#like they just add onto the current lore we know in new ways

[yuzokasu]

permission to go crazy about winter 2024 for a second (pictures taken from the genepro videos on yt)

they were crazy as hell for putting flashback haruto in this!!!

also the fact that this was before act 9 + his current rehearsal outfit is a lot brighter and stuff...... was this him trying to fit reni's image so much to the point that he'll even imitate what he was wearing

[the-kiarah-organisation]

Talk to me abt your system? Just any random things you wanna tell me! I love to learn about other systems!!

YES THANK YOU!! I LOVE ASKS LIKE THESE!!!

Aaa ok! Hi, I'm Amethyst, I've been here the longest so I know a little more than most people, great time to send this ask lol

Some trivia first:

The Organisation (our system) has been around for eight years!

We have "versions" of SimplyPlural. Every change to formatting, fields, chats or groups adds a version. We are on v61, which is the largest profile overall we've done!

The first member(s) (myself and my brother) formed in 2016

We have our own language and English dialect!

On a technicality, my second language is English, however, the body can't speak Kansū (the primary language of the Organisation)

Kīara'h is considered a parallel universe, not an alternative universe

Excluding Thaye (age ability), our oldest member is 40, and our youngest is 4.

There are a total of six of us who age

Our "Plural Stuff" folder (banners, avatars, dividers, etc) is over 10gb (found that one out yesterday

I get asked a lot about our communication between each other, but just because we grew up as a system, and the way we did that, it seems to be great. We don't fight, there's good communication between members. That kinda thing.

Our name, Kīara'h means Leaf. The system names we've had previously were: Room, Rom (misspelling of room), and Leaf. The name Leaf came from talking with our (ex) best friend about headspace, which they were very involved with, and needing a new name. A leaf was the first thing we saw, and it stuck.

People also are often interested in Scene (or SCN, depending on notation and who you are talking to). Scene is a type of daydreaming where the person hosting the scene has no control other than prompts they give. Scene is how we see our pasts, and find out our powers and skills. (Daydreaming is the best word I can use, it's a little hard to find one lol)

On ages: a lot of species have no age, where the souls have been around since the start of time. They have what's known as a "presenting age". This is notated by a "∞" symbol added onto their age. For example, a member without presenting age looks like: "Age » 26" and a member with, would look like: "Age » 26 - ∞".

EleWe (Elements and Weapons system), is how we assign our powers. Ten total elements, ten total weapons, one hundred choices per phase. No duplicates in the same phase. Yes, we have a database for this, lol.

We speak a language called Kansū in headspace. It's not fully translatable to English, but the stuff the body does know (from scene and from figuring it out) I can use. My most common word, apart from Kansū names, is either: Āida'h or Aīste'h, both of which font translate to English, but are a sort of friendly nickname. I also use ta'hs de'h, jo ta'hst and other words a lot. These come from the root ta'hs, which means calm.

And now, onto the lore:

The Organisation has so much lore, from the way Gods work, their divisions and all that, to the way species and animals work.

Out of the species we have in our system, most of them were created by us.

All of our own stories and backstories fit into organisation lore, such as the reason the organisation was founded was because Chroma (God Division) and Humans would bully supernaturals. Our Organisation also exists to protect Innocents.

Kīara'h is also classed as a division, with our God (we only have one who runs it, my boyfriend) Kītōne'h being ex Chroma. We have other Gods, however they are from the Oxyn Division.

Headspace stuff:

A few things here: "Old Headspace", "World : Kīara'h", "World : Human", "Social Plane", "Games Zone" and "World : Home"

Old Headspace: it's a broken down area, picture it on like the nether roof. We outgrew it too fast and moved down to the main nether (metaphorically, it's not actually the nether)

World : Kīara'h: current headspace, it's very large. Deogen was drawing maps recently, but we only got so far. World : Kīara'h has the dorms (a place for everyone to stay), a library, art rooms, writing rooms, music rooms, computer rooms, a drama studio, camping groups, an outdoor cooking van (they almost burned down the indoor one once), a river (it's called River Iris), a center square, thr Shed (front room), host offices, and access to Old Headspace, Social Plane and other worlds.

World : Human: the human world. Except this is a parallel universe. A lot of houses that people have will be here. It's pretty much this earth, but a little different, small changes to make the houses correct and stuff.

Social Plane: it's like a city, it's got a train station in the center so you can go to the hub and the Games Zone. The hub is how you get to any world. The Social Plane has shops, bars, parks, pretty much anything. It also has many Kansū people who aren't in the organisation, they run a lot of the shops.

Games Zone: our Insym runs this. It started as PHA, which is like Phasmophobia, but if you were in it. The ghosts are played by spirits we hire. It has since expanded to many other games, I haven't been in a while (working on keeping everything running) so I'm not quite sure of what is exactly there. I know there's other people who run stuff though! It's mainly Crew!PHA who work there.

World : Home: is a little different. It's, well, source worlds. World : Home refers to a collection of worlds, unlike the others mentioned before. Because we hold our own sources most of the time, it means we also have access to the worlds as they are in source.

[the-sleepysiren]

Tell me more about the shadow Pokemon. Your interpetation of em, I mean 👁👁

Can be spoilers or no spoilers, I just wanna give you an excuse to lore-dump :3

Hmmm.... not sure what else i could add onto them? I love lore dumping but I have almost covered everything unless(probably) someone asks a specific question aslkjdalskdj /lh

I mean ill still put the read below just incase it gets too long instead,,,

Well you cant anymore purify them via stone or machine since in mid chaos of god war all that stuff was destroyed with the humans - only thing that could do that is Lumen but he is,,,somewhere we all know that /lh

Well Shadow pokemon sort of evolved by time? They started eating other pokemon (No matter if they are herbivore or not by standart) to live like a vampire you know which is living by consuming others blood(flesh)? and now only way to get rid of one is pierce its heart - but also to try to survive in society they have learned to mask and blend in with the crowd you could say their Hypermode could be their real form in a way.

It all started with Giratina in this universe - she loves chaos so she invented shadow pokemon in a way during the warm to fight for her almost - but after being forced to go in her pocket dimension she made new chaos by blessing Omen with the power to make shadow pokemon which is taking place in current time, so I guesss you could say shadow pokemon died out for a moment(Probably via Arceus hands) before coming back twice stronger with Omens ruling.

I am not sure what else to add one **nervous laugh**

[chevvy-yates]

Some anon adding me to a list that tells my VP is boring by just scrolling through a bunch of pics probably not knowing anything about my oc's stories and characters at all neither me and my reasons/intentions why I have currently a lot similar looking to same shots = I had a great laugh.

Dear anon, i am aware myself that a lot of what I do looks in fact similar (even amongst my character shots). You do not need to put me onto your so called list of boring VPs for me to realize that and you also did not hurt me with placing my name there. I am more worried about some mutuals that are up there as well bc not everyone takes this as easy as i do. You could cause some damage instead. None of the listed people is boring either – they all have shown their creativity in their own ways starting by simply being creative with creating their characters shown on their VP incl. e.g. combining outfits for them alone. If you can't see that: "Knick in der Optik." or simply just "Tomaten auf den Augen." (google translator helps here – I just love the sentense in my language).

I myself have an answer to my similar style and I currently want it to be like that because of my own little projects. More experimental/conceptual and even story related vp will come in the future! I have ideas/plans, but the time to make these happen is more difficult and not just making a char pose and add som lighting, done. Maybe they will continue to stay boring for dear anon, maybe not. I know there's people liking my stuff, be it a more or less great idea or just a simple shot that shows my oc being pretty only. Some of them who also read (some of) my character's lore, might even notice tiny things the pics tell, somone who has no clue about it, does probably not. And that is fine too.

That said, to everyone on that senseless list: do not worry about that lame 'VP(oc is boring' argument. You are doing VP and create characters for yourself at first and not for some anon who has not the guts to come over and say it with a name to your face. We can not and never should make our content to be appealing to others/everyone (e.g. different tastes, looks at pics differently). Stay true to yourself, look that you're content with your work wether you develop it into something new or stay like it is for now, but do not feel stressed about you need to change something about it: you do not need to do that!

[psylockexs]

The Winter Solstice Pt. 1

Half of the tarot deck had been found. Lorelei volunteered to collect all the cards in one place, and asked the guys to pass her any that they found on their travels. It wasn't just the cards that needed to be found. More was going on beneath the surface. They needed to find out why now of all times did they come to light. What was so important about them? Was it really the fact that they were the cause of the Goths' downfall?

To make matters worse, Lorelei stumbled upon 4 gravestones when she paid a visit to a local festival. Each one of the mentioned 'm. Olive Specter'. 4 of them. Morrigans value trust among other things. While they may be harbingers of death, they still want to know they can trust someone in their life. So, to see not just one but four gravestones mentioning the very witch that tasked them with finding this deck of cards, it's made Lore question what Olive's motives really are. Does she want the deck for herself? Is this all a trap for the group?

But...the time came around for a breather. The Winter Solstice is important to all superhumans. It's a time not just for parties, food, drinks, laughter and cheer but it's also a prime time for rituals. Magical energy is at its peak at the two solstices, so it's not unusual to find small groups of people performing rituals, normal and complex ones.

It was also a time for connections. Platonic and romantic. Werewolves find new mates or reconnect with their current ones. Vampires add another lover or friend to their roster 🤭. Warlocks perform carnal rituals. If they're making new friends, a simple drink is enough! But when someone's really taken your eye? Make it known.

https://on.soundcloud.com/mbCSC4FQSHv5C5w56

Niko is seen as the quiet one of the group. While Lore was looking for the cards, he stayed behind quietly. Researching. Reading. Studying. Anything to help out with their project. Niko always kept to the side so as not to get in Lore's way. He hated to be responsible for messing up something so crucial.

But with the Solstice around, everyone was taking a break from the mission. There had been too many twists, too many turns. The group just needed some room to breath, collect their thoughts. Lorelei took comfort in reading her grimoire for a bit until she heard a knock at her door.

'Come in.'

door opens

Lore: Niko. Morning. Happy Solstice.

Niko: Happy Solstice, Lorelei. Did I interrupt anything?

Lore: Oh not at all. I was just reading my grimoire a little. It's a welcome distraction from the cards. I...sighs It's just so much.

Niko: It is. I feel like I'm not whole if I'm not researching something.

Lore: Ha! Then I guess we should take this time to rest our brains. So, did you...need something...or...?

Niko: Need? No. But...want. I wanted to be...honest with you.

Lore: Oh? Honest?

Niko: Mmhmm. I think something's wrong with Morgyn, or something is manifesting from him. He's been having visions every night. One of them mentioned revealing feelings you don't even know you have hidden.

Lore: Damn. I suspected something was up but...I guess I ignored it during my card chase. But...hidden feelings? Are you.... 🤭

Niko: smirks Being honest? I am.

Lore: laughs slightly I thought you had someone already, Niko. Your alpha?

Niko: Mmm. Alpha. Not committed 😉.

Lore: Oh. I thought you were an item! 🤭Guess I should have asked, honestly.

Niko: Hm. Well, I didn't want to get in your way, so I thought I'd wait til we had some down time. I hope I haven't put you out.

Lore: Not at all. I'm not...well, that's not true actually. I've not given this much thought. If any thought. I really have been pre-occupied, huh.

Niko: Then, allow me to reacquaint you with reality.

Lorelei looked to see where Niko went, only to feel a light chain slip onto her neck. It wasn't like her butterfly insignia, but it was still quite beautiful. Was it a gift between friends? Did that really matter? Lorelei felt as if she was human. As if she had spent some time with the people she claimed she was saving. She felt gratitude for the cute gift.

Lore: Niko, I...it's beautiful.

Niko: Sadly, I couldn't find anything with butterflies, so... 🤭. Is it alright?

Lore: It's...it's beautiful. Thanks, Niko.

They admired the necklace in the mirror for a moment. It did suit her well, maybe even better than her other one! Niko was still staring in the mirror...

Lore: Niko...

Niko: blinks Hm?

Lore: We still got time before breakfast, right?

Niko: 😼It's still pretty early.

Early enough for some fun 😈.

The day was much more peaceful than the other days. Laughs were had, food and gifts were exchanged, simple rituals conducted, friendship (no matter how small!) shared. Even the two crows that were in the house seemed in good spirits. They were chattering more than normal and brought Lore extra gifts (we'll see them soon!).

As the evening rolled in, Mikhail suggested for them to hit up the local nightclub to see how the ghosts party 🤭. Everyone was up for it, except Morgyn. He wanted to rest for a bit since the nightmares had left him quite exhausted. He wished the guys a good evening just as he got a text message.

Happy Winter Solstice, Mr Ember. Would you care to join me for an evening? 😘

[talenlee]

Beholders and Asari Reproduce The Same Way

I mean depending on the edition of D&D.

Content Warning: I talk about the reproduction of aliens and monsters!

If you’re not familiar with what the Asari are, they’re a culture of blue aliens from the Mass Effect universe.They’re famously monogendered, which meant in the shocking days of 2007 meant that you could have a romance with one that would work if you were a dude or a lady. Now setting aside that aliens and humans fucking is an entire thing in science fiction with an elaborate history of how we might imagine people can interface and it’s an interesting assumption about what people can or can’t do to get smoochy. They’re basically just one of your Discount Space Lesbians, you know, a queer representation you can literally dehumanise.

Meanwhile Beholders are a classic piece of D&D Brand Product, which is essentially a floating gun platform that hates you, a magically made impossible entity that despises everything and lives in dungeons trying to stop you, the player, from getting cool stuff. Beholders are kind of hilarious nonsense that absolutely feels like it came into existence visual-design first, and they are ugly.

Don’t get me wrong I bet I could find a friend who low key has a fetish for Beholders.

Anyway, I’m talking about their reproductive systems but this talk is isolated to the new, general ‘now’ of 2022 Beholder lore. Because it’s kinda flexible – back in 3rd edition D&D, an attempt was made to make the Beholder work like an actual creature made of meat and not a floating hazard zone with a magical eye that turned off magical effects, and that beholder, they reproduced by growing a womb in the back of their mouth, which they then had to chew out of their own mouth and spit onto the ground before abandoning it in disgust at what they’d done. That seems reasonable to me in the context.

Setting aside that fifteen-year-old book idea that nobody seemed to adopt, in the current now is that both of these cultures operate on making a biological process that creates an offspring works through a form of psychic templating.

If you weren’t familiar, the way that the Asari reproduce works without actual biological compatibility. Oh sure, they do like, ‘sex things’, as represented by the best formed old-style 3d modelling touching one another, mushing up but also not deforming because that kind of dynamic is very challenging to animate cheaply. But the actual thing they do for reproducing is that they take a psychic image of their partner, and add that psychic image with themselves, then they imprint that on their own egg which starts to grow based on that. Like, they already exist and work by imprinting their psychic image on their children, when it’s just Asari and this just happens to mean that they can reproduce with anyone who isn’t an Asari without any kind of organic compatability, and also makes sure that what they reproduce is an Asari, you know, for ease of modelling.

The way Beholders reproduce is kind of the same thing: They have a dream, and that dream results in the formation of a beholder out of the dream stuff. Note that Beholders reproduce ‘asexually’ in that they do not have sex with one another, but that they form these dreams that let them create offspring through their experiences. Often, this is a result of two Beholders, interpreted as male and female by idiot humans watching them, having a huge angry fight, then one wanders off and dreams about it – essentially, templating the person they just had a big fight with as their child.

Anyway, point is that Beholders and Asari reproduce the same way, by having a really good idea of the person they’re thinking about, it’s just that Asari like you and Beholders hate you.

From this we can extrapolate that Beholders are a kind of Homestuck.

[accidental-host]

I like to think DE is some sort of symbiote that pretty much took over Lily's body.

Oh my god wait ok you’re onto something

Concept exploration: Scarlet Poison Enchantress

This is actually SO INTERESTING, with Enchantress being fully inhuman (incookie? whatever) rather than just being White Lily going dark. I’m going to go a step further and tie this into Ovenbreak lore too though, because you got me thinking

In Kingdom, Enchantress’s description says “A dose of concentrated dark magic and poisonous scarlet pomegranate syrup gives this Cookie a deliciously evil taste.”

Which is really interesting, especially with mentioning poisonous scarlet pomegranate syrup. Because as far as I can currently remember, we only know the scarlet poison from one other place

It’s what Pomegranate gave Wind to turn him into Night Raven. So we know that it works in a transforming way, it changed Wind visually and took over his mind completely. Which could absolutely be exactly how it worked with White Lily too.

Within this concept, White Lily wouldn’t be Awakened To The Truth, she would’ve completely had her mind altered by the scarlet poison. Enchantress isn’t just White Lily under the influence of the poison, Enchantress IS the poison. Raw darkness personified, she is the poison in the same way Night Raven is. Almost like a parasite, with Corruption only being what it looks like once someone is taken over. And this plays into what you said about it being some kind of symbiote situation.

I think this would add such a new dimension to her as a character, and how Enchantress and White Lily are tied together. Because it so well disguises itself to look like it was White Lily’s conscious choice, nobody has ever questioned it hard enough to think there may be something more going on. And I think if the legendaries were tied into any part of the lore here, it would be another purification arc like how Churro basically beat the poison out of Wind. It could be Millennial that does it.

AND this could be why Millennial doesn’t hate Enchantress in Ovenbreak lore. In their relationship charts, he doesn’t hold any resentment for Enchantress, which could play into him actually knowing this isn’t someone choosing to be evil, it’s someone who’s mind has been taken over against their will, so he doesn’t treat her as if she’s truly evil because she’s NOT. She’s a victim of the poison just like Wind was.

This was spat out so fast so I’m sorry if this makes literally zero sense but I LOVE this ask thank you so much

[non-operator]

valorant shattered thoughts

Well, first of all, 😭😭😭 no sova in new cinematic. very sad. blorbo did not appear, but very very excited for all the new lore

2. i wonder who all the minion characters were. their emblems say 'force atlas'

Are they military? or private security?i feel like it's interesting that they're not labeled (at least explicitly) to be part of kingdom industries. Is this a third party being introduced into the game?

Does this mean omega's valorant does not work with kingdom as well, but they're still public figures and address the radianite shortage independently? Omega valorant at least worked together with kingdom to protect this city. Does this mean kingdom industries doesn't own and use private forces to secure its own radianite supply and territory? Based on the trailer for pearl, it seems that kingdom's influences is still prominent considering how it seems its activities are presented and broadcast like.. it's for tourists? or part of a museum? I wonder if omega kingdom is seen in a better light than alpha's kingdom.

Is there a force atlas in alpha earth as well?

3. i wonder why valorant protocol needs to locate radianite? i'm assuming it's because they want to know the differences between alpha and omega radianite, perhaps get a better grasp on the differences in radianite tech between the worlds.

but i feel like it would be off-brand for brimstone to like. plant a spike in retaliation. it's not like alpha earth needs more radianite and petty revenge doesn't seem like a course of action they'd want to take?

maybe it's just a marker for the place they want to go to and they're not really planning on targetting it? the past voice mail from fade did say that they'd want to check out another terminal.

side note: i guess all the fear she sensed was from the city all being afraid of running out of radianite and drowning

4. also! another point of difference between alpha and omega! alpha has valorant protocol. but omega has valorant legion

4. i also wonder how the force atlas guards knew valorant protocol was coming. fade said the terminal the portal was connected to was abandoned.

i don't think it was a premeditated trap. because then the omega valorant would've come way earlier and not only after the alert was sounded.

unless this is meant to show that force atlas doesn't really like working with valorant legion. that would be an interesting tension to add

5. also the interaction between omega viper and alpha reyna.. either they've met and fought before or it's just a classic case of omega viper projecting omega reyna onto alpha reyna

6. small observation, but seeing how it's only neon, killjoy, and reyna on the team. I guess valorant protocol hasn't reached the point of development where they send out five-person teams? Or maybe they shortened the number because it's supposed to be a stealth mission.

7. lastly, brimstone tells the team to get to 'tango site' and that another team is 'on their way'.

I guess this confirms that even though pearl is underwater, lisbon has the same configuration in both worlds

but also, can the portal open to different terminals? and not just the abandoned one we see in the cinematic? it should considering that it would be kind of stupid to ask the current team to move to a different location for a rescue and then arrive in the exact same terminal where they lost contact; the terminal's proven to be somewhat compromised, why would they enter omega earth through there again?

[certainglitterhologram]

NOT SPOILER FREE quick mid-point review of The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

Current rating: 3.5/5 stars

Pros:

The book is quite unique for a second book of a trilogy. I have frequently found that the middle book of a series is often redundant and boring, but this is quite this opposite. I would even go as far as to argue that it is better than A Deadly Education, with more action, more lore if you will, added to the book.

I love seeing El problem solve. Though she calls her plans impossible, and discounts them quickly, you can evidently se how she logically thinks and makes you think that maybe, that the plans will actually work!!

El's friendships?? I love how she actually talks to Liu and Aadhya, even Chloe sometimes. I love how they're a team, and El knows it too. What I can't figure exactly out is if El actually believes it, or simply feels mandated to it, but I'm leaning (and hoping) towards the first.

I admire the choice to tackle El's disdain to enclaves by having her utilize the mana of the New York Enclave. The tension and outright dislike between the enclave members and El was also good to add onto the load of El's stress! (And we love a stressed El)

El's narration is really interesting to me. I dislike it, but what I do appreciate is El's very matter of fact tone. Obviously bias is unavoidable when it comes to first person narration, but El's ton does a great job of telling everything matter of fact from her perspective.

Some people might hate the Orion x El plot line, because its not the MAIN point of the story, but I like it because of that.

Cons:

SO much Mal lore. I understand that's the whole point of the book, but I do not appreciate the way that El delivers information on them. I feel like information on certain types of Mals may be more important at different times, and El sometimes delivers that information at the incorrect times.

I would really like to see more of Chloe. I think she's an entertaining character that is underestimated by El. The only thing I feel that El really considers when thinking of Chloe is the New York enclave, but you know, that's also part of the plot. I just wish is was different.

Slightly pick-me girl energy from El.

There's a lot of rambling (this is the reason I disliked Catcher in the Rye) and talking. Much of the action is simply recounted by El, rather than demonstrated in the moment. That is something I think that differs slightly from the first book to this.

More details reviews discussing the plot specifically will be coming soon! Check out my GoodReads where I will be posting the final version of this review and a few other reviews are already up there!

Thanks,

Lana!

[sepublic]

Escaping Expulsion!

           LUMITY! LUMITY DEVELOPMENT! LUZ REALIZING HER CRUSH!!!!

           Amity calling her MY Luz… Amity and Luz back-to-back! Playing tricks together that’s so ADORABLE!

           There’s so much to this episode, I… I…!

           Gus! His growth spurt will take a lot getting used to, it’s like watching your favorite kids grow up… At this point he may as well go back to Augustus! And Perry, I love seeing more of him!

           WILLOW’S DADS! They’re GOOD parents I tell you, they talk a lot about grounding or whatever, but then IMMEDIATELY drop their jobs for Willow’s sake!? To home-school her, to have fun! GOOD PARENTS! And the Glasses Dad, he’s a really chill dude, sees Willow going behind the back and is like “I won’t tell!” Nice. VERY nice…!

           BUMP! Not only do we get confirmation that he’s in the Abomination Coven, BUT HE’S A SWEETIE! He’s an utter sweetheart! This really all adds to my headcanon that he felt bad about what happened with Eda, and I bet he was being reminded a LOT of that when he had to get rid of Luz, Willow, and Gus… At least with Eda she more or less left of her own volition, but these kids WANT to come back! I love this principal and his layers… Also Frewin’s tail moving?

           I agree with Alador, and I find it hilarious that he doesn’t seem to understand Frewin that much either… Or he does but he’s still curious! Al IS interesting like Odalia said… Not exactly a good parent, but he is a man of his word! Also WOW he looks like an utter mess, nothing like the prim and proper noble we all expected! I guess Alador from Amity’s flashback was in dress clothes for Amity’s birthday and all that… But yeah he IS fascinating as Dana said! I guess he is the inventor as some people suspected…

           His whole demeanor matches his brief depiction in YBOS pretty well; Looking like he’s mostly just kind of THERE, just kind of chilling for the ride. Has his head in the clouds and focuses on the inventions, on the technical know-how, on carrying out the orders and seeing them through, while Odalia is the leader who instructs things- Just as we suspected! I can already see the neurodivergent Alador headcanons… If Amity is autistic, does she get it from him?

           ODALIA… Ugh. I mean, she’s about as rancid as we all expected, but it’s interesting that she DOES listen to Alador, so there is still that respect there! But JEEZ, she’s an attempted child murderer?! Goes back on her word!? I have to wonder if Alador was the original Blight actually, and Odalia was the one who married in; That, or Alador just has actual integrity and acts as like… The second voice who helps rein in Odalia and remind her of things every now and then. Interesting… But yeah, I loathe her!

           Of course, back to Al- He may not necessarily be so great himself. He does seem to prefer the easy path, the path of least resistance; He adapts to Amity standing up to him and Odalia by instead considering how she could replace the current Abomination Head one day… Which makes sense, that’s HIS expertise, and daughter takes after father! And Odalia really is an Oracle as we thought… Oracle magic for spying, makes sense, but that necklace…

           UGH… Remember when we all liked that necklace! How we thought it was SO CUTE? How Amity wore it at first in Adventures in the Elements… But then she rarely wore her casual outfit? WELL NOW WE KNOW… Here’s hoping the intro changes to remove the necklace, but WOW I was genuinely feeling sick in my stomach when I saw that!

           And Odalia and Alador are even WORSE, because they’re literally arms-manufacturers! Do I even need to explain why that’s awful? But I’m really having a lot of fun with the idea of Abominations as robotics; I’d considered the idea of Abominations melding with Automatons, and the show just confirms and validates that! I love this show… I have to wonder if we’ll see Amity and the Abomination Head interact more? And I like how Abominations is basically shape-shifting and form-changing, but applied to a magical goop that Abomination Witches can control…

           Belos and the Golden Guard! More worldbuilding- Of course Belos is monopolizing and taking things into his own control, he’s expanding his influence! And of course, as Golden Guard pointed out- Not only does he want soldiers –glad we’ll see more of these Abomination things in practice- but also… He doesn’t want anyone raising a private army against him; Which again fits with how Belos operates! 

          But the way Odalia and Alador look at one another… WERE they intending to raise a private army? Or were they always open to selling out to the highest bidder- With their desire to install Amity as the new Abomination Head, we might see them ally with a rebellion, but for their OWN purposes… With how their audience and customer base was cloaked, they may have been unknowingly selling to people with a vested interest and stake in taking down Belos!

           EDA AND LILITH! This show once again confirms my read on glyphs; Not containing magic, but more commanding the magic around them! Lilith is SO smart, figuring out how it works… And YES, I love delving into the mechanics! How glyphs are about COMMUNICATION with the Isles, that calls back to Adventures in the Elements! I wonder then if Belos can communicate with the isles too, possibly through glyphs…

           But we get more insight into their dynamic! Eda was always that talented kid, so she could always breeze the basics and get right into experimentation! It was good for critical thinking, but as we see, she can be really hyperactive and impatient… And of course, this frustrates Lilith, who is very stoic and rule-bound! God she was adorable this episode, how she clearly wants validation… She really is the embodiment of “My child is fine!” “Your child was a pleasure to have in class.” Couldn’t get validation from Gwen, so Lilith went to teachers…

           AND JEEZ, no wonder Belos’ approval meant so much to her! Maybe like Marcy and Andrias from Amphibia, Lilith kind of latched onto Belos as a potential found family figure for her… But as we know, she still had her own desires and wants because she IS a person and not a mindless drone.

           BUT YES, I love the show delving into how Lilith and Eda work as different people! Lilith is by-the-book, and Eda recognizing that Lilith’s methods have value, because Eda is really out of her own element here. I love seeing Eda experiment with glyphs, just the way they experiment with glyphs- I’m glad it’s not just Luz! Also it’s interesting… The show seems to imply that there really are only four glyphs in existence; Light, Ice, Fire, and Plant! That’s a shame because I’d have liked to see more glyphs in the future, just a few more…

           BUT YEAH, this hearkens back to that shot of Luz combining Glyphs in the trailer, and I’ve always hoped that mashing Glyphs can unlock more complex spells! I love this kind of worldbuilding where basic elements are combined in certain ways to yield more specific things, it’s making my worldbuilding brain buzz happily! And I love Luz just freely giving out stars… Lilith is SUCH an Elsa, and her friendship with Hooty is adorable! And here’s hoping that Eda uses that messed-up spell anyway, against enemies…

           Overall this was an AMAZING EPISODE, so strong! Luz isn’t dense, like Alador she’s just distracted… Oh dang, maybe my Luz and Alador parallels idea wasn’t so far off? BUT YES this show promises and delivers through on these characters! I do wish we got to see more of Willow’s thought process about Odalia and Alador interrupting her life again, but with how the episode is already jam-packed with glyph lore AND Luz’s own thing, and I can see why they had to leave it out- 

          But give her some more spotlight, please! I wouldn’t be surprised if some things had to be cut out thanks to Disney downsizing the show… Also again, it’s interesting that based on what this episode implied; The Plant Coven is the ONLY Coven to have such a close basis in nature. If there are only four glyphs in nature, theoretically there should only be four main covens…

           Belos, your system is beginning to look even MORE sketchy now! And dang, the revelations, the lore, the reveals… Not much of Emira and Edric alas, but what we got was short and sweet, and I love how they felt the need to be nice but also sneak in a prank, but Amity just sees them! And also CAT ABOMINATION, the fanart came through! 

          And Amity just immediately recognizing her girlfriend’s work to figure out Luz was there, I love it so much! Overall, an AMAZING episode that blew my expectations out of the water! Now after this we have Echoes of the Past, which promises even MORE in regards to King! I love that these characters are getting a lot of focus now.

           Also it just occurred to me, but yeah- Edric’s occasional air-headed moments, Emira being a bit more bossy and strict… As we all speculated, they get it from their respective parents!

           (Also Hop Pop cameo I see you TOH crew.)

[metellastella]

In Honor of Deltarune Chapter 2, Lemme tell you about exactly HOW world-breaking Chara really was, and IS.

Here's the thing about Chara. It is implied that they are THE PLAYER's insatiable thirst for new video game worlds (or, they have latched onto it). As in, they accompany the player to the next world they go to.

Direct quote:

"HP. ATK. DEF. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling . . . That's me. Chara. Now, we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world, and move on to the next." i.e.: Let US move on to the next.

Every time THE PLAYER conquers and sets aside a new game . . . they have effectively DESTROYED it. Because they do not "exist" unless they are played and interacted with. Also, they only exist up until the end of the game anyway (most of the time)

And- I say usually- no matter how many times THE PLAYER plays a game- they will eventually tire of it. Also, if they play 500 games in their lifetime . . . it is unlikely they will re-play that many consistently. Plus, add on random internet "mini" games.

Now, that's only considering ONE player.

But since Chara is a multi-dimensional being, because they are aware of other worlds . . . it's not much of a stretch to say that the millions of people who are carrying around Chara "with" them count . . . as Chara.

Bill Cipher, from Gravity Falls, to my knowledge, despite his reality-warping godly demon powers, makes no such 4th wall shattering and domineering claim.

Let's assume for sanity's sake, that this current dimension you're sitting in and reading this screen on is the primary reality. There ARE no dimensions higher than this. All others are contained within human imagination. Bill Cipher was Created by a Creator.

All the 'lower' dimensions we can muck around in as basically gods. (gods or demigods either incarnate as weaklings, or come about some other way, in many mythologies, but then grow steadily stronger to realize their godhood. Ya know, Hercules. Krishna. In Hinduism. That sort of thing.) We can travel between dimensions on a whim by flipping a switch. With enough Determination, we can ALWAYS reach the end. Now, sometimes collaboration does expand these universes a little bit- through comics and fanfiction. But even these created 'higher spheres' nearer to this primary dimension, author 'omniscience' is taken as a given. Actually there is some debate about that, given the real-world phenomenon of novel writers in some cases having no clue where characters are taking them . . . they just sit down to write with a kernel of an idea. That's how I operate, for instance. In that case, they somehow have had their 'future sight' that should be default as a god, blocked. People who outline plots and know where they're going with a story beforehand, and then create characters to fill in the gaps, they're the type of 'gods' that could tell their characters future events, if they wanted to. Anyway. Back to video games specifically, and their fandoms. There is only so much CONTENT and it can always be recorded and shared. So there is still a limting factor.  Here's the weird thing about Undertale. You are there as a 'god.' Just as usual. That's nothing special. You're just there to muck around. But. The whole toe-curling horror aspect UT was demonstrating, for specific characters NPCs who realize this sobering fact . . . such as Asgore and Sans, they are driven to despair, mental instability, and in two cases, suicide, by the fact.

If Homestuck is considered a "game" that is destroyed once you reach the end? It is rolled into all of this as well.  Homestuck is a game. What evidence to I have of this, since it's a 'written story'? It has many playable elements and 90% of its lore and plot is based on deconstructing game conventions and sticking them back together in weird angled positions with crazy glue.  Therefore. If the player reads Homestuck after playing Undertale, (i.e., someone who is newer to internet culture, and entered it after Undertale came out, which was far after Homestuck) Chara has CANONICALLY destroyed the Homestuck Universe.  (or, if you re-read Homestuck after playing Undertale)

YOU. The PLAYER make or break all fictional characters. They live and die by your interest in them, or, for games, your direction, and no other character has explicitly taken YOUR control over the game, as Chara has. In Homestuck, it never gives you something to "do" and then takes the decision away from you, as Undertale does.

Chara, except for someone who has 100% control of that little dopamine rush that comes with leveling up (read: no one), is out there, gleefully wringing out, growing bored of, and then destroying hundreds of thousands of worlds. Chara is the first of zeir kind.  And possibly the last.  Or at least, anything that comes afterwards will be but a pale imitation.  Toby Fox is truly LEGENDARY, in this way.  I'm not sure even he fully understand what he's done here.  Let me try to explain this.  Our education system is currenlty ripping itself to pieces over back-breaking student loans and the realization that we don't actually need all these professors because of the easy availability of information on the internet (Demonstrated, in a roundabout way, in one or two deft lines of dialog in the movie A Beauriful Mind). Now, let's say colleges and universities do survive this shift in society, going foward. It's probable that at the very least technical colleges and vocational schools will. Any others, including high schools, will be replaced by students shrugging and just taking a G.E.D. certification, because why should they spend time at a high school if they hate it, or if they want to learn at their own individualized pace? No reason to do that at all. If the stuffy old guard of the outdated higher education system ever starts treating stories told by video games as literature, as they ABSOLUTELY SHOULD, because they're merely a different medium, not some weird separate thing . . . Toby Fox, having overturned the "trope" of the RPG "genre", wrecking and dismantling it so thouroughly that it has unsettled millions of people who ever again play an RPG where they slaughter any monsters for 'points.'  He should be immortalized. Just like any other author in history who has churned out a landmark piece of literature.  It's merely his fair due.  Perfectly logical, right?  He is the Ubermench game-changer. Literally.  I hope Sans appreciates the pun. Chara is the vehicle through which this overturning of the trope happens. Chara stares directly at the player, deconstructs a longstanding staple in the 'literary genre,' and gives a body and voice to the psychologically addictive quality of video games.

One estimate says there are more than 60,000 video games in existence. And millions of copies of each one.

Chara, as we've established canonically, has access to ALL that are played after a runthrough of Undertale. (or at the very least, genocide Undertale) In Hinduism, it is Shiva that is the god of destruction.  To quote Oppenheimer,  Chara has become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.  Checkmate.

Q. E. D.

Endgame.

[epicspheal]

Leon’s Character Development

So this is something that was brought up by a friend of mine about how Leon’s character development seems to be overshadowed a lot by the fandom. Which is definitely true but it’s honestly a fault of the writing of the game.

According the TVTropes, Leon’s character development is him realizing he’s put too much stock into the sport of battling and being champion when he could be focused on other problems that are plaguing the region. Which means instead of trying to reclaim his title he jus moves on and focuses on taking over as chairman and making the battle tower. Which is all well and good except...it’s hard to say Leon wasn’t concerned about the region when every time something went down Leon was always there at the scene to solve it. It’s one of those moments that’s kind of an informed flaw where there’s no real evidence to suggest that he cared about his title at the expense of the region. Like maybe if whenever there was some random Dynamaxing, Leon was more concerned about giving out autographs it would have made more sense but as it stands with the current writing of SwSh it doesn’t.

I mean one could point to the argument between him and Chairman Rose, but as I’ve stated before I don’t personally think that’s good evidence as Leon asking “why does it have to be the day of the finals” (that Rose would have set because he was the chairman at the time) was incredibly valid. Like if we turn it into a philosophical argument then okay sure I can see where Leon may be seen as dismissive, but at face value it’s hard to really say Leon never took any of that seriously.

So this in turns makes it feel like Leon didn’t undergo any development because he’s very proactive in dealing with threats and his arguments against Rose was valid. So this character development doesn’t really hit the same notes as say characters like Hop and Bede who we see a rather significant shift in behavior. Of course I should add, that not all character development has to be super blatant for it to count. Subtle development is also very valid.

Now, there is one argument for character development that I don’t see talked about as much that I think is a better option for Leon’s growth. Again going back to the main story, Leon is very insistent about him protecting the region from threats because he’s the champion and therefore the strongest trainer. That is until you defeat him. Cue the post-game where you and Hop (along with Piers and the gym leaders) take care of the dynamaxing Pokemon without Leon interfering. This could be seen as him learning that he doesn’t have to do it alone and that others can be involved in protecting the region. He could’ve been shown stepping in (and I think at least implicitly he probably stepped in Wyndon as that’s the only city with power spots we don’t visit and we know he’s been up their cleaning up Chairman Rose’s mess). He’s trusting the new champion to be able to handle things alongside brother. And both kids have a proven track record as they were able to save the region from Eternatus when he was unable to do so. 

So that, I consider more of his development. I don’t think it was bad that he took on things (I’m always praising Leon for being one of the few adults in Pokemon to realize that dropping that type of responsibility onto kids is not cool), however the fact that he seems to not even ask his fellow adults for help adult could show that he feels like he must be the only one to shoulder these type of events. Which is as we know from the true darkest day lore, doesn’t work as it took the combined efforts of both the wolves and the youths to seal Eternatus and not just the singular hero as depicted in the initial retelling of the myth. 

Even still this development is overshadowed because it just doesn’t take precedence. This would’ve been a really good way to show the repairing of his and Sonia’s friendship had there been a discussion of him always taking so much on and not at the very least asking people like Sonia or Raihan to help out.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #145: Gilgamesh (Caster)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we bring you the long-suffering king, Gilgamesh (Caster)! Like all Gilgameshes, you’ll be able to throw things at people, but magic. And yes, you will be able to stay up for days on end without dying. Immediately.

This Gil is a War Magic Wizard to weave magical defenses and hold the line, as well as a Celestial Warlock so you can still have some magic after avoiding long rests for so long.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut or his character sheet over here! 

Next up: Snaby (Snake Baby)

Race and Background

You’re still 2/3s god, but you’re protecting a city this time around, so let’s call you a Protector Aasimar. This gives you +1 Constitution and +2 Charisma. You also get Darkvision to dunk on normal humans, Celestial Resistance against Radiant and Necrotic damage, the Light cantrip, and Healing Hands to keep yourself standing a bit longer.

Like always, Noble is a a disrespectful downplay of your station, but it’s the closest we can get, giving you History and Persuasion proficiency.

Ability Scores

Put your Charisma first and foremost, you’re still running a city, and that requires a force of personality, especially given current events. Second is Intelligence, running an all-out war for this long needs tactical skill. Your Constitution is pretty good too, we all know how long you can go without sleep. Your Dexterity isn’t amazing, if anything actually reaches the city you might have a problem. Your Wisdom is pretty low, despite everything, you’re still Gilgamesh. Finally, dump Strength. If you haven’t had time to sleep, you haven’t had time to work out.

Class Levels

1. Warlock 1: First level warlocks get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as two warlock skills. Arcana is an obvious pick for a caster, and Investigation will help you figure out what demonic beast left a gaping hole in the wall. You can’t fight something effectively until you know what it is.

You also gain Pact Magic, spells you can cast with your Charisma what recharge on short rests. As a celestial lock, you also get a Healing Light, 1+your warlock level d6s that you can spend as a bonus action to heal a nearby creature. The most you can use at once is your charisma modifier. This feature recharges on long rests, so don’t get too used to them.

For spells: Eldritch Blast because duh, Friends to run the town a bit more smoothly, Guiding Bolt to lead the way in battle, and Witch Bolt for longer-term damage.

2. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations to customize their features. Take Eldritch Mind right now for better concentration, and save the other for next level. 

You also learn Distort Value so that meddlesome goddess doesn’t run off with your entire treasury. 

3. Warlock 3: Third level Protector Aasimars get a Radiant Soul, giving you wings for a minute as a bonus action. They last for a minute, and while flying around you can add your level in radiant damage to one spell or attack per turn. This recharges... *sigh* on long rests.

You also get the Pact of the Tome, giving you a fancy lil book with three cantrips of your choice. I’d suggest Guidance to be better at everything, Vicious Mockery because... just look at him, and Thaumaturgy to get your volume cranked up. Those dramatic speeches aren’t going to make themselves, after all.

You also get the invocation Aspect of the Moon, removing your need to sleep entirely. To long rest, you spend eight hours doing light activity.  We’ll get something later to cut long rests out entirely, but this’ll work for now.

You also learn how to cast Flock of Familiars. Every good king needs some advisors, after all.

4. Warlock 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Intelligence so we can start off our other class strong. You also learn Blade Ward, giving you resistance to physical attacks. Your AC really isn’t good right now, so this’ll come in handy. You also learn Enthrall, so you can make sure everyone keeps their eyes on you during your rousing speeches.

5. Wizard 1: First level Wizards learn Spells that you cast and prepare from your Intelligence modifier from a larger list in your spellbook. Your Arcane Recovery means that once per long rest you can get a couple of your spell slots back on a short rest as well, a total level equal to half your wizard level rounded up.

While we’re on the topic of spell slots, your wizard slots and warlock slots don’t mix like most multiclassing, but you can use one class’s slots for another’s spells just fine.

Wizards get a lot of spells, so we won’t go over all of them here, but Mage Armor is a must, as well as Shield.  Putting metal around your hips and one hand does not count as armor.

6. Wizard 2: Second level wizards pick a school, and the school of War Magic will keep you in the fight for a long time. Arcane Deflection gives you either +2 to AC or +4 to a saving throw as a reaction, provided you’re okay only casting cantrips the next turn. You’ve spent four levels as a warlock, I’m sure you’ll manage somehow.

Your Tactical Wit adds your intelligence to your initiative, so you can start giving out orders faster.

7. Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells, like Augury for some early divination and Scorching Ray for some Uruk Brand Arrows.

8. Wizard 4: Use your second ASI to become an Inspiring Leader, letting you spend a couple minutes to give your party some free temporary HP. They’re.... they’re gonna need that.

9. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells, like Fly. Tactics require a top-down view. You also get the invocation Far Scribe, for free castings of Message. Now even the people in the back’ll be able to hear you!

10. Warlock 6: Sixth level celestlocks get a Radiant Soul, giving you extra fire/radiant damage equal to your charisma modifier when you cast a spell that deals fire/radiant damage. You also resist radiant damage. again.

You also learn the spell Intellect Fortress, giving a creature resistance on psychic damage and advantage on intelligence, wisdom, and charisma saves for up to an hour. Tiamat’s existence is probably a charisma save against being frightened, right?

11. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks learn how to make Guardians of Faith, giving you the ability to create a large glowing... thing... that hits hostile creatures who get too close.

You also learn the invocation Book of Ancient Secrets, giving you two 1st-level rituals from any spellcasting class now, and the ability to copy others when you see them.

12. Warlock 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger spells, like Sickening Radiance. Blow things up with real big magic arrows.

13. Warlock 9: Ninth level warlocks get fifth level spells, like Greater Restoration! This spell lets you remove one level of exhaustion, so now you can finally survive on nothing but short rests!

You also get the invocation Whispers of the Grave, which lets you cast Speak with Dead for free. Now you can finally stop and hear yourself think.

Wait...

14. Warlock 10: Tenth level celestlocks get Celestial Resistance, giving you and your party temporary HP at the end of each short or long rest. You get 10 plus your charisma modifier, the others get 5 plus your charisma modifier.

You also learn True Strike. It’s not a good spell, but it is a cheap way to keep concentration on something, which will be important later.

15. Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells... again, like Catnap to make your short rests even shorter and Melf’s Minute Meteors for some more arrows that you can fire off two at a time.

16. Wizard 6: Sixth level war mages learn the art of the Power Surge. You can store up to three surges at a time and gain one at the end of a short rest or when you use Dispel Magic or Counterspell. They also reset to one after a long rest, so your terrible sleep schedule is finally paying off! You can spend a power surge to add extra force damage to a wizard spell for one creature.

17. Wizard 7: Seventh level wizards get fourth level spells, like Divination to keep an eye on the demonic front.

18. Wizard 8: Use your last ASI to bump up your Intelligence for an extra Power Surge and stronger magic.

19. Wizard 9: Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells, like Legend Lore, which lets you compare legendary items to the ones in your treasury to figure out what they do.

20. Wizard 10: Tenth level wizards get Durable Magic. While concentrating on a spell, you get +2 to your AC and all saves. You can also use Hold Monster to slow Tiamat down a bit, and Commune with City to keep tabs on the people of Uruk during this crisis.

Pros: 

You literally don’t have to sleep, ever, so long as you have 100 gold per day to pay for Greater Restoration. Keep watch! Catch up on that book series you’ve been putting off! The possibilities are endless!

You also come packing some solid magic defenses, with the ability to slap extra points onto any save you might need to, plus advantage from spells like Intellect Fortress.

Wizards get a ton of spells in general, but you take that variety to the next level. Features like Book of Ancient Secrets the wizard’s spellbook will expand your casting capabilities to new heights!

Cons:

Most people don’t like being woken up at 3am, so there’s not much point in not sleeping beyond the occasional crisis. 

Physically, you’re very squishy. With only 133 HP at level 20 and an AC of 14-6 without destroying your ability to cast spells, distance is your best friend. You also don’t have a ton of movement options, so good luck against monks.

War mages are built around concentration at higher levels, which is fine, but it means you need a lot of concentration spells to get the most out of the class. That also means you have to plan your defense carefully, or you might get overwhelmed.

[insert-cleverurl]

solaine copies her dsmp meta twitter part one

preface: i wrote this on february 13th and am now archiving it over here on tumblr before i get around posting it to the actual archive (of our own). i'd like to clean it up before i go there, becuase i wrote this at like one am lying in bed and typing on my laptop that was sitting on my stomach. it's a lot of rambling. i go on a lot of tangents. it is not the cleanest nor likely most accurate meta you will ever read.

how characters (children) on the smp learn from history rather than repeat it: a thread

aka: stop liking the other one you fucks i opened the wikia so i actually know what happened now /lh

context here is that i had earlier made a much less coherent thread (not that this one is very coherent) with the caveat that i was going entirely off memory

this thread is mainly going over how tommy + tubbo both emulate and turned away from wilbur + schlatt respectively, and how i think that's going to reflect in ranboo's arc

"as long as i can't be the next jschlatt, you can't be the next wilbur." okay we all know this. it's obvious from this point on that both tubbo and tommy saw or had fears of how they were each developing into scarily familiar people - schlatt, a dictator, and wilbur, a madman.

starting with tommy, the parallels between his exile arc and wilbur's pogtopia arc are immediately, and glaringly, obvious. paranoia, trust issues, "maybe i'm actually the bad guy here", and most notably, intense loneliness. wilbur made it obvious he believed pogtopis's allies would all abandon them in the end (them being he and tommy, though how much he trusted tommy by the end is also up in the air), and he was completely prepared to kill anyone he had to in order to secure pogtopia's victory, despite also preparing himself to be the one to end it. wilbur gave up on l'manberg, at the very end. he believed tyranny was all that would ever reign, so he blew it up.

tommy, in his exile arc, was also despairingly lonely. he hallucinated tubbo, grew attached to dream, etc etc. tommy was very very close to "becoming" wilbur here (god i'm sorry this is so long already and just me summing things up we already know it's to keep my thoughts in order + satisfy my inability to shut up and use too many words)

where wilbur and tommy go their separate ways is when they were given an out. dream gave wilbur tnt + for tommy, he was. you know. gestures vaguely at logstedshire. wilbur took the out - he gave up. he gave in. we know he had moments of clarity (when niki was in danger) and Maybe this was one he could've had too, but he didn't. he took the tnt.

tommy decided enough was enough. so at a crucial moment in time, tommy turned away from being wilbur. he did not repeat history.

onto tubbo; admittedly i know much less about his arc as president so this will be less outlined. tubbo,,,, acted very similarly to schlatt. probably moreso than tommy and wilbur! strange new laws, ignoring his cabinet, execution, generally appearing to lose his care for the world and the opinions of others. i'd argue the thing that separates him from schlatt is the most important part of this thread, because it proves my point: he remembered.

i just want to clarify here: by "proves my point" i mean this is the clsoest we get to an agreement of the ideas i'm putting out here in canon?? ig?? as in like. this is the most on the nose way to say it. similarly in recent days to quackity consistently referring to his treatment of dream as torture, which seems to be a very "I Am Not In Character" move but is definitely meant for us, the viewers, rather than character dream or character quackity themselves. tubbo's is a little less like that but still it's kind of like pointing at the X on a map for us the viewers. ok tangent over

tubbo lived under schlatt's rule as one of those people he treated extremely shittily. he lived under schlatt's rule as that person he executed. and tubbo remembers all that! tubbo remembers how schlatt's rule played out, and he looks at his own uh, less than stellar time in office, and he admits this out loud (to ranboo, according to the wikia. i am getting all of this off the wikia. i did not watch any streams during this arc.) that he can See himself becoming schlatt.

and when quackity tries to execute ranboo for being a traitor, tubbo stops him.

onto dream and ranboo! dream is a special case in that we never get to see his perspective of things and are rather left to play fill in the blank, and this whole arc is special (in terms of this thread) in that it isn't over. so i will be doing a lot of extrapolating here.

dream starts out as a generally ambivalent character who has very few rules that he pretty much never bothers to enforce anyways (i think? i don't remember).

by this i mean, this is all stuff i heard secondhand in recent months and can no longer remember what it actually was because i never went back to check. i'm pretty sure, but just a disclaimer. i don't wanna get hit with an "um, actually

his villain arc starts very very early - two whole seasons before he really became one. in the war, he is the antagonist and he plays up to it! most of the war is from l'manberg's pov (or that's how we look at it now, at least) so obviously he is the Bad Guy here.

ranboo griefed a house like two days into the server. 'nuff said /lh

ranboo + dream are both heavily vilified characters from the get-go - dream's part should be fairly obvious (uh, the everything leading up the exile arc where he actually did villainous things), whereas ranboo's is most notably during the second festival's aftermath. taking the blame for blowing up the community house, wanting to "pick people not sides" (he wants all his friends to be happy - sounds familiar, right?), etc etc, and now he's with techno and phil, the former of which is Definitely considered a villain for working with dream

now many many parallels are being drawn between he and dream, especially with the whole enderwalking thing. in the aftermath of everything happening, he chooses to stay out of all conflict, until Something Happens and forces his hand. (the egg!) he wants peace for everyone, which again, sounds very familiar, right?

(slight tangent: yes, the griefing was forcing dream's hand. it's nigh impossible to construe it as anything other than a political attack - the vice president of l'manberg griefing the home of the greater dream smp's king? dream looks weak + open to attack if he lets it slide)

this was a bad way to put it but the spirit of it gets across i think. fuck character limit on twitter

that catches us up on all current lore. where do i think dream and ranboo are going to split? dream has been alone in his decision-making basically since the very first war. not once has he (successfully, we don't know if he tried) gone to fall back on his friends' support and ask for their help in making these hard decisions (of which there are many). he severs his final connections ("i don't care about anything on this server") and cements his place in history as a monster.

i think it is very likely that we are getting a ranboo "friendship and relying on other people" arc here. there are other ways they could go with it, obviously, but given his current arctic anarchist ties and what appears to be other friendships developing. hmm! i'm interested. this part is entirely speculation/extrapolation. point being. the kids on the smp do, in fact, learn from history. they still make mistakes sometimes, but past a certain point, they're always different mistakes. they learn, and they almost always get happier endings for it

i don't know if it's a coincidence that it's the three lore-relevant kids who are the ones doing this. i don't think it is, because this is a very well-written and clever story. the younger generation is the one learning and fixing past mistakes and leaving the world better off for it. that's very neat! i like it a lot. also now that purpled's becoming lore-relevant, goddamnit if i don't want to see next season being his "learning from history" arc. punz vs purpled, maybe? that'd be neat. who knows. ok i think im finally done lol ty for reading :)

caveat I forgot to add last night: obviously ranboo and dream start out in very different positions, moreso than both tommy and tubbo. but at the end of the day, all three of them are their own people who just happen to take after other people in some ways :)

again, ty for reading! here's the original thread. i'd like to add that this is probably out of date and i may come back to it some day but who knows. maybe this will just be a relic of before Now (may 25)

[illegiblewords]

ive been following your theories for a while and am ESPECIALLY in love with all your lahabrea analysis and meta, but i havent been able to find the first mentions of The Dreamer and while i can mostly guestimate what the role means id just like to ask, who? or what they are and what theyre supposed to do, i may have simply missed the memo o:

Hey there! :D Thank you so much dude, I'm really happy you've been enjoying! I love Lahabrea a ton so it means a lot to be able to share that and all the lore/resulting theories on him. The first mention of the Dreamer is here, in the first cutscene. It's 5.5! Worth noting there's also a German translation that goes as follows:

Fandaniel: "Unfortunately that means that we’ll have to increase the efforts on our side. I’m afraid his dreams will become a little more...intense for a while. But that surely won’t pose a problem, or?”


Zenos: “Not at all. He seems to enjoy it.”

In terms of what's going on in terms of metaphysics and what it means to be The Dreamer, I've essentially made a few conclusions based on pieces we know currently.

- It would be too convenient for The Doom to just spontaneously start up again out of nowhere for Zenos and Fandaniel, because they personally want it for their apocalyptic plans. Therefore, they must be doing something specific to inspire that effect.

- Ascians are all masters of Creation magic, and the nature of The Doom was that it essentially robbed them of any control over their own minds + Creation to force their worst fears out in the form of beasts. It's like intrusive thoughts, but just having the thought is enough to make it real.

- The monsters that manifested during the First Doom were the particular, individual manifestations of fears. On the one hand, the Source and Shards have few (if any) people who are capable of creation magic anymore--let alone on the scale shown. On the other, the monsters we see in various trailers do have many moments of overlap with the First Doom in its specificity. This would not make sense given that the sources of each monster would be individual people with their own personalized fears and manifestations of those fears. For them to express with that much overlap given varied life experiences, capabilities, power levels, etc. wouldn't add up. That said, if the manifestations we see reflect authentic memories of one of the Unsundered (who lived through the First Doom) it makes sense as a recreation of that event.

- Additionally, the new monsters we see are unified by their use of mouth motifs and Lahabrea's concept/trauma iconography.

- For these reasons, I think what's happening is more that a memory of the First Doom is being recreated by manifesting a nightmare by The Dreamer, rather than coming about organically from the same source--this being the origin of The Sound. What complicates it is that, (assuming it's Lahabrea) all manifestations are a nightmare coming from one person. Specifically, someone with an insane guilt complex who lives in horror of mouths/his own mouth/speech plus all the ways speech is distorted as an affliction upon others. This is especially the case when speech/mouths were Lahabrea's own source of power at one point. As a result, the dream being projected upon the world is not a perfect recreation of what existed, but filtered through Lahabrea's own complexes and traumatized recollections of the First Doom. As bad as it was, he is also making it even worse in his own mind due to the attached trauma/implications he takes onto himself or projects onto the world.

- I actually don't think Lahabrea, if he is the Dreamer, has the strength to mass-create those monsters or any other effects. Estinien commented on how little aether remained in the Eye comparatively when he pierced it, and even beyond that Lahabrea was already considerably weakened due to his own history of self-harm and battle with the Warrior of Light. So for that reading, Fandaniel and Zenos not only need to have a means to keep The Dreamer unconscious and actively dreaming (of The Doom ideally--which would add up with Lahabrea's workaholic aversion to rest), they'd need a means to project any dreams upon the world with sufficient power to cause the destruction they're after. Lahabrea is not currently at Emet or Elidibus' power level, he's unlikely to be able to create a city--let alone unleash creations across the entire star. So something needs to be channeling power through him, which I suspect is what Fandaniel and Zenos have been working on.

Honestly idk whether we'll see it or not, but I'd be very interested in whether we encounter other distorted dream-representations of trauma besides monsters. Igeyorhm dying as Lahabrea perceived it? Warped versions of Emet-Selch and Elidibus as Lahabrea perceives them? If WoL + Scions encountered these, they not only would have no memory of anything from ShB--they might actively contradict what the heroes know of Emet and Elidibus' own sentiments. The Warrior being manifested, distorted and terrifying, ignorant and cruel, is also a possibility. There’s a lot of room for things to get trippy with this. Basically though, I think any return of The Doom we see will be a reflection of what happened the first time filtered through the warped mirror that is The Dreamer's memory as opposed to a true sequel event. It's like moving through Amaurot dungeon rather than literally setting the remaining ruins and sea floor ablaze. The effects are just as lethal, but it's a projection from an Unsundered mind. It just gets powered by a different source. Hope that helps!

[janewatson]

Helluva Boss Trailer Analysis!

Yes, I watch this.  Yes, I like it.  No, I won’t argue with you about it.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s just say that I was up when the trailer dropped, and was still up for a bit after.  I’ve watched it so many times now, just absorbing everything, and now it’s time to break it down.

I’ve seen a few breakdowns already, but I noticed that there were a few things people hadn’t mentioned.  So I’m tossing my hat in the ring, let’s see if we can figure out what Vivziepop has in store for us!

I’ll be breaking down by scene, as well as go over voiceovers and predictions real quick, so prepare for a read after the cut!

Ok, first, had to laugh at Millie’s Peppermint Vodka Molotov Cocktail.  Creative, but what a waste of vodka :(  The background is of a beach, but she’s not in beach clothes (let’s face it, a bikini would probably kill Moxxie)

Moxxie is shooting at something while he’s swinging from a rope in a deserted theater.  Piano on the floor, and a sun pattern on the back wall

Blitzø (thanks for the copy/paste, Google) cleaving a blonde in half with a baseball bat.  Damn, he stronk!

Diss Summar’, with the little doodles!  So cute :3

Drunk/drugged/in shock Moxxie, poor Millie, and something big bursting out from the water behind.  Tied to first scene?

Stolas’ ‘Special Access’ bit from the Sneak Peeks, talking about the Harvest Moon festival in Wrath

Moxxie and Blitzø in a green lit room, looks like a two-way mirror on the wall.  Interrogation?

Correction to ‘Diss Season’ XD  Hopefully that means we’ll get an episode before spring, but if they need more time, that’s understandable

Glammed up Stolas at some kind of burlesque, owned by Asmodeus ‘Ozzie’, Prince of Hell’s Lust circle.  Wonder why he’s there...

CHERUBS!!!  Also from the Sneak Peeks, we know that this is a commercial, and that the TV showing said commercial gets blown up a few seconds later

Angry Blitzø, probably yelling at Moxxie, being scared shitless by a hellhound behind him.  I think this is a repo/impound/chop-shop guy who took IMP’s van, as in a later scene, they’re shown in a fence with other cars, especially because Blitzø yells ‘RUN’ at the end of the scene

Loona and Blitzø filming someone’s misery (again, probably Moxxie).  They’re in western outfits, but they’re probably still in Hell

Tentacle wrapping around drugged Moxxie and taking him, too fast for Millie to react and stop it.  Again, looks like it’s tied to the first and fifth scenes

Sassy Blitzø, probably talking to the repo-hellhound or punching-bag Moxxie.  Same setting as scene 11

Blitzø running to the window of what looks like a recording studio, with ‘VM’ spray painted on the doors next to him.  He looks distraught, but it’s not clear why

Recently choked-out Moxxie recovering, while being frame by a spiny-tailed Imp wearing what I assume is a serape, since it looks like they’re on the ranch Loona and Blitzø cheered a poor soul, scene 12

DEPRESSED BIRD DADDY.  WHY ARE YOU SAD???  IS IT GONNA MAKE ME SAD??? OH NO I’M NOT READY unless its a flashback, but stilllll

Perturbed Blitzø holding his special flintlock in a western-themed room.  Looks like he has his outfit from scene 12 on, probably the same episode, but whatever happened/is going to happen, it’s not good

Dressed-up Moxxie, who probably jumped bombed a performance, is upstaged by Robo Fizz and most likely a Robo Ozzie, given the designs on its’ head(s).  He looked uneasy even before the Robos popped up, so something else was going on first.

Scaley eye blinking and getting MAD, attached to the tentacle that kidnapped Moxxie?

50% off add for Spring Break victims, complete with coffee stain, and Blitzø‘s horse doodles.  I got a mental image of Moxxie scolding Blitzø for drawing at work, so he BS’d it into an ad.

Either Blitzø is a terrible driver, or they’re trying to speed away from someone.  Repo-hound, maybe?

HUMAN!!!  Almost definitely a human pop-star singing on a Coachella-esque stage!  I tried to fill in her name, but could only get ideas of what some letters were.  Her initials are most likely VM, from the recording studio scene, but the bottoms of some letters could be an E or L, K or R, so we’re left with V~(L/E)(K/R)OSI(K/R)A MA~~.  It also looks like she’s wearing heels, so she may be the person who threw Blitzø in a later scene

Moxxie about to be trampled by what can only be a horse, given his outfit.  Loona and Blitzø are probably filming XD

Shocked Stolas, standing up at table.  Same outfit as the burlesque, but he doesn’t looked surprised enough that it’s the part where Moxxie is upstaged, more something emotionally jarring.  Blitzø kissing someone else, maybe?

Blitzø pushing Moxxie out of the way and pinning him just outside a Hell portal in an alley, most likely Earth.  Blitzø looks mad, and rightly so, as he’s looking a little beat up himself.  Connected to the interrogation scene?

Happy Blitzø turns horrified outside some elevators with Moxxie.  Judging by the water cooler in the back, I think he’s about to slam into the recording studio.  Behind him, Moxxie gives no shits

Blitzø looking miffed, maybe at something Moxxie said.  Looks like the same scene with the repo-hound, as the setting itself looks like an impound lot, with the IMP van smack-dab in the middle of it.  I love that the license plate is IMP-666 though

Unhappy Blitzø (ok, let’s be honest, when IS he happy?)

Moxxie swinging Millie around in the deserted theater, passionately frenching each other

Blitzø getting pushed down by a horned, high-heeled... someone.  Again, might be the pop star from earlier, but there’s horns...  Maybe the pop star is human-passing, and has an alternate demonic form, like the Hazbin Hotel cast?

Western-clad Blitzø pulling his flintlock on someone, most likely before scene 18.  Most definitely Hell, judging by the poster and previous scenes, but I’m digging the décor

Blitzø not getting a break at all during this trailer and being yeeted into a dumpster, which closes on him.  Gonna take a stab and say it’s outside the burlesque Stolas and Moxxie were in, from the colors and posters of Lust Ring, Personal Companion Robo-Fizz, and Angel Dust.

The next scene is of him climbing out of a dumpster to fall into another pile of trash.  He just doesn’t get a break, does he?  It doesn’t look like the dumpster outside the burlesque, but it is similar to the alley with the hell portal, where Blitzø pinned Moxxie.  Maybe not the same scene, but most likely same episode.

Editor being absolutely plastered, teasing all the fun stuff to come in 2021, since 2020 can go f*ck itself.

And that’s a really in-depth breakdown of all the scenes in the trailer!  Now, for the voiceovers.

First, Loona’s asking if anyone ‘Can feel that?’.  Interesting thing to ask, so we’ll have to wait and see what catastrophe happens

Millie gently yelling at Moxxie to ‘DON’T PANIC’

A calm voice announcing an elevator’s departure to the Lust circle of Hell, which is most likely where the burlesque and Robo scenes are.  As to who is going, it’s either Stolas or the IMP crew, or maybe both?

Horny Stolas cooing ‘Oh, Blitzy!’, followed by Loona’s ‘SHUT THE F*CK UP’ from the Loo Loo Land episode.  Finally, I have a high-res clip I can set as my ringtone!

Blitzø yelling  ‘Dammit, Moxxie, this is all your fault!’, which may or may not be true since he scapegoats Moxxie, who replies ‘How is this my fault???’

Pop star asking, ‘Y’all ready to get f*cked up and make some b*tchin’ bad choices?’.  It’s most likely her talking, since the her lips synch up with her scene, and it’s a new voice we haven’t heard before.

Moxxie’s cut off ‘M*THERF*CKER!!!’.  So happy I get to hear Invader Zim go off, poor boy needs it XD

Blitzø being Blitzø and trying to tone down a big deal, stating again that he doesn’t pry into their personal lives, even though he obvious does (see Helluva Boss Pilot for more)

Robo Fizz’s line from Loo Loo Land asking if anybody loved Blitzø.  I’m gonna be honest and say that line choked me up in Loo Loo Land, and so did Blitzø’s response, until ‘But I’m really good with guns now.  DANCE, B*TCH!’

Moxxie ending with ‘That is deeply unsettling’, again from Loo Loo Land.  Throwing shade on Helluva Boss haters, maybe? :3

All right, now, predictions!

Chaos in a theater, with focus maybe on Millie and Moxxie’s relationship, maybe an origin story?  It won’t be the only one, with the tentacle beach monster and drugged Moxxie bits, so we can expect a lot of story and character development from the two of them.

Farm episode!  Blitzø either drags them onto a farm, or there’s a client who invites them, but sh*t will happen.

Really excited to see what happens in the Lust ring, and for the return of Robo Fizz!  Baby boy only got a few minutes of screen time, but is currently my favorite character.

Repo episode of rescuing the IMP van, probably resulting in overall team building and character development.  I really want to see Loona tear a new one into that *sshole-looking hellhound, though.

Pop star episode!  Really excited to meet this new character, I wonder what her name is and how close I was XD  Either Blitzø and Moxxie break into her recording studio to meet her, or she’s a client, but we’ll see!

Trapped on Earth/Run in with Earth authorities episode?  That interrogation room didn’t exactly look Hellish, and they obvious meet some kind of resistance while on Earth that looked like it was gonna get messy...

Stolas episode!  Please please please be flashback and story, I loved Loo Loo Land but really want some more lore and development on his character and maybe relationship with Blitzø.  Bird obviously needs to work through some things, and I really want to watch him grow, ever since I saw him struggle to tell Octavia why he was cheating.  Him stuttering and ultimately being unable to find a reason why really hit home, and I’m glad it was something they included since in media, it’s always ‘Well, she’s really ugly’ or ‘I don’t love him anymore’.  He still has feelings for his wife, but wanted to f*ck Blitzø too.

Even without the trailer, we do know that we’re getting episodes focusing on CHERUB and a Harvest Moon festival, but still.  There’s so much content Vivzie and Co have been working hard to make, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.  Dark comedy aside, there’s so much story they can make just around these four characters, following their growth and happenings around Hell.  It’s such a cool premise and one that hasn’t been washed and worn so many times, like cop or murder shows, and I can see this going on for quite a bit.

Well, here’s to an exciting 2021!  Thank you for all your hard work, Vivizepop, keep it up!