#long yap post sorry

[kaenic-rookern]

it looks like deft and peyz followed each other on ig, i'm posting this because the timing of this follow is kinda wholesome, it's very likely that deft has messaged peyz about his situation with the transfer to the lpl and chatted with him since he knows a thing or two about moving to china, after all he did move from ssg to edg 10 years ago at the same age as peyz is right now, which means peyz is just experiencing the samsung adc canon event of being sent to a "-dg" chinese team because of budget reasons LOL, it's cool that they had a chance to talk before hyukkyu leaves for the military

as both a huge deft and jdg fan i wish peyz nothing but good experiences in the region and i hope he enjoys his stay in the team, fighting!!

[dilfosaur]

thank you as always for the support and compliments on our new july-exclusive merch!! please take these close ups as a sign of my gratitude uwu

much like last year's postcard, i sculpted little figures and painted over them to get a nice 3D effect. i got really lucky with the lighting by the time i finished the bases lmao. the poster is ofc a reference to norman rockwell's triple self portrait so i was trying a more textured painting style. i'm really happy with how it came out! also ya bobby wasn't from this past year but this rejected plush idea was

happy drawfee calendar year! and please look forward to our most unhinged merch yet in this coming year! there are some whack coals on the fire

[bertoyana]

i'm so sorry i don't want to be the "the party ended 5 years ago and he's still here" person but dark phoenix's final scene is still SO funny to me. especially to see how erik plays charles like a fiddle

like: he shows up with NO helmet AND a chess set. (he did this last time in days of the future past, and it worked, right? so it should work again, right? right???)

so, he sits, completely uninvited mind you, and he tries (and fails terribly bless his heart) at starting a normal conversation, he asks charles about his retirement, probably trying to get charles to like, talk about it or whatever

(rip erik's hairline)

charles is not having any of it, which... valid. the last time he and erik had a full conversation, erik told him to shut the fuck up 

anyways, erik realizes his failed attempt at being casual did NOT work like he wanted, so he pulls out plan b - he calls charles his old friend (which, if you pay attention, in the prequels they use 'old friend' as a term to de-escalate the situation)

which WORKS, for some reason, and charles immediately deflates and gives erik the tiniest smile in existence, because erik showing he cares always seems to do it for charles lmao

(he's so embarrassing . god bless. @ x men: is this your leader)

anyhow, erik pulls out the second part of his plan b - he asks charles if he wants to play a game. still playing casual. just two buddies. just two guys. some guys. just some friends having a toootal normal n casual conversation.

and you can immediately see charles close himself up, he crosses his arms and avoids looking erik in the eye. erik managed to soften him up with the 'old friend' and having his helmet off, but it's not enough YET so erik pulls out his plan c. luckily his last one, christ, charles really does like to keep them waiting doesn't he

keep an eye on erik's entire demeanor in this scene, his position is not closed off like charles', he's open, he leans on the table, and maintains eye contact with charles. his head is tilted to one side and everything, completely harmless

i'm so obsessed with charles' microexpressions here james mcavoy you are so insane

anwyays, charles uncrosses his arms and his position does come off a little more open, but if you watch the scene you can see him shake his head. this obviously touches him - but he's probably intending to say still no. probably because he has the biggest martyr complex i've ever seen in a fictional character 

so, erik pulls up his fucking plan d (lol) and hopefully this time IT WILL be the last. he pulls the pawn out of his jacket pocket.

(why the fuck is this played like a fucking romantic scene i'm so serious, why is he smiling to himself like that)

mind you, erik had the pawn in his pocket the entire time, which could mean either of two things:

charles looks surprised/confused the entire scene, but in THIS part he doesn't look confused, he just looks like he's still trying to figure out what erik is trying to do. so it either means erik makes charles play this 'guess where it's hiding' game all the time (????) which doesn't really sound likely for him to do, but erik is always begging charles to get into his head so it wouldn't surprise me if he actually did this every time. god knows he's desperate enough or

erik was expecting charles to reject his offer right away, and had multiple other plans shoved up his ass if this was the case. this also seems likely, he's obsessive enough to have thought multiple ways through. 

anyways, he puts his two fists up and pulls up the most mortal sentence in existence. one he knows charles won't be able to deny him

"just ONE game 🥺 for old time's sake???? 🥺🥺🥺" man stfu you are 62 years old GET UPPPP 

anyways - pay attention to his wording. 

"just one game" because erik came ALLLL this way for charles, so charles might as well play ONE game with him, and then erik could be gone - if charles wanted it that way. 

"for old's time sake" when things were easier and when they were more at peace - when they were on each other's side. when they were together and the mansion, just after charles had saved him and gave him a hom- oh wait 

(also, there's 100% a hidden meaning here. and there’s also a 100% chance i’m reaching but idc. the pawn could be in his left hand or his right. the possibility is 50/50. the only way charles could know with 100% certainty was if he entered erik's mind - if he took up erik's offer. but he could also not get into erik's mind and just... guess and fail - by thus, not taking erik's offer. erik is giving him an out, a choice to make the first move)

(and the chess piece he offers charles a WHITE pawn. the white pieces are the first ones to move. 

also also if you have paid attention to the previous movies, erik is always the one to use the white pieces, this is the first movie where we see charles play with white)

anyways, charles does struggle a bit with the choice, but ultimately he decides to accept erik's proposal and """guesses""" right.  

and going from erik's... entire face and smirk lmao i'm guessing charles went into his head to get it right. mind you, this is like sex for them

charles accepts - erik is very relieved to know he's not the only one who's down horrendously. and after the worst guessing game in history (seriously, the pawn was in erik's right pocket and then he had it hidden in his right hand... man i guessed that shit and i'm not even a telepath) they start rearranging the board

so anyway, erik gives charles this look like he wants to climb him like a tree, which means that playing edward 'down embarrassingly bad' rochester in jane eyre (2011) finally fucking paid off

erik doesn't even blink mind you, and charles doesn't take his eyes off erik either way, which means they are just STARING at each other without blinking for god knows how long LMAOOO 😭😭😭

once everything is said and done, erik makes a silly little joke and charles rebuts. then erik gives him the biggest smile i've ever seen him give to someone since magda, and then he follows it up with a smaller, softer smile with no teeth

seeing this for the first time in the theater was like getting shot in the chest, no joke

mind you erik stopped trying like three minutes ago but for some reason, the first time we finally see charles soften up in the ENTIRE movie is after he sees erik smiling at him. which could mean nothing.

and the thing is: charles does have a big heart, and he means well, most of the time, but he also doesn’t necessarily has… the best way of showing it with his actions lol. erik knows this, and he knows charles has a thing for lost causes, for people the society has given up on. charles threw himself into the freezing water to save erik - even when he didn't KNOW him. 

AND he also knows charles has the biggest soft spot for him, he KNOWS - because all those years ago, charles' biggest accussation wasn't "you paralyzed me" it was "you left me". because after erik lost his wife and daughter, charles rushed to find him, to make sure he was okay. because nine years ago, charles looked at apocalypse and said "fuck you you are twisting erik's grief, and you are hurting him" to A GOD BTW. TO HIS FUCKING FACE NO FUCKS GIVEN AT ALL

tldr: call erik the fucking violinist because boy he sure knows how to play charles like a fucking instrument and how to press all the right keys to get him to say yes to him. he gave charles an out if he didn't want to come with him, but he also came PREPARED for it, mind you, he came PREPARED to take charles with him to genosha. he didn't get to take charles with him 30 years ago, and he was going to be dammed if he didn't take charles with him NOW (this time with no bullet wound and no helmet lol)

and the most insane thing to me is, that he knows charles has a soft spot for him, he's known this for 30 years, and yet, the only time he uses it in his favor is to get charles to say yes to him on this. the only time he uses it is when he thinks he can do something to help charles - to give him back all the kindness charles gave to him 30 years ago. 

anways i'm insane. i'll be back here eating glass if you need me. i'm so normal about them. simon kinberg broke something in me 5 years ago

[tatretot]

hellooo danandphilgames buddies!! happy belated 10 year (more like 5 but shhh) anniversary :-)

[fraternum-momentum]

i call whitney 'whitney houston' in my head

[heshmmity]

i cant even fully explain how much i love bill and mabel's friendship. they paint their nails pink together. throwing sleepovers with candy and grenda, he is like a girl dad but uncle to all of the girls. (including pacifica, shes also a guest on parties when she isnt busy)

bill gives mabel dating tips (poorly. these tips suck.) and all these tips suck bc bill is a pathetic dude. he literally whines to mabel every time ford is busy with researches and ignores him for five minutes. mabel knitted like a million sweaters for him with personal designs (sooo much doritos jokes)

and they dont allow ford, stan or dipper on their sleepovers. bill teaches girls how to play all sorts of gamblings and at first he was like doing all sorts of giveaways to girls but then he realizes that he cant actually win them in damn poker. he lost a lot of sweets that day. sweets and dignity

i have so much headcanons for them helppppp

[transmascpetewentz]

Genuine, good faith question, I'm just clueless and looking for input

I see a lot of pro Palestine/anti genocide people saying that Zionism is inherently bad and bigoted and supportive of the genocide. Meanwhile, other people (like you) say that that's not true and that, while terrible people who are Zionists do exist, that Zionism is not inherently bad like some people claim.

Now I'm just very confused and don't know what to think. I don't want to risk being antisemitic, but I also don't want to risk supporting genocide. :( Can you perhaps help explain this to me, if it's not too much trouble? I keep hearing conflicting information and I don't know what to do anymore

there are a couple of things happening here:

israel's war crimes have attracted disproportionate international attention compared to other countries doing the same or worse currently because israel is the only jewish state. while it's important to point out all countries' war crimes, the fact that the focus is solely on israel is because of antisemitism. this is a systemic issue and is basically impossible to point out on an individual level.

there are multiple types of zionism. political zionism, labor zionism, revisionist zionism, evangelical christian zionism, etc. these all have different definitions of zionism and different reasons for holding the positions they hold. labor zionism, which is the type of zionism i follow, holds that jews should have the power of self determination in eretz yisrael (think landback in america but for jews) and that they should use that power to seize the means of production. most labor zionists support palestine's right to self determination as well.

the non-jewish non-palestinian american hamasnik crowd has 2 different definitions of zionism. on paper, they'll conflate zionism as a whole with revisionist zionism or kahanism. kahanism/revisionist zionism is a deeply racist extreme right wing ideology that conflates jewish connection to the levant with social conservatism at the expense of primarily arabs, but also women, gay people, trans people, and every other type of minority that exists within every ethnicity. hamasniks will say that this is their definiton of zionism and that anyone they call a zionist follows this specific ideology.

however, when they are finding criteria to call someone a zionist, this is not the definition that they use. hamasniks will use very loose, liberal criteria to put someone in the zionist box. mostly, however, they will call any jew (zionist or not) a zionist and any non-jewish zionist a zionist sympathizer. in this context, "zionist" = jew and "zionist sympathizer" = ally to jews.

so essentially, hamasniks will call someone a zionist based on very loose evidence, but because their on-paper definition of zionism is kahanism, they will claim that someone they called a zionist due to, say, having an israeli cousin, is actually a kahanist.

that's essentially the deception. so you can be a zionist without supporting genocide (but i'm not sure what the current consensus in on non jews (i assume) calling themselves zionists, so i would stay away from it). i'm of the opinion that anti zionism isn't inherently antisemitic, but acting like zionism is some otherworldly monster ideology is.

[wyvernity]

wip posting just to get something out there, and it's def a mixed bag!! the only thing more inconsistent than my posting schedule is my art style RIP

[spinostarz]

THE WELL AND THE LIGHTHOUSE PMV/ANIMATIC

very very jean valjean centric because i love him and he deserves the world <3 im not sure if pmv or animatic would apply better to this, but either way, i hope you enjoy it!

[rift-rifter]

how much longer are we thinking pjsk will run for?

I mean everyone and their grandma can tell that pjsk is approaching the end (finale, if you will)

tldr at bottom

I mean, VBS surpassed Rad Weekend (felt too soon but whtvr ig :/) (ALSO WDYM THEY'RE 'TAKING OVER THE WORLD' LIKE YASSS YOU GO GANG BUT WHAT HOW DOES THAT WORK?!?!?)

mizu5 happened (mizu's secret was revealed) (I guess mafu still has to sort stuff out w/ her mom and ena w/ her dad but that will be their 6th focus probs)

uhhhh wxs are... whatever they are

mmj only really have the dome left as a goal

leo/need don't exactly seem to have a specific goal either

I can't really see the game going further than a 6th focus rotation

We will likely know more after the second World Links, but it's pretty obvious that all the sekais will 'link' either together or to another big sekai for them all (hence the name world link). Like how L/N now has a train station, wxs a dock, etc.

my bet is that we will have the 6th focus event rotation along with the second World Links, then I think there will be a new special event including everyone when their sekais 'link', (tiering might be per group like WL had a chapter for each character it might be a chapter for each group or smth)

they will also likely complete the valentines, white day and wedding sets for every character so that everyone has a card (if they don't I'll come for sega) everyone will get a bloomfes card too ofc

it will probs end sometimes in 2026 ig?? maybe july or smth (cos they seem to be adding more mixed events recently than focus)

Of course this is all just my thoughts & speculation on it, so take this with a grain of salt!!

Please correct me if I am wrong on any of this, I have not read all the event stories for some groups nor am I an expert on the game!! Feel free to share your thoughts on Project Sekai's future!!

i don't want pjsk to end :'(

TLDR: pjsk doesn't have that much potential story left as most groups are almost completing their goals or don't have clear ones anymore and many characters have sorted out their main conflict, world link events are hinting that all the sekais will connect. conclusion: pjsk will probs end sometime in 2026

[protect-namine]

some thoughts on the photo diving ability users

this is more of a speculation post. I want to talk about the main theme of link click, revisit cheng xiaoshi's character arc as we can now compare him to other users with the photo diving ability, as well as some thoughts on the narrative roles of shao yuanyuan and lu guang. they all kinda relate to each other, so I'm putting them here in one post.

i. past or future, let it be.

others have pointed out reasons why the possibility of cheng xiaoshi also time looping would be a disappointing turn from his character arc, which I agree with. I will not go into that here. instead, I wish to revisit a theme that I really wish link click would go back to as its main motto: "past or future, let it be."

I still believe this is and has always been the core theme of the show as a whole. and it's one of the reasons I personally fell in love with S1 and even in S2. you can't change the past. and even if you could go back to the past, you're only doing so to change your future, but you can't undo what has already happened. you can't jeopardize the present. past or future, let it be.

although yingdu deals with butterfly effects instead of closed loops, I don't think it's exempt from this lesson either. the fact that lu guang is now learning to make this final timeline count and that he is, for the first time, looking towards the future and not the past (because this is the "last time") is him finally reaching the same place as cheng xiaoshi in terms of the character growth cheng xiaoshi exhibited by early season 2. they are, for the first time, running towards the same direction together. a shared future. this present future. there are no do-overs after this.

even if cheng xiaoshi ends up diving into the past and timeloops for whatever reason, I don't want it to be the solution to everything. changing the past has never been the solution in link click (yingdu arc notwithstanding). it goes against the main lesson of the show. so if he ever does that, I want it to be because he wants to stabilize the past and prevent any more changes to it.

more than two people timelooping for each other, I think there's more catharsis in two time travelers committing to make this final timeline really count. this is the last time. this is their only time. so, past or future, let it be.

and if the lyrics to songs like train trail and break are anything to go by (they literally include the phrase "past or future, let it be"), I think we'll definitely still loop back to this theme again in S3.

ii. revisiting cheng xiaoshi's character arc

on that note, I want to make a quick comparison of our photo diving ability havers, because I think lu guang and shao yuanyuan serve as a useful comparative lens for us to see cheng xiaoshi with. I did this in the tags of a previous post but I think it deserves its own post now.

cheng xiaoshi gets called immature a lot sometimes by other people, which I don't really believe to be true or an accurate description of him. and shao yuanyuan provides me with another reason that bolsters my belief in this.

the ability to change the past is a dangerous power, but it's cheng xiaoshi who learns the lesson of link click the fastest. past or future, let it be. lu guang is willing to erase the present timeline by diving into the past, and shao yuanyuan is doing... whatever it is she's doing to save cheng weimin.

in comparison, cheng xiaoshi matures relatively quickly about not abusing his powers, and he is overall more resistant to the temptation of using time travel to undo death by S2. after emma, cheng xiaoshi learns not to change a death node. not even that of his best friend's, whom he loves very dearly. this is a marked contrast not only to lu guang, but also to his mother.

it's a very underrated aspect of him because cheng xiaoshi is often described as impulsive and reckless, but he does take these lessons to heart and as long as he's given space to think things through, he comes out with rather emotionally mature decisions. I love this aspect of him sooo much. his big heart carries so much responsibility, and he takes it very seriously.

which is why I am very confident that in S3, we can trust cheng xiaoshi with the timeline. so much so that I do believe he can make things right without having to change the past drastically (but I'm very sure the show will tempt him to anyway).

if there's anyone in this show who can be trusted to take care of the timeline, it's cheng xiaoshi.

iii. shao yuanyuan and lu guang's narrative roles

on the flip side, let's talk about our other two divers. there's a really great "what if" post written by @sonchop that I've been thinking about recently that I'll touch upon later. I highly recommend reading through it.

when talking about lu guang, we have to remember what constraints the writers are writing under with regards to his character. see, lu guang is a tricky character to write under censorship rules. my personal understanding (which may run contrary to some fans', but I believe there's a lot more lu guang apologists here on tumblr lol) is that lu guang is meant to be a hypocrite willing to do morally questionable things for cheng xiaoshi. but he is also most likely slated for a happy ending. it will be difficult to make both things happen under censorship. these are the limitations the writers are working with.

for example, let's look at how lu guang was written in yingdu arc. lu guang wants to murder vein, hence why he talked about creating an "unchangeable node" -- aka, a death node. his intentions are very clear, and the show even frames this by animating him as wang qing's puppeteer and even "crushing" his hand as vein gets a heart attack. but he can't be shown directly actually murdering vein if we want to give him a happy ending later, because that's a no-no under censorship.

think of it as similar to how in S2 they had to pivot the red eyes concept because they can't let red eyes remain at large after stabbing lu guang.

so lu guang has to be written in such a way where his intent is not necessarily "morally acceptable" but his actions are in such a way that a really good lawyer can defend him in court. he didn't technically kill vein. he's not the murderer technically speaking. you can't charge him guilty just for talking to vein for 30 seconds.

the way I personally see it: lu guang is in a precarious narrative position and needs to be written delicately to “deserve” his happy ending under censorship rules.

so. circling back to the post I mentioned at the beginning of this section. my theory is that introducing shao yuanyuan as the main wildcard of the timeline changes will be what narratively "absolves" lu guang from his own timeline trampling "sins" thereby making it "acceptable" for him to get a happy ending. a sort of situation where, as the post says, what if shao yuanyuan's own timelooping caused the butterfly effect that led to lu guang timelooping. he wouldn't have needed to timeloop if they fix shao yuanyuan's timelooping. (<- speculation only)

anyway, so I think in S3 it'll be interesting to see how far they can take lu guang. but I probably won't expect him to like, actually kill people himself or whatever. the best he can do is probably something like his chessmaster style "gambling" in yingdu. which I guess works out for the liu xiao paralleling.

at the same time. for the bittersweet ending likers, there's still hope!! even if it's possible they'll give lu guang a happy ending, I think cheng xiaoshi will lose something in any ending. with the way they're setting up shao yuanyuan's role, I don't think cheng xiaoshi can have both his parents and lu guang together in his life atm. maybe they'll show us something in the future to make that possible, but for now, I don't see it. (something something, "just because you can't see hope doesn't mean it's not there)

anyway. if cheng xiaoshi is supposed to be the character — the hero — who learns to embody the lesson of link click ("past or future, let it be"), shao yuanyuan is the character who, as far as we know, refuses to. I mean, she left cheng xiaoshi in 2008. he's an adult now. she hasn't learned to let go in all these years. it'll be a wonder if we can find a way for her to let go after all this time. and lu guang so far is the character in-between the two spectrums. he could have ended up like shao yuanyuan, but the ending of yingdu makes me think he's committing to this "last" timeline. his line about looking into the future is an important moment for him.

it'll be interesting to see the three of them deal with the timelines in S3.

again this is all just thoughts and speculation. in any case, whatever happens in S3, I am very excited for what's in store for us, as I'm really liking what they're setting up with our three photo divers.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

analysing haikaveh's body language and distance in a parade of providence compared to cyno's story quest 2

in Cyno’s Story Quest II Kaveh seems secure in his position as Alhaitham's equal, and as such, Alhaitham is regarded as Kaveh's equal in turn. There is no reference to the superiority of a senior's expertise as “correctness” has been disregarded, and with this, the unequal power imbalance (as discussed here). The two have surpassed this issue on their road to reconciliation. The lack of titles within this story quest serves as a means of equality between the two now that scholarly pride is no longer an obstacle between them.

As such it is interesting to (over)analyse Haikaveh’s body language and distance within A Parade of Providence and in Cyno’s story quest 2

They are the most distant within A Parade of Providence, in which the two are always separated by a physical barrier, such as a desk:

or standing at a distance from one another and on opposite sides, preventing them from facing each other directly:

or with Alhaitham being elevated upon a platform, whilst kaveh is on the ground below:

Within the event, the only time the two are physically on an even level is at the end, in which Alhaitham tells Kaveh that they have move past being “wrong” or “right”. In this, the only time in which they are physically open with each other, and on equal elevation levels, is when the potentiality for the overturning of scholarly pride is discussed, and therefore there exists the potential of a true, mutual understanding.

Comparatively, in the flashback scene within cyno’s story quest 2, Kaveh is observed on two occasions to sit on the table rather than opposite or next to Alhaitham on a divan. This ensures that the two directly face each other:

This can be seen again in the House of Daena, where, when studying, the two sit on opposite sides of the table, facing each other, as they are of equal standing:

In terms of equality, this can be speculated as physical manifestation of their aligned perspectives. Rather than one existing on an elevated level, through one sitting and the other standing, or directly sitting next to each other (which can restrict the observation of the others’ gestures and body language), the two are now on equal standing.

The only time the two are shown sitting next to each other is in Puspa’s Café, but rather than this being an indicator of inequality, it serves as a reinforcement of mutual intimacy, as the two are paired together rather than being separated in the large gathering

In this sense, this equality in elevation levels can also physically advocate for the open communication the two have now established. This can be seen in their current in game relationship as the two now fully physically reveal themselves, alongside their thoughts, to the other, rather than concealing themselves with defensive body language, and double entendre in speech. They are now open and honest with each other - mutually equals in all respect!!

(This analysis snippet is from my Haikaveh queercoding essay found here!)

[lu-is-not-ok]

Sorry if you've already analyzed this recently but it would be neat if I could possibly get your thoughts about this.

I'm currently trying to theory craft for The Surrendered Witnessing (Canto 8), so I was looking at the Limbus TGS Teaser for more hints. Cuz the background art has been quite accurate so far.

When you look up Hong Lu on Google one of the first pictures you get is that art of him in the white outfit with the dandelion.(Which is also briefly shown on the TGS Teaser) At first I thought he was blowing the dandelion as a symbolism of being carefree and whimsical, similar to how children blow on dandelions to make wishes.

But then I noticed a few things. First, he doesn't necessarily seem happy, or really showcasing any kind of 'whimsy'. Also, the dandelion isn't up to his mouth. It's not positioned in a way where he can blow. It seems more likely that he is watching a common weed blow off in the wind with more freedom than he would ever get while he's with his family. Dandelions in general are also a symbol of hope, which means this could be a representation of him feeling hopeless.

But then, the screen briefly shows a zoomed out version before jumpscaring you with Heathcliff.

At first I thought this was a rebellion with the sheer amount of grey bodies seeming desperate. But then I realized they are reaching. Are they possibly reaching for Hong Lu? Do they just wish to be in his shoes-- desperately wanting just a sliver of his family's influence and wealth? Or is their desperation more focused on the red paper?

Hong Lu also doesn't seem that pleased, the zoomed out version seems way more bored than the zoomed in version.

The dandelion seeds turn into something red. It could be red envelopes used to gift money, but I don't know why Hong Lu or his family would even bother using something so formal on people with such low status. A very unlikely theory is that it could also be related to Hong Lu's previous mention of a 'red passport'. Though I'm just assuming it has significance specifically where Hong Lu's family resides, either something important within his house or something that has to do with how the district works.

--

Another interesting thing that pops up is a speech bubble. I'm not fluent in any other languages so I had to Google translate it, so it may very likely be wrong, but it says "it's almost like filming a play". I don't have a clue if that has been a previous line from Hong Lu, but the outline is in Hong Lu's color. So maybe he's referencing an event after the sinners return to his residence.

The other thing to note is the positioning of this picture directly over the dandelion picture. The only other person that really has that happen in the teaser is Sinclair, but that is because the Sinclair images happen within the same cutscene in-game. I have zero clue if the positioning in the video is that purposeful to make an entire theory on it, but I think the lineup is interesting. The image used is from The Unloving.

--

The last glimpse I'll talk about is the lil angy/displeased Hong Lu.

That looks like Outis' hand grabbing him by the shirt. I was trying to find any other pictures of sinners grabbing each other by the shirt-- but the only shirt threatening content we've gotten are both in The Unconfronting. One by Virgillius (not a sinner) and one by Don Quixote.

So my assumption is that this displeased Hong Lu could either happen during The Nocturnal Sleeping or The Surrendered Witnessing. Likely The Surrendered Witnessing because no intervallo art seems to have been out in the teaser. (All of the characters that already have cantos have art in the TGS that doesn't surpass their focus cantos, though that also could be due to Project Moon not wanting to spoil too much from the initial 3 release cantos)

Anyways! That's my thoughts! I kinda wanna hear yours if possible, no pressure though. :3

(Also, sorry if the formatting is weird I have zero clue how Tumblr's ask formatting works)

Oh boy that's a lot. Ok. Let's see how I wanna get into this.

Let's start with the bits I know I can explain for sure.

First, the dialogue lines. Last time I checked, every single dialogue line shown in the TGS teaser comes from the first three Cantos. Which, if you think about it, makes sense, as those were likely the only Cantos actually fully written by that point.

The line you pointed out specifically comes from Canto 2, it being the second half of this dialogue line that happens after the Sinners beat the Tingtang Gang.

I think its purpose in the teaser is mainly to reinforce the idea that Hong Lu's understanding of reality is very strange compared to other people in the City, him comparing whatever's happening to something as benign as a movie set.

You could probably also make a case for it being used to highlight the theme of the blurred line between Fiction and Reality, what with him comparing a Real situation to that of a Fictional scene one would be filming for a movie.

Second. The angry Hong Lu CG.

I've already discussed that CG at length in this post, but to summarize: this is a scrapped Canto 1 CG, from what I believe to be the original version of the scene where Yuri reveals her backstory, which in the original draft took place outside of the dungeon with all of the Sinners around and thus available to respond. The person grabbing onto Hong Lu's shirt is Gregor, and the reason his skin looks like that in the video is because of the heavy color overlay effects over the teaser itself. I included the clearest picture we have of the full CG in the post I mentioned.

We don't know whether this CG was scrapped before or after the TGS Teaser was made, so it's much harder to ascertain the purpose behind its inclusion here. Regardless of which it is though, it's clear that Project Moon deemed it important to show Hong Lu's capacity for anger in such an early teaser, meaning it was something they were focusing on as a point for his character even back then.

Now. Onto the things I get to actually speculate about.

Let's just first establish this - we have no way of knowing how similar Canto 8 will be to what Project Moon may have initially planned it to be. I'm not one of those people who claims that PM are serial retconners, but I'm also realistic in that I doubt they have more prepared future Cantos than maybe some rough outlines at most. As such, the scene shown in the TGS Teaser might not end up being framed in the exact same way as it was initially planned to be.

This is especially important to note as Vellmori CGs, aka the ones shown in the Teaser itself, are not being used beyond the ones already in the game. We can tell from Canto 6 and 7 that there's no guarantee that we'll get any exactly equivalent CGs from the current artist either. After all, we did get two whole scenes of a Heathcliff arriving to Cathy's funeral, but neither was framed in any way similar to the teased CG.

Here's some of my own observations though.

First - according to recollections from multiple DOTRC readers, the outfit Hong Lu is wearing in both CGs might be a reference to the mourning robes Baoyu wears after Daiyu's death. Considering how sensitive Hong Lu is about things that seem to remind him of an event that is very likely Limbus's equivalent of Daiyu's death (as I discuss in this post), it's likely that Canto 8 will put a notable amount of focus on that event and its aftermath.

Second - in higher quality versions of that first CG, it's possible to see that the shadow cast by the dandelion is a different color to the rest of the shadows being cast - it's notably more red in hue.

This could be another nod to Daiyu, as their Land of Illusion counterpart was the Crimson Pearl Flower. I think you're onto something here with Hong Lu not actively blowing at the dandelion, but rather merely watching it blow away in the wind by itself. It could be a representation of how fragile Daiyu's life ended up being, swept away as if by a gust of wind.

It makes me think of the Flower Burial Song from DOTRC (as do many things around Hong Lu in all fairness), which in itself also represents Daiyu's own mortality. Flowers fall, people perish, and neither of them know.

Third - A few notes about that second CG.

For one, I don't believe that the dandelion seeds are being turned into the red papers (for a lack of a more specific term to call them). You can see that the seeds are actually floating Among the papers, implying they're both falling at the same time rather than one turning into the other.

For two, while it's a bit hard to see in the particular screenshot you took, you can see that Hong Lu has his other arm thrust forward, while still holding the dandelion with the one he held it in the previous CG. This I believe implies he's not just watching the people below, but is actively throwing whatever the red papers are down towards them.

Now.

Here's my own unhinged theory as to what those (now unused) Canto 8 CGs might be showing.

Obviously, I already made it clear that I believe this is taking place after Daiyu's death ,what with both Hong Lu's robes and flower symbolism.

However, I believe the specific event that is happening here is Hong Lu creating a distraction for his Family so that he can escape.

I've made it no secret that I believe Hong Lu is in fact a runaway, and that the "sent out to experience the world" thing he mentions as his reason for leaving his home is in fact a blatant lie. After all, if it were true, why would his Family be searching for him? Why would they want to prematurely cut him off from experiencing more of the world? Add the Lasso Hong Lu corrosion voice line to this, where he's clearly acting out what his Family might sound like once they catch up to him, and you can see why I think this might be the case.

It's also not that hard to imagine why Daiyu's death would be the catalyst to Hong Lu deciding to take a chance and attempt an escape. Daiyu's death has been implied to be an event that not only deeply hurt him, but is also alluded to being the one thing capable of rousing Hong Lu's anger enough to actually lash out. If there was one thing that could make the otherwise docile and obedient Hong Lu act out in such a way, it would be crossing a certain line he believed should never be crossed.

What I believe we're seeing is Hong Lu drawing a group of desperate people towards a likely otherwise very secure household (if his musings about defense systems in Canto 6 are anything to go by). Perhaps, the things he's giving out are specifically invitations, as in Canto 6 Hong Lu mentions (in a way that almost feels like he's speaking from experience mind you) that having an invitation protects one from a mansion's security measures.

So, by "inviting" in as many disruptive people as he can, Hong Lu could be creating the perfect distraction for the Jia Family to deal with while he himself assumedly slips away unnoticed.

At least, that's my theory.

Hope this helps, or is in any way coherent WHEEZE.

[cornflakesdoesart]

Quick little art vs artist for 2024 before January ends lol, thank you so much for sticking with me throught last year !😊

I wasn't as productive as I would like to have been, especially the second half of the year was frustrating and I just couldn't get anything done, still feel kinda that way tbh but I'm working throught it, hopefully! I did participate in 4 fanzines so that's something! top middle is from an unreleased fanzine project that's kind of been in limbo since april so idk what will become of it !

This year I wanna focus on fundamentals, more full illsutrations and more character interactions and more ocs! So just more of everything :"D but really I don't wanna let ideas only stay ideas anymore and wanna improve my work moral and not abandod illustrations for months or even years if I get stuck on some part but pull throught it like I do with zines and comms that have deadlines! Anyway enough yapping from me!

[midnight--sadness]

i need more hc of gihun being insecure over inho’s past and inho realizing whats happening please please please pleaseeeee🥸🥸

u got it 🫡😘

okay so anon is referring to this ask i got!

thank u for sending me this bc i kinda wanna expand it a bit!

i often talk abt inho's wife here, even in the context of inhun, because it think she is very important to his development into the person we know him has. her illness caused inho to burrow money from criminals which was seen as a bribe and cost him his job. her pregnancy and progressing illness caused him to be desperate enough to join the games so he might win enough money for her surgery. and her and their child's death broke inho to the point where he was longer the person he was before. she is integral to him even if she is dead. hell, the narrative directly compares her to gihun!

now, in the au we were discussing, where inhun are together and expecting children, i can see her still being brought up.

i personally believe gihun to be painfully insecure and those insecurities would be aggravated by knowing that the man he loves and is married to and is expecting children with, once had someone with whom he wished to go through this experience with. and that person was not gihun.

(inho doesn't have the same issue because gihun and his ex-wife divorced. she didn't tragically die while they were in love, they had their problems and grew apart and separated and nothing was left unsaid, no stone was left unturned.)

gihun would definitely have thoughts of "i'm only his second choice, if she hadn't died we would never be together". of course he feels horrible for feeling like this, and guilt weighs heavily. so, his mood turns and he becomes irritable, snapping at every little thing. he can't handle anyone looking at him because he thinks they'll see every horrible thing about himself that he's trying to him. this goes especially for inho.

inho, who has suffered such terrible losses, is now "settling" with gihun. he had wanted a wife and a baby. he hadn't wanted gihun, only whatever companionship he'd offer and the children he'd bear.

obviously we know this is fake, inho genuinely loves gihun and loves their children. he'll always love his wife but the two of them can fit in his heart. they are so similar after all!

so, inho notices the shift in gihun's mood and try to talk to him, get him to open up. and i think what finally makes gihun crack is when they're fighting over something trivial, maybe gihun hadn't eaten much all day because he was stressing himself out over the situation, and inho tried to get him to eat for the babies and gihun snapped that inho didn't even care about him, only the twins.

inho was stunned into silence and he asked gihun what he meant, but when gihun doens't answer, he gets a bit mad. how dare gihun say inho doesn't care about him when everything he does nowadays is for him only. inho says that gihun is being silly, that he obviously cares about him, he loves him like he never loved anyone before. and gihun quietly asks "what about your wife?" and inho sighs because he knows, he knows where gihun is going with this conversation.

gihun would lay his cards down on the table, would say that he feels like he is a second choice, that he'll never compare to inho's wife... and as he's explaining, he actually hears himself and breaks down crying, apologizing and feeling terrible (again). after this, he is even more sure that inho would prefer his wife since she was not an insecure idiot who hurts the people around him.

inho tries to explain, as much as he can as an emotionally constipated man, that his wife and their child are in the past. he had loved them deeply and their loss changed him forever, but he's made his peace with never getting that part of his life back. it's gone and he can't grasp at the wind, it'll only slip through his fingers. he can't change what happened, can't bring them back, no matter how much he had wanted. and the keyword here is that he had wanted that.

because now he is with gihun and he loves him to the point where he doesn't recognize himself. he hadn't thought possible to love someone as strongly and fiercely as he loves gihun. and he loves their babies so so much. he's thrilled to be a father and while he's worried that something might happen to them, he's never been happier.

they are his family now, and they will coexist with the family he has lost. one does not replace the other, they exist in their own times.

[forest-fury]

jesskas sunshine institute au

HII okay so i came up with this awhile ago and posted a bit about it in the beacontown server but umm i never really posted it here bc i was nervous/embarrassed lol so hopefully its a little bit up to tumblr expectations.

so !!! lukas is a warden there with insomnia. hes usually in the office where (gordon) the warden was seen and dewey is like his little buddy that sits on his desk all the time. he immediately takes interest in jesse bc of his attitude and the way he carries himself :)

for jesse, hes a prisoner that is much more closed off besides w petra. he is more than capable of getting into fights and will indeed result to violence if he feels its necessary, but he doesnt pick fights 24/7 like,, idk aiden or smth. umm he doesnt rly like lukas at first at all js bc hes a warden (like how he was friends w aiden in s1 !!) but eventually grows to like him and he sneaks off to the office during the night to talk to him

theres also gonna be a fic for that but i am lazy as hell sooo idk when thatll be a thing but:3 i have the story outlined at least.

wellll last but (definitely) not least, i made some silly renders of them bc i love them

these kinda suck since these renders r me kinda learning mineimator but yahh :) only got the courage to post bc i got really sweet reactions to my renders on the server so ty everyone for that <33