#okay this is canon now

[katyahina]

Paleblood Hunter could be Laurence’s reincarnation?

Or how things look different if you use cut content!

I received an ask from @marchioness-of-the-flowers-blog on my other blog that made me dive into a small bit of cute dialogue.. and then dive into an ABYSS of potential because I am unhinged fdshfhd Okay, so I presumed that you was referring to this cut dialogue:

There are different ways to go about it, yeah! The simplest way to interpret it is him 'speaking with a person that isn't here' thing - so he doesn't really call US Laurence, but just clings to the memory of him. Like, you know, same vein as the guy accomplishing something and casting arms to the sky all like 'Father I did this, do you see???' meanwhile 'father' is many years ago dead. You get the point!

But, heck, the version that he does start to confuse us for Laurence (whether because of going insane, or us looking similar, or both) is more interesting! I doubt that intention was within appearance because Souls-like games feature custom playable character in their trademark style! Sekiro is more 'a From's game' than it is 'a Souls-like game' after all.  So it is probably Gehrman's mind just falling apart!

However, there is another possibility. It could be that the paleblood hunter is a reincarnation of Laurence, or at least was intended to be such in beta version!

We can conclude that the Paleblood Hunter arrived in Yharnam already being aware of 'paleblood' - and even of the risk of losing their memory after blood transfusion! The bit about the very first note being written in your own handwriting is lost in translation so as always I am using excerpts from the lifesaving Last Protagonist's document ( x ).

Also, interestingly, with the context it seems like the Hunter chosen to arrive in the hood intentionally - as if knowing in advance that Yharnam would be hostile to foreigners from somewhere already. For one reason or another, Hunter was informed of what to expect and what they were looking for - be it some divine omens, dreams, them reading about it somewhere, some other character informing them, etc. Arriving in the city to potentially seek the red moon deity behind the Hunt and the Dream is... already very interesting. And very risky task because as gameplay choices show us - without memory it is easy to fail the quest. Not enough cords, not choosing to fight Gehrman...

But also, a detail often missed is that Paleblood Hunter is already not as simple! Here is the invitation in Cainhurst that you can find after imposter doctor invades Iosefka's clinic and takes her place, if you sneak from the secret cave through the woods. It is found in the exact same room where you start the game and where that first note about 'Seek paleblood to transcend the hunt' is!

Easily, she brought it! She, or Iosefka herself right after we left the room - they are most likely twins because devs aren't even subtle about them looking the same.

I talked more about the theory of Laurence having roots in Cainhurst in this ( x ) post, but the key point -  a portrait on the Cainhurst has both gold pendant and a necklace Church Servants wear. Can't imagine a more FAT hint, haha. Laurence was the one responsible for creating Hunter's Dream and associating with the paleblood / moon presence, and in that cut dialogue with Gehrman you see he mentions - "The way we've always said we'd end it, you recall".

So, perhaps Laurence could vaguely (or fully) predict what was to come - his impending early death included. Iosefka and the imposter are both in the Healing Church (and very likely both with Cainhurst roots as well - don't forget that Imposter Doctor can prepare the Numbing Mists that are "secret recipe from Cainhurst" and comments on us having scent 'of the moon' - with the only other character saying the same being Annalise). It is a possibility he entrusted one or both of them with the letter. Maybe name of Paleblood Hunter was known many years prior, or maybe they were instructed to write the invitation as soon as they spot a suspicious person seeking paleblood without being a Yharnamite... because that person WILL be important.

Alternatively - maybe the note written in Hunter’s handwriting was not written BY them, but their handwriting matches Laurence’s, so it seems like their! And the note was by Laurence as he knew where the future self would awaken. Then, maybe rather than one of the doctors bringing Cainhurst invitation, it was something along the lines of imposter Iosefka just fumbling around the place, finding this letter tucked somewhere and discarding it - letter he left? And maybe the reason him being reborn was apparent because of strange Cainhurst heritage transcending death as concept - or him having one favour from the Moon Presece for giving her a surrogate child (old man)? There are so many interpretations that choosing only one is already a hassle!

Laurence also lays idly as a beast, yet for some reason his human skull happens to exist in the Nightmare realm, but can't return his memories. So like... If you follow the reincarnation idea - would not that explain why his reaction upon receiving the skull he so desperately wanted is to turn hostile and attack us? Yeah, in the final game most likely he goes erratic when it doesn't help. But if it just so happens that Laurence is full beast, without any 'human but corrupted' sentiment left to him... would not that make sense why he attacks us? Because his actual soul is within HUNTER and now he realizes, and the way to actually return THE Laurence is to kill and consume the hunter.

And on the brink of the end of the night of the hunt, Gehrman just knows. He just can sense that even reborn as new person - this is merely Laurence's next reincarnation, and speaks hoping this part within the Hunter just... understands.

How is this interpretation?

Yeah, this is possible that it is a bit of a stretch, but that would explain some things. Especially the mystery of Cainhurst invitation and why the hunter specifically arrives to solve mystery of paleblood. Such a long time passed that Laurence found Gehrman again as a reincarnation - but he still arrived to at least free him.

Heh... worth a notice that in the cut dialogue, Gehrman sounds like the burning of the Hunter's Dream will destroy it for good, as opposed to the actual game where it seems to be merely a reset. Anyway, thank you for the ask, this was really fun to think about!

[seenthisepisode]

no offence but the reason tumblr is “dying” is, well, yes, of course the cursed like/reblog ratio and the change in user behaviour (because of people being used to how instagram and tiktok work) BUT also the lack of weekly shows. i say it with my whole chest, they don't produce captivating and engaging stupid weekly tv shows anymore because streaming killed that so you have spikes of activity here when Something happens in general fandom or up to three days after a new season of whatever drops and then it's a wasteland. this is obviously an old woman yelling at a cloud missing supernatural and the vampire diaries and pretty little liars and all these other shows type of post but honestly give me back weekly tv shows where i have something to watch for 40 minutes almost every day of the week after work so then i can read and reblog it on tumblr give it back for the sake of my sanity

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

...Turns out gay sex actually was the solution.

(This is basically a redraw, come read the real deal over at Tiger Tiger)

[belfry-ghost]

finally finished jason so i can post the hades art i mentioned here lmaoo

i'm more of a silly doodle kind of guy so fully lined/rendered stuff.... aigh

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[snowthedemonfox]

ITS CANON WE WON

[denkies]

[hyakunana]

"My friend, my partner… my Guardian."

[starry-bi-sky]

Unpleasant Revelations - DPxDC Ficlet Idea for the Stillborn Au

"Have you met my youngest, Damian, Mr. Masters?"

Its only from twenty years of long, hard experience and practice that Vlad doesn't increase the room temperature from 'borderline uncomfortably cool' to 'unbearably hot' the moment Bruce Wayne pulls his youngest and "only" biological son out in front of him.

He puts only in quotations because twelve year old Damian Wayne looks scarily, uncannily like one Daniel Brown. Jack and Maddie's foster son, second victim of their foolishness, and only other halfa in existence. Second only to him.

It's nauseating how similar they look. From the scowl and terrible glare on the young boy's face, to his brown skin -- which was only a few shades lighter than Daniel's, the shape of his nose, and even the strange winged edge of his eyebrow. Something that Vlad has long since come to find endearing on the child he considered a son of his own. The only difference was that Damian had dark, sharp green eyes.

Daniel's eyes were blue. The same glacier shade as his father's, who stood behind Damian with a proud, oafish smile on his visage.

It was infuriating how similar they look. Vlad might not have rapidly swung the room temperature from one extreme to the other, but he can't stop himself from letting the fury burning within his core from slipping out and raising the temperature up a few degrees.

Because it really only meant one thing.

Damian Wayne and Daniel Brown were related.

Damian Wayne and Daniel Brown were brothers.

Standing in front of him, it was clear as day. He can already picture a phantom image of Daniel standing beside Damian, the same scowl written on his face, the same glare carved into his eyes. The only difference being the dark, exhausted circles beneath them that seemed to be permanently painted onto his skin. The only thing missing being the permanent loneliness and vigilance permeating his being like a scar.

This, if revealed, would be enough to ruin Bruce Wayne's reputation. Or, at the very least, darken it quite a bit. The great philanthropist Bruce Wayne with another secret blood child? One related to his youngest? One that had been put into foster care? Seemingly thrown away?

It would be a firestorm.

One that Vlad is not keen on starting.

It would ruin Bruce Wayne's reputation, yes. But it would hurt Daniel in the process -- the harassment he would face alone might just be enough to break that fragile child completely. That was just not something he could allow. Or, even worse, bring him into his biological father's care and custody -- something Vlad was even less willing to allow.

It's not out of kindness to Wayne that Vlad will keep mum about this.

His grip on his champagne flute tightens, just a bit. He's still aware enough of the world around him to not let it shatter in his hands. His plastered, pleasant smile tightens around the corners, and he forces his focus to slide from Damian to Wayne.

"The resemblance is uncanny, Mister Wayne." He says, slanting his smile to the side slyly. Although he's not talking about the resemblance between Wayne and his son. Rage simmers beneath his skin, burning coal and embers in the core of his chest, nestled between his lungs, as he meets the man's eyes.

Wayne swaggles his head proudly, his ditzy smile widening as he squeezes his son's shoulder affectionately. Bastard, Vlad wants to spit.

He breathes in through his nose, and exhales out through his mouth. The champagne in his hand cools, and stops its unusual bubbling.

The Damian boy scoffs under his breath, his mouth still coiled upward into a scowl. With the revelation of his blood relation to Daniel evident, Vlad's not sure if he should find it endearing or not.

He is not Daniel, so he decides that it's just simply irritating. He decides to ignore it.

"And you said he was your only biological son?" He asks, voice lilting and head tilting. He knows its a suspicious question at worst, insulting at best. But considering Wayne's past proclivities, he can hardly call it an unexpected question.

Damian puffs in great offense, face twisting angrily. It reminds him of Daniel when Vlad insisted that he was wrong about something or other, and for a moment his heart swells, fond.

But this is not his child, and so the feeling quickly crashes and burns, simmering back into rage. This was not Daniel -- this was his replacement. A replacement that Wayne was free to keep.

Wayne chuckles, idiotically, as if he'd said some funny joke. Vlad's other hand, the one gripping his cane -- something he's required ever since he was dispatched from the hospital all those lonely years ago -- tightens instead. He grinds his teeth -- him and Jack Fenton would get along like a house on fire, he hates it.

"I can understand why you'd ask that, Mister Masters," Wayne says, squeezing Damian's shoulder again, "but yes, Damian is my only biological son. Although that doesn't mean I don't love my other children any less."

Bastard.

For all his posturing and flouncing about caring for his city and his children, Vlad never would have thought the Prince of Gotham capable of abandoning one of them.

But, well.

They all have their dark secrets.

And what one man throws away, another man picks up. If Bruce Wayne didn't want the treasure child that was Daniel Brown, then Vlad Masters was more than happy to take him instead.

"I see."

[zuppizup]

My angsty brain: So… Callum’s Dad died of some kind lung condition, eh? Sure would be a shame if that was hereditary

[linkedin-offficial]

yay! stew!

[smoozie-art]

Did someone say skyblings? I mean seablings?

Skeablings?!

[emry-stars-art]

@vivireshar they kiss 🤲

[shaadowmilkcookie]

One of Shadow Milk’s many prop replicas of himself, left behind. Even though the eyes are forever staring straight into the distance… Oddly enough, you still feel like you’re being watched.

But surely, though, it won’t hurt to take it home and touch up the colours, right? :)

[mushroominaforest]

Anyways. I think Oren and Pinki should get to both survive horror mode and be fixed up.

Pinki gets her face back, Oren’s ribs get put back to where they’re supposed to be and everyone lives happily ever after ✨

I mean. As happily as they can being like. Uber traumatized.

Anyways I think it would be silly if Pinki just drags Oren around on his skateboard when he dissociates

[erinwantstowrite]

the secret to writing is that cringe is dead and if someone tries to make fun of you for it they're actually the loser that can't have fun