#please correct me if I'm wrong on any of these

[hootshooch]

Age Headcanons

I want to share my HCs for all the companion's ages (both so I can reference this later and because it's just fun). Aside from the canon numbers we have, these are just my personal opinions! But If I've gotten any canon information wrong please correct me and I'll edit it :-)

Astarion: 339 (physically 139)

Gale: 36

Halsin: 350

Jaheria: 155

Karlach: 27

Lae'zel: 22

Minsc: 149 (physically 65)

Shadowheart: 48

Wyll: 24

(I'm not including Minthara because Wyll and my Durge killed her in two turns using Hold Person and Searing Smite in my current playthrough so I have never recruited her before nor know much about her character so I can't make an educated guess about her age. Sorry.)

Explanations under the cut!

Astarion

Gale

I think his gravestone (the dates that say he was 39 when he died) is total BS and was just a mistake left in from when Astarion's race wasn't decided on during development (I know he was a tiefling at one point).

Idle Champions seems to confirm this because his age is listed as 350 on his card (meaning he was approximately 150 when he died). BUT, since Halsin also says he is 350 years old, I think it would be incredibly unlikely and sort of weird if two of the three recruitable Elves were the exact same age, so I rounded down so his age does align more with his in-game gravestone. However, unless someone made another mistake, 350 is (probably) his canon age.

Apparently there's conflicting information about what his age is listed as on Idle Champions too. Maybe it changed or something? I don't know. Regardless it makes the most sense to me if he's over 300 years old.

I know this might be an unpopular opinion but I actually do not believe that Mystra groomed Gale (though I think she IS abusive to all her Chosen, Gale included–but that is NOT what "grooming" means. Not in the way people are using the term. She just took advantage of him). Gale said she first appeared to him when he was a "young man" and Mystra was dead up until 1479 DR. It's very unlikely she went straight for Gale the moment she gained consciousness and Gale is visibly greying by the time you meet him (and I know some people theorize that it's just the netherese orb aging him from the stress, but I personally don't think that's what is happening). I think at MINIMUM he was 22 when Mystra first appeared to him and is in his mid-thirties now.

Halsin

He explicitly tells the player he's 350. As far as I'm aware he's actually the ONLY companion who ever gives an actual number for his age in the game, too.

Jaheira

She says she was a "young child" during the Ten Black Days of Elient in Tethyr (1347 DR) and I think it's safe to assume that "young" probably means anywhere from 10 years old to a baby. BUT she also says in the first Baldur's Gate game (set in 1368 DR), Jaheira says that she and Khalid have been married for 8 years and together for 10. I really don't think that the two of them got married as teenage harpers (at least I hope not), but it DOES seem like Jaheira got married young and was never really with anyone else before or after him (I do not consider Jaheira's romance with Gorion's Ward in BG2 to be canon, sorry). So that means she's was probably in her early 30s during the first two games. I just decided on 155 (making her 31-32 in the first two games) since that makes Jaheira only 20 years older than my Dark Urge (Alias, 135 years old) and it's infintely funnier when she makes fun of her for being old because they're both practically the same age.

Karlach

I know most people place her in her early 30s, but I honestly think she was younger when Gortash sent her off to Avernus. The age of majority in most of the Sword Coast is 16 and Karlach specifically refers to herself as "a kid" when she was working for Gortash. She was also still living with her parents at the time and says that she was working to make enough money to move them to the Lower City—and to me the way she says that doesn't seem like she was trying to give back to her parents as an adult but she was still actually a teenager who NEEDED to work because her parents didn't make enough money. I absolutely do not think Gortash is above hiring a poor teenager from a lower class district to be a bodyguard before selling her into compulsory enlistment. In fact that's exactly the kind of thing he'd do. I personally think she started working for him when she was around 16 and stayed there for a few years max before Gortash screwed her over (being in Avernus for a decade), so she's in her late 20s now. I like the idea of her being closer in age to Wyll so I just HC that her birthday is late in the year and "10 years" is more of a rough estimate of how long she was there rather than an exact timeframe (how was she keeping track of time in Avernus, anyway? did time even go by at the same rate in a different plane of existence?)

Lae'zel

She says that she's never been to the Astral before the game begins and she was trying to obtain a mindflayer head so she would be allowed to do so (which I think is a social coming-of-age for githyanki, based on how she talks about it). She's definitely the youngest. Her Idle Champions card says she's 22 and that seems right to me so that's the age I put.

Minsc

We know he was petrified in Baldur's Gate in 1409 DR, but beyond that, his timeline is kind of weird. In the first Baldur's Gate game he was on his dajemma (Rashemaar coming-of-age journey) with Dynaheir. Fyodor first went on his dajemma when he was fifteen and didn't return to Rashemen until he was nineteen. Minsc believes his dajemma was never truly complete because of Dynaheir's death (despite the Iron Lord saying otherwise), so I he must have been YOUNG before during the first two games (despite being bald and appearing older in his original portrait). Considering he was undergoing a coming-of-age ritual, he can't have been any older than 25 in the first two games (and that's only if he was adventuring an especially long time, but that seems to be the case). So he's about a century and a half in BG3, give or take, and physically in his mid-sixties (around the time he was petrified).

Shadowheart

I've seen a surprising amount of people mislabel Shadowheart as 40, but she says (in ambient dialogue) that Viconia was recording information about her INSIDE the cloister for 40 years of her life and in the flashback where she is kidnapped she looked around the same age as Arabella (who tells who she is nine and a half if you're evil enough to let Kagha kill her and use Speak with Dead on her). So she's actually closer to 50. Her Idle Champions card says she's 48 specifically so that's the age that I've gone with because that lines up with everything that we know.

Wyll

In the game, he says he was 17 when his father kicked him out and he was in "exile" for 7 years, so that places him at 24. His Idle Champions card says this, too. (fun fact: this also means he was 14 when Murder in Baldur's Gate takes place and Gorion's Ward dies).

[yourlocaltrasheater]

yall legit had me thinking Anya told Curly to his face "Hey Lil Jim Bob raped me and now I'm pregnant." And he went "Oh hahahha jimmy? NOOOOOO you silly Billy:p he'd NEVA do that!!!"

The dead pixel scene. Was meant. To be Anya telling Curly? Because I didn't pick up on that. Uhm. Dude. I don't think if I was Curly I'd understand either. Mostly because Anya didn't. Say anything. Directly. Am I missing a scene??? Hello???

Also this happened TWO DAYS BEFORE THE CRASH IF MY TIMELINE IS CORRECT? which means even if Curly was to understand what she was saying, he'd have TWO DAYS to confront a mentally unstable man child about raping a crewmate??? What the fuck??

Here I was. Believing. I wasn't allowed to like Curly. Because "he ignored Anya's assault". When. He just. Didn't understand. Like humans typically do.

Oughhh what the fuck yall this is just media literacy failing once more

Please is this wrong am I misinterpreting something did something slip past me. What. Yall.

EDIT !!!!!!

I found context ! Yip tee doo, Anya does tell Curly flat out!! A day before the crash. I don't have any support of Curly not believing her, I'm still trying to find the full scene, but okay. Cool. More depth to it. Sorry ! Lalalaaa.

ANOTHER EDIT TYSM !!! yall actually helped a lot hehe.

I have more context of the scenes and actions now, tysm!!!!! Tumblr is so cool sorry about my brain jumping to conclusions :p

[ipleadbritney]

this ask game is so fun!!

8 - ‘i’m taking you home and that’s that’

N - fondness

𓃓 - at work far later than you should be

for choscar!!

stating the obvious

choscar, 1k, rated g, 2025 f1 season

Charles knows something is wrong by how quickly Oscar agrees to their dinner plans.

“I could make pasta,” Charles had said, joking. Last time he tried to cook anything, he almost burnt down Oscar's apartment.

He expected Oscar to laugh it off or to make that high-pitched disagreeing noise. Oscar's with the McLaren team, crunching their numbers before the practice sessions tomorrow. Oscar's only found the time now to call back.

It's strange that Oscar has a busier Monaco schedule than Charles. He had pulled his weight on Ferrari to cut down his media appearances by a margin. Let Lewis feel the strain. Oscar's too polite still, attends all the galas and dinners they have planned for him.

Or maybe it's McLaren's new thing as defending champions. First to the flag, last on the paddock. Putting in the hours to keep everyone behind them.

It seems to be working. Charles spent forty laps of Imola behind Max and watched as the two McLarens drove off in the distance. They had built a big enough gap to have a little scuffle between them for P1. Oscar, of course, came out on top.

“It is nice,” Charles had told Oscar after the podium ceremony, somehow finding him in the sea of bright orange, “how well you always do in Italy.”

Oscar had grinned at him, face flushed. He squeezed Charles’ waist and disappeared into interviews and congratulations.

Oscar's face right now, the one on Charles’ phone, is also flushed.

Charles vaguely remembers the plane ride to Monaco, how Oscar pressed his face to Charles’ shoulders and slept through every turbulence. Charles was dizzy with warmth he hadn't. He didn't.

“Oscar,” Charles says, trying to get his boyfriend's attention, “are you sick?”

Oscar's head swivels. “I'm not.”

So he is. “Have you told your team? Brody?”

“Brady,” Oscar corrects him. “I don't have anything to tell them. I feel fine.”

He doesn't look fine. Well, he does. He always does. He looks sickly. What is it that Alex jokes about George? A Victorian child in comateux?

“I'm telling Brady.” Charles must have his number saved. It's the sort of thing couples do, right? Have each other's teams’ contacts. Charles has never dated a fellow F1 driver, at least not this seriously.

Define serious. Because they still have their separate places and Charles hasn't spent a holiday with the Piastris, but surely they're—

“Uh, earth to Charles?”

Charles blinks at his phone, open to an empty text thread with Brady. Oscar's face is small and squished (and cute) at the corner.

This is Charles Leclerc

He considers reminding Oscar's trainer that he and Oscar are dating, that this isn't some strange Ferrari strategy. But Oscar says his personal team’s been briefed; if he restates the obvious, it’s just showing off, no?

Oscar is sick

Please check up on him

"I told Brady,” Charles says. “You shouldn't stay any longer."

“I'm not sick. I would know if I'm sick because, wait, here's Brady and. Muting right now.”

Charles watches as Oscar goes in and out of view, Brady's pinched face popping every now and then. There's a thermometer involved at one point. That can't be good.

Finally, Oscar unmutes himself. It's Brady that speaks: “High temp, Mr. Leclerc. I'm taking him home now.”

“But the data—”

“Already told Tom. They understand. They gave me explicit instructions to drive you home.”

Oscar looks frustrated, his shoulders dropping dramatically, but he nods, goes on to apologise for the trouble. Now that there’s no use pretending, Oscar’s sniffing, turning even redder, and coughing.

Charles wonders if he has any pedestal to stand on, knowing he’s the same. If he can stay up, he can drive.

“Talk to you later?” Oscar asks, voice soft. In the background, he can hear Brady fetching his keys. “I'm sorry about… this.”

Charles’ heart clenches. “Nothing to be sorry about. You know that.”

They end the call once Charles is certain Oscar's taken care of. He warns them of the Monaco GP traffic. Charles actually planned for them to bike together after the race on Sunday. It'll spark the adoption jokes again, which isn't far from the truth. They have a family lunch planned no matter the race results, though it would be perfect to have another 1-2.

Charles cleans up what would have been his and Oscar's dinner. A quiet affair, something away from the cameras and tabloids. Oscar likes quiet, and Charles loves the quiet pockets of his life with Oscar.

Now though, the silence is suffocating.

It's fine. They'll see each other tomorrow. Charles will find a way to block him in practice.

He peeks at Leo sleeping on his dog bed, curled up with a pastry-shaped toy. “Sorry, Leo. It's just the two of us tonight.”

It's minute eight of Charles’ pacing around, after he played a melancholic song on his piano twice to feel something, when his alarm system beeps, alerting him of someone at his front door.

“Charles?”

Oscar's at his front door.

Charles almost trips over, running to greet Oscar. “You are here?”

Oscar catches him. “Whoah, there. Happy to see me?”

“Surprised to see you!”

Oscar tilts his head, blinking slowly. “Why?”

“But Brady said he'd drive you home."

“He meant here,” Oscar says, pinching Charles’ waist, “isn't that obvious?”

It was not. He cups Oscar's cheek to kiss him, but Oscar swerves.

“I'm sick, remember?” Oscar says, his tone teasing.

“Oh, so you acknowledge it now?”

Oscar laughs, that full-body movement he does. Charles saw one tweet before, joking about how fond Oscar looks at him. If only they could see him at this moment.

Fond. So, so fond.

Charles steers him towards the (their) bedroom. Oscar notes how some of Leo's toys are still scattered on the (their) floor.

“Have you taken medicine?” Charles asks, hand at the small of Oscar's back. “There's some in the bathroom.”

Their bathroom. Their bed. Their home.

“I have, almost drifted off in the car. Is Leo asleep? I can say goodbye before I collapse.”

Their dog. Their son. Their home.

“Pascale called, by the way. She wants to wear orange and red on Saturday. I talked her out of it, but she said my fashion advice is horrible. She also said she meant no offense.”

Their colours. Their family. Their home.

“Don't wake me up early. I have sick privileges.”

Their mornings. Their evenings. Their home.

“And I— Charles? Are you alright?”

“More than,” Charles says. He is home. So is Oscar.

build a fic post here

[void-dwelling-snail]

Okay so chat. Can we all admit that Hesitations by Fangclub is so Wild Life Mumbo coded?Cause it literally is and I had a divine vision in the car tonight about it. Hi, welcome to my Ted Talk. My screaming into the void and breakdown of the song and lyrics is below the cut. Also before I start my yapping I would highly recommend listening to the song. It’s such a banger istg. Also i think it’s obvious but this is all C not CC. Anyways my yapping starts now >:)

okay so. I’m gonna assume you’ve heard the song already? Now I really want to break the song down lyric by lyric and maybe I will. Idk yet. But starting with Verse 1: Congratulations,,You really hit your mark,,Self-medicating,,To reignite your spark. Honestly I really interpret the first 2 lines as Mumbo congratulating Jimmy on not being out first. Cause really, Jimmy did hit his mark of not being the first out, and generally from what I’ve seen in the fandom, the Canary curse may be broken. Now the second 2 lines may be a stretch but, I kinda read that as a continuation of Mumbo still talking about Jimmy, with the self-medicating being Jimmy’s praying to the watchers to help with the curse. I mean it checks out, he’s been out first in most of the seasons and to deal with this canary curse of always dying first is to pick up a faith in the Watchers. That’s where the line To reignite your spark comes in. He started praying to the watchers to reignite his spark. To help him survive. So far this is all looking very nice and it all has symbolism and it all connects. So yippee!!

Moving onto the chorus that follows: My hesitations,,Will never let me go,,Burn our confessions,,My hesitations. Okay so when these lines clicked that’s kinda when i started going hmm chat I’m seeing some connections here. Specifically with the line My hesitations,,Will never let me go. Now correct me if I’m wrong but was Mumbo not killed by his hesitation to kill Jimmy? Think about it. If he had gone and sent that tnt minecart to kill Jimmy, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush to try and get Gem instead, right? His hesitations will now never let him go. His hesitations killed him. Those hesitations perma killed him first and the Watchers will never let him go now, taking him as the new canary. Honestly this is just my opinion, but I love the idea of Mumbo being the new canary. Like if Jimmy's curse really is broken, I would love it if Mumbo became the new canary. I just think that would be so silly but moving on. ,,Burn our confessions,,My hesitations. Honestly chat, this one isn’t really lining up for me so if anyone has any ideas please let me know. And agin the hesitations that ultimately led to his death.

Verse 2 is also where i go a bit feral with the lines: The isolation,,The only life you know,,Your method acting,,Is gonna kill us both. Okay so a few things before I go into the lyric breakdown. The main reason I highlight the lyrics as different colors is so A I’m able to break them down easier, and B is so that if I feel like one section from a verse feels different I can isolate it. This is a case of reason A. So back to analyzing lyrics, I'm reading it as this verse being about Grian. Think with me for a moment. The isolation + the only life you know roughly equals the experience of being a watcher. From most fanon interpretations, being a Watcher who also used to be a player is very lonely and isolating and with Grian seeming to lean more into the watcher/admin role this season, it works perfectly. He’s reflecting on what being a watcher and an admin is like, and in the next bit of lyrics are detailing the consequences of it. Once again I'm asking you to hear me out. Your method acting,,Is gonna kill us both. And it did kill them both. Well not both but it killed Mumbo multiple times. Maybe it didn’t kill him permanently but the multiple times where Mumbo came running to Grian when he was on fire, starving, and Grian was unaware of his suffering. Remember that clip that had floated around from Grian’s episode 2 where he was tabbed out doing admin things as Mumbo sat there starving to death and actively informing Grian on it? It might not have killed Grian then but it definitely killed Mumbo. I feel like I need to clear up the method acting bit now. So we know how Grian tries to hid his Watcher-y-ness and in a way you could say he’s method acting to appear like a normal player. Eh eh, you see what im sayin!! Anyways, Grian’s complete focus on the admin role and to appear as a normal player ultimately left him so locked in that he didn’t hear his friend's pleas for food and help until it was too late.

The chorus continues here and its the same as before so skipping to the Bridge, (guys i'm gonna be real idk what a bridge is in a song, im just looking at what the lyric website says and it says that this bit is the bridge so.) and the bridge is just: I tried to figure it out, but it figured out me,,,I tried to figure it out, but it figured out me. So there’s just one line here repeated so i guess that makes my life easier lol. Anyways this bit, to me, read as Mumbo’s obsession (not really but words are failing me rn) at the beginning of each session to find out what the wild card was. He tried to figure it out but he never really succeeded, did he? The wild cards always came before he was really ready and he eventually found out what the gimmick for that session was.

He refrains the last bit and boy is it easy: My hesitations,,My hesitations,,My hesitations. His hesitations ended up killing him in the end. His hesitation to fulfill the canary curse killed him. And that’s about it for my wonderful song and lyric breakdown. There was another chorus after this but it was the same as the other ones so i'm not gonna re type that whole bit. Seriously tho this song makes me go so crazy… i hope i was able to make you all a bit crazy too :333

[ikamigami]

You know what?

I think that Sun will have a huge mental breakdown.. someday.. in the future..

"But how when he just got better and dealt with Nexus' hallucination?" you may ask..

It's because I think that he doesn't realize that he slowly integrates his self-blame and accepts it as something true..

See how he still feels like July 16th was his fault even if he's fully aware of what actually happened..

And now he'll falsly believe that it was mainly his fault that Nexus became the way he was.. that Nexus never liked him because he was awful to him..

When it's not true.. but Sun will never learn that Nexus was so worried about his well-being.. Sun will never learn that Nexus saw him as his light..

To me it seems that Sun slowly accepts that his guilt is true.. that things are his fault.. hence he has to apologize for everything others accuse him of.. because it's true..

But in reality he's doing a lot more damage to himself by accepting what Nexus told him as the truth and apologizing for it..

He actually should realize that he holds too much guilt..

But he doesn't even see that.. because he's unaware of this.. he's unaware of how much his guilt isn't normal..

I wonder how long he'll be able to act like everything is normal till he break..

But maybe Moon will realize that something is wrong with Sun.. that the guilt Sun feels isn't normal..

Maybe Moon will do something about it because he heard what Sun was talking about with Nexus in his head because he was speaking out loud as both sides..

Maybe just maybe Moon will see that something isn't okay..

You can say that I'm saying nonsense and trying to see cracks that aren't there..

But the truth is that you should feel guilty only for things that you did and realize how much they affected others.. because Sun wasn't sole reason for how Nexus turned out to be.. because when Nexus told him that one time that Sun refuses to see him as a different person Sun stopped speaking about Moon and the past..

Even if Sun was the reason to why Nexus lost it.. it wasn't because of something that Sun did actually.. it wasn't actually Sun's fault..

I think that Sun will start to feel and think that maybe he should admit that all the other things were his fault and that he should apologize for everything..

I don't see what Sun did as something 100% positive.. because he admits that everything that Nexus accused him of is true when it's not..

Sun shouldn't accept that his guilt is true because apologizing for something that isn't true won't do any good.. like Sun should say that he's sorry for not realizing how some of his words and actions affected Nexus.. but he should also say that he tried his best.. that Nexus never gave him opportunity to normally talk things out..

But he didn't do that.. Sun says that he's doing this for himself.. but he doesn't even realize anymore what is and isn't his fault actually..

Sun wasn't constantly comparing Nexus to Moon.. others were.. but not Sun..

And I think that what would help Sun more would be just getting out all of his feelings to Nexus about everything..

Maybe I misunderstood something from the episode so please correct me if I'm wrong..

I just don't think it's right that Sun just accepted all of Nexus' accusations as something true and apologized for that without saying that "hey I tried my best and I didn't make you a villain.. yes I didn't realize how my words and actions affected you for which I'm truly sorry.. but I never intended to hurt you.. and you never allowed me to explain myself.. I never felt like I could normally talk to you about all of this.."

Maybe it's just me.. but I think that how Sun went about it won't help him in the long run and sooner or later he'll have a mental breakdown because his immense guilt will crush him..

[cosmos-fudge]

joy, bug/spider pictures be upon thee

[i-hate-viktor]

This is probably gonna be a lot of yap

Before anyone replies or whatever I'm legit just stating my opinion it ain't that deep im not trying to argue or get mad at anyone, i respect op's opinions and everyone else's opinions and whatnot.

I was diagnosed with conduct disorder when I was younger blah blah all that shit I find it really annoying whenever these 13 year olds claim to have aspd

9 times out of 10 you need a conduct disorder diagnosis to be diagnosed with aspd, and even then, you can't be diagnosed til you're 18 + sometimes people grow out of it with age and maturity. I really can't tell if I'll grow out of it before I turn 18, but it just pmo when someone says they have a certain disorder

Aspd is very complex and it often just get waters down to "heh I commit crimes and be mean and manipulative to people". Which is all wrong. In fact, usually, people with aspd would *hide* those parts of them

Yes, aspd is common. For adults. Not edgy 13 year olds that think they gonna be the next columbine.

For did, I think these people are either:

A) faking lol

B) genuinely thinking they have did but it's probably something else like psychosis.

Another common pattern I see is the lanzastans always having schizophrenia or something.

"heh.... the government is after me...:) the FBI is going to kill me...:)))" lil bro nobody want you not even the FBI LMFAO

BPD Im really unsure about tbf

On one hand, it can just be hormones that these people are mistaking for bpd, or just that it's more common than youd think it is (correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't done my bpd research in like a year)

Another thing, its not ***just*** the TCC that has this issue. Ive been in other communities that also have this issue, im pretty sure this would exist in just about every community. Whether its with the same disorders, or different ones. People are mentally ill and people just wanna be mentally ill

Anyways, in conclusion, people are just edgy, but, sometimes, people actually have those issues and because they are mentally ill they will sympathize with other mentally ill people (whether it be with people inside of this community or the criminals themselves). Mental illness is different for everyone and people will experience different things and will make mistakes, it's a human thing.

Though if they're purposely trying to pretend to be mentally ill for attention or something then they're just lame lol plain and simple

I also believe that you shouldn't straight up claim you have a mental illness if you have no diagnosis or whatnot; it's alright to think about it, but self diagnosing is not the best idea; you can become biased to yourself which blurs the lines of "do I or dont i have this mental illness"

If im wrong with any of this im sorry please correct me im vad at expressing my thoughts haha

Thank you for listening to my podcast I'll see you guys next episode

Noticed that Alot of the people in the tcc have ASPD , DID and sometimes BPD .

[unclewaynemunson]

Eddie loves calling Steve all kinds of Hebrew pet names. In the beginning, Steve doesn't understand what any of them mean, but the love in the way Eddie pronounces the words is so clear that it makes him melt every single time. As he starts learning more Hebrew, he starts using Hebrew pet names for Eddie too.

While Eddie loves using a wide variety of pet names, his favorite will always be neshama sheli (נשמה שלי), which literally translates to "my soul." He loves it because of how poetic it is, and it's a safe way to tell Steve how much he loves him when it's still too scary to say those things in English. Because it rolls off his tongue so beautifully, it soon evolves into something natural to call Steve.

Steve, on the other hand, starts out sticking to a simple ahuvi (אהובי - my love). Learning the language doesn't come easy to him, but as he grows more confident incorporating some Hebrew words and phrases in his vocabulary, he starts to love calling Eddie ugiya sheli (עוגייה שלי - my cookie). He learned that one from Wayne as a joke; Eddie pretends to hate it, but Steve and Wayne both know better.

[meistwentyinchheels]

having many thoughts about percy (he drives me insane) idk what the kf devs put into this man, but i swear i'm addicted. like the more i learn about him the more obsessed i become,,,i think i'm mentally ill

anyways since i think a lot about him (and my kf mc, may. might actually drop a lore post on her at some point) i will now be sharing some of those thoughts. also have a strong feeling this post is gonna end up pretty long just as a heads up lmfao

also a lot of this is just speculation on my part and me trying my best to analyze the little amount of information we have as of the moment. just as a disclaimer, anyways!

out of the three love interests i genuinely think percy might be the angstiest route for the following reasons (under the cut):

like first off, the devs have mentioned in the past that one of the routes will have a forced breakup to serve the greater narrative (this was mentioned a really long time ago tho so it might've been subject to change, but since we have nothing that proves otherwise i am running with it.) and i do not believe in any way that it could be elio,,,unless the devs decide to throw us a curveball lmao jamie is still an option and he was my first thought when i found out about the breakup route, butttt i doubt it'd be him. so from process of elimination that only leaves percy. he's also the only one out of the lis that has been in relationships before and judging from past asks i'm assumingggg that those past experiences most likely still affect him.

second, every single mention of his family has been vague at best and there's been ZERO mention of his mother. in the asks only his dad has ever been mentioned and also in the studying event if u go off with percy and elio, go to check out the polo club and choose to stay back with percy he'll mention that he moved to the states with his dad. normally people would mention both parents, but percy didn't so it's likely his parents divorced at some point? also i had a whole ass supposedly sound argument here, but it got disproven bc apparently his step-dad also came with them to the states??? like yes it does still prove that his parents r divorced, but it can also imply he has 2 dads. that's so funny i love it. okay moving onto my actual point!!! since percy is a child of divorce it's likely also affected his view of love and romantic relationships. possibly in a skewed way, but who knows so that does add to the angst factor QUITE a bit

finally, percy's avoidant and deferring nature. during the festival event if you split up and then go to check out the festival games you end up running into percy, which is when the game tells you that he tends to defer to what others want and seems to be perkier exploring the games by himself. there's also a few occasions in-game where if the mc tries to ask percy about himself he tends to either A. brush the topic off or B. push the attention onto someone else (usually elio?). so i'd assume that he dislikes talking about himself? which would mean it would take him a good while to open up. which isn't inherently a bad thing, but it can also cause communication issues so. sigh.

is this flimsy evidence? yes! but do i care? no! also i would do a deeper dive into this if i was actually good at analyzing character behaviors,,,and if not for the fact that at the time i'm writing this it's 1am on a school night. there's also so many other things i could have talked about!!! like his name!!! maybe some other day. so like. do with all this information what you will. bc i certainly will!!! i have so many ideas!! many angsty notes!!! be prepared.

[arscorpii]

episode 12 / episode 34

episode 12 / episode 37

there were several similarities i noted between the two episodes (12 and 34):

within the specific scenes: both touga and akio reached out and touched utena's left hand with their left hands, but touga covered her hand with his, while akio took her hand into his. in episode 12, utena and touga were accompanied by anthy and wakaba (during the day, out in the open cafeteria), while in episode 34, utena and akio were alone in akio's room (during the night); anthy was aware of it, but she was in her and utena's room and couldn't do much about the matter. anthy also couldn't do much for utena in episode 12 due to the rules of the rose seal (she was engaged to touga). also, the two scenes in episodes 12 and 34 took place after very tragic incidents happened to utena: losing the duel to touga, and consequently, losing anthy as her rose bride versus akio raping her (unarguably even more tragic).

correlation with utena's sense of self: in episode 12, utena tried (and succeeded) to take back who she was via a rematch (losing to touga made her doubt who she was as a person). who utena was as a person at this point may be referring to the role of a prince that she was able to truly embody due to her engagement to the rose bride (e.g., utena saving anthy in episode 3 from anthy's dress incident and then dancing together, utena saving anthy who was trapped in a coffin in episode 9). or, more like how the engagement with the rose bride allowed utena to be more/most like herself, one of which would be largely comprised of the princely ideals she adopted/learned and idealised (as told in her monologue of meeting the prince; utena also said she wanted to be a noble prince who saves princesses in episode 1) (i'm not sure for this part).

in episode 34, we learned the real reason utena had the rose crest ring, the real reason utena wanted to become a prince: to save a little girl suffering a fate worse than death. ultimately, in both situations (episodes 12 and 34), anthy influenced utena's sense of self, to an extent. regarding the prince, taking into account the context of episode 11, i'm quite sure utena still believed that touga was her prince in episode 12. meanwhile, episode 34 gave us (more) indisputable confirmation that akio was the prince that utena met in her past (this fact was heavily hinted at since episode 25). however, i don't think utena made the connection yet at that point. nevertheless, as a whole, in both situations, touga and akio were framed as utena's prince (to utena [episode 12] versus to the audience [episode 34]).

a common conflict/theme underlying both scenes was the pressure of conforming to ideal gender identities and presentations. this was evident in the scene with touga (complimenting utena's girl uniform and asking her out). however, it's infinitely more severe with akio because he was actively grooming utena to that end; some events of this episode were just parts of the long process (in the specific scene: asking if they're friends, mentioning that she didn't take off her ring "that night," trying to kiss her). in addition, the visuals of both touga and akio somewhat covering utena's rose crest ring with their hand gestures could be seen as analogous to them trying to suppress/diminish her princely ideals/role (touga said that losing the duel gave utena a chance at being a normal girl; he then actively tried persuading utena to this end, i.e., the compliment on the uniform and the ask for a date. moreover, touga critised utena for not knowing about the true power of the rose bride when she "fancied herself as anthy's prince." also, to reiterate: akio brought up the fact that utena didn't take off her ring when he raped her while stroking the ring; he expected that that event would be sufficient for utena to take it off [give up the role of the prince]).

i think episode 12 is an interesting foreshadowing/parallelism of some kind for later events in the final arc, with regard to utena/touga/anthy and utena/akio/anthy dynamics.

[statementlou]

https://www.tumblr.com/louisupdates/754934426217152513/goodbye-faith-in-the-future-world-tour-272024?source=share

did he or did he not lose fans then?

I will answer this because this anon actually brings a concrete question to the table rather than just "hurhur but you're a larrie??" (tell me you can't actually refute any of our points…). Anyway this post shows the decrease in Louis instagram followers between the screenshots taken directly after the release of Faith in the Future in Nov '22, when he changed his bio to promote that album and the tour tickets, and now, when he changed it again to mention the current release. But I'm putting that response under a cut because I'm tired of the actual POINT of all this nonsense getting lost in a sea of made up things people insist are important:

There is no rational argument you can make to say that Louis has less fans now than he did 2, 4, or 6 years ago. You don't need a spreadsheet of details you need to USE YOUR EYES! He has gone from filling theaters to filling arenas and stadiums. His second album made a higher chart position than his first album. His festival has doubled in size EVERY year of its existence. And for that matter: his insta post engagement numbers remain about the same (despite the fact that older posts should have way MORE likes due to having been there longer, even aside from follower counts.) SO WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT HIS INSTA FOLLOWER NUMBER???? Serious question: what does the word "fans" mean if these things aren't what matters? ALL of this quibbling about what he should do to make things better and people can't even see that THINGS AREN'T BAD.

Anyway to address the specific question- (con't......)

NO- HE DID NOT LOSE FANS. HE LOST SOME INSTA FOLLOWERS. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. As I said above, literally what does it mean to lose fans if that number change coincides with him having higher sales, more audience members, and higher engagement than ever before? Whatever he lost ISN'T FANS. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor was something like a bot purge, but also yes: I'm sure a lot of casuals followed him around the time of his big album release and later unfollowed him. That's extremely normal because that's how casual engagement works, and why the definition of fan really matters. Louis and his team understand this and have referenced it repeatedly, talking about how lucky he is to have *us* specifically, to have the kind of dedicated fanbase he has, to have the KIND of fans he does who will allow him to do what HE wants. @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram named the issue of depth vs breadth with regard to fans a long time ago, and pointed out why having DEPTH is so much more important. It's like this- artists who are on top 40 radio have more numbers on things like insta follows, and for a time on sales and tickets. But those aren't FANS- they're people with a casual interest. And as soon as that person isn't being forced in their ears 10x a day, those people lose interest and stop supporting them, stop buying stuff and unfollow, and those artists end up doing the 'opener on the jingle ball' circuit rather than their own tours. One Direction as a whole, and Louis maybe most of all or near to at this point, have something MUCH MORE VALUABLE than that- DEPTH FANS. Louis has fans who will support him even if he takes years to release music, or stops parading around with a pretend girlfriend to stay in the headlines at least once a month, or completely changes his image and genre, and that is UNHEARD OF. It's ASTONISHING and worth SO MUCH MORE. And they get that! THAT is why he always bragging about us, why industry people he works with are always so agog about us, why he will do anything for US- not for randos. He is also growing his breadth- and it's OBVIOUSLY WORKING whatever his follower counts are, but that is always going to be secondary to doing things for THE FANDOM because that is his sustainable business model. That is what keeps him onstage and reaching number one. And not coincidentally, the things they do are also working to grow that- much more valuable- commodity. So the fact that that's exactly what these chuckleheads complain about- that he does things that are just fandom facing or serving rather than everything being aimed at recruiting casual fans- does nothing but betray how completely they, unlike Louis and his team, misunderstand the actual drivers of his (actual, existing, happening) success. Luckily for Louis, he and his team rely on their own data harvesting (they do a LOT of it) and growth metrics (they're off the charts) rather than the smug assumptions of random (mostly quite new to this) fans and the few bitter people leading the complaining about everything Louis does.

[bardiclad]

In Mumbo’s most recent video on building a pyramid, there is a hieroglyphics transition card for chapter 7.

The translation: “I’m aktually swa akskitad right nwau” or “I’m actually so excited right now”

Or at least this is the best translation I could find and it’s really interesting because hieroglyphics don’t translate perfectly into english. Several of our letters are either missing or replaced by combos of hieroglyphs (and the reverse stands true). Intriguingly, several of the hieroglyphs Mumbo used are backwards, seemingly where the spelling wouldn’t line up with english so he instead used the closest phoenetic equivalent.

I’m no expert in hieroglyphics (only a passing interest) and there’s a high chance I’ve made errors but either way this is really cool and I’m impressed with Mumbo

[plasky]

Random hcs about metag(s) because I'm bored:

- Cobs started to create them after/around Hatching the Plan and or midway/late S3

- There's like at least 10 of them and they work as meeples personal guards after the last few mephones failed by literally being touched and dying immediately

- They also just perform tasks around meeple headquarters which has led to multiple people getting fired because cobs is greedy and doesn't like paying his employees

- I would imagine they would be like mepad in the sort of way where they lack/have lesser emotions, and go with logic, programming, and what they're taught rather than following what would be considered "right" in a sense. (Basically they follow what's right to them)

- ALSO because of that I would imagine in the right conditions a metag could side against Cobs (or really anyone) if raised in a holistically different environment

- They often stay in numbers as to not immediately get their crap rocked from being like 3ft tall (think of like the rubies from Steven Universe they rely in numbers)

[adhd-merlin]

0:43 "firsht" 😭😭😭

[spirithunter-deathmark]

I've understandably seen a lot of confusion and concern about the changed released date of death mark chapter 7, and that's totally fine! I've been cautiously optimistic as well since the dlc was announced but here's some things to hopefully put things into perspective

-We can never know for sure when the start time of chapter 7 actually was, but death mark 2 released in Japan in December of 2022 even if development didn't start right away for chapter 7 that's still give or take 2 years of dev time for a roughly 3 hour game sequence using assets and an engine familiar with them since its running off the first game

-Being a crowdfunded game aside, death mark 2 had a lot of delays before it finally got released so I believe if the dlc really was in a bad or rushed state EXP wouldn't release it I would hope. I mean the fact that this dlc is also on the switch means they're not divinding attention away from chapter 7 to work on a different version of it so that's something

-Again I can't say what went on behind the scenes or what numbers they were projecting to achieve with death mark 2, but sale numbers for it were...pretty low. And from what I remember at time of release Japanese Death Mark fans were pretty let down by it lol so not to sound cynical by why make more content for the series if the last project within it didn't produce results? Plus to coincide with chapter 7 death mark 1 is going on sale for extremely cheap, and it that's not a way to get some goodwill from fans I'm not sure what is and if it was rushed it would defeat the purpose of all of it

[synestheticdragon]

Tsukiuta's alternate world of "Zanshin".

A dark, post-apocalyptic, action video game world, where soldiers fight literally heart to heart and blade to blade to try to retake the world overrun by monsters.

"Zanshin" (Japanese: 残心) is a state of awareness; of relaxed alertness, in Japanese martial arts. A literal translation of zanshin is "remaining mind". (by Harupedia wikipedia)

Having *just* realized that the Kanji for the title and for the martial arts philosophy are different, I started investigating.

The title "斬心" can also be read as "Zanshin" and translates to "slashing heart".

Very fitting for a world where their swords are literally imbued with their hearts.

Awesome, I thought, two perfectly fitting meanings in one.

Then I found the kanji "慙"

When the kanji are combined like this the meaning becomes "shame", to blame oneself for not being virtuous; to blame oneself for not being correct.

Which is. Another whole central theme of the stage play. Regret, shame, desperation, sacrifice, one's heart being one's greatest weapon and greatest weakness.

Three ways to read three different meanings. In JUST the title. This is why I love Tsukiuta world building