#mentioned ludwig

[muninnhuginn]

The thing is that the dynamic between John and James does sound genuinely fascinating from the glimpses we get of it.

John says that James was always better at (social) stuff. James did go out and become a police officer, marry Lucy, and just generally have more of a "normal" life, but it's clear that Lucy thinks John and James *aren't* as dissimilar as John believes. James may have been better at masking, but he clearly didn't have an easy ride either. Still, John is envious of his brother and feels like James is what he *could* have been if he'd been able to venture out into the world. The fact that both brothers had crushes on Lucy only serves to hammer that in.

On the other hand, John is an incredibly successful puzzle solver and spending most of his life in his house in no way detracts from that. The murders he solves appear to be beyond the capabilities of James going by the reactions of everyone else. There's an argument to be had about how much is difference in solving vs being tied in by procedure and social niceties, but either way, John gets accurate results much faster than James ever did. Even if John does very much ignore behavioural factors as he attempts to simplify each crime scene to a "puzzle to be solved".

There's also something to be said for how James' coworkers didn't clock he had been replaced. How none of them even knew he *had* a twin brother. Obviously, there's an element of it being down to the writing in that the game couldn't be given away too quickly, but it does speak of a more distant relationship with his coworkers (perhaps aside from his former partner). And there's the voicemail where James says (though given the context, this can't be taken as 100% true) that he was the one most like their father, in his choice to run away. It was a hint to John, but it only worked as such because they had so little that tied them together in the first place. They grew up together, shared their childhood, and yet, they hadn't spoken in years. Makes me wonder how much of it was neither wanting to be the first to reach out. On John's side that makes total sense (James is the "social successful" one, after all) but James' side is much more a mystery (though, "they're more alike than they seem" comes to mind).

Of course, both of them were impacted by their father leaving as he did. It's spelled out several times that John and James reacted differently. John turning inwards (only pushed further by his bullies and discovering his love of puzzles) whilst James focused outwards (to become more socially successful). But we find that John doesn't want to lose the social aspects once he's found a place for himself. That James is able to go almost entirely non-contact with his family despite knowing the impact his own father had on his family. The one stuck in his house ventures out as the one surrounded by family escapes it all.

All in all, John and James are pretty interesting characters even if we only know one of them secondhand.

*However*, when we actually *see* James in person, my main thought is "that's a second David Mitchell"

[woollenjumper]

hello? what's this?? a show that combines sherlock-style cryptic puzzles with creative murders, identity theft, and also comes served with a healthy sprinkling of comedy? starring WILTY's very own david mitchell as an endearing, bumbling, brilliant detective?

ohhhh dear.... this ticks so many of my boxes.... ohhhh no....

trying not to obsess over this potential new pathetic blorbo nice character who is just trying his best.

[ma-re-zo]

Quick & stupid Ludwig doodle

Idk should I finish this? :P ………… maybe

[archduchessofnowhere]

Archduchess Sophie to her son Archduke Maximilian, February 5 of 1863: The ball was said to have been very beautiful, as always at Alphons Pallavicini’s, and Sisi looked delicious in a light white dress interwoven with stars in matte silver and the diamond stars in her hair that look so good on her... At the court ball, Sisi’s dress was pinned all round with diamonds and rubies. I say this later because you and your wives [Archuke Karl Ludwig and his wife Maria Annunziata were staying in Trieste with his brother and sister-in-law] might be interested in jewellery and toilets.

Praschl-Bichler, Gabriel (2008). Unsere liebe Sisi. Die Wahrheit über Erzherzogin Sophie und Kaiserin Elisabeth (Machine translation. Please keep in mind that a lot of nuance may/will be lost)

Sisi’s success was overwhelming. In 1864, for example, she went to Dresden for her brother Karl Theodor’s wedding. After the court ball. Archduke Ludwig Viktor reported to Vienna that Sisi was “stunningly beautiful, also the people here acted insane. I have never seen anyone having such an effect before.” Sisi wore a white dress embroidered with stars, her famous large diamond stars in her hair, on her breast a corsage of camellias. Her sister “Helene, a very pale copy of the Empress, in a star dress also,” wrote Ludwig Viktor. At the wedding, the main attraction was not the bride, but Elisabeth. This time she appeared in a lilac dress embroidered with silver clover leaves, with a cape of silver lace, a diamond tiara on her intricately dressed hair. Ludwig Viktor: “the people here are so flabbergasted at our lady sovereign!!! they’re right.”

Hamann, Brigitte (1986). The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (translation by Ruth Hein)

[waluigishairyballs]

old as fuck but still great doodle comic to introduce how i draw the koopalings

based on this

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

Hi there! Sorry if you've gotten this type of ask before, I searched your blog first and didn't find anything, but we all know about the tumblr search algorithm. I was wondering what you think of Elisabeth das Musical, like its portrayals of the historical figures involved, or its general historical accuracy? I love that musical but I'm no historian, and from my Wikipedia research it does take some liberties. Just curious if you're familiar and have thoughts! Have a good day :)

Thanks for the ask. I don't know if I have ever really made one post addressing the historical accuracy of the musical.

To a degree, I don't know if historical accuracy is a fair metric for a musical that is clearly stylized. Death being a character makes it pretty clear that it is leaning into surrealism. I like to meet media where it is at in terms of what it is trying to be.

And I do personally enjoy the musical quite a lot. Songs from it still regularly appear on my writing playlists. In the current landscape of Sisi media, I think it remains one of the most interesting and compelling explorations of her as a difficult woman with a complex internal life instead of a girlboss or 19th century Princess Diana. She is selfish and sort of inconsistent and perpetually flirting with her own death, and I think that's closer than making her the feminist hero.

There are some key points that it does better than other pieces of media: It also does not portray nationalism as liberation, which I think it important. The Hungarian coronation is not an unmitigated triumph with Lucheni singing the secondary part about rising nationalism as a warning for the unstable times that are coming. The rise of Lueger and Schoenerer as a direct antecedent to Hitler is a bit too linear to be completely historically accurate, but I think the point the musical is making is ultimately a good one. The collapse of the empire unleashes violent nationalism and the musical is pointing that direction ominously.

I also do like that it includes Rudolph's politics and his conflict with his father, since some other things are quick to minimize that. The musical isn't necessarily about him, but I like what it does to explain his disillusioned liberalism.

I don't like other things in it: For example, it moves past the early 1860s in one song, which is a period of constitutional experimentation and the last gasp of absolutism. I wish that wasn't so flattened. That's more personal for me since that is the period I am the most interested in.

My biggest frustration about it is the portrayal of Archduchess Sophie. For all the complexity that the musical grants Elisabeth, Sophie is still just the overbearing, intrusive mother-in-law. Historically, this is a disservice to her and her relationship with Elisabeth. Yes, she could be overbearing, but it was for the good of the monarchy. She's not wrong to be concerned that a teenager doesn't know the gravity or importance of being empress and isn't prepared for it. I just want my girl to get her due without being reduced to an archconservative or nightmare mother-in-law.

On the whole, I still think the musical does more than most media to portray Elisabeth as she was in spirit if not completely in substance. I just wouldn't look to it for accuracy, and I don't think the surrealist elements are really trying for that anyway.

[lost-in-yahargul]

By popular demand, here's another one!

[askthekoopsandjr]

A Glimpse Into the Future for the Koopalings (pt. 1)

Here's a few refs, showcasing what Ludwig and Larry will look like in the distant future, as well as a few supporting characters.

As I've said before, koopas age differently than humans because they live much longer. Here we see Luddy and Suzie as fresh adults, who got married the following Spring after Ludwig's birthday.

Fun fact; not all dragon koopas grow horns, but if they do, they usually grow in when they're 19-20 years old.

Then we have Larry, who is a teenager when Ludwig is an adult. Our boy comes to discover he is bisexual (and gender apathetic like Suzie).

-TW for abusive relationship mention just skip past the orange text if you need--------------------------------------------------------------

He's, unfortunately, developed depression that got much worse while he was dating his to-be ex-boyfriend, Nyx Koopa. Nyx was verbally, mentally and sometimes physically abusive to Larry, eventually dumping him on his own selfish accordance. Fortunately, this does not define Larry's future beyond here and he does heal. I'll delve into the whole story between them later on, but you can read my short story The Aftermath right now if you would like. Please be advised the abusive relationship is mentioned/alluded to (not graphically, but does serve for a sad/angst story):

I'll also provide content of Larry's healing journey later on. P.S. that's a wig Nyx is wearing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

One last thing... Here's Suzuka and Ludwig's children :)

Besides all the serious and sad stuff, I do want to delve into the slice-of-life for these future characters. It'll just take time for me to publish it all ���

And there you have it. I've been sitting on this information for almost a year at this point and am just now making it public lawllll. But trust I have lots planned!!

[spritesitrus]

Hey! Could we know the childhood of a Koopaling? When I saw that they had a difficult time I was curious about how they had it… I love your art!!

After a long time, I've finally got this one done and thank ya! Here's a doodle of everyone altogether that I never got around finishing

By the time Bowser had taken all the Koopalings in, all of them were orphans except Roy and Morton(whose dad is still alive).

I did have designs for some of their bio family members. (First two pictures Lem's family, 3rd image is Wendy's mom and grandma, 4th/5th images are Roy/Mort's parents. For those who aren’t here it’s simply because they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.)

So this is gonna be both their life before and how they join the Koopa Troop. These are all individual stories I was actually writing out to draw as a comic but for the sake of this post, it’s all condensed into brief summaries. (Though I’ll share some of the writing I did for some)

Going into everyone's individual backstories

Lud

Ludwig was left behind at an orphanage since he was born and it's unknown why or where the whereabouts of his parents are. Ludwig himself has never been interested in finding out who his birth parents are since he's figured it's not worth any trouble trying to search for people who've abandoned him.

He ran away from his orphanage at the age of seven and now on his own, he only had his smarts to survive and turned to a life of crime to survive. He's learned that he can only trust himself and to never show any vulnerability to anyone no matter how hard things get. For the next three years, he then became known as an infamous criminal known to rob big organizations and never get caught because none of his plans have ever failed. Though he bites off more than he could chew and gets roped in by a Monty Mole gang to make a plan to steal treasure from Bowser at the cost that they let him go after the job is done. 

Basically, Ludwig is able to find a way to get Bowser's attention but things go awry from what he planned and tries to fight Bowser but fails(obviously). Accepting his defeat, Ludwig accepts to fate but to his surprise, Bowser decides to take him in as his pupil since he sees Ludwig's potential. 

As Ludwig is taken to the castle, he decides to roll with it and continues his plan but begins to feel like it could be a trick Bowser is pulling on him since he’s being allowed such liberties to just live in the castle freely and wonders if Bowser knows what he’s up to he could’ve gotten rid of him beforehand. 

During the week Ludwig stayed, both him and Bowser squabbled a lot at first and found each other completely difficult to get along with. Though as time goes on, they then begin actually becoming closer. 

Ludwig then begins to feel guilty that he's going to rob him but before he can decide against going through with the plan, the Monty Mole gang get to him and threaten that he has until the end of the day to pull it off since they think he’s beginning to get second thoughts. Ludwig then goes through with the plan but then just before he can make an escape Bowser catches him but he doesn’t get angry and lets Ludwig go saying that if Ludwig ever needs a place, he’ll let Ludwig come back. This then makes Ludwig finally break down and plead to Bowser for help since he doesn’t know what to do and he’s come to really care for him. Turns out Bowser knew something was up about Ludwig and took him in because he had already figured out he was being used by someone. 

By this point the Monty Mole gang had become impatient and set out to attack them, causing Ludwig to get caught near an explosion damaging his right ear. Though he and Bowser are able to fight off the gang and then Ludwig decides to become a pupil under Bowser's for real.

Mort/Roy

The twin sons of a renowned businessman, Morton Koopa Sr. who is known as a good person to the public. But underneath his persona, was a ruthless and cold man who has many secret ties to crime. Along with this, he also is one of the few Koopas with the rare ability of having a Giga Koopa form.

Their father was very horrible and abusive to them, so their mom was able to leave him and take Roy and Morton with her. Though unfortunately, she was murdered during a break-in and Morton and Roy had to move back in with their dad.

While growing up, Morton and Roy never got along and now with the pressure of being the next heir to his father’s company, Morton would be favored more by their dad while Roy would regularly get into constant trouble and was seen as the problem child. This caused even more of a strain between them. 

When Morton is eight, he also awakens his Giga Koopa powers like his dad and his life only begins to become harder from there. For my ver, the Giga Koopa form is a rare ability that can be only passed down through Dragon Koopas hereditarily but even then, the chances are very rare even with a direct bloodline. Also Bowser doesn’t have it either (just as a fyi I guess). 

At some point, Roy causes some trouble that makes their dad look bad and finally fed up with Roy always causing him problems, he decides to get rid of him. Morton figures this out and he finally decides to escape with Roy. While the two of them are getting chased after by their dad’s men, Morton then sacrifices himself and uses his Giga Form to help Roy escape. 

Roy then runs into Bowser and Ludwig and he manages to get their help to save Morton from his rampage. They finally run into Morton Sr once again who basically hands their asses to them but Morton comes in to defeat him for good. As he’s being taken away, Morton Sr tries to convince Morton to let him go but Morton has finally broken his control and he gets sent to jail.

The two then celebrate their freedom at least and decide to join Bowser as his students.

Lem/Igg

Iggy and Lemmy lived more around the Jungle Lands which consisted of more tropical jungle areas. A huge storm destroyed the area they lived in, making them both orphans. 

Lemmy lived happily with his family that consisted of his parents and his little sister. When the storm had hit and being with his sister last, he regrets never being able to save her. Iggy doesn’t recall much of his bio family though somewhat remembers he was probably the youngest one out of the bunch of siblings who usually had to fight to get things but couldn’t most of the time. He was neglected because of his odd behaviors as a baby and doesn’t know if he was just abandoned or if his family had died during the storm. Later on, Lemmy finds Iggy alone at a shelter and helps him by giving him food. The two then decided to become brothers and never leave each other alone.

Basically how the two join is that they just kinda showed up one day, and they just never got rid of them.

This is probably not a line I will keep in the final version but I will still share it regardless

Wendy

Wendy’s family consisted of her mom and her grandma who were Magikoopas. Her dad had run out on her mom when she was pregnant with Wendy and then mom died a little after having Wendy, who was then raised by her grandma. Then, when Wendy was two years old, her grandma had died from a sickness that left her alone with no other living relatives. Shortly after, Wendy's powers awakened and she couldn’t control them which would wreak havoc and create tremors, making others scared to take her in. 

Bowser and Kamek go to check out the source of the tremor and find her. She becomes attached to Bowser and with much reluctance from Kamek(due to how the other five Koopalings are already trouble enough)they take her in. The two find out very quickly that leaving Wendy alone is a very bad idea since she will get upset causing her powers to go out of control. They take her back to the castle and warn Lud and Morton to never leave her alone unless they want to find out the hard way. 

As she meets the other five, she’s a little overwhelmed at first and is particularly scared of Roy which he definitely did not get mad about.

Basically, it’s all up to Lud, Lemmy, and Morton to take care of Wendy(since Roy and Iggy are more likely to upset or annoy her). 

Then on a particular day, Bowser and Kamek are off doing something so they leave the Koops in charge of Wendy yet again. At this point, the other three are becoming a little tired of always taking care of Wendy who they can’t leave alone and all try to find an out to dump it on one or the other. It ends up that Lud and Mort decide to dump it onto Lemmy but since he has no impulse control if he and Iggy are in the same room, they decide that it’s okay to leave since they didn’t know about the consequences yet. 

After making sure she’s fast asleep in their bedroom quarters, Iggy and Lemmy go off but are then brought back when they hear Wendy crying after she found out they left her. They call back Lud and Morton and after a while of not being able to cheer her up, she then goes out of control with her magic and begins wreaking havoc yet again getting everyone all caught up in the storm. 

Unbeknownst to them, it turned out Roy was taking a nap at bedroom quarters the entire evening and he groggily wakes up and he’s able to calm Wendy down by simply brushing her hair since he figures that’s what she just needed. The others look in shock that it worked but are happy that Roy and Wendy then became the closest afterwards. 

Larry

Bowser is in this warzone somewhere in an ally island to the Darklands and finds a fallen soldier who is Larry's dad who gives Larry to him before shortly dying after. 

Larry doesn't figure this out until like way later because Bowser totally did not forget to run that by him which gave him an identity crisis for a while but hey it all worked out.

Anyways Bowser takes Larry back to the castle and decides that these seven kids he’s got will be his pupils. 

And I will share some writing I got down since this one is so short. 

*this one below takes at some point afterwards

And of course, everyone's reaction to when Jr had come along

[royaltea000]

I bet he gets the worst pregnancy cravings known to man

[sergeantjessi]

Listening to the latest Smallant vod to fall asleep aND SUDDENLY SOMEONE IN CHAT MENTIONS THE DREAM DRAMA & smant just pointed out that in his apology video, dream states that he codes everything by himself, completely disregarding the infamous minecraft cheating scandal where he used a mod he commissioned someone to make.

Lol. Lmao even.

[the-nado-hunter]

Random Hetalia character head cannons/hc histories and characterizations that float in my brain but I’ve never written down - starting with England, America and Germany since I’ve thought about them the most lol:

England:

- Was the reverse of Alfred where he actually physically and emotionally aged much slower than most nations. He was barely not a teenager when he first took in Alfred (and his other “kids” by extension) when he was not at all ready/had even fully matured himself.

- I have a hc that nations who “get too big” (meaning the territory under their name grows) they kind of lose themselves and get less distinct and coherent in their motivations and sometimes don’t feel themselves at all, too many voices in their head so to speak. Unfortunately Arthur “lost it” during a pivotal part of his relationship with his family, hence all his strained relationships.

- Once he took on those responsibilities he suddenly jumped in physical age a bit. So while Alfred sees him as being SO much older (calling him an old man) his time in the nation equivalence of life stages was uneven and all over the place.

- it wouldn’t be until the 60s/70s/80s that Arthur had the time and ability to “make up for lost time” hence his musical and punk phases. He finds himself in some ways.., also likely dissolves into addiction problems at the same time.

- In the modern era he still has many anger issues but he’s a lot more calm and sure of himself, however he’s got a built up emotional wall and a whole lot of hidden self hatred that’s going to take a long long time to resolve, and he isn’t quite there yet and tends to lash out and push people away rather than deal with things.

America:

- He was very sheltered by Arthur at first, he was kept out of almost everything for most of his early life. If Arthur wasn’t present (which he often wasn’t due to the two having vastly different understandings of the passing of time) there were people hired and cycled out to take care of him. He can’t help himself though, even if he’s being treated like a sheltered little prince he wants to go run free in the fields and get into shit. He’s basically a Disney princess in his early life is what I’m saying lol.

- reality hits him like a ton of bricks when he’s roughly looking/acting about 14-15. He realizes likely through being exposed to other nations starting to come in and managing to slip out to talk to people just how much has been hidden from him and the resentment grows. And he starts REALLY growing even faster.

- Despite all that he went full on into a “fight” coping mechanism and never stopped. He put on a “mask” at one point in his life and it hasn’t come off. He’s never really deeply dealt with anything so he progressively seems more and more obtuse and seemingly arrogant to overcompensate for not wanting to face any sort of pain.

- He’s deeply deeply lonely and desperately wants closeness and to open up- yet at the same time the idea of seeming “weak” or “vulnerable” is terrifying to him. Him and Arthur are more similar than they would like to admit with how they mask and push people away despite really REALLY needing love and closeness.

Germany:

- it depends on if you accept the “Germany is HRE” theory or not, but either way I tend to think they at least have the same body but might be different entities or ‘spirits’ so to speak. That being said I imagine Ludwig specifically not only was “born” into a body that was preexisting and therefore already past a decent part of childhood, I imagine that his body was at first incredibly weak, frail, and he was very sickly for quite some time.

- I’ve written a fic about this, but I personally hc Ludwig from about 6-15 years old in appearance being almost completely unable to walk and needing braces and assistance to get around. His brother obviously loves and cares about him, but Ludwig couldn’t help but feel frustrated and like a burden. He really does look up to his big brother and is worried about being weak and reliant on others for the rest of his life.

- Ludwig GETS his strength, and as soon as he’s able to walk on his on he becomes obsessed with being as strong and capable as he possibly can be. He wants to never have to rely on anyone again, feeling an odd sense of guilt for needing so much help.

- he’s, in the end… kind of socially inept. Gilbert isn’t exactly the pinnacle of a socialized man himself - So despite being mostly independent and capable he doesn’t really understand social situations, or how to understand himself and others. Feliciano is both jarring and someone I think he becomes interested in him because Feli is capable in something he never has been and really is teaching him a lot.

- Unfortunately Ludwig had in face overcompensated for his past feelings of being a burden he’s taken so much on and has become such a protector that he’s almost unable to set boundaries and say no to requests to take on extra work- malicious or not.

- we already know Ludwig tends to explode and bark directions at people, to me it’s always been a clear sign of how much stress he’s under- but he winds up just appearing scary and he once again takes on more responsibilities and feelings of “something must be wrong with me”.

- i think many in the fandom have joked about it but Ludwig to me is SO repressed and SO gay it’s not even funny

-I would expect poor Ludwig to hit a breaking point and have a nervous breakdown eventually, which I do want to write at some point, just gotta not procrastinate lol

[djannell]

“What did we learn today, Soldier?”

“My hungry ass could never be a medic.”

Bonus: sketch. I thought swiftwater spawnroom would look nice, alas sfm lost it (and I was too lazy to update files manually). Additionally, I had considered using the Janitor model, however, I altered my decision upon posing stage. Furthermore, although I initially intended to preserve the humorous ambiance, it was decided against it and instead I opted to portray more comical Solly and more reserved and professional Ludwig (sorry for OOC thing). Also I took great deal of inspo from CPR scene from The Office (“He has no wallet. I checked” got me :D). Also Heavy is reading “Crime and Punishment” (yeah banal) ((I have never finished reading it))

[loud-kid2]

Since you asked for Koopalings lore from me (which I will work on later, rn I want to rot in bed for a bit because I'm tired) I want to ask you for Koopalings lore

@peaches2217 @silly-inky @supergay-64 @itsavee4117 @eleventhhourfactor @bberetd @silenzahra @rainbogen

Every Koopaling except for Ludwig and Larry are related through adoption, Ludwig and Larry are blood related. Every single one of the Koopalings love each other as if they were blood related though and treat Junior as if he is blood related as well, they are very protective older siblings to the crown prince the entire reason they're Junior's personal minions and guards is because they want to make sure he's protected at all times.

The ages of the Koopalings range from 5 to 8 years old and are as follows; Ludwig, Morton and Iggy: 8, Roy: 7, Wendy and Lemmy: 6 and Larry 5. Junior is 3 years old

Ludwig and Larry were taken in when they were 4 and 1 years old, they (or rather Ludwig) managed to sneak past every one of Bowser's guards and get into his pantry for food, they had a rough hand before Bowser took them in, Ludwig often had to sacrifice his own meals just so Larry could eat.

Wendy, Roy and Lemmy went loud and proud when they decided to steal food from Bowser (they were 4 and 5 at the time), Bowser liked their boldness so he adopted them

Iggy and Morton were adopted as a pair, they were the only ones who didn't break into Bowser's castle, they were adopted out of the foster care system at 6

None of them really cared about being royalty so while they are princes and princess of the Dark Kingdom, they didn't want to rule so that right when to Junior. They're content with military titles and being the highest ranking members of Bowser's army

[widevibratobitch]

the thing is if you do like half a year of opera detox its so much easier to listen to a recording of a mozart opera with slow conducting that you once would have lost your fucking mind about [derogatory]. anyway have i mentioned lately that don giovanni is the opera of all time? cause it is. btw. if you even care.

[hattyhimself]

anotha one thank u 😌 /ref

my collection grows by the day…