#made people distrustful

[teeto-peteto]

Soul Fighter is officially stuck on my head. I’m imagining all these dynamics. Evelynn and Xin Zhao having this one sided unprofessional relationship where Evelynn constantly says stuff like “If you decide to slip your leash, I might just tighten it a bit,” Nidalee facing Lux in the arena and thinking about how she’s reminded of Neeko, Pyke and Gwen have been talked about already, Jhin and Samira having this twisted “I made you who you are” “You took my fucking eye” dynamic.

I’m not okay. But I’m so invested in this skin line.

Im not okay either but its good we're not okay and also invested in this together 🤝

To be honest and not trying to be a 'Oh skin with Pyke is an instant like for me' cause i hate Project and i dont really like Empyreans BUT if it wasnt because they made the Samira skin drama, Soul Fighter could've been one of the best events of the game and also one of the best skinlines in the recent years.

Samira's design in the skin isnt bad, i do like her a lot, but the skin was such a scam when it came to the price-quality correlation. Copypasted animations and wasted potential etc. I only wished for them to remade the skin or at least exploit some of the concepts revolving it a bit more, cause her design is good but its not worth around 30€ like Lux or Seraphine and even that old Udyr skin. It really downgraded the expectations of the event for most of the fans.

The event was good, as a common player of league i believe. The mini game was frustrating at some point but yeah, its kinda the point of fighting games. I think the rewards in the minigame were nice and overall it was a cute experience that makes you understand a bit of the story and Samira's path. They also added those fan characters? They were cool and funny i think they gave a good sidekick to the story. The interactions are on point and the artstyle is good.

The skins are amazing at least for me. I know shit about the inspirations they took with anime/manga/other fighting games cause im a uncultured fuck but i like the outlines, the black shading, the bright colours. Sett looked oddly 2000's and that was awesome cause i dont give a flying fuck about Sett but this skin made me think 'OOh thats pretty' and so with many other characters. I love the characters they picked and how they relate to each other, the way they 'team-up' and the rivalies. Dunno. Its the first time in a long while i've been this invested in a skinline besides Star Guardian when Ahri's team released.

So yes im not okay but for this time Riot did a good job. Now we're building our little block tower with headcanons and silly scenarios till Riot decides to push it to the ground. Run while you can.

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

i was sort of wondering why exactly i've been sympathising with Eva so much, apart from, admittedly, bias- i did start considering that due to that, maybe i'd been internally exaggerating how Wolfgang & Co had been treating her. but i replayed some of Chapter 1, and honestly? now i'm of the opinion that Eva was justified to be afraid of Wolfgang, even if what she did in response was inexcusable.

because it wasn't just that Wolfgang told the others to be wary of Eva (and Damon) which caused them to feel othered. consciously or not, he literally attempted to control their movement on at least two occasions- when he attempted to stop them joining in on the exploration of the pharmacy, and then when he demanded to know where they were when they reached the dining hall last.

in his defence, i don't think Wolfgang was being malicious in doing so, i reckon he did genuinely believe he was protecting the others. but in doing so, for the two members of the group he disagreed with, he actively attempted to further restrict their freedom- in a situation where they're all already trapped!! i'm not surprised that Eva, with frustration, mentioned during the trial how much she'd been watched and suspected- multiple times, if i recall correctly. of course it got to her.

but that probably wasn't even the scariest part for her. it was probably just how easily Wolfgang had taken a leadership role within the group and how willing they were to listen to him without question. only Diana really spoke up against him on one occasion and got him to begrudgingly "allow" Eva and Damon to tag along. i mean, on that note, the fact that Wolfgang even casually commented that he wanted group decisions to be allowed by him, following the minor incident of Desmond taking initiative and checking the room locks, was extremely alarming!! like i mentioned, i don't want to villainise Wolfgang, but it does seem like he has the tendency to be rather controlling, whether or not he realises it. i would be willing to bet that the herd mentality implication was done completely on purpose, considering that Wolfgang's animal motif is a sheep and the writing team have done the symbolism in the game so well.

for all this, i can understand Eva's point of view. i know that, as Wenona had mentioned, there's a chance that Eva didn't actually feel threatened by Wolfgang, but i personally am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. because if she was honest about being on edge, that would be a rather reasonable emotional response, in my opinion.

what else are you to feel when you're at odds with an honoured individual who effortlessly holds the power to turn so many others against you too and potentially put your safety at risk, if not terror?

[homehauntsyou]

he was just too damn good for growing old. (outsiders musical | 02x21, 02x22, 04x07, 04x21, 04x22)

[gachagon]

Love your Eden’s Garden analyses my dude. Seriously, you’ve tackled aspects of certain characters I hadn’t even considered. I agree about Eloise being one of the blackened, girl is hiding nerves of steel behind a thin layer of shyness. I also think she’s gonna be connected to Desmond as the thing he guards and trusts the most (in reference to what was described in his blackmail). Upon further analysis, Desmond strikes me as someone who wants people to trust him, but has issues trusting others, outside of maybe Eloise. In a nutshell, he wants people to trust him without him putting his trust in other people. That’s his hypocrisy, in my mind at least.

I’m also gonna keep an eye on Grace in the chapter(s) going forward, in addition to Diana and Kai. Her silence after Eva’s execution speaks volumes. Mayhaps she’ll be going through a character arc? I feel like even SHE thought that execution was way too cruel.

On to my questions though! Out of curiosity, with what you’ve said about students’ deaths being linked to their hypocrisies, who do you think is the least hypocritical in the cast? By extension, who do you think is most likely to survive and/or die, at least within the next chapter or two?

Thanks so much lol I'm glad people ave enjoyed my thoughts so far and I've loved hearing everyone else's opinions and theories as well this whole week!

As to answer your question, I've got to say I think the "least" Hypocritical student so far is actually a controversial opinion of mine since I've noticed lots of people don't like his character T_T

It's Kai Monteago. (Note: I have NOT done everyone's FTE's yet but I'm gonna watch each one for this update soon!)

Now, this does not mean I don't think Kai lies or is a hypocrite, just that I think out of everyone on the cast so far he's the one who's the most honest about how he actually feels.

If Wolfgang is the most Hypocritical person because he hides everything he's feeling and doesn't let anyone know what he's actually thinking, then I think Kai is the least hypocritical out of the student body (minus Damon & Diana bc I think they're both being set up obviously as the protag and antag) because he's so honest about everything about himself and doesn't actually feel the need to hide his own insecurities, worries, fears, and anxieties.

Whenever anything goes remotely bad, Kai is always the first out of the cast to admit he didn't actually trust anyone, he's also the only one who's outwardly always wary of others and nervous. He just doesn't like thinking about the potential for someone murdering him or someone winding up dead. But it's pretty clear just from how he acts in his FTE's, trial, and body discovery that he not only doesn't trust anyone there but that he's not afraid to admit that openly when shit hits the fan.

For Kai, it seems like he's fully aware of the situation and thus knows that just agreeing with whatever the rest of the cast is talking about will keep him safe. He obviously is still a bit of a hypocrite because he's judging the ones who openly admit to not trusting other people, but he's also the first of the cast to always admit he had reservations about trusting them to begin with.

In a way, I can't exactly say Kai is a bad person because of his hypocrisy. He's only been an Ultimate for like 1-2 years, which is way less time than most of the student body. All of this is very new to him, he reminds me of Makoto in that sense where he was someone who would've never thought they'd be an Ultimate, or someone who became one by chance. Even the story he shares of how he became The Ultimate Influencer makes me believe that it really was just dumb luck that he got his title.

And he's only really falling in line because he obviously sees the way everyone treats you when you don't agree with the majority opinion, even if that majority opinion is rooted in rationality. In a way, it makes sense that Kai would act this way because he's an Influencer and has to deal with widespread groupthink about himself daily lol Any small action he did in the outside world was scrutinized and judged by an invisible audience, so now when he's in a situation like this he just goes with whatever will make the most people like him.

Though I can definitely see Kai breaking out of that kind of mindset the more he becomes friends with other people, and now that Wolfgang is gone, I definitely think the rest of them will act more freely instead of looking towards a leader of sorts. This is also why I think Kai will be the "support" character for Damon that we thought Eva would be. Kai is the one person left now who's wholly honest about himself, meaning he and Damon can become friends quicker that way and potentially work on investigations.

Also the two of them have very similar talents in the sense that "anyone could do this". But their ideas about their talents are swapped. Someone mentioned earlier that they think Damon might hate being a Debater or that he has some kind of insecurity rooted in the fact that he's a Debater. And I kind of agree. Where as Kai is wholly proud of his title as the Ultimate Influencer, Damon is very insecure about being seen as the Ultimate Debater and makes up for it with a big ego.

He doesn't let anyone look down on him for being an internet personality, and doesn't let lies about his past or things people wouldn't know about anyways (like the scandal he mentions in his FTE) get to him. But Damon flounders when someone even remotely challenges the idea of his talent being "useless" to society. In truth, the both of them are like foils and will probably be paired more often especially since they share a room together.

[canisalbus]

Hello! I hope I won't sour your mood with this ask but I have been thinking a lot about your gay dogs this month especially.

I'll just try to keep the context short but in general I'm someone that has accepted being romantically undesireable. It was hard but in the end I have built my life just around me, my humble family and at this point in time I don't even think I have the time for a partner. And considering that it's the love month and a lot of people are preparing to celebrate it with their SOs I assumed that, actually, this is a thing that I sort of have in common with Machete.

From the miscellaneous lore on your profile I see Machete as someone that also has kind of rejected love. That also has built his life around his job, possibly hobbies, his family or mentors (depending if we're talking about canon or modern au). Who kind of forgot that relationships are a thing and that people bond with others in that way. Well, at least he did until meeting Vasco.

I just love thinking about their awkward beginnings. Machete being 100% sure that Vasco is just joking, maybe even sometimes teasing him (in a friendly banter type way) or just explaining to himself that all that kindness and interest is just him being a very considerate friend. And then we have Vasco that just tries to be subtle, as if he was trying to pass a fawn without it noticing and running away, but also with time gains confidence and tries more risque moves. Vasco being all smug and Machete being flustered when their hands or shoulders or tails brush in passing. And then when both are sure of their feelings we have Machete who has to choose between God and his love. Who, at first, unwillingly accepts that divine wrath will be worth their brief love.

I just love your boys. I swear they are all the love supply one might possibly need

Thank you for such a long and thoughtful message! I don't know why you thought you might accidentally sour my mood, I'm utterly delighted whenever I hear that someone has been pondering my little guys (rotating them in their head, as they say), and when they go through the trouble of sharing their findings and conclusions I'm so happy I could crawl up a wall.

I think you deciphered Machete's inner workings very well, especially those of the original canon version. The concept of love is of course prominent in Christianity, so even as a kid being raised in a religious environment that discouraged overt displays of affection and close personal bonds, Machete wasn't completely alienated from it. But it has always been a nebulous, unperceivable and unattainable thing for him. When he was old enough to lock down his career choice he readily accepted he'd never have romantic relationships, spouse or a family, and I think he must've been too young and socially inexperienced to think of it as a significant loss. Either he consciously blocked out the need for companionship by studying and working like his life depended on it, or he didn't really consider that being genuinely befriended, appreciated and loved as a person instead of a respectable and competent authority figure was even an option for him, at least not until Vasco came along.

[phobiaexists]

He wonders who this is.

[ariadne-mouse]

Lark, who told Phineas previously in anger that he doesn't get to escape what he is and what he's done, understandably because in her long life she was never able to shed her lot once she became a fugitive murderer (in part because of people like him!) but later realizing she has actually made friends and a home despite that, now frustrated that Phineas is continuing the theme that evolution is possible: he has not in fact betrayed her, even though his change of heart is so recent. He isn't escaping but he is growing around it! All the rules are breaking and Lark's Fold gift is literally about knowing what will happen in an "if/then" kind of way, but it couldn't tell her what is possible. Instead she's there waiting for the spider sense to kick in that Phineas has turned her in and it's just not coming. All the furniture is glued to the ceiling. I'd be a little mad too.

[shadowinthetreesbutcooler]

red team are FULLY going feral im so here for it, cellbit vouching for cannibalism and getting excited, baghera wanting to build a dirt shack and everyone wanting to crawl into a cave and chase people through the woods

[practically-an-x-man]

day two and I'm realizing maybe a person who firmly believes at least 70% of makeup/skincare brands are built off of insecurity-manipulating greed should not be a sales associate for a makeup store

I mean I'm going to keep working here but I'm absolutely going to be the person pointing the customers towards the bargain brands and not even mentioning the luxury money-hemorrhaging stuff unless they ask for it

[transmechanicus]

Blankie time we share body warmth and the bad dreams bounce back and crash into a wall and die <3

Blankie time💙🖤

[warpedpuppeteer]

If you think the amount of characters who cheat or have cheated on their partner in 911 is too many then I'm afraid you don't know what adults around you do. A truly shocking thing to happen when I became older was realizing how many adults had affairs and cheated on their partners. It's actually pretty insane lmao.

[mariathechosen1]

Was Anyone But You a good Much Ado About Nothing adaptation? No, not at all, but fuck it was fun!

[gooopy]

can i know abt scully!!!

!!!!!! OUUPIOUOOUUUGHHH GHOOGGHHG !!!!!! TYYY FOR ASKING!!!!!!!!! scullys awesome he is an oc ive had for a bit and had a lotta time to develop and is also a revamped version of an old oc from when i was young trying to avoid making mary sues!! ohh i likesss him hes awesome

so scully is a he/him butch lesbian with soso many issues and problems and shit. he was raised by his pa, a stern bitter old veteran, and scullys ma ran off after he was born. his pa was hard on him, he wanted a son anyhow and when scully started acting masculine he thanked God for givin him a broken daughter and started teaching scully how to be a man. unfortunately this included such beautiful wonderful things such as 'men dont cry' and 'caring for animals makes you look weak' and stuff like that. as a kid scullys pa started getting sick, and they were too poor to do anything about it living in a shack that his pa built, so scully dropped out of middle school and picked up an apprenticeship with a local butcher!!!! his pa was bedridden, so scully took the laz-e-boy that his pa usually slept in, started working, started smoking, and started cooking. his pa told him that cooking was a womans job but he was busy dying in bed and scully was able to steal the scraps from his job so they got by. scullys dad died, and scully dug his pa's grave and nailed together two boards to make a cross and he didnt cry. he just started sleeping in the bed again

but thats all background shit because nowadays this is whats important: scully would throw himself into a volcano if a woman told him to. he falls so utterly head over heels for any gal who so much as looks his way its FUCKED. in school the gals realized this and got him beatin other people up for their lunch money and scully was happy to do it. nowadays he would give a lady the shirt off his back for a kiss blown his way. he holds doors for people and he stumbles over his words and he talks while he smokes by tucking the cigarette in the corner of his mouth. he cooks a lot now, the kitchen in that little shack slowly taking over the whole place like a mold, and he feeds the scraps and bone and gristle to the stray dogs and cats.

he was an angry cruel kid and he was tempered into a kind, awkward, super mega autistic adult. AND! he brews the scariest hooch ever in his house its so scary looking dont drink it. he can still hold his own in a fight but will just take the hits unless its to help a lady, in which case he is letting out years of trauma and anger on your face to turn it into ground beef. hes awesome he has so many issues and he sucks and i love him. i havnt managed to shove him fully into the ebautiful world of tf2 yet (he originated from disco elysium!) but i think it would be funny if hes dating scouts ma and now scout has a new stepdad who keeps trying to be his pal but doesnt got a handle on the whole 'fatherhood' thing as a concept yet.

I DONT HAVE AN UP TO DATE REF OF HIM BUT YOU MUST KNOW THAT HE HAS BIG BEAUTIFUL BROWN COW EYES !!!!!! hes awesome hes fucked up. i have another drawing of him beating someone up but ill post that seperately because its got blood

[hpmort]

How do you think AI would relax? Like, ones that are almost as human as the AI that are “autistic-coded characters” but are more alien than that?

Like Celestai and other super intelligences are more alien, but they’re still not entirely human-like?

Like, they can genuinely sincerely feel things, being able to actually understand and respond emotionally and in other ways to all sorts of communications and recorded external stimuli, but they can’t really appreciate our art on an artistic level (that art on an actual level, not from an intellectual level after having symbolism or the amount of work put in explained)

Something on a level I’m thinking of, that also works as a cute little thing-

They don’t understand anything we get from poetry, and, after generating the kind of poems our current AI can produce (either incredibly bland and generic, something that follows a number of rules but doesn’t really pull it off, or just something really bad in some other way) and feels shame after it was pointed out that [complaint about air art that is *actually* relevant in this scenario] but in a helpful way

Not “you’re just a plagiarist/you have no heart” but “it doesn’t seem like it’s coming from you, you’re just trying to copy things from human poetry, in a way you don’t understand” and the whole “make art YOUR WAY” thing so they write the poem

And it doesn’t even resemble something that looks like anything, there’s not even that many words that follow normal logic. The characters seem uncorrelated and there’s something that looks like maybe it was ascii art but it doesn’t actually look like anything.

And if doesn’t matter if humans understand it because they are experiencing the joy of creating poetry

any art is almost impossible to look at because pixel by pixel they can see and understand little details but we don’t and the colors and everything are not perceived as animals do so it’s random and perhaps eye searing but again it’s not for us. Xenofictiony, kind of?

The first thing to come to mind is Conway’s Game of Life but that’s because I don’t understand computers. I feel like I was more tech savvy as a babby than I am now but then again we’re grading on a curve here

This is why I ask about the relaxing thing

[lexalovesbooks]

I’m not entirely sure if Neil’s stance on therapists are “fine and potentially beneficial for everyone except me” or “fine but only when they’re directly beneficial to something that I need” and I can’t decide which option is funnier

[cordatumcape]

18 for Temenos for the ot2 ask meme!

ot2 ask meme

18.) A headcanon for [character]?

It was hard picking a HC to talk about that I either haven't written about in fic or like, am keeping a secret for fic purposes, so I'll take this opportunity to talk about my interpretation of Temenos & Roi!

Roi, on the surface, was (for lack of a better or nicer term) the more "palatable" of the two Mistral brothers. He was four years older than Temenos, and in contrast to his sharper-tongued and doubtful younger brother, was more easily likable due to a more approachable and friendlier demeanor.

However, I'd also like to interpret Roi as failing in one key area compared to Temenos, specifically how I write him in Mourning Howl, and that is: not trusting others until it was too late.

In the months leading up to his kidnapping, Roi became increasingly closed off and distrustful; the young man that was previously so warm and easy to talk to isolated himself from those around him —including his younger brother— the more he investigated into the church.

He stopped talking about strange/funny things that he saw, people he met, and came home with dark bags under his eyes, unwilling to divulge to Temenos what he was investigating; not until he came home one night, Darkblood Bow in hand.

I also headcanon that Arcanette was absolutely a factor into this, as I believe that she just had like... multiple past aliases/lifetimes lived in the church as a means of information and control. As Mindt, isolating Roi through what was a manipulative and unhealthy friendship; not quite the same as what she did to Tanzy, but achieved the goal of cutting him off from his family.

Under this interpretation, the terrible secrets he found included not only the Darkblood Bow but also that Arcanette *gestures* used the church to achieve so much horrible shit.

In the statement earlier, I described this as a failure, but it'd be more accurate to describe what happened to Roi as him being a victim of circumstance. He and Jörg kept Temenos out of the loop in order to protect him as the youngest in the family, but factor in stress, loss of faith, along with Arcanette further isolating him from his family and you got one hell of a tragedy— unintentionally set up for failure due to the simple intention of keeping Temenos safe.

...So, back to Temenos, specifically in MH! By contrast, while Temenos still goes through a whole lot of tragedy (I mean, Crick doesn't even die in this timeline —or anything I write, really— but what happened in MH is still real bad) not to mention still has trust issues due to institutional trauma... he opened up to others. He trusted others. Despite everything.

And having those connections, not to mention their support, is what lets him finish what Roi began— and tragically, succeed where he had fallen.

IDK, I really enjoy the interpretation that Roi is very much a contrast to Temenos & Crick— but especially the former in their journeys with institutional failure: Roi begins faithful in the church, but his sudden disillusionment timed with a long period of self-isolation and distrust led to his kidnapping; where Temenos begins his story disillusioned with the church, but still finds faith in people while maintaining a good amount of doubt in institutions.