbols. The Enchiridion is also there, which was the main source of power for summoning elder gods like the Litch (used to resurrect himself) Golb (used by Magic Man and Betty) and (attempt to) time travel (by Betty). But before the apocalypse, the Enchiridion was owned by Simon himself, and both him and Betty studied it. So it has the twofold power of being a very strong magic battery and has the emotional link to Petrigrof.

The empty bottles and whatever those terrifying lamprey looking things are in a makeshift statue, harbouring a cleaner looking idol (which he probably created himself) out of clay. Making a statue of a god at least twice? Does that mean that even if one gets broken or damaged he has the other one? Or does it make the rituals stronger?

We know that Simon knew a bit about Golb before the apocalypse- in the final episode of the main series we have a flashback of him and Betty, where he says “I keep seeing reference to this mysterious entity that embodies chaos” and “his presence is felt in every crevice where chaos lurks”. To which Betty replies “well it’s a good thing he isn’t here then.”

She sacrificed herself to keep him safe and away from the god of chaos and madness, by fusing her soul with his. Golb being this sort of god means that he’s probably the originator of MMS (Magic, Madness and Sadness) which is a canonical condition where insane/depressed characters will have a higher propensity to magic, and magic users are more prone to bouts of mania, amnesia and depression.

The crown was basically a catalyst of MMS, which caused Simon to have unnatural elemental powers (unlike the elementals which don’t experience default MMS) as well as effecting his body and mind.

Betty is pretty much the only character to have ‘diagnosed’ MMS, recognising it in most magic users, and in Simon, hoping to undo its effects on him. Her theory is proven correct in the episode ‘Betty’ by Bella Noche undoing all the magic in Wizard City and the effects of the crown are nullified, and retracts its influence from Simon, causing him to become ‘normal again’ and regain his clarity and memories.

Grief is shown to be a strong natural catalyst to MMS, which also happened to Magic Man (after his wife Margles was ‘taken by Golb’ which still has an unclear meaning, she definitely didn’t fuse like Betty, although wishing her back at Prismo’s did the exact same thing as Simon wishing Betty back which is really unusual), and Betty herself after the ‘You Forgot Your Floaties’ episode (which by the way is like one of the best episodes in the show).

Betty’s whole motive was to save Simon and free him from madness, which she did at the cost of her soul. But now, ironically, Simon’s grief is causing him to develop it again, which is how he channels the Golb rituals (like how Betty and magic man did) and also probably how the Fionnaverse portal even opened up in the first place.

Something about about Simon having panic attacks in his house and just generally getting triggered by a lot of stuff (Ice, the books he wrote as Ice King, etc) but then gently stroking the clay idol he made of the god of madness because that’s his wife is just heart breaking

Look at that expression :( it’s longing followed by guilt because he knows this is exactly what she would never want him to do.

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 07/09

Anonymous asked: also, thats pretty distinctly not vriskas handwriting (page 2196). the hell is terezi even talking about?

Terezi, for god's sake.

@manorinthewoods asked: I'd like to note that Pyralspite's eyes are either an eighth the brightness of Alternia's sun, or Pyralspite has the ability to psychically burn out people's eyes just by wanting to. Probably the former. ~LOSS (30/8/24)

I should have guessed that Vriska's cruel and unusual punishment for Terezi was yet another case of Mindfang Roleplay.

I think it's likely that Pyralspite does have some sort of ocular ability. After all, Terezi's lusus had a vision-based power, and she's probably Pyralspite's direct descendant.

@gogogoat495 asked: Say, what do you think of the reuse/mix of animation and music from Dave: Ascend to Seer: Ascend? Is it a simple callback or are there deeper parallels between the characters and story beats?

Well, they are both lead-ups to a climactic fight between 'siblings'. Other than that, though, I'm not really sure. Dave and Terezi have always got on very well, but I can't really see any direct parallels in their personal arcs.

@manorinthewoods asked: Mindfang's classism is ridiculous. This woman straight up said 'one of such middling 8lood' about someone literally one step below her on the ladder. If she were Tavros, she would be oppressing Aradia so hard. ~LOSS (29/8/24)

In Terezi's own words, she's 'a little too teal' to be considered a true highblood. I think there's a hard line of separation here, where anyone below Vriska's caste is considered a midblood at best.

In other words: to be a blueblood, you really need to be a blue-blood.

@manorinthewoods asked: Nepeta, whose handle is arsenicCatnip, uses arsenic's atomic number as a significant element of her quirk. This implies that arsenic has the same atomic number in Alternia as on Earth, which in turn means that, at the very least, the two universes likely share a periodic table. Odd, given how one has widespread psychic abilities and the other doesn't. ~LOSS (29/8/24)

I think it makes sense that Earth inherited some of its scientific concepts from Alternia. It wouldn't be the first thing we inherited!

@heliotropopause asked: TG: maybe if you kill her at least we can finally stop obsessing over her Hah! homestuck's been over for over for almost eight years now, and people are still doing vriscourse to this day. There is no escape, i'm afraid.

'Vriscourse' is kind of killing me. I'm kind of disappointed that this is my first time hearing the term, because I'd probably have been using it this whole time.

@probablyapineapple asked: im not completely caught up on reading this liveblog yet (currently up to s67) but i think youre on track to understanding these characters better than literally anyone

Well, thank you! I have, admittedly, posted some rather hot takes in the past, though. If I recall correctly, my Act 5 shipping chart was my most controversial post to date.

@bladekindeyewear asked: Back during these times in the comic, there were broad theoryposting camps advocating for both narrower and broader interpretations of Aspect domains/powers. I know you're avoiding as much outside influence as you can, but I'm wondering if maybe after the end of this Act, you could accept some community Theorydiving from around this time that could unlock more tools for you to understand hidden evidence for Aspect Stuff you might have missed? […]

I'm definitely considering something like that. Specifically, I'd love to take a look at some of the comic's early theories - ones that had already been disproven by this point in the comic. That'll allow me to get into the headspace of Homestuck's earliest theorists, without influencing my own as-yet-unproved theories.

@manorinthewoods asked: Perhaps an older Legislacerator's job is less actually trying to pursue justice, and more going through cargo cult-esque rhythms of justice, taking its trappings and trying to bring it about while having no understanding of what they're actually doing and what the meaning of their actions is. Maybe, like the Subjugglators, they're an entire social class/blood color based around a single cult? ~LOSS (28/8/24)

I think Dave was pretty on the mark when he described early legislacerators as bounty hunters. Maybe they assumed something marginally closer to an attorney's role in Alternia's modern age - but in Redglare's era, the ideal legislacerator was a violent thrill-seeker, more concerned with bloody combat than courtroom paperwork.

@violetsquare111 asked: I do wonder how big, exactly, is the multiverse in Homestuck. I guess that's a bit of a weird question if there are "infinite universes"… but infinite potential doesn't mean infinite already-existing universes, does it? For some reason I always thought of the amount of Sburb sessions/universes being fairly small, in the grand scheme of things. Less than a million, maybe. I really don't know where I got that from, and there's probably some throwaway line in the comic contradicting it, but if applicable then it's another possible explanation for how Perfect Jack would be one-of-a-kind.

It's not impossible. That would imply that the overwhelming majority of sessions are doomed to fail - but, honestly, they might be! After all, neither of the sessions we've seen so far have been unambiguously successful.

@iris-in-the-dark-world asked: i had a dream that you went from page 3703 to page 7053 in one day

You dreamt of Sally on Adderall.

@spiddermen asked: hihi i just caught up with your liveblog and im so happy to have a chance to reread hs along with you, the first time i read it was when i was like… twelve? so nine years ago? and pretty much all of it went over my head. but now im finally getting to appreciate this masterpiece and your observations are making a lot of stuff click for me as well. so its cool to finally get to understand how freaking good this story is and i cant wait to see you react to some of the crazy later stuff also i hope this doesnt trip the spoiler sensor but some of the answers to the questions you're asking are only answered in sequel material so i do really hope you'll read those, they're ignored by a lot of the fans but they're honestly really really good and i feel like you're the kind of person who would get the intended experience out of them. and psycholonials as well! everyone ignores it but it practically is homestuck (2) to me

Thank you! And yeah, we've talked a bit about this before. Cat and I had a discussion about the subject back in Act 3, and I'm well aware that this comic isn't going to answer all of my questions. Honestly, it would be pretty surprising if it did - I've been digging really deep into aspects of the comic that are clearly just meant to be background details.

As for whether I'll be dipping into Hussie's other projects, or Homestuck's non-canon material - I'm certainly going to check them out, but only time will tell whether they get the full liveblogging treatment. That said, if it addresses questions of mine that Homestuck itself doesn't elaborate on, consider my interests piqued.

@manorinthewoods submitted: I sorta skimmed Homestuck, and missed out on basically all of the Flashes going through, so I totally missed the fact that WQ wrote a romantic fanfic about herself, which is really funny. It does have a serious aspect, though - it implies something about her relationship with WK, no? I suspect they may be friendly with one another, but fate gives their relationship a bit of tragedy - as well as a bit of 'we are simultaneously both forced to be in a romantic relationship and also only being co-rulers'. Is WQ<3WK a thing? Doesn't have to be. I suspect it may be something like WQ<>WK […]

Plus, Carapacians are clones, so it's not like the Royals need to make any heirs. Really, they only need to be co-workers - but the idea that they might have a moirail-adjacent relationship is very cute.

Anonymous asked: Grimdark Rose: "Vengeance and rage are all I live for now, seeing my dead mother makes me feel nothing, I will-" John: Exists Rose: "OMG bestie hiiiiii" ~DJ

First Vriska, now Rose. It seems like John's the perfect calming influence for any out-of-control Light Player.

Anonymous asked: Not sure if you noticed, the tapestries about the kids' quests are all referencing the [S] pages with misattributed quotes associated with each kid (pages 82, 307, 444, and 2988). The quotes are, respectively, from Maxims by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, Drop It Like It's Hot by Snoop Dogg, and possibly an original piece by Hussie ending with a line from Hamlet. I don't think any of them mean anything.

The quotes might not be Hussie originals, but they definitely seem to evoke the kids' respective Quests. Dave's quote is a bit of an exception, though...

Anonymous asked: "They wait for he who would drop it while it's hot whilst the pimp's in the crib." I mean, you laugh NOW, but knowing Andrew and this comic, can you honestly say this won't end up having an incredibly important and literal meaning? @walkerbehindyou asked: Is there a quest more suited for Dave than to show up at his denizen’s (certainly the pimp of LOHAC) palace in the past and drop straight fire?

...but perhaps that means it's foreshadowing something we haven't seen yet. If Dave ends up making a Choice, I wouldn't put it past him to rap an answer to his Denizen.

@iris-in-the-dark-world asked: the soundtrack of the grimdark rose segment really gets to me. i'd highly recommend the first few songs of that album

Black Rose/Green Sun was a great song. It evoked a very different feeling than anything we've heard before, and really highlighted how alien Rose has become, now that she's been fully submerged in darkness.

@manorinthewoods asked: Ooh, here's an idea - when you do the Sahlee-and-Sally Let's Play, set it in an alternate Sburb that's based on all of your incorrect theories. Every Land has a God Tier Moon orbiting it, for instance. Would be really cool - your theoretical Sburb has a lot of super fun stuff in it. ~LOSS (12/8/24)

Oh, I like that idea. It means I can finally bring back the anti-Skaia, which is probably my favourite since-disproven theory.

Anonymous asked: I never realised that the pillow that Rose uses then is the one from her mum - well spotted :,(

A mother will do whatever is best for her children.

And a daughter will remember what was best about her mother.

Anonymous asked: So. Do you think that a Horrorterror-Boosted Rose has any chance against a First Guardian Prototyped Jack Noir? We've seen that if left alone Jack can destroy Entire Worlds and his teleporting is Nigh Instant, plus who knows how far he can go in a single teleport! […]

Dark Rose is arguably a God-Tier level threat, but we've just seen Jack one-shot a God Tier. I don't think she has a hope - there's only so many bullet-time stabbings she can take!

Anonymous asked: its really interesting to see you say that rose saying she felt mom was a sister and a mother at once made u feel like there must have been camraderie. for me, it reinforced the idea that moms parenting forced rose to act like a peer to mom when it came to her alcoholism? in the sense that moms alcoholism took her out of commission, and made it so that rose had to take care of herself in a lot of ways that a parent would, putting them on similar levels. So its interesting to see a different interpretation!

It's not impossible. To me, Rose's monologue reads as if she's trying to express her admiration of her mother. This is the first time she's admitted to having positive feelings for her guardian, and I think she's regretting that she never voiced these feelings to the woman herself, before it was too late.

That's just one reading of her words, though. I think her monologue here is meant to be ambiguous, just like the Lalonde mother-daughter relationship always was.

@manorinthewoods asked: Ooh, you're thinking of a Carapacian player, huh? That would be interesting - imagine if they go in with, like, complete knowledge of how Sburb works, so they prototype something super strong in order to buff the Ring that they then steal and equip. ~LOSS (12/8/24)

That would be interesting. Carapacians are the only species where the game can't fully compensate for the power of your race by buffing Underlings, since buffing the Underlings would also buff the Ring I'm abusing!

@skelekingfeddy asked: re: troll romance: i generally lean towards xenopsychology, mixed in with a secret 4th thing (humans can also feel troll romance), with a little dose of propaganda, and also an undercurrent of parody (because Hussie. everything has an undercurrent of parody (e.g. pretty much all the trolls are based on internet stereotypes). i COMPLETELY disagree with the notion that the quadrants are made up unhealthy bullshit. i think theres a genuine evolutionary biological origin for the quadrants if matespritship is all about Companionship, then kismesissitude is all about Competition, Rivalry, a drive to push yourself and make yourself better. both are generally healthy and beneficial in their own ways. the evolutionary basis for moirallegiance and auspisticism is the need for pacification, a better half, to prop up matespritships and kismesissitudes and keep them from being interfered with (as described in-comic). each quadrant is the result of a genuine primal, biological urge

I don't necessarily think the quadrants are fabricated, but I do think that the version of them that exists on Alternia are unhealthy more often than not, particularly when it comes to black romance. Monogamous auspisticism requires an overwhelming amount of emotional labor, all the kismesissitudes we've seen have been toxic at best, and there has to be a better way to do this.

Anonymous asked: My brother's been going through your liveblog recently and it's been fun getting to re-experience it through him, especially being reminded of all the theories you have that are shockingly accurate in very inaccurate ways. The two that come to mind are your theory that Jade was engineered in a lab (which, she kinda was, but that's not unique to her) and that John's version of Sburb is bugged (the meteors, it turns out, were a part of the game as it's meant to be played, but this whole 'tumour' thing sure isn't). Also, while I'm here, going to recommend checking out Temporal Shenanigans by Rachel Rose Mitchell, which is a gorgeous fansong about Aradia that shouldn't have any spoilsies at this point. I would also rec PhemieC's music with the caveat that many of their songs are spoilery - while most of the troll-specific ones should be alright, I'd definitely say to get someone else to go through them first to be certain. Hope you're doing well!! And I look forward to seeing more of your liveblog if and when you return to it! -Megido

Oh yeah, I was talking about how Jade was made in a lab! I'd totally forgotten about that theory.

You know, her Dreambot is actually interesting in retrospect. The bed that controls it looks suspiciously like a Quest Bed, which makes me wonder just how much Grandpa knew about Sburb's lore, and what exactly he was trying to do here.

Anonymous asked: I find it a bit funny (in good way) how aspects of your troll and human sona are kinda opposites, like life and death type of thing, sweet

Really, it's mostly just me hedging on my own Aspect. Plus, having two 'sonas lets me explore twice as much Sburb lore, allowing me to come up with two weapons, Lands, Title powers, and the like.

Within the hypothetical context of the fic, I've been thinking a lot about why there'd be two Sallys. Like, was one 'sona partially cloned from the other? If so, who was the original? Technically, the Alternian version would have existed 'first', but the existence of time travel ensures that that doesn't mean much.

@manorinthewoods asked: Rather appropriate that Rose's weapon is her Thorns. ~LOSS (10/8/24)

Ayyy!

@ipunchvampires asked: "You should understand [Rose has] been corrupted by various entities with some rather questionable motives," says Entity with Rather Questionable Motives corrupting her. Kind of the perfect Doc Scratch line, honestly.

Doc Scratch is an awful person, but he's still a funny fuck.

@heliotropopause asked: wait. is that *Guybrush Threepwood* in the boat there??? @elkian asked: At the risk of being the 88th person to say something, the troll in the dinghy is a Guybrush Threepwood cameo (using the more cartoony style from Curse Of Monkey Island etc.). Man's truly unfortunate, or maybe he's lucky for not being a focal character? XD Anonymous asked: that 'one random motherfucker on a little dinghy' is in fact, guybrush threepwood from the monkey island series, thrown in as an easter egg by one of the artists who made assets for the flash @sanctferum asked: the troll on the dinghy is Troll Gybrush Threepwood. the guest artist for that scene confirmed this on the now-defunct MSPA forums IIRC

Ahahaha. Mystery solved, I guess!

I've been wanting to play Monkey Island for some time - and now I need to, so that I can understand the true backstory of of GY'BRSH TRPWUD.

Anonymous asked: I love this section, because I think it really shows something about Dave (and Rose). Because Dave just says whatever pops into his head, when he's getting command prompts, he just repeats them uncritically. (That also supports that when he said he didn't love his Bro, it was his honest reaction) @ben-guy asked: David "Zero Filter" Strider was absolutely not ready to have thoughts beamed directly into his head by an exile lmao @krixwell asked: It's so funny to me how when thoughts are incepted into Dave's subconscious mind, they just come falling right back out his mouth at the first opportunity. Filter, what filter? Those sunglasses don't hide shit.

Reminds me of his stress-rambles from early on in the comic. The reason he wears those shades is, I think, because he is a naturally expressive person - he just doesn't want to be.

[odysseyeurobeat]

Literally just me gushing about eurobeat

Y'know what? Tumblr, you get a little treat. I don't have much better of a place to post something long-winded like this, so here we are.

I love eurobeat music. Big surprise from the girl with it in her handle, right? But I don't just love one kind of eurobeat. No, I'd go so far as to say I love it all. This genre becomes an absolute buffet of delightful, energetic, silly fun when you forget about trying to look for ways it "doesn't count", and try to look for the ways it does.

I love early eurobeat! I love the stuff that's indistinguishable from early Italo Disco, the formative things where the tempo was still low and the disco vibes were still high! That's Eurobeat and the first few volumes of Super Eurobeat are great for this!

I love later eurobeat, too! Even if some of the sounds aren't always my favorites, I love that folks were trying new things and dabbling with new sounds, experimenting in ways that in previous years seemed prohibited! Comparing some aliases who have been going for multiple decades from this period to when they started is also super fun!

I love traditional eurobeat, if I could pick a name for it! Faster, more rave-influenced, whether or not it's still got some disco elements in it, themes about nightclubs and love and loss and betrayal and that ever-ubiquitous fire! Maharajah Night has some great examples, leading into the bulk of pre-200 Super Eurobeat volumes!

I love J-Euro! It turns out, folks in Japan have different ideas and tastes and approach the genre VERY differently than the folks in Italy do, and I love how it sounds! I love how the sound design is so different and the speed jumps a little higher!

I love indie eurobeat! I love hearing how new and amateur producers take a crack at the sound, and seeing what folks do as the tools for making it grow and evolve! Even virtual versions of the synths the masters used to use are available now, and it's fantastic to hear how those things sound in new hands! I love the ways indie producers bend, break, and work around the rules of the genre and still deliver a uniquely "eurobeat" experience! Without this category, I would never have found DJ Command, DJ Bouche, Turbo, Vikas Beatbox, the Galaxian Recordings crew, and so, so many more!

I love happy eurobeat! The nature of the genre makes it so straightforward to pair its signature energy with joy, delight, empowerment!

I love sad eurobeat! That very same energy that powers joy and happiness can be just as powerful for driving home sorrow and sadness, and some lyrics even carry strong emotional weight (we're well past the days of eurobeat being only about Burning Love Car Baby Fire Desire Tonight Drift Tokyo, y'know)!

I love fandom eurobeat! Yup! Vocaloid, Touhou, MLP:FiM, Vtubers; whatever you may be a fan of, chances are good there's a eurobeat remix out there (or even an original) that suits your fancy!

I love Initial D eurobeat! How could I not, right? The classics are classics for a reason, and eurobeat and drift racing are a uniquely fantastic pair. Of all the things eurobeat could be about, it's one of a few that really knock it out of the park!

I love feminine eurobeat! Masculine eurobeat is great too, but it already gets a lot of love in the other categories, so I want to celebrate those eurobeat songs that feel quite the opposite while still being perfectly eurobeat! Eurobeat is broad enough to express feelings like this, too!

I love songs that aren't quite eurobeat, but have elements of it! And I love eurobeat songs that heavily include elements from other genres, too! Eurobeat is like any other genre-- it has not always had the same chances to rub shoulders with other sounds in the dance space, but when it does, some wonderful things happen! And the whole music world is enriched for that cross-pollenation!

I love the songs I used to dislike! To think I'd go from vastly disliking Norma Sheffield's discography, to adoring it so fully! Disliking "Higher Higher More and More" to seeking it out from time to time! Not being fond of SAIFAM/BBB's style, to knowing some of its songs by heart!

And most of all, I love that I get to MAKE this stuff for a living! I do not take the fact that this could've not worked out trivially, and I hope I've rewarded your patiences well with a lot of new favorites and starting points for diving deeper into the genre over the last... almost 20 years, now!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg! I understand some eurobeat isn't to everyone's taste, but I think if you haven't tasted all that there is out there, you owe it to yourself to see how you feel about it. You might be pleasantly surprised!

[elbiotipo]

Here's a list of GURPS Infinite Worlds alternate histories based on Latin America I have ideas for, some are just a description, others I have a map and text. I might post some text and maps about them when I get some of them done:

Bolívar-1: A classic: Latin America remains united after independence, and becomes a superpower, while the (dis)United States is a collection of states (current year 2025)

Bolívar-3: The right-wing reaction to the Pink Wave fails and the left in Latin America becomes stronger. The UNASUR unifies and thrives, and Néstor Kirchner and Chávez are still alive (current year 2025)

Tupá: The Paraná basin becomes another cradle of civilization with the manioc as main crop with many cultures deriving from the Tupí-Guaraní and other peoples of tropical South America (current year 1200)

Rosas-1: Juan Manuel de Rosas manages to restore the Provincias Unidas and remakes them in his image as the main power of South America. Now that he's nearing death however, nobody knows what will happen after him. (current year 1875)

Rosas-3: A catastrophic failure of the Argentine Civil Wars dissolves the country into independent republics. Brasil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and of course European powers compete to rule over the pieces. There's still an Argentine Confederation in the Malvinas (current year 1861)

Perón-1: The República Justicialista Argentina consolidates itself as the third pole in the Cold War, leading non-aligned countries and exporting atompunk Justicialism to the world. (current year 1970)

Pedro-2: Brazil dissolves itself in civil war, every state becomes a republic or joins a union... Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, and so on... Bad news, there's no Brazil, good news, there's a lot of little interesting mini-Brazils (current year 1920)

Mendel-1: The world enters a biotech revolution, with Argentina and Brazil being the twin centers of the emerging biopunk movement. (current year 2086... I think I heard this one before)

Louverture-1: The Haitian Revolution succeeds in sparking slave and anti-colonial revolts all over the world. Decolonization starts centuries early, with an unrecognizable world map (current year 1933)

Paracuaria: The Jesuits and the Guaraní build a syncretic civilization in a world where Jesuit mysticism and Guaraní cosmology seem to be true. The colonial powers fear this Jesuitic Empire, which seems to be the one to spark the Enlightenment (current year 1809)

Pachacuti-1: Apparently assisted by supernatural forces, the Inca manage to resist European conquest, and now lay claim to the whole of South America (current year 1628)

Pachacuti-2: In this timeline, the Inca also resisted, but no supernatural elements. The Tawantinsuyu is a closed empire that is slowly trying to adapt to a changing world (current year 1801)

Pachacuti-3: A straight up mythical parallel world where Andean cosomology is objectively true and the Sapa Inca rules from Cuzco, the Navel of the World, over a fantastic South America, with other continents just distant islands (current year counted since the last pachacuti)

Pachacuti-4: The Tupác Amaru rebellion is successful, and now the Amaru dynasty steers a quickly industrializing country with many factions (current year 1913)

Suriname: After independence, Suriname has become a sizable industrial and cultural power on the level of South Korea. (current year 2025)

Menem: A cyberpunk world where the Mercosur became a free trade zone ruled by megacorporations and the 90s never ended (current year 2011)

Mendel-4: After a World War III and global catastrophe known as the Ecocide, the world is recovering, with the main biotechnological powers in Latin America (current year 2143, I DEFINITELY know this one)

These are only the ones where the main focus is in Latin America, but there's lots of others with interesting stuff, like Marx-3 with its Guevarist revolutions (from a whole collection of Marx- worlds I will post later). If you feel you have some more ideas, feel free to tell me, usually GURPS Infinite Worlds uses the "famous person/place-number" format for these, and I know the rest. I feel like I did Brazil dirty in this one, but don't worry, there surely are timelines with badass Brazils, it's just that Infinity (me) hasn't discovered them yet. (this is why I skipped some numbers, for example)

[saguette]

What do you think Johnny's art looked like before he was stripped of his powers? This is something that bugs me a lot, and I'm curious about what you think.

ok i needed to draw a few shitty pictures to demonstrate cuz i wanted to talk about more than just his previous art but his art journey in general IDC if there's some canon tweet that proves something i said wrong or out of timeline these are my headcanons and projections so you either like it or not.. anyways I think his style pre-pre-JTHM (lets say 15-18) depicted many things, He was good at realism and fluctuated just fine between stylized art and big hefty works with a lot of detail. His stylized works looking similar to Jhonens and the whole 2000's artstyle cuz its fitting.

Of course he's like, a late teenager around this time so its GOOD but not perfect. If you pulled up a few of his drawings from this time he would probably be embarrassed by all the disproportionate limbs and goth girls he sketched and thought were badass. He probably has old sketches of friends in his style regardless if they asked to be drawn or not since his art was something he was proud of and people around him made him feel proud of. His old art also feels like it'd have anime elements unintentionally to add to that amateur artist swag. Johnny doesn't like anime copies but stuff he rips inspo from was anime inspired so it rubbed off on his work too. Moving onto PRE-JTHM (18-20) Is when his art started to get more serious and complex. In his happy era he took to drawing lovecraftian horror sometimes but it was always the secondary focus of any drawing.

Moving out and growing up was around the time his mental state started to worsen and he started using art to cope with emotions rather than just use it for fun, drawing complex monsters was a subconscious way to depict underlying mental illness that's out of his hands. He cant depict what he doesn't know he has, he can only scribble things that feel someone close to him because there is no physical appearance to emotions. He never liked his art around this time because it always felt unfinished or wrong or like it just didn't interpret what he wanted right. Overtime his art lost coherent appearance, quality, and meaning which made it feel worthless. It wouldn't be all that bad but it reached a point not even he knew what it was trying to be and it was frustrating. How can your own art not make sense to you? Its weird to let your hands go and do their own and you not recognize what they're trying to say. Which leads to SHORTLY BEFORE JTHM-and later.. Johnnys NEW preferred method for art currently is a little abstract, it became two extremes of the same thing; nothing. his art lost alot of what it used to be so he says he cant draw anymore.

Johnnys lovecraftian horror art slowly engulfed itself over time and always becomes an abstract mess. Its purposely made to be incomprehensible by having too much, regardless if its creation is poetic, an outside view not being able to tell what it is or how much work went into it is on purpose. its metaphorical or whatever.. Johnnys fucked up or something.. Whereas Noodleboy i imagine was made by him drawing a stickfigure one day to see if he can still "draw" and overtime gave him his features like angry eyes and that big hair, creating his own sort of vent sona to replace the sketchy abstract art he used before. Noodleboys chaoticness is too sporadic to rip any meaning off of, he also purposely represents nothing. His existence uses up paper the same way, just without all the extra effort. SORRRYYYY long tangent thats probably super messy i just winged it. but i cant help myself ive thought about this for a while ik i didnt strictly answer the question but i had so much more to say

[superkooku]

@aliciavance4228's post about Crown of serpents only focusing on physical strength to be worthy inspired me for more ramblings. (Thanks for the idea btw)

Because it's yet another proof that some of these "dazzling" retellings (or whatever other buzzword) are even more reductive and stigmatizing than Greek mythology !

No, just because Andromeda didn't fight Cetus herself or smth doesn't mean she's weak. Heck, she doesn't even need to sacrifice herself for the kingdom (SHE DIDN'T WANT TO DO THAT) to show her own kind of strength. Let me elaborate on my stance, first.

Greek mythology isn't simply about fighting monsters and being strong

Firstly, no religion or mythology is. It's tied to the culture, to all its elements, to legends that teach values or explain stuff about the world and human nature. So of course physical strength and "epicness" aren't the only parts to remember !!!

Then, let's talk about the multiple heroes, not even women or anything, but actual male heroes, whose abilities don't lie on strength, some of them not even being fighters, and even then they're highly acclaimed.

Andromeda's healing abilities (that aren't in the source but whatever) would've never been seen as useless in a mythology where there are multiple deities solely dedicated to this domain. The mythology where we have Asclepius being literally deified for his extraordinary medicinal abilities (and him being Apollo's kid probably helped but my point still stands).

Orpheus, a figure that literally everyone knows, saved the Argonauts not by fighting the Sirens but by out-singing them, using his actual talent instead of grabbing a sword.

Heck, even among the fighting heroes, physical strength isn't everything.

Even fricking Heracles, aka mr. strong guy, doesn't accomplish all his tasks by brute strength. He has to think, at least a little bit, in order to find a solution.

Simple strength would NOT have cleaned the Augean stables and that one hydra head would've still wrecked havoc if not handled with extra-care.

The Greeks won the whole-ass Trojan war by ruse, not by strength. The mighty Achilles, as powerful as he was, wasn't enough and ended up being taken down by one well-placed arrow.

I'm using some of the most popular myths out there, not even tragedies that solely focus on the human condition and emotions, or more obscure ones.

Then, let's talk about the women in Greek mythology.

Why do we define women like Penelope, Andromache or Antigone are strong ? None of them picked up a sword and fought. They aren't goddesses, they aren't witches, just average princesses and queens.

It's because they had resilience, they had a strength of character, they had inner qualities that made them stand out, even in difficult conditions, as everyone else was against them, they stood their ground.

Even those that are more "in the background" like Ariadne, or in Perseus' myth Andromeda and Danae somewhat show these qualities and end up being rewarded for it (when it's not a tragedy anyway).

Edit : I'll elaborate on Danae. I mean, she literally had to raise a demi-god all by herself, in poverty and had to watch him go to a potential suicide mission so Polydectes could have her for himself. But she didn't give up, she trusted her son, she kept her dignity and now she's set for a peaceful quiet life.

Anyway, I could mention a LOT of other examples. My point is that even in Greek mythology, there's a lot of variety. There are powerful "badass" ones like Athena, Circe or the wholely underused Atalanta, but also some that show this less bombastic power in them. And I would love if retellings focused more on that to make female characters strong.

Same goes for the men, as I previously said. Power can be in strength of character, cunning, talents, eloquence, contacts, politics, or multiple other fields that aren't related to physical strength.

[balalaijka]

pre-arcane caitvi: or fuck, why i am voluntarily reading league of legends lore

so there’s been a lot of effort to preserve a lot of viktor and jayce’s old stories, bios and dynamics, but not so much for the other characters??? i don’t play league, but i still feel it’s cool to look at older versions of these characters as an “alternate universe” kind of thing

so, here they are for Caitlyn and Vi (all info from the official league of legends website):

Caitlyn Kiramman

top: LoL Caitlyn, bottom: Arcane Caitlyn

“To be the best hunter, you have to be able to think like your prey.”

Renowned as its finest peacekeeper, Caitlyn Kiramman is also Piltover’s best shot at ridding the city of its elusive criminal elements. She is often paired with Vi, acting as a cool counterpoint to her partner’s more impetuous nature. Even though she carries a one-of-a-kind hextech rifle, Caitlyn’s most powerful weapon is her superior intellect, allowing her to lay elaborate traps for any lawbreakers foolish enough to operate in the City of Progress.

Bio

Short story “The Thrill of the Chase”

my notes:

very different from arcane caitlyn, what with supportive (and both alive) parents, and especially this line:

“Her mother […] would always warn Caitlyn of Piltover’s seductions, and its gilded promises that could harden the kindest heart”

so it’s a caitlyn who is also focused on keeping piltover in line—could be an interesting avenue to explore with post-canon arcane fics?

definitely a happier timeline for her

Vi

top: LoL Vi, bottom: Arcane Vi

“We can either do this the hard way or… Oh wait, no. There's just the hard way.”

Raised on the mean streets of Zaun, Vi is a hotheaded, impulsive, and fearsome woman with very little respect for authority. She has always been a shrewd survivor, both from her youthful troublemaking topside and an unfairly long stint in Stillwater Hold. Now working with the Piltover Enforcers to keep the peace instead of breaking it, she wields mighty hextech gauntlets that can punch through walls—and criminals—with equal ease.

Bio

Short story “Interrogation 101”

my notes:

so this backstory seems to line up more with arcane vi, but then comes the line in the short story:

“as if he was talking to the old Vi, the Vi from the Lanes. He wasn’t bright enough to know that Vi wasn’t the one standing in front of him”

so what i’m getting is this idea of a vi who’s divorced herself from the undercity, in a way arcane vi’s hasn’t?

and i have… conflicted feelings about this, since arcane vi is shown to be very caring and protective in contrast to this iteration—like the closest she is to the original also coincides with her being depressed, while lol vi just overall… doesn’t seem to care

(but at least being hella gay for cait is a constant across universes)

(also who isn’t to say we can’t dig into the tragedy of a vi who’s lost her connection to home?)

Bonus - screenshots of the bios if you want to stay on tumbr

Caitlyn

Vi

Also the art that inspired this whole thread of thought:

[savaralyn2]

Regarding the topic of monsters outside dungeons, there is a good deal of evidence to suggest that they are not outlandish or exceptional, but also not super common. For example (some spoilers below):

There is a notable amount of culture, beliefs etc surrounding monsters (they exist in suitable numbers to have implications for the lives of people semi-regularly).

Senshi discusses the taste difference of monsters in the dungeon and outside (seeming to suggest that various monsters exist both in dungeons and in the outside world).

Melini has monsters along its border in such numbers that they present a kind of unintentional defense against outside aggressions (seemingly because Laios' influence pushes them out of Melini itself, but they have no reason to wander farther than that), seeming to indicate that monsters can survive in the outside world rather decently, and exist in non-trivial numbers. Laios also notes that monsters, specifically, seem to be able to survive in environments unlivable for normal animals (for example in a salted wasteland with no sources of food).

There's other stuff too, but that comes to mind quickly. My rough estimation would be that a normal person in a settled area might not expect to see monsters with regularity, but most people likely have encountered a monster, or know about someone in their sphere who did (and in certain places this is likely much more common).

Sometimes in fan circles, there's a kind of assumption that the supernatural elements in DunMeshi are almost solely in the dungeons, but there's plenty of magic and supernatural elements depicted as part of the various cultures that clearly aren't just for dungeons (for example, a trained mage might become a graveyard keeper due to the restless dead, and the Eastern Archipelago has magic systems, despite explicitly being very poor in dungeons and monsters).

I would also, like you, assume it has to do with mana density between areas, in large parts. Since dungeons are what tends to generate mana (due to the ecosystem inside it allowing a lot of mana sprites to spawn and all that, essentially), we may assume that a dungeon "leaks" mana into the world. Natural dungeons likely form when a suitably sheltered location attracts monsters that form an ecosystem inside, stabilizing into a kind of new mana sprite breeding ground.

Good takes, honestly.

Only thing I'd say is that modern Melini may be something of an outlier due to the fact that the dungeon implosion flooding basically that whole area with magic power would presumably having a lasting effect (as we see with the fact that Yaad and the GK residents are still alive a year past the end of the manga), even if it slowly ebbs back to normal over time. Laios's monster repelling aura keeps monsters out of the kingdom/main city itself, but them gathering around the outskirts definitely shows that the land steeped with magic is drawing them in like a magnet anyways. I'd guess once enough time passes the country won't really NEED Laios's power to keep monsters away since the magic will have reached a point where the monsters go back to regular numbers along with the regular magic levels.

[captainwholecake]

Hello!! 🏵️ How are you? And how areyou guys dealing with the heat?? I'm from France and here it's finally a bit cold so I can say that we're good for now 👀 Could I please request a headcanon for Zoro, Law and Ace if you don't mind? (separately) About how they would react to a small sized fem!reader?? With like the cute moments AND the feisty HORNY! ones 👀?? Thank you! (If you don't feel comfortable doing fem s/o i don't mind gn 👌😊)

A/n: I got this so late its almost winter here but the heat was fine and I’m going to try going the fem route but I’ll still add some gn elements so my enby, masc, queerfluid homies, and anyone else who isn’t fem can enjoy this

enjoy the long comeback post homies! ;)

Warnings: Look me in the eyes and tell all three of these mf don’t have some type of size kink / praise kink … anyways, nsfw because of horniness

——

Roronoa Zoro

* Wano Zoro is fire btw

anyways, the praise kink size kink middle ground

Law has a gaint size kink and Ace has a praise kink no more context is needed

Okay, lets not go on about the horniness first

I think he would be fine with it

Would ABSOLUTELY love getting shit off shelves and shit for his s/o but definitely acts like he doesn’t

Like some Tsudere bs

why do I feel like hed head pat them a lot

Its his love language ????

I imagined him snickering after he makes fun of his s/o being short and they make a angry face

whatelse sfw stuff do I want to say??

Imagining he would like to pick his s/o a lot

Bridal style, like a sack of potatoes, literally anything

ITS HIS LOVE LANGUAGE x2

He’d also give his s/o piggyback rides/let them sit on his shoulders whenever the crew is exploring and shit

Anyways, enough sfw

Like said on top the middle ground

He’d be in his s/o struggling take him

He’d coo at them about how adorable they look

LOVESSSS putting his s/o legs on his shoulders

(COUGH) also the mating press (COUGH)

you know that scene in the love equation where adam somehow puts olives whole breast in his mouth ??? Why do I think Zoro would try to do that ???

Face sititing??? yessir

loves his s/o being on top time to time

Okay, so I forgot about the praise kink part. i should clarify that the praise kink goes with the cooing and a lil of the heart pats

He’d see them struggling and go like “aw look at you taking like that, good baby” “sweetheart you’re taking me so well” type of way

Trafalgar Law

Have I used this gif before? I feel like I have but oh well

HES THE KINKIEST MF ON THE PLANET IN THE WHOLE ANIME MEN TELL ME I’M WRONG

ANYWAYS, ANYWAYS

Okay, so I feel having a small s/o for him would just him melting

Also having turn on a maternal instinct whenever their not in his slight

Penguin and Saichi going “uhh I think their with bepo” and Law loses it

He knows they can’t fight for themselves and all but also knows that they think their Chihuahua whose bigger then they’re actually are

anjssjejejw i’m so soft imagining how soft he would be

I feel he’d lean down sometimes to be at eye level them

so many forehead kisses

I have feel like all the important stuff on sleeves are low lever bc you its a submarine and all

but if they weren’t oh he make sure they were just for them

Can I say he would be OBSESSE with his s/o sitting in his lap?

Like he’s doing doctor shit late at night and his s/o has their head tucked into his neck 🥺🥺

To the whore bs

He’s probably the most into it when its comes nsfw activities

He’s SOOO into the size difference

Loves having his s/o suck on his fingers bc how big they are compared to his s/os mouth

Especially his thumb. Theres something about his hand cradling their jaw that gets him

Law would be one of those headpusher types but only do it when he knows the other person is okay with it (consent king)

He also loves the sound his s/o gagging bc their struggling to take him in their mouth (which is why he’s specifically a headpusher he makes them gag on purpose)

Strong would try use his devil fruit power in the bedroom energy

idk he takes their head off to show them exactly how small they are compared to him

Portgas D. Ace

I LOVE HIM OMG HES SO PRECIOUS WHY DID ODA KILL HIM (why does it look like he lit a blunt on fire in this gif)

Okay, the loml next

This teasing bitch

Would put stuff on the higher shelves so they have to ask for help

walks into the kitchen in shock and disappointment when he sees his s/o has climbed on the counter to get thing they need

pouts literally pouts when they don’t ask for his help to get stuff

THE WAY he wants one those cliche moments of ‘person a’ needs something high up but can’t get it so ‘person b’ surprises them by with warning getting said thing for them BUT CAN NEVER GET IT

Loves to carry is s/o around like zoro only difference for him is its need not a want

Will put his hat on them for the sole purpose of it making them look smaller by it going over their eyes

He also thinks they look good with it on

He loves when his s/o basically sleeps on top of him

You know sharing body heat (mf is made of fire)

Really likes to dip his head down when kissing his s/o and goes feral when it leads to him picking his s/o up and being at the same height

I’m getting to the whore shit now

Another thing with the hat, he absolutely LOVES it be on his s/o when their riding him

Praises galore

Always talking about how pretty his s/o and how well they take him

5 bucks says half of those praises are whimpers and whines

Can’t take his hands off their thighs (his hands are so oh big compared their legs)

Has to have their ankles on his shoulder

can not have his head in his s/o neck telling them how good they feel (WHY AM I SO PRO LOVE DRUNK ACE???)

Really likes wall sex bc hold them to be eye to eye with him

Last thing, this probably started as aftercare but just became something Ace does to comforts his s/o but he really likes to kiss both his s/o cheeks, then their forehead, tip of the of nose, and lastly a peck on the lips

—

A/n: the author note up top is from like October when I started writing this but I’m too lazy to change it but rn it’s really hot where I live, I need a job to pay off half my car but all the places I apply too never call me, send email saying their full staffed/i’m not moving forward, or when I do interview I don’t get a job :( but i’m doing good

Hope you enjoyed this massive comeback post :)

[tumblingxelian]

"Are we discussing the writers intentions with Jaune, Jaune as a general character or the audience reception to Jaune and are we singling out a specific audience or the collective?"

All three really. The collective.

To start, I'm fascinated by how Jaune seems to contrast the girls in terms of their development. His growth is very loud and in your face in specific moments like Jaundice or the prom or Volume 3's finale.

Hell, his moment in the Battle for Haven has him not getting the trauma induced power up to punch Cinder hard but rather to heal Weiss. After that, he's to the side healing those who need it. It's a big moment but his only moment aside from a small passing mention of his semblance.

It feels like peaks and valley when it comes to the times when he gets the focus.

All while the girls have each of their journeys spread across the whole show's intended run. Ruby's arc of trying to move forward too much has always been there but with weekly episode releases and hiatuses between seasons, it's causes even those who are well meaning to overlook it.

I don't know if that came out right so make of my thoughts what you will.

OK so its too hot for me to do any recording or other projects but I can answer asks, so let's get to this (Cracks bottle of cold water over my head) Let's do this!

So, Jaune is certainly a divisive character and while I have warmed up to him somewhat over the years, and while I adore RWBY I often feel he can be a disruptive element, but also one that does in fact serve a purpose. Keep that in mind for my response going forward.

So, touching on your stuff first, it is interesting, though I would argue against the idea that the girls don't also at times have very loud character development.

Weiss's shifter after talking to Port, her summons, the Atlas party, ETC. Blake running away & confronting Roman, her everything with Ilia, the final confrontation with Adam and the Bees kiss as just some examples.

Interestingly Ruby and Yang are on the more quiet end of character development scales with stuff building up slowly and quietly. Though not without their big moments, Ruby's eulogy and explosion, Yang's confrontation with Raven and the bees kiss, ETC.

Still, I think I see what you mean in how these things tend to be framed and handled in a much more varied way than media usually does.

IE, Jaune losing it at Cinder in V5 is basically him lacing the temperament of a Huntsmen that his allies have and it accomplishes nothing on his end as far as "Badass confrontation" goes and instead he only starts to grow after leaning into the role of support & healer, even defaulting more to Yang as leader in V7 during their rescue work.

Overall and I said this in my Bees essay that CRWBY like long form story telling, and that influences a lot of how RWBY is written.

In these regards Jaune does feel interesting/odd because he does have several... Archetypical moments of character growth as you say. What's interesting to me and what I think the writers are going for is that how good some of these even are for him can be questionable.

What I mean is like...

Jaune went to Beacon with a very "Idiot Shounen hero" attitude towards things. He cheated his way into an elite school and kind of just assumed it'd work out. He didn't try that hard in classes till he was being blackmailed, rejected help out of pride and even when he did seek it out it was only after he had a "win" under his belt that wasn't even wholly his but he doesn't know that.

The thing is, very little ever went Jaune's way on these things either in the short term or long term.

IE, he short term he showed up at Beacon and nearly died and or failed (Subversion of his shounen expectations.) But then he was helpedby a cool girl who ineplicably liked him and said he had a lot of Aura! (This falls in line with his Shounen expectations!)

But then it turns out he still sucks at classes and having what a girl who has a crush on you says is a lot of Aura doesn't mean much when surrounded by other people who also have a lot of Aura and have been training all their lives (Subversion again)

He then manages to retain his pride and defend his team and wins a battle "All on his own" except he ignored Glynda's advice and only won because Pyrrha guided his hand. Though after this he did swallow his pride and get help, its sort of net neutral?

Moving forward he wasn't that involved in the plot, but his stuff in V2, was very "Standard" school stuff, but then it was followed up by his love interest also being his mentor being a problem because Pyrrha fulfilled the trope of the mentor dying. Jaune was also cut out of that entire conflict (Wisely) because he's not actually the main character and he'd only get in the way. (Subversions all round! Be it for the cool girl liking the Shounen loser, him not being the MC, Pyrrha being his mentor and the tragic "Brightest of their generation" before she was his love interest and so on!)

Just within the first three volumes we see that there's this dichotomy of Jaune trying t and sometimes even getting to play much more standard story beats "Straight" that RWBY usually avoid. Only for them to then get blindsided by RWBY's more subversive elements.

But the key thing here is you only notice the latter if you pay attention to the whole, and not the individual moments. This is a problem I had with Jaune till about V6/7; because despite my insights here I do think the execution has been murky more often than not.

Still, with the above in mind, I think one can easily where how things flow out from there, with Jaune trying to play these self assigned roles and getting these moments of "Standard storytelling."

Only for something to come along later and put a spin on it.

V4 Jaune gives a nice speech to Ruby but it ultimately just serves to reinforce her burgeoning issues because he also missed her tendency to repress and when placed in a scenario like he would have been with Pyrrha he froze up and couldn't act, IE Tyrian almost getting Ruby.

He finally got his big speech and rage at Cinder, but was actively being told to chill by Qrow and Cinder gives near zero fucks and rather than getting a power up he gains a power that assigns him a support role over a "badass" role.

We also get to see something in V6 which I thin is often neglected in Jaune analysis, that boy has a fucking temper!

We've seen it with him shouting at Pyrrha, at Cinder and then outright attacking Oscar. But he always calms down afterwards and no one seems to hold it against him, but the thing is this means he never really works on it. The only thing that can shut it down is his own sense of shame rather than actual self control like say, Yang has.

But I digress, my interpretation of the writers intent but I basically think Jaune is meant to serve four purposes in the narrative:

1: Counterpart & foil to Ruby as leaders with very different skills & roles in universe. 2: Counterpart & commentary on shitty male authority figures who needs to unlearn toxic masculinity. 3: A longform subversion of the typical "idiot Shounen hero" who gets by on gumption and lots of natural talent. 4: The closest person we get to a wholly normal person in universe, as even Oscar has an ancient wizard in his head.

These are all interesting things and I can see what the creators are aiming for, or so I believe. However, I do think the execution of all this is often murky.

The short form stuff I mention above is some of the hardest to grapple with cos until you see it pay off it just seems like standardized story tropes, and even then the emphasis these ideas require to work can be disruptive to other characters narrative importance.

What's more while interesting and impossible to fully comment on until the story is wholly done, it is hard to say how strictly necessary some of these ideas are to explore given RWBY's limited run time. & the fact some of them could be divided up and given to more temporary characters who don't need as much narrative real estate.

Thus I can definitely get why people often find Jaune frustrating. Hell, I can often find him frustrating, especially because I think some of his traits are meant to evoke a degree or irritation with him. But all of this also feeds into why he can be such a divisive character.

As for people who just project onto Jaune and make him super harm big badass, ugh, idiots unworthy of consideration who frankly shouldn't be watching RWBY, I have nothing to say to them.

Anyway I hope this was coherent, thanks for the ask, sorry it took so long!

[hehehihilogist]

lets talk abt… fire

or why it's been bill's arch nemesis from the start. more under the cut

so um i was rewatching gf and there was a peculiar scene I've overlooked this whole time. this one.

you know, the point is, he would never call the Nightmare Realm his world. all he does is talk abt how he hates it and would like to never go back to it ever again. then... could he possibly talk about.. Euclydia this whole time? he "liberated" them. right.

he was the "hero" and it "burned" him. and his world. it got me thinking, cipher somehow has a deep connection to the fire his whole life. in different cultures, fire is often associated with divine powers, anger, or truth, as well it is still an uncontrollable natural force. it is a destructive purification of one's soul, the liberation itself. fire is also a thing that is often used to contact higher beings or to make a bridge between two worlds. and um... yeah.

fire seems to be smth that's pursuing bill his whole time, ruining his plans and messing up his cards. the first gf visit, the first portal's building attempt. modoc the wise during or after the activation of the portal, modoc burns it down and then.. uh, well, himself.

the whole "cipher cult" thingy gets shut down by fire, too.

at this point, fire seems to be smth that chases bill down his whole lifespan bill, however, uses fire as a way to show himself as a higher, more-powerful being. to show that even this unbearable element is under his control. bill's magical contract includes fire as a way to bind one's will to it, to show that he's in control

weirdmageddon has a "fire in control" thing in its core, too. he's not just "destroying" things, he burns them, showing that this is his element, he's all-powerful and stuff

i think its funny, considering his original primal fear of fire, cause when Euclydia was burnt down, he couldnt do a thing abt it. his physical's form death is a thing that gets the same end. he is "liberated" from his body

honourable mention: the fact that bill's shown us as a shadow twice. yk, the thing that can't be seen without light, but quite the opposite of it. if it burns too brightly, will be cast away

thats all i think(?) thanks for your attention spawn lol

[dullyn]

Arthurian Retelling Book Review II

Spear by Nicola Griffith

Here's a spoiler free review with my rating for anyone who wants to read it without having everything revealed. There will be a full review with spoilers further down on this post.

It was an enjoyable book that followed a very traditional bildungsroman style of plot. The author took interesting creative liberties like the gods being the Irish ones and Peretur (Percival) being some sort of demigod-like being (I'm not counting that as a spoiler as you learn this on page 4). There was also a cool take on the Holy Grail quest with it being more of a thing of the traditional cosmologies and Tuath Dé instead of a Christian one.

There's also other stuff that got changed with a new twist like Llanza (Lancelot) being from Spain instead of Brittany and also disabled, and the love affair between him Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) being common knowledge and almost encouraged. (No clue why Llanza is from Spain though, I looked into it and the author basically said they were trying to make everything Celtic but like,, Bretons are Celtic? Like Breton, the language of Brittany, is one of the closest relatives of Welsh?)

Back to Peretur though, she serves as a cool figure as she is a very masc-looking girl whose sense of adventure and curiosity leads her away from her sheltered life and to Caer Leon (Camelot) where she eventually becomes a sort of knight. There is a romantic relationship between her and Nimuë but it seemed sudden and random for most of the book until about 3/4 through when it was like "awww they love each other." However, romance is not the focus of this book so it makes sense that the relationship is not wholly fleshed out as it is not overly relevant to the actual plot, which is Peretur's ascension to becoming a knight.

Peretur and Arturus (Arthur) clash because Arturus in this is very paranoid due to magical influence. This added an interesting element to the whole thing as he is a king who will eventually lose everything and he just cannot see it.

My biggest peeve is I did not like the way Cei was portrayed. He eventually got better and seemed to be more of a loud dumb jock figure (the author even notes he is similar to a rugby player they know). His ugliness at the beginning was necessary for the story's plot as it served a motivation for Peretur to do various acts of valor and gain her knighthood.

4/5 ⭐

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FULL REVIEW WITH SPOILERS BELOW

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Okay I was so flabbergasted for like half the book on why the gods were Irish. Like the Tuath Dé just vibing in Wales was so confusing, then on page 111 it finally explains it. Honestly it turned out super cool with the fact that Manandán was there because he was power hungry and wanted to keep the bowl and its magic for himself.

With Manandán and his assault of Elen came Peretur's birth. Which, did not like that part as like, gross, even though I know it is a common literary thing especially in Arthuriana. However, I do love Peretur’s inherent magical otherworldliness. Her demigod status and whatnot and the way that she feels the earth around her and talks to the animals is so so so well done. I also like the way she struggles with her identity and has to confront the fact she’s not entirely

I want Peretur's gender presentation. End tweet.

This was definitely a better romance with Nimuë than the last book i read with Nimuë as the love interest. Though it still felt like Peretur and Nimuë just fell into bed together without having a real connection, hook up culture in 500AD I guess. The whole "unclean" thing was also very striking and it dealt Peretur such a psychological blow, but when she like thought it out it seemed to change her character for the better but I don't know. I didn't really like them together as a couple until right before they leave on the Grail Quest. Though they eventually do develop a relationship that made me go: Yeah, Go For It.

Love that Llanza is called Arturus’ “special friend” and that his word is held above almost all others in the king's eyes. I also like the way they say that Llanza is still an incredible knight with his twisted leg, even if he must mainly do it on horseback. I like that, I like it when knights can have disabilities and still be revered and not just be like shoved to the side. (also horseboy Lancelot, the rarest of sightings considering he typically is an accidental killer of horses).

"We both love her, as we love each other. We will not set her aside" (p 141). LLANZA MY GOD.

I don’t like the way the author characterized Cei. Why did he have to be weird towards women? Why did he have to grab Angharad and try to forcibly kiss her? I know it’s so that Peretur can show her knightly virtue and then be forced to go on quests to try and redeem herself and make herself a stronger fighter, but still. He gets better as the story goes on but I really did not like that part at all. On another note, he does call Peretur “Pretty Per” and “petal cheeks” which is so random and silly.

Gwenhwyfar. (That’s it that’s the paragraph). Aughhh she hurts me inside, she’s so beautiful and sad and the way she’s portrayed makes me want to eat drywall while listening to Lord Huron. Like that’s my Shayla. Llanza mourning the fact that she is so proud but still finds her praying on her knees in the new chapel that's been built to try and have God bestow a baby upon her??? Nicola Griffith I'm in your walls.

Then there is the whole thing with Myrddyn. That wizard being Peretur's uncle was a choice, though well executed because it leads Arturus to trust Peretur enough to go get the bowl at the end. I also like that he's portrayed as having been a manipulative man who was also pretty sinister. Like creepy mentor Merlin is the exact way I envision him in my head when I write him. That along with his manipulations of Arturus and like the hold he had over him. Arturus never had a chance of being mentally stable between Myrddyn and Caledfwylch's magical influence. The sword making him go crazy is just such an iconic plotline.

"Her mother made no reply, as she would never make reply again" (p 147). This part had me going insane, the death of Elen and Peretur's care for her corpse was so AUGH. The wistful nature of it all really hit hard.

Peretur snapping at Llanza for insulting her childhood home (the cave) and defending her mother is so aughhhh oh my god. Literally this entire scene with Elen's death and Peretur taking care of her mother once again is just so so, raw. Like the emotion through her actions and the way it kind of acts as penance for leaving her mother behind in the first place. The way she apologizes for not being able to bury her with the cup (her lifelong prized treasure)? Immaculate.

Galath (Galahad) is not a big fixture in this obviously but when Peretur and Llanza are reminiscing about their homes after burying Elen and Llanza thinks, "His own son would despise him for his imperfections" (p 152). Yeah. That's Galahad through and through, that's personally how I view him too where he's judgy in the wholly righteous mannequin way that only a strict Catholic upbringing and faith can do.

The end is so bittersweet with Peretur and Nimue talking about how Caer Leon and everyone in it will fade away into stories and legends because Arturus has no heir and so his legacy dies with him.

But like, would someone else not just take the throne? Not the point though, overall I liked the book. It definitely felt a bit flat with the traditional bildungsroman, I think that if I knew nothing about Arthuriana I would not have been nearly as enthused. However, until the death of Elen and everything after that had me going insane it was so well done. Peretur, Nimue, and Llanza going to find the bowl and burying Elen really made the book gain like a whole new level of depth to it that I really liked.

I'm giving this book a 4/5 ⭐