#might update next week

[mizzlebloom]

Exile in a Nutshell

[hyydraworks]

i'm a really big fan of your work!! i was wondering, what's your favorite thing you've made recently?

Awe, thank you so much for the kind words and the ask!

This Dimetrodon mug definitely pulls at the top for me for recent works. There's a lot of illustrations I do now that I feel proud of once done, but I'm not always happy with the colors/ shading and this fellow felt so good to pull out of the kiln and one of those times where the imposter syndrome all artists know and love just fled while ogling it.

Also additional thank you to the person who bought it and left the most wonderful review, so glad it's being fought over lovingly every day.

[modmad]

TPoH: Update!

Update here on the TPoH website!

Read TPoH from the start here.

Have you still not got your nice warm Assok socks or a shiny butterfly pin? Head on down to Topatoco town and introduce yourself to my store for books, shirts, stickers and more!

And if you're a long termer you can always support me on patreon; even one dollar a month helps!

[novelconcepts]

It's been said before, but all things considered, it seems important to say it again. Nothing--nothing--is too small, too silly, too insignificant, too cringe, too ridiculous to stick around for. Nothing is too small, too silly, too absurd, too meaningless, if it keeps you going. If it keeps you here, it cannot possibly be too small to matter.

[skyviewvalley]

Meet Link!

On the brink of a major company promotion, Link has decided instead to throw caution to the wind, following the trail of a taunting note to the doorstep of the farm he has mysteriously inherited. Surely his excellent customer service skills and experience in light clerical work will have adequately prepared him for this unexpected career change...

[mellowwillowy]

Yan! Best Friend x GN! Reader

There was a notorious bully in your class, a beautiful self-entitled nepo bitch who only knew how to smoke and pissed her off. You on the other hand were far from the luxuries your classmates lived in, just someone trying to survive with the high school scholarship you received from the government.

You had always wondered why she didn't target you who were obviously a soft prey instead of one of the many rich girls. You wondered for a year until you finally realized the answer.

It was when you almost got yourself into trouble with her. She threatened you that you would be her next victim and you boldly declared that she wouldn't even though you weren't completely certain of your reasoning.

That you understood her.

"You are just envious of them. Of how lonely you are and how loved they are instead."

In short, the bully, Im Seonmi, was just a petty child who didn't want to see other kids happy from what she couldn't have. The warmth from their parents, the acknowledgment they received, and the support that they needed.

It was almost just as simple as that, that you noticed how this bully was actually smart and a lonely bitch, made her fall for you. She knew what she was getting herself into and paid no mind to what it might lead to. Even if she couldn't put the feelings she felt in a word, she still craved for you. To have you.

The friendship between you two bloomed and now she was ready to squeeze her way into your school life, uni life, career life, and even your marriage life. You would not notice how she had steered your life for forty years until it was too late.

[ender-cloud]

GO HYDE GO! YOUR DOING AMAZING SWEETIE!!!

-lanyon, maybe probably

Tgs spoilers under cut

I’m not ok, the voices merging into Hydes own thoughts of insecurity is like the people are adapting to the new presence.

They realize this is more of Hyde yet dont have to do much because of how similar Hyde and Jekyll are.

Hydes thoughts of worthlessness are same as Jekylls before the potion and before the split, the feeling of worthlessness and mistake carried on through him.

GUYS GUYSSS THE GAYS!!!!

The stark contrast between mind Lanyon and actual Lanyon is interesting because it makes you wonder how Jekyll got that view of Lanyon in the first place.

Then you also have to consider that in this moment Lanyon is being vulnerable, he’s showing emotion because he truly cares for Hyde and wants to help him, but in university, when Jekyll probably made mind Lanyon because it was who he inspired to be, Lanyon was more closed off, having his walls up.

Lanyons closed off personality has back fired to make Jekyll have him almost becoming this enemy in his mind, someone who he always has to prove himself for when in reality Lanyon just wants him as himself.

Lanyon is showing that he just likes Jekyll for him with how he’s acting with Hyde, almost attempting to undo what he has done with embarrassing him and getting him out of this metaphorical jail of self doubt.

He is worried out if his mind for both of them right now and it would crush him to know that he may be a part of it but he also probably knows deep down that he is a part of it in some ways.

ITS THE RIBBON GUYS LOOK!!!! THE RIBBON FROM THE CHAPTER COVER PAGE!

It represents hope, security, and freedom in this moment, Lanyon pulling Hyde out of these thoughts is such an interesting story method and this will probably be what keeps Hyde from going to deep.

Lanyons hope will pull Hyde back if he needs to, Hyde wont get trapped in the mind (hopefully) if Lanyon is there and this is going to help Jekyll too.

Knowing that Lanyon is still there despite everything may help Jekyll, and having the proof of it will especially be great and this will probably be a big part in how to save Jekyll.

Sometimes i forget their British and then I see Lad and it all comes rushing back to me like “oh yeah, this is london”

He looks crazy and I’m all for it, finally fighting back instead of giving in, like he’s done over and over again, he’s sick of it and wont take it anymore.

“I dont hold this against you” now it is possible that Hyde is just joking but I wouldn’t be surprised if he holds it against Jekyll because they are his creations, everything they say and how they act is what Jekyll has thought up.

Yes, they are based on people in his life but they’re his interpretation of what they think of him. He doesn’t really know what they think but he’s scared of what it could be. (He’s so me guys/hj) but for real, i can relate to the mind people in Jekylls head.

I can think of times when ive put thoughts of what other people may think about me in my head even if it’s not true, im sure many people have had something similar to jekyll’s mind people. What Jekyll has made is a real thing put to a story and it feels interesting to see.

If Hyde squares up with the mind people though that would be pretty cool to see, finally working through the self doubting thoughts even if it is through a violent manner

[emotsper]

(7/?) uh oh!

[brutal-nemesis]

after all these years i have a fucking Rock Job im so so hyped oh my fucking god i will have money

[ghirahimbo]

another chapter done :) hey yay hooray

[ask-the-knightfamily]

What do you think about the Pacific Bay team? Have you ever met any of them?

[epnona-the-wisp]

The Whole Time: Chapter Seven

Something touched her shoulder. Chara whipped around. Behind her was Zephyr. Neither of them moved. Zephyr didn’t speak—he’d never spoken to her before either—and Chara’s throat had closed up, the way it did in nightmares. She took a step back, then another, catching her hand on the corner of the desk to steady herself. Zephyr clasped his hands together, and twiddled his thumbs awkwardly.

or, the chapter with defenestration. Read it here!

[biffybobs]

I hope you are all enjoying Angelou’s journey so far 🥰

Not sure how much more I will get posted this week as I’m battling another bad flare up, but more importantly my 9 year old has commandeered the laptop to start her first legacy challenge with a lesbian vampire founder 🧛‍♀️

[wetcatspellcaster]

I can’t figure out how to tag things but my word for the WIP word game is “hammer” 😈

I assume this is what you were searching for anon x

[thebad-lydrawn-sanses]

Creator: Mm, art block. What to do...?

Creator: What do you think, wackus bonkus?

"Wackus Bonkus" (Hand): make angst

Creator: ohh, you naughty wackus bonkus

[2hoothoots]

i was having a chuckle to myself last night about Gristol, and how his plans are basically:

Restore Ford Cruller's memory

Find Maligula

???

Profit

but then... of course they are, right? this is Gristol we're talking about. Fatherland Follies drives home again and again that he's still operating on a child's logic, a warped and reductive version of the world that he never bothered to grow out of. both of his memory vaults center on the images of his childhood, this idealized version of the past that he clings to no matter what. and that's still how he remembers Maligula, too - as this saviour figure, who rushes in to help him when he's in trouble.

[ID: Two slides from Gristol's memory vault, Glory to Grulovia! Left: Gristol clings to Maligula's back as she summons waves to sweep away his assailants. Right: Gristol and Maligula waving from a balcony as the people cheer. Gzar Theodore brandishes a dagger in the background.]

like so much else, Maligula represents a return to this idyllic childhood - to the peace and simplicity of his youth, when he was free from worries and responsibilities. in his mind, he doesn't need to make any further plans - once Maligula's back, everything will go back to normal. Maligula will make everything better.

...is what i thought, but then i remembered this line:

[Screenshot source. ID: Gristol, in Truman's body, bows on his hands and knees in front of the newly-awaked Maligula. The caption reads: "Yes, High Priestess! I am here to correct the mistakes made by my father!"]

and that's kind of interesting, right?

to be clear: this happens directly after Maligula sees Helmut-in-Gristol's-body, and recognises him. her line before this is:

"Little Gzesaravich! Have you come to pay for your father's sins?"

my first thought was that Gristol hadn't expected to still be in Truman's body by the time he managed to find Maligula, and this was him trying to placate her and buy some time until he could explain the situation. but watching the cutscene back, that's clearly not what's happening here. Gristol is answering as himself, and his response of throwing himself to his knees before her is, as far as i can tell, genuine.

so what is going on here?

in Fatherland Follies, there's this line in the ride narration that stuck out to me:

"Why didn't the Gzar help Maligula in her time of need? No one knows, but historians agree - it is Gzar Theodore's biggest failure."

other lines mention Gzar Theodore's "mistake", and it's wording Gristol himself echoes in the screencap above. evidently, he believes that his father abandoned Maligula, leaving her to her fate at the hands of the Psychonauts, and it was that mistake that lead to them being driven out of the country - that mistake which he seeks to correct. maybe he even feels like he has a debt to repay to her for his family turning their backs on her all those years ago.

the 'High Priestess' thing, though - that's kinda weird, and threw me for a loop the first time i played the game. it took me until my second playthrough to connect the dots, and remember how the room in the Lady Luctopus - Gristol's room - was full of Delugionist scribblings and symbols.

[Screenshot source. ID: left, the walls of the hidden backroom in Gristol's hotel suite, covered in scrawlings of eyeballs and Maligula's name. Right, the pinboard from the hidden backroom. On its surface are photographs and newspaper clippings connected by pieces of string.]

i mean, look at this stuff! he had a whole conspiracy board and everything!

we learn very little about the Delugionists and their beliefs as a whole during the game, but i think drawing the connection here suggests two important things. one: that Gristol was in deep with this stuff. i don't know how he linked up with them - maybe via old family connections, or just good old-fashioned digging (we know he's skilled at worming his way into peoples' good graces, after all) - but it seems likely that he's begun to internalise their ideas, maybe even warping his own memories of events. and two: the Delugionists themselves are, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty far off the deep end.

like... i understand why PN2 didn't go heavy on the "mass-murderer cult worship" aspect of things, in the end, but man this is such a tantalising glimpse into the wider mythos around Maligula. Gristol is proud and haughty and thinks himself above everyone else; the fact that his first reaction seeing Maligula is to throw himself to the ground at her feet says so much about the way he's come to see her. he's not just trying to bring back Maligula, his childhood bodyguard. he's trying to bring back Maligula, the High Priestess of the deluge, the semi-mythical figure whose supporters believe even death couldn't stop. he doesn't even flinch at the way she confronts him, and maybe it's because he's bought in so completely to this deified figurehead, this idea of Maligula; more a living force of nature than a person. and it all comes back to the same place: an abdication of responsibility, not just to the person who protected him when he was little but to this avatar of floods and destruction. Maligula will make everything better.

i'd write more about my thoughts on the Delugionists but that'd be taking a hard turn into speculation, and this is already kind of long and rambling so i'd better end it here. but what an unexpected and evocative line, right? it's some of the only stuff we have to go off of regarding the Delugionists as a whole, but i think it does such a good job of hinting at the wider story - at teasing another layer to the mythos surrounding Maligula, one whose ripples we see throughout the game but which never quite breaches the surface.