#the lore here its insane its hard to explain

[blondeaxolotl]

Swap au except only two characters are swapped, can you guess who and who

Can't forget the bonus doodles:

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard info compilation Post 4

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [another post]

Post is under a cut due to length.

There is a lot of information coming out right now about DA:TV from many different sources. This post is just an effort to compile as much as I can in one place, in case that helps anyone. Sources for where the information came from have been included. Where I am linking to a social media user’s post, the person is either a dev, a Dragon Age community council member or other person who has had a sneak peek at and played the game. nb, this post is more of a ‘info that came out in snippets from articles and social media posts’ collection rather than a ‘regurgitating the information on the official website or writing out what happened in the trailer/gameplay reveal’ post. The post is broken down into headings on various topics. A few points are repeated under multiple headings where relevant. Where I am speculating without a source, I have clearly demarcated this. if you notice any mistakes in this post, please tell me.

Character Creation

BioWare confirmed that even if you make your Rook a short king, the team has done work to ensure animations fit any character build [source]

"Dragon Age's character creator has seen a massive glow-up" [source]. "The volume of choices you get here are frankly insane. As Epler noted, “you could spend forever here,” and he’s not kidding." [source] The art and graphics teams spent a lot of time trying to make hair look amazing [source: the Discord]

In CC we can customise our "bulge size" [source]

Some more detail on the new lighting options to see how Rook looks like in CC when you make them: you can view them in "blazing forest sunshine versus the glare of an underground temple" [source]

"newly mobile, extra-hairy hair" [source]

Faction choice has statistical boons. For example, Shadow Dragon Rook deals extra damage to Venatori blood cultists [source]

Faction choice basically determines why Rook has been called to help in the fight against Solas [source]

All pre-determined character models in CC can be adjusted [source]

You can make a really tall dwarf if you want [source]

"Setting your previous world state is fully integrated into the character creator for Veilguard" [source: the Discord]

Inquisitor appearance will be re-created, there is no way to carry their appearance from DA:I into the game [source: the Discord]

Classes for Rook are not restricted in the sense that you can play any almost class, lineage and faction combination that you want. For example, a mage Rook can be a Crow [source: the Discord] (Fel note: it sounded like Rook cannot be a magic-wielding dwarf, even though the exception of Harding now exists) (Fel note: there is a mage Crow in one of the books)

Story and lore

Here is another article which refers to Rook as "the Rook" [source]

The story is set "9-10 years from DA:I and about 8 years from Trespasser" [source: the Discord]

They have been tracking Solas for "a while. Something else you’re gonna learn about…" [source]

The game does not use the Keep [source]

Shadow Dragon is the faction background with the most in-game reactivity (e.g. from other characters' dialogue) during the prologue section of the game, due to the fact that the prologue is in Minrathous and the Shadow Dragons are a Tevinter-based faction [source]

"I also saw a big moment after the gameplay trailer ends that I can't talk about" [source]

During the more narrative-heavy dialogue choices, "the game will also give a bit of context on what you're about to choose, but doesn't go as far as explaining the exact consequences or precisely what will happen thereafter" [source] "the game shows you how you’ll go about the choice, but it doesn’t tell you the consequence of that choice". [source]

"The game is bringing back Dragon Age 2s dialogue system, which was tone-based and resulted in its protagonist Hawke falling into one of three different personality states. You have three general tones in a conversation: kind, humorous, or aggressive, with slight variations depending on the situation" [source]

"Venatori blood cultists" [source]

"The whole game has the makings of another Suicide Mission [ME2], given that you are up against a god with the ability to collapse dimensions" [source]

"Choices and consequences". "Now, it seems you can see the effects of your choices like never before, and this time, they marry that choice with incredible visuals" [source]

In the bar when you're trying to get information in the opening, if you choose to fight it out and the barbrawl ensues, you then have to run from the pursuers in the bar [source]

A key concern of the developers when creating the environments was to make “a world worth saving" [source]

The prologue is quite linear but there are additional paths you can follow to find additional loot [source]

In the opening section of the game there is a dock which has been attacked and the soldiers that were there have been killed, "but rather than seeing this passively, we walked through the aftermath and had to interact with the scene to piece it all together" [source]

The tone of the gameplay video is a good indicator of the tone of the rest of the game [source]. On the tone: "dark fantasy" [source]. horror & gore is back along with DA's classic dark elements [source]

Tevinter Nights is a better tone indicator for the game than the original reveal/character trailer. Ghil Dirthalen: "Tevinter Nights has felt the most 'DAV' to me" [source]. The gameplay reveal video is the best indicator for the tone of the game (vs the character one) [source]. there is still messy dark shit in the game [source]

Tonally the game is closest to Tevinter Nights and DA:O [source]

Ghil Dirthalen: "[as] one of those unfortunate souls who has latched onto a media world so hard: This game is for me. For the hardcore DA lore nerds, I've been secretly screaming about things I saw for MONTHS now" [source]

The game is true to the DA stories we know and love [source]

Characters, companions, romance

You can choose to engage in companions' own storylines as you progress or ignore them entirely [source]

You will often have to make dialogue choices that will affect how your various companions treat you [source]

Neve is quick-witted [source], measured and elegant [source]

In the opening, you interact with the companions as you move through Minrathous. "your choices during these interactions will determine who goes on portions of the mission with you, along with how “pleased” they are with the answers." [source]

On Varric and Harding: "Instantly the two felt like they’d never been away and avoided the trap of being parodies or fanfiction versions of themselves" [source]

Solas' eyes were always purple hh [source] (yes!)

Gameplay, presentation, performance etc

Some enemies have additional shields that are weak to ranged attacks [source]

When asked about if the war table from DA:I returned, John Epler said "There is a table. Now, whether it works the same way as the table in the previous game..." [source]

Once you get passed a certain point in the game, it opens up dramatically, however it is not an openworld game and they wanted to make sure that all the content mattered and was a more structured, sculpted experience for the player. There is some exploration, some opportunities to get off the beaten path, and some spaces that are fairly wide [source]

The button to press to bring up the skill wheel is RB or R1 (depending on what controller you're using) [source]

"You'll also have access to two skills or spells for each of your two companions that you can command. For a more seamless, uninterrupted combat experience, you can also assign these skills to shortcuts (such as holding the left trigger and hitting the X button) to quickly use them" [source]

"The game is bringing back Dragon Age 2s dialogue system, which was tone-based and resulted in its protagonist Hawke falling into one of three different personality states. You have three general tones in a conversation: kind, humorous, or aggressive, with slight variations depending on the situation" [source]

"booting Fade demons into pits" [source]

"BioWare have revised Dragon Age's art direction to make character models a little more consistent with the series' lovely Tarot-inspired menu art. Flesh is ruddy to the point of painterly; facial features and bodily proportions are thicker and more striking, as though the characters had been cut from clay" [source]

The 3 specs for Warrior are Reaper (has lifesteal/stealing health from enemies, and other freaky powers, does big damage), Slayer (can wield the biggest blade, big swords, big damage) or Champion, which is tanky, shield-using and Paladin like [source] [source]

There are quick-recover prompts [source]

You can roll through puddles of incoming AOE [source]

There are ziplines between some levels levels [source] (Fel note: just like in As We Fly... )

There are also slidey hills to slide down between some sections [source]

There are still some Hinterland-type areas designed for exploration [source]

We can do some home base management to our home base [source] (Fel note: this refers to The Lighthouse, detail in a previous post)

Camera placement is quite zoomed out [source]

Where Rogues have 'momentum', Warriors have 'rage' and Mages 'mana'. When a warrior spends rage in the ability wheel it triggers more powerful attacks. this has been referred to as a build-and-spend mechanic. this system resource gates your use of more powerful skills and is built by getting stuck in [source]. Momentum for Rogues is built by landing hits without taking any [source]

There are big glowing environmental cues for picking up loot or replenishing health potions [source]

"Epler noted that The Veilguard will not be an open-world experience like Inquisition, and instead will have large spaces to explore with quests littered throughout. This allayed my early concerns that they would course correct too hard from the oft-maligned open areas of Inquisition" [source]

Melee and ranged attacks can be charged up [source]

It sounds like there is an option to have greater guidance on when enemies are attacking [source]

The community council gave a lot of notes on the game's art direction to BioWare (gave feedback to the devs) that they were told and shown were changed from the first reveal/character trailer, these made it into the gameplay trailer [source]

The community council asked about having an arachnophobia mode, though they can't guarantee this was implemented [source]

"You’re encouraged to explore and grind for stronger weapons and gear, so your stats and cosmetics improve the further you get into the game" (in the sense that you’ll be rewarded for hard work) [source, two]

Follower information such as cooldowns and health will be visible on the HUD [source: the Discord]

There is a "quick cast" option if you prefer not to use the wheel, should be a chorded action using a controller [source: the Discord]

On PC you can play with keyboard and mouse or controller [source: the Discord]

An accessibility option is the ability to make auto-targeting stronger or weaker depending on your preference [source: the Discord]

The game will have DLSS support at launch [source: the Discord]

Re: hard drives, the game can be played using an HDD, they would recommend an SSD though for the optimal experience [source: the Discord]

There are lots of different interface options you can play with, e.g. combat text size, opacity, when to display health bars [source: the Discord]

Other

The leak from last year or whenever it was (the one that leaked screenshots and a gif from the game) was mainly a lot of outdated stuff and didn't really represent even the early version some community council members had played [source, two]. It was not leaked by a member of the community council, but by a member of another focus group [source]

The community council were given the chance to play the game twice, once in Fall 2022 and a year later in 2023 [source]

There is no information as yet regarding when pre-orders will be open [source: the Discord]

BioWare are hoping to at the very least have the very "best of" the Discord dev Q&A featured on social media and potentially in a blog [source: the Discord]

[☕ found this post or blog interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

[misc-obeyme]

Lesson 36 spoilers below, including the locked lesson & hard lesson...

Sorry it's a little screenshot heavy but there was a lot happening in this lesson and I was having a lot of feelings. I think I screenshotted my way through the whole thing lol.

SO. MUCH. LORE.

We got so much lore!??!?!

Things I'm freaking out about:

Mephisto's whole lecture about the underworld and its rings

the fact that trains were seen as commoner's transportation 'cause they were used by demons who couldn't fly

SOLOMON (as if he wasn't hot enough) walking through all the rings of the underworld

Solomon just kinda laughing about it and then agreeing that it's really just a tourist attraction now???? THAT'S THE UNDERWORLD YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

He talks about the city of Dis which is straight up from the Divine Comedy. Does this mean Dante has been their resource all along?! That could explain Diavolo's Italian name...

Because he also talks about Minos who also made an appearance in the Divine Comedy... I'm just sayin!!

They said they're taking Lucifer to Cocytus?!? (Which is also in... you guessed it, the Divine Comedy. Where it's stated to be the home of traitors.)

Isn't that the same thing as the River of Lamentation?!?!

What're they gonna do, drown him???

Okay okay my list should have ended several bullet points ago.

(Though on that last one, if they're going full Dante, then they'll bury him in ice instead.)

ANYWAY.

Mephisto buying all those sweets for his little brother was the cutest thing ever. He needs to stop being precious. I was resisting so well and then he had to go and be a good brother and also be concerned about MC and ask if they were all right and yeah he's annoying but it's kind of endearing too....????

This whole part where he was just asking MC questions & worrying about them being hurt. STOP THAT. This is exactly the kind of thing I live for, you're doing on purpose, aren't you??

You are not supposed to care!

I warned you before to stop making me like you...

THAT'S IT. HE'S A KEEPER.

Also do you think that when they say commoners are demons that can't fly... are they saying that demons with wings are the only ones that can be nobles? Or are they saying demons with enough power to fly whether that's with wings or not? Because isn't Barbatos actually like a duke or something? Are you really gonna tell me that guy is a commoner? Even if he does work as a butler... maybe it doesn't count 'cause he can portal himself around?

But also! We know Mephisto is a noble so does this mean his demon form has wings? I thought for sure they were going to go with a tail.

BUT ALSO ALSO do the bros not count? They should all be nobles, but they clearly aren't, but they also aren't commoners? Maybe they're neither 'cause they're fallen angels? And we know three of them have tails, so...? I'M CONFUSED ABOUT HOW THIS WORKS.

Okay, sorry I'm getting off on a bit of a tangent here. There's just so much info that we suddenly got in this lesson about the world! And while I've been wanting more such stuff, I was hoping it would clarify some things not make things more confusing.

So anyway, there's a whole lot of underworld which they've mentioned before but only briefly, so it was cool to get more info on that!

Don't worry, Luci. MC has to travel through time as well as space and I don't think a trip through the underworld is going to cut it. I like it when you compliment Solomon, though.

I don't know how to tell you guys that the idea of Solomon walking through the underworld and laughing about it later makes me insane. So I'm just telling you straight out. I'm insane about it.

Are we still talking about the underworld? Because when I hear "tourist attraction" I tend to think of things like the world's largest ball of twine, not playing chess with Minos, Judge of the Damned.

That whole phone conversation with him was just so good. I know I recently wrote a whole post about him being sus and he still is because it's him, but do not misunderstand me because I love that man. I love his cute little laugh that he always does.

Then again, he's clearly terrible at lying. Good at just not saying stuff maybe, but lying directly? I'm not so sure...

So anyway, Lucifer's gonna be executed, huh? I like how both he and Mephi were like nope Diavolo is gonna fix this. They have such unwavering faith in him, it's precious.

Also, I LOVED THIS ENTIRE PART.

Lucifer saying he knows? He knows, but this is home now for him and his brothers? And then MEPHISTO coming right back with then you should understand why MC wants to go home??

I was not expecting Mephistopheles to understand and be concerned about MC wanting to go home like that. It wasn't something like yeah you should go home you're a human and don't belong here. He didn't say anything like that at all. It was just immediately like you must miss your family. Mephisto confirmed family man!

HARD LESSON: Solomon was being a complete menace. He locked Lucifer's brothers in a room??? What's he gonna make them do!? Eat his cooking?? No, he gives his cooking to people because he loves them and wants to make them happy. So it can't be that. My mind... it goes to dangerous places... why did they have to cut off the lesson without telling us what Solomon's intentions were??

...

I wouldn't mind being locked in that room with them all, though.

Please take this selection of screenshots of him being insufferable with that cute lil smile on his face.

To be fair, he's not wrong... it was pretty funny.

I CAN'T.

Also in the LOCKED LESSON: Barbatos my true love. This whole interaction was amazing. Simeon and Luke are so cute. Diavolo clearly doesn't know Lucifer super well yet and it's so adorable watching him figure it out. And now he's all like Barbatos how can I fix this? And Barb is just like sorry it's too late. LOL he's so strict.

Dadbatos mode activated.

Luke my sweet baby angel, never change!

Diavolo's sad face is so cute, I don't know how Barb ever manages to resist it. I'd just give in to everything he ever wanted all the time. I also love how he is straight up calling Barb mean lol.

They both look so serious. Cut him some slack, Barb!

And lastly, I only wish to leave you with this:

Everybody knows nobody can make tea as good as Barbatos does. Not even Lucifer.

Don't be angry, Luci. You're no Barbatos, but I'm sure your tea is delicious.

[ladymacbeths]

macbeth related posts/articles/essays masterlist

hi! here's a list of almost every single anaysis Thing I've come across in like two months of being insane about the scottish play. Most are about lady macbeth/the gender theme btw.

‘He has no children’: The centring of grief in The Show Must Go Online’s Macbeth - Gemma Allred: on the misogyny that frequently surrounds conversations around Lady Macbeth

this post by @amillionmillionvoices: Same topic as the previous one, but goes more in depth, explains ladymac’s motivations as mostly coming from love not self-serving ambition.

this post by @dukeofbookingham: also explains the prior point very prettily— that ladymac is (mostly) motivated by love, but also makes the case that many of it is guilt born from not fulfilling societal expectations

On the character of Lady Macbeth - Dr. Emil Pfundheler: paper that explains the same point made in the previous post, using the text to explain. Written in 1873 so explains gender as a dichotomy, but once you take that out, its points are very good.

Characteristics of women: moral, political, and historical - Anna Jameson: aka Why Lady Macbeth is not inherently evil— same topic and the other two, but focuses a bit on the fact that she is A Woman. Not my favorite, but worth reading I suppose. Also includes analyses of many female Shakespeare characters. It does include some very bad history in the beginning— Gruoch did not orchestrate Duncan’s murder. That’s something Hector Boece made up.

Lady Macbeth: “Infirm of purpose” (from The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare) - Joan Larsen Klein: on how she both fits and doesn’t fit the idea of a reinassance wife— doesn’t fit because she isn’t aligned to god (this read more like a Christian analysis than a feminist one if I’m being honest), but fits them because she behaves like one, only subverts them because she’s like, the evil murder girl version of the Wife. The essay right after this one is also very good.

The Hysteria of Lady Macbeth: required reading if you wanna play her Btw not kidding. Analyzes her character thru the lens of freudian psychology. Screws up the text of the play a bit but provides an actual in-depth explanation of how sonnambulism works. Note that "hysteria" is not a current psychological diagnosis, but a symptom of other conditions. Still extremely interesting.

The Macbeths - G. K. Chesterton: analysis of their relationship, makes some interesting point on the differences of the nature of their ambition and desire to kill the king

Shakespeare’s tragic frontier; the world of his final tragedies - Willard Farnham: this one is long but oh boy does it go deep. Talks about the lore of the witches, explains historical context to find out how the real events were so screwed up, makes an interesting point about Macbeth’s conscience against Lady Macbeth’s, and lastly talks about the tragic world of Macbeth compared to other tragedies.

Women’s fantasy of manhood: a Shakespearean theme - D. W. Harding: exactly what it says on the tin, using ladymac and her skewed (and I’d call romanticized) idea of what a man is that she pushes on Macbeth. So yeah, talks about the gender theme. Also talks about Goneril from Lear, Cleopatra, and Volumnia from Coriolanus and how they fit the theme— although ladymac is the only one who goes downhill from it.

Unnatural women in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth - Elizabeth Klett: I’ll be honest I didn’t love this one a lot. Basically talks about how every woman in Macbeth defies gender roles. Doesn’t go too deep however. But the book has a ton of essays analyzing female characters in classic lit.

[yonpote]

yall need to start becoming more comfortable with sliding into dms for old deleted videos and stuff like that, like check out stillarchivingdnp first or this archive and then if u still cant find something just dm someone whos been on here for years they will probably have a video saved on their hard drive SOMEWHERE (not me i have cleared out my drives lol).

i know we're all more comfortable w talking about all this and sharing information publicly when it used to be relegated exclusively to dms, but honestly i wanna encourage some of the magic of like. digging thru all the lore yourselves! like the timeline is VERY easy to find on search engines! i think what like got me DEEP IN THIS FANDOM was seeing all the absolutely insane methods of collecting and archiving everything about dnp, and unfortunately a lot of those older methods no longer exist or function, but now other people like sol and subway (and me a little i help out on stillarchiving sometimes) have taken up the torch! and its like FUN like i get why ppl were and still are so intense about it.

i'd say top resources rn are @stillarchivingdnp on here and youtube, dnparchived on neocities, and the references and q&a sections on indepthbants (although some of the photos on those are broken or youtube videos have now been deleted, there is usually text explaining what the photo was or which quote was being referenced) and ofc, search it up! use your search engine of choice and you will PROBABLY be able to find stuff if you really want to and if not, dm people! happy lore hunting :)

[imunderthegoddamnwater]

I missed the Dreamtale twins....well, my version of them atleast

Honestly I redesigned Nightmare and Dream because I hate the creator and since she throws a tantrum like a baby whenever someone makes a change in her au I use it to make her mad :]

Anyways here is a bit of lore about them:

-Dream and Nightmare arent really "a version of sans", they never been one

-Dream has some plant features in his sans form just like his Mother (he hates it lol)

-Dream uses a sans look like appearance because he doesnt wants to scare people he helps, after all, Both Dream and Nightmare are the sons of an Angel (Yes they do technicaly have a dad), and looking at an Angel like creature is hard and kind of disturbing for mortals, its not hard for their friends to look at them since their eyes have got used to it, but someone Who just met Dream or Nightmare wont be that okay with it

-Nightmare and Dream can be called she, it, he or anything else, they dont label things, That also counts for sexualities, races, genders and more, they are whatever you call them, they wont really care

-Dream and Nightmare has an older brother called "Savior" (Who looks like a papyrus)

-Dream and Nightmare hates their mom, Nim ruined Nightmare by manipulating him to do shit she's not able to do herself and also was one of the reasons for the Apple incident, Dream was neglected a lot by Nim since she was more focused on Nightmare, she was manipulative towards him as well

-Nightmare and Dream made a truce almost a decade ago, they are mostly okay with eachother (they both technicaly are good guys in their own way)

-The only thing Dream and Nightmare has in common with a sans is their love for junk food and bad puns

-Nightmare turning Dream into stone bit might not be in this au (Im not sure yet)

-Nightmare usually doesnt uses a sans disguise since he has trauma related to the incident with it, he usually uses an Undyne disguise if he needs to, Also her second favorite disguise is Asgore

-Nightmare can have a disguise but he cant hide what happened to his eye, that part stays the same

-Sometimes flowers blooms on top of Dream’s head if he's happy or frustered

-Nightmare sees his team as his kids (and talks about them like they are his kids) while Dream sees his team as friends

-Dream's best friend is İnk

-Nightmare and Dream are in good terms

-Dream and Nightmare shares a similiar hate towards mortals like their mom, but ofcourse they have expections

-Nightmare's best friends are Ccino and Abby/Abolitionist Chara

-Dream dates Fresh while Nightmare is with Reaper Sans 🤭

-Nightmare likes reading and tea

-Both Dream and Nightmare will outlive their teams :(

-Dream keeps forgetting that his friends are mortals and they need stuff like sleep and eating at times, meanwhile Nightmare was forced to learn since everyone in his castle are insane and ignores their own needs, meaning Nightmare had to learn to take care of them

-Both Nightmare and Dream are physicaly very strong

-Both Dream and Nightmare can consume rotten food without any issue, they are literal gods of Negativity and Positivity, they cant get sick that easily

-Dream is nice but he isnt weak or dumb, he also does NOT has the mind set of a child, he will kick ass if he needs to

-Both Dream and Nightmare has issues with the english launguage since some words were very different, as an example, the word gay meant "joyful" and "happy" in the past....I dont think I need to explain what kind of train wrack this cauzed

-Savior is a good older brother so both Dream and Nightmare loves him

-Both of the guardians teams did several tests behind Dream and Nightmare's backs to see if they are plants or not, neither of them find the answer yet...

-Dream and Nightmare suspects they might turn into a tree when they become older, they dont like the idea :(

Thats all that I can remember

[kalivasquezart]

Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your au about the Pioneer. Its so well thought out and just overall amazing and oh boy dont even get me started on your art— absolutely beautiful💖💕

I also am working on an au based off of Artis pups and when I found you I was like 🫢🫵 Very similar ideas 👀👀👀Also Hunter as Pioneer’s mentor is SUCH A COOL CONCEPT— Like like cause Hunters my favorite scug and the fact that you included him in your au and as Marbles’ mentor is just *squeals* but it also makes a lot of sense considering he comes a little bit after Arti and is one of the few scugs who can encounter pups in their campaign. I also wanted to ask if its okay with you if I use that idea/concept in my own au 👉👈

I was also thinking about Pioneer’s brother— Ik you said that you hc him as being dead, like officially, but I thought it would be interesting if he was still alive. I personally was inspired to let him live in my au simply because of some official art of Gorum (specifically his endings art especially the food quest one where he has a suspiciously familiar green slugpup). I was thinking something like what happened to Surv and Monk (the one-way pipe considering the fact that he kind of began to drift to the right as he sank) happened to him and Gorum found him. Idk these are just ideas Im using for my own au but thought I would share.

I just realized this is super long sorry HANDNAND I am insane and write too much

ahhhh thank you for the kind words skek YOU FLATTER ME~

[there are rain world spoilers regarding artificer's capaign below, be warned]

while my current headcanon is that the green pup died, i've been thinking very hard about it for the last week or so, and IMO there's a high chance i will retcon that. if the pipe thing is canon to Surv/Monk campaigns then i'm even more eager to adopt that idea. my only real hold-up about the pup was that we clearly see it drown in Arti's dream (the same flashing aura behaviour when you swim underwater), and if he really did drown then the only way to bring him back to life would be through karmic rebirth "last checkpoint save" kind of thing… which feels a bit cheap? a little too simple for me. i'm heavily biased here, because a while ago i read an interesting lore post of someone trying to explain why Arti's pups wouldn't "respawn" if they were killed, while Arti did. in short, the pups were too young to be bound by karma and so when they died, they died for good (reincarnated as a different creature, maybe) - but Artificer being an adult and already having experienced the urges before, was brought back. if i can, i will try to find that post again, and link it here.

ANYWAY yeah, personal AUs don't have to strictly comform to the game's canon, i keep forgetting about that. hell, i've seen people revive scav king or, i dunno, SOS from the dead, and they made it work.

speaking of my AU again, i may also have headcanon'd Arti's mate as a semi-aquatic scug (less freaky than riv tho), and so Bryn/green pup would have inherited some of those genes, making him more likely to survive the drowning. so yeah, i think i like the storytelling potential of keeping the pup alive, althought i'd have to sit down and do a proper brainstorming on what that means… when Arti and Marbles eventually reunite with their long lost other half of the family.

by the way, if you (or anyone else reading this post) wants to use my ideas in their own AU then i'm okay with that! no need to credit or anything. many people come up with similar concepts anyway, it'd be silly to try and police them on it.

[rakkuntoast]

hi i underestimated the lenght of this post but here's some q!philza rambling and thoughts about his current arc and lore cuz im kinda insane and i havent been the same person since the birdcage arc started

seeing qphil slowly but surely losing himself has been definetly something, its just an impending event that its taking too long to happen, there's gotta be some point where he breaks

cuz all this birdcage and missing eggs arc has been nothing but him feeling lost, losing his own purpose and place in the island, losing his sense of reality, he feels like a former shell of himself, always wandering around with nowhere to go or reason to BE there, yk? like he's experiencing some hard derealization symptoms its constantly affecting the way he approaches things, the way he approaches people. the empty stares when he saw the parrots or when he heard the thunder, it genuenly feels like he relapses back to that, like he lost all confidence in himself

constantly brushing off the birdcage as a dream, choosing to ignore the glaring red herrings that point into it actually happening (the weird vine, the trees, the avocado sapling, the trail of birds leading to the place, the indestructible grass, the weird blue vine, the toucans) and try to minimize whatever happened to him, not even thinking more about the feathers in his ticket... like just now he feels like he's a target, a part of something grander yet he doesnt believe that himself

ive said this before i think but qphil is one of those parents that had the least going on apart from taking care of his kids, yk? his only purpose was just to be there for his kids and be a hermit but now with them gone and no clue to where they could be he just feels hopeless and empty. like if dont grab him he'll dissapear, just something about him saying that he doesnt know where he should go anymore and that he feels so drawn to uppies now,,, just slowly starting to isolate from everyone else

is this the test quackity was talking about? is the world testing how long will phil endure the constant taunting before going insane? before choosing to isolate himself and leave everyone behind?

it feels like whatever is going on with him and now the special ticket he got is part of something more grander that his character is part of, something that somehow leads to a connection with quackity. feels like we're missing something crucial that will fit the piece that is missing with him, that explains the sudden involvement he now has and why they decided to fuck with his mind, to make him doubt himself in purpose. something that makes it so they are suddenly so interested in him

like yeah the whole bird thing is a huge possibility but why??? is he an experiment? is he patient zero of the hybrid experiments? is he a previous resident that escaped and then came back? why now focus on the whole crow hybrid thing now??? does he have a previous connection with the feds like jaiden and baghera have or is he like quackity and the feds are actively fucking with him

[omar-writes-stuff]

The Dr.Raspberry puzzle 🧩

Hello, it’s ya boy Omar, and as some of you may know I’ve been recently pulled back into the fandom by some of my moots from Twitt due to an insane, wild and incredible lore involving a writer I used to be obsessed with a few years back.

The following message is an ask I’ve sent RandomnessUnlimited, who i apologize since I do not know them personally but is supposedly the only person everyone mentioned to me from the doc that knows more about any of us regarding Dr.raspberry (?).

*** hi. Omar again 🌿 I was wondering, are you going to go into extreme detail and explain every single evidence of the Doc about Dr.Raspberry in your defense doc? Because now I'm getting really REALLY invested.

Ok so Dr.Raspberry joined on A03 in 2020 and immediately got to write Kaeloo bdsm porn at the age of 11. Then also made a Tumblr at the age of 11 in 2020 (even tho its against tumblr rules and verification methods) and the acc. stayed inactive for four years. Then after the drama started their first posts immediately started being all centered towards reblogging your copy pasted theories and announcements. Then they claimed that they knew the original creator of the Kaeloo server even tho you just said they were never in Stm and the creator themselves said they don't remember any 11 year olds (so someone must've told them, and who else knew of the OG creator aside from you?). Then they started defending you in every single post saying that they knew you and that they had "great experiences" with you and that you're a trustworthy and kind person. Then they made a huge announcement named "Attention Kaeloo fans" going into extreme and articulated detail about the "kretty fans" and to not engage with them even tho they were not even in the server but some friends simply kept them updated with everything (for absolutely no reason I guess? Plus why involve this poor random underage fan in private discord drama? Who was even texting this person and why???). Then their post blew up and got reblogged by you and all your friends (therefore you all agreed with this supposed 15 years old that popped out of nowhere and wasn't even involved in the server?). Then the doc came out and BAM, they're gone forever again (strange, I know). And now you're saying that you think it was a fake profile all along and that you don't know them??? After all the positive things they said about you and all the supposed "friends who kept them updated with the drama"? Now you think Dr.Raspberry is one of Jay's friends?? Just ask your sever members which one of them was it that kept Raspberry updated and involved them in the first place! Unless it was you that is…

Now here are the only two plausible options:

Raspberry was a poor elementary child deeply traumatized by pornography and that wandered through the fandom by themselves for years minding their own business until one day one of you guys from Stm approached them (fucking weird) and involved them into this crazy drama for apparently NO reason and told them every. single. detail. bout the story and always kept them updated and even exploited them by having them defend you all the time and write a huge warning paragraph about looking out for Kaetty fans and having to use IPs while it should've been YOUR responsibility as the ADULT and SERVER owner to take care of it (and possibly prevent this 15 years old to be dragged in this hell by god knows who for absolutely no reason, again, they were not part of Stm so why the hell were they even fighting so hard to protect the members and most of all, YOU). Way to go to exploit a child I guess

Raspberry was just a fake account made by a random adult who wanted to write Kaeloo porn. But then if that were the case then it would imply that they were friends with you and other members of the server who kept them updated with EVERYTHING all the time and even collaborated together to warn fans about the kretty chaos and hoe to change IPs. And you never denied any of their comments defending you or involving you. Result: you were actively friends with an adult who wrote extreme fetish Kaeloo porn for years. Or maybe it was just you all along, we don’t know.

The questions remain: who approached this person first? And why? Who kept them updated with every single detail of the drama that happened and WHY? If they were really a child not involved in the server, why put such massive responsability on their shoulders to warn fans and telling them to use fake IPs if the drama never even involved them to begin with and they didn't know all the members? Why didn't YOU do it since it was your responsibility as the owner and as an adult? And if you truly suspected it was an adult hiding behind a fake account since the beginning then why did you never publicly call them out for their porn? Why did you keep them around for so long and have them be friends with your server members (also minors)???

Can't wait to see the end result! I'm sure it's gonna be amazing, I've never been so invested in something so much before, it's very interesting ^^***

But of course, my question was deleted and left unanswered by Unlimited and i got called a “troll” for simply asking (wtf brother lol). My point is NOT to send hate or discrimination. I do NOT care about porn artists or writers, I do not care about who likes it or not, and I certainly don’t care about this fandom ever since the pandemic ended. All my autistic ass cares about is getting to the bottom of Dr.Raspberry’s identity, a cool writer that I really liked back in the day.

Now I’m sure if Unlimited is innocent and has nothing to hide they’ll have absolutely no problem in addressing all of this and answer all my questions in their “defense pages” (?). 🌿 However the answer to this dilemma is actually quite simple and easy to resolve: whoever originally approached Dr.Raspberry (supposedly a child) in the first place and decided to pull them into this drama (again, for absolutely no reason) should simply come forward and share screenshots proof of their chats or at least how they first met). If it’s true that Dr.Raspberry has been updated on every single specific and accurate detail about the server and the drama, about the original server creator (who’s name I don’t fucking remember, sorry) and even Unlimited’s personality and behavior by “some friends” (to the point of defending them in every single argument) then there should be absolutely no problem in finding those chats and sending even just one screenshot as proof.

This isn’t a good position for Unlimited, and anyone who has at least 5% of brain could easily tell that it just sounds like it was them all along, but again, it shouldn’t be right for me to point fingers unless I have even more solid proof, right?

So STM members: whoever of you has been in contact with Dr.Raspberry personally or has been updating them with the entire drama lore for the past month or has made them write warning posts and telling them about IPs (mind you, this is a 15 years old we’re talking about), please come forward and share proof of even one of your chats or how you originally met, to prove Unlimited’s innocence and and to prove that (supposedly) they are NOT the same person. Thank you all 🌿

PS. Shoutout to Dolls from Twitter and all the homies who managed to find me the lost bdsm fic on an Ao3 lost archive site. I have the pdf folder and in case anyone needs proof of the adult-like writing and I can easily link it in bio or share here (hiding it from the tag ofc).

⚠️ I do not believe in bullying, harassing, threatening and discriminating. Anyone who dares insult Unlimited or my friends from Twitter or the creators of the doc will be blocked instantly. I’m just a dude asking questions out of curiosity, if you believe my well-justified interest counts as a form of “trolling” or “harassment” then you’re definitely hiding something or are part of the problem. I do not hate against nsfw writers or artists, I do not reinforce the idea of shaming strangers online or judging others for their actions or beliefs. I just ask for somebody to shed light on this dilemma and help me find the real identity of a writer I used to look up to. Be free and have fun, Mashallah, goodbye ⚠️

[stargazinglesbian]

HEY wanna hear my insane derranged ramblings abt my ocs???? YOU DO??????? well, its below the cut so u know what 2 do

{divider credits here}

{picrew credits here}

ok so, im gonna skip over the worldbuilding (because i... haven't done it) but i have some basics mapped out and my ocs. it's a self contained superhero universe, but slightly more magic than sci-fi. the basic concept is that there is, like, magic called arcana, and it sometimes affects humans and gives them powers. they've been around for AGES, for a while everyone like really loved em, and then a bunch were killed off, and now in the modern day (by modern day i mean 2019, don't ask why) theyre still pretty oppressed, but there aren't as many super blatant laws affecting them, and people r starting to respect them a lot more and treat them normally.

arcana doesn't just give humans powers, but also affects them physically. this is basically just because the arcana changes peoples body as a way to make channeling their powers easier, so their physical changes and powers are often interlinked. for example, if someone had powers over water, theyre probably like. a fish.

i have 8 ocs in this universe, all apart of the same superhero idea. they operate out of a city that i'm still figuring out the lore of, but the basic idea of it is that it's a fairly progressive area with a government that has made a tentative agreement with the team to let them operate within the city.

SO, now onto the ocs!!! i'll just be saying their names (both hero and civillian), pronouns, age, explaining their powers and showing a picrew i did of them, but i do have a lot more details worked out :333

the characters are a lot more inhuman, but the picrew didn't have all of the stuff i needed, soooo you'll have to use ur imagination a little

Bianca Madeline Moore, she/her, 25

hero name: Circe

Bianca can channel arcana physically, which takes the form of a pink glow/beam around her body. When normal humans encounter this glow their bodies can't take the energy, and they become incredibly weak, feverish and ill. When other magic people (i need to come up with an official name for them thats so lame) come into contact with it they basically get a power up, and she uses it a lot during missions to either help or friends or blast rubble out of the way.

physically, Bianca is also, like, a cat. cat ears, cat nose, cat eyes, cat tail, the whole shebang. in universe this is because cats are more susceptible to arcana than normal humans, thus making it easier to control her powers if she's part cat. personally, i just wanted her to be a catgirl. what can i say, i'm a simple person.

2. Ajamukhi Kumar, she/her, 24

no hero name, she has a very public identity and only goes by Ajamukhi

Ajamukhi probably has my favourite power out of all the ones i came up with, i think its really versatile! the basic run down of it is she has shadow manipulation, she can move em around, grab people with em, you know the deal, but she uses it in a lot of unconventional ways. For example, if she's standing in a dark building, she can use her shadows to figure out where literally all the hallways are, and where certain objects are too. She can also use it for stealth as well, obviously.

the way that this physically affects her is basically a shadowy gradient, from the elbow and knee down her limbs become made of this shadow esque substance, which she can also manipulate with her powers. she commonly turns these into weapons, or tools she may need, but theyre also still apart of her body and can in fact get damaged, although they tend to heal faster than the rest of her.

3. Danielle Esther Rose, she/they, 28

hero name: The Shatter (but everyone just calls them 'shatter' :((()

danielles abilities are pretty basic- she has the power of illusions, and they're also invisible. Her illusions themselves are slightly complex, for example they only target the brains of people around them, and they don't show up on camera. if they focus hard enough, they can make sure only specific people are being targeted by her abilities, but that takes a lot of effort.

mini rant incoming but i hate the trope of invisible character loves to be naked all the time, its weird and gross and bad. danielle loves dressing up and wearing gloves and hats so their friends always know where they are (may or may not have anything to do with their intense abandoment and neglect issues).

anyway, rant over, when danielle wants to go out in public without being clocked as 'the invisible hero' they project an illusion form onto themself. most of the time illusions like that would be more complex and straining for her, but because even though theyre invisible she's still, physically, there, it's more like painting a 3d model than sculpting from scratch, and it's a bit easier on them. they base the illusion on their parents, so she ends up looking eerily similar to their mother when they stand side by side. Most of the time, they're fully invisible though.

(picrew showing her projected illusion form)

4. Josephine Chanel (soon to be Weber, she's engaged), she/her, 25

hero name: Photon

Josephine has super speed, but with some of my own (as well as my friends) flair. She can move incredibly fast, which is basically a prerequisite for super speed, but can't really... control it, if that makes sense. my friend (@opticblast1963) and i were talking about how in movies and comics and shows they always portray superspeed as slowing the world around them, while they walk normally, and we agreed it would be funny to have a speedster who didnt do that. so, Josephine basically runs super fucking fast, and she can barely control it, because she is also processing everything at the same speed everyone else is. she doesnt tend to use her ability to its fullest for this reason, as well as it contributing to how awkward she often feels.

she has long as fuck legs, like theyre massive, as well as super large feet. Josephine is fairly insecure about this- she often feels awkward, and weird, and ashamed, but her friends are really good at helping her feel more confident.

5. Qī Wěi Zé, they/it, 19

hero name: Hubba Bubba

Wěi Zé is another one of my favourite powers, and one i like actually want irl. they can basically generate gum. that's it. it's more useful than u think i promise. Wěi Zé can basically create like a fuckton of gum whenever it wants, and they often use that to capture villains, stick shit together, or like create massive bubbles that can be used for a lot of stuff. its stupid, but i love it.

also, the gum is grape flavoured

Physically, they don't have any bones. no teeth, no ribs, no spine, no nothing, theyre replaced by this weird, pliable material (except for teeth, theyre just gone). they're like double jointed and can basically move ina bunch of weird freaky ways, which does cause it mobility issues. it's mostly been ok with handwaving these for most of their life, but when they met Bianca the two had a more in depth conversation about mobility aids, and it's started using crutches when they need them. they also often wear dentures, but not always

6. Talia Sami, she/her, 26

hero name: Boombox

I also really love talias power, as well as talia in general. she can basically make anything she touches instantly combustible and blow it sky high. she generally uses this for diversions or break ins, and tends to be really cagey when it comes to actual fights, mostly because she gets freaked at the idea of what her powers could do to a person (which relates to some other stuff i'm still workin out)

she's also always on fire. well, not always. Talias body temperature runs incredibly hot, her skin can actually burn people sometimes, and it's generally affected by her emotions. when she's particularly emotional, whether that be because she's happy, or angry, or miserable, she literally catches on fire. not in a dramatic, big bang way, but in a 'her whole skin is covered in a layer of flames' kind of way. before she joined up with the team clothing was a massive problem for her, she often had to try and restrain her emotions as much as possible, but Danielle helped her design some clothes that were flame retardant, and she's started being freer when it comes to expressing herself.

7. Joseph Borden, he/him, 42

hero name: Goliath

Joseph has psychometry, which in case youre not familiar is the ability to read somethings past/history via touch. his in particular is a bit more advanced, where if an object has a particular emotional connection to a person he can also read into them specifically, even stuff that happened since they parted with the object. if the connection is strong enough and he works on it for long enough he can pinpoint a persons location

just like how Bianca is a cat, Joseph is basically a frog. i thought this would be an interesting one because of the way frogs absorb water through their skin, like how josephs psychometry works. it doesn't go much deeper than that, but he does have a cool tongue and no one likes to watch him when he eats bc of how weird his eyeballs look when he swallows.

8. Hail Valentine, she/he, 22

hero name: Sublimation

hails is definittely the power i have trouble explaining the most. she was the last one i came up with, and it took me ages but i finally figured it out when one my friends made a joke abt walking on water. the best way i can describe it is that he can make the choice to interact with the world in anyway she wants regardless of the state of matter. thats a bad explanation. i'll just gives some examples. Hail can move through water and walls effortlessly as though they were made up of gas, or walk on water or through the air, stuff like that. he basically just makes the rules. this does mean that she has a harder time interacting with individual objects like chairs, and sometimes even food, but it's really useful for missions.

her physical powers are pretty simple, he basically just kind of changes state of matter sometimes. not fully, but her skin will be dripping or melting, or maybe his hair will be barely there, or on bad days his entire face would just be gas. it varies, but she's basically never solid.

Also, some more information relationships wise- Bianca and Ajamukhi are a couple, although it takes them a while to get there. Josephine and Bianca used to be in love with each other when they were 15, but now Josie is engaged to a guy named Lucas and they' really happy. Wěi Zé has a boyfriend named Ethan as well.

Wěi Zé and Bianca are really close. Wěi Zé likes to make jokes abt their similarities (eg haircuts, mobility aids, etc) and its a kind of sibling esque relationship (which brings in more angst when it comes to Bianca and her older brother Ciro, who i am resolutely NOT talking abt in this post because its already massive)

Josephine and Bianca are best friends, and Talia, Hail, and Danielle are pretty close knit as well.

and josephs relationship with everyone is. weird. he's weird.

rank wise josephine is the leader, joseph tends to handle detective work, danielle likes to hang in the lab more often, and hail and ajamukhi are often put in charge of stealth missions. the others fluctuate fairly often in their roles.

thats all i have for today, but please if you're interested in these guys shoot me an ask i want to ramble sooooooooooooooooooo much its not even funny. im obsessed with them. i cant stop thinking about them. i am going to implode.

im gonna be tagging all my content abt them with av btw:33

@punkeropercyjackson it is a LONG ASS POST feel free to not read the whole thing, but heres the tag you asked for :33

[waveridden]

okay I'll bite. what's the deal with the life series. what's the lore. what's your favorite thing about it. I wanna understand the Posts

huge win for the me community let's go. okay. idk your minecraft knowledge level so i am going to explain as though it's zero bc mine was basically zero when i started watching.

so. the life series (also known as 3rd life, bc that's the first season) is a minecraft survival multiplayer series, which essentially means it's a server where you can die. in fact, it is a death game! everyone on the server has three lives; if you die three times, you're out of the series. your goal is to be the last one standing. additionally, when you're down to your last life, you are expected and honor-bound to engage in pvp and ruin your alliances. your goal is Murder.

there are five seasons out right now with different gimmicks, each one has the same core cast with some changes - essentially it's a bunch of friends who will take any excuse to kill each other, but with increasingly weird and complex political factions and interpersonal dynamics. people are out here swearing fealty. there are betrayals. there are team banners. there's a season where they build a complex net of paths in the sky and drop tnt on one another.

it's one of those things where there is some lore/plot and you can take it as seriously or not-seriously as you want! yay! i for one love to go the "let's take this to its logical horrifying conclusion" route but some people are here for the sillies and that's good too. the fanart game is insane, people are making renaissance paintings and stuff.

anyways, this explanation is a mess, so i will go on to reccing povs, because there are ~15 people in each season and they're all posting videos and that can get overwhelming! there's not really a "right" order but when i started, @charaznablescanontoyota gave me the excellent advice of "start with the winner of each season and then whenever you're curious about something watch that next" - if you like that route and don't mind knowing who wins,

er4df444444444444 sorry that's my cat. he's been watching along with me. he has a lot of opinions.

anyways here's the list of winners, the wiki is a pretty good reference to have on hand. HOWEVER. i will also add that everyone has a different style! some people edit things very short, some people do long videos, some people are builders and some are very into the roleplay - i bounced pretty hard off the first pov i watched but switching to someone else worked for me, so in a way having so many options is great bc it means you can shop around, so to speak.

and i will close this out with a few of my personal favorite seasons! just for funsies.

inthelittlewood 3rd life (s1) - probably my personal fave. in which an early game alliance becomes an intensely charged king/knight relationship that they both take WAY too seriously (honorific)

smallishbeans last life (s2) - have you ever wanted to watch someone do a very, very bad job at murdering a lot of people?

pearlescentmoon double life (s3) - in a season where everyone has canonical soulmates, pearl ends up the odd woman out because her soulmate doesn't want to be with her. it is an insane and compelling character arc

ldshadowlady secret life (s5) - diversity win! this woman is so so bad at "what if minecraft were taskmaster"

and as a side note i tend to prefer the tightly edited stuff, so if you know that you Do Not prefer that, i would point you towards ethoslab secret life or grian 3rd life! or tbh still towards pearl double life.

[enlighten3d]

Helloo kenadian mutual :33 !! I was wondering if you could give an explanation of the unstable universe smp thingy, cause I want to get into it ! (Mainly cause I heard kenadian appears at some point!) /nf

AAHAHHA hihihiii [: im normal i swear !! hello !!

okay so. quick breakdown. unstable universe is a Scripted server that has three povs + big storylines going on. parrot has a pov, wemmbu does, and so does spoke. theyre all rly fucking long (the videos are mostly 3-4 hours, be warned).

if youreee here for the ken content, then watch parrots pov ! ken shows up in the third video, and then the 6th video is About Them (narratively), and. ik theyre in the 7th, but i havent seen that one yet. theyre all long as fuck, so. its alright to just start w the, idk, proton video (parrots 6th uu video) if youre there for ken. youd be missing a lot of lore + context, but. theyre made to be able to be viewed as standalones, and you can go back and watch the other videos if you get invested.

its. rly hard to summarise uu. because the storyline at the start (where theres duping and glitches and theyre trying to fix the server) gets abandoned almost immediately and just. branches off into a bunch of shit. i dont think parrot even has a big Goal like wemmbu does? theres lots of character development, but. i guess his goal is to keep the server safe. i guess. whatever. its a big story, theyre telling a story. each video can be viewed as a standalone bcs its a singular arc in the bigger story. most of the context is provided.

trust me tho, if you watch parrots pov of uu you will be insane abt odyssey duo (parrot and wifies), theyre. theres a lot of lore. its so hard to explain. without spoilers and a long fucking rant sdjhkfglsdf

but yeah tldr if youre there for ken, then start with the proton video i guess? watch parrots pov. thats sure to get you invested. but i was there for ken + wifies and i started All The Way From The Start (playlist of ALL the uu videos btw), and i am deeply invested nods

anywhoozle sry this is long, i am extremely not okay about uu ^^ i hope this is good enough?? im not good at this lmao. PLEASE ask if youve got Questions

(the titles of the videos are a bit stupid but thats for the Algorithm, trust me the story is so fucking good)

[animentality]

I’ve seen some of your posts about Star Trek, and decided that I want to start watching it. Where do you think I should start?

Oh BOY.

See, this is a fascinating question. Technically, there are several places you could hop in. I will give you the pros and cons of each.

The short answer is honestly The Next Generation (TNG) or Deep Space Nine (DS9).

TNG is on the edge of accessible and non-accessible. It's a little dated, but still stands up well to the test of time. Its stories are self-contained and often don't need context from the greater world or previous episodes. It's thoughtful and optimistic about the human condition and highly intelligent.

But DS9 is easier for the modern TV watcher to start with, because it's more realistic, grounded, and it fleshes out its characters and their interpersonal dramas more.

It's also this clean mix between episodic and more serialized, so you'll get the fun and outstanding standalone episodes, like TNG's greatest hits, but mixed in with a fascinating overarching narrative, which will have a lot of fun space battles and space politics and something you can really sit down and get invested in.

so I'm biased to DS9, as you can tell.

But I concede to TNG too.

That's my short answer.

I'll also give you my short answer proposed order too:

DS9 or TNG first

Then watch DS9 or TNG, depending on which one you picked to watch firrst.

Followed by VOY.

You don't have to watch TOS, but if you're invested by that point, it might be fun.

Then skip ENT.

And from there, you get into modern Trek.

I'd give Discovery a try, because it's definitely high octane, easy for a modern viewer to get into.

But skip Picard, which is just...awful.

Then definitely watch Lower Decks, which is really fun.

Then check out Strange New Worlds, which is pretty good.

That's my short proposed order.

But if you care...here is my LONG answer, where I explain the pros and cons of starting at different spots.

TOS: The BEGINNING.

The Original Series, commonly shorted to TOS by fans.

Pros: This is the literal beginning of it all. If you wanted to really get into the lore of Star Trek and be this mega nerd who has a strong opinion about every following Star Trek interpretation, and get your nerd credentials, then this is a good place to start. Plus, some people don't mind the "oldness" of it, because it's simple, it's silly, and it's fun. The characters themselves are fun, and memorable. The episode plots range from ridiculous and batshit insane to thoughtful and somber and philosophical. You get to watch the OGs, Spock and Kirk and Uhura and Scotty and Bones, who are all iconic in their own way. It's also a nice little ensemble of goofballs, and you'll get to understand and appreciate the silly little TOS memes. Plus, I personally find it iconic how the TOS fandom is still going strong...after literally fifty seven years. That's icon status, baby.

Cons: IT REALLY IS VERY OLD. And kind of hard to get into, if you're not looking to watch a show that is VERY dated. I fully admit that I haven't re-watched TOS much. It's just not everyone's cup of tea, you know? It has its great moments, but I very rarely recommend TOS to people because I don't want to scare them off from Star Trek! So I wouldn't recommend starting here. Maybe watch it later, after other series, to get a well rounded view of the world, but TOS is sort of an odd place to start for the modern TV watcher. Ironically.

TNG: The SUCCESSOR

The Next Generation, commonly shortened to TNG.

Pros: TNG is iconic in its own way. It has its own memorable crew of Jean Luc Picard, William Riker, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge, Beverly Crusher, Worf, our best robot boy Data. It has aged much better than TOS, with a greater number of standalone episodes and thought provoking plots. It has some of the most brilliant non-serialized writing of all time, with great social and political commentary that hadn't ever been discussed in TV at that point, and honestly aren't even being discussed now. Its highs are peak Star Trek, with some of the most intelligent analysis of what it means to be an evolved human being ever created for television. It takes a serious look at many aspects of humanity through the lens of "alien" troubles, and its philosophical ramblings are deep, rich, and often thickly layered. That being said...

Cons: It's highly episodic, so you won't find yourself really "gripped" by one single or even multiple plot threads. If you don't like non-serialized stories, then well, most of the stories are designed to be enjoyed without the context of the rest of them. Also, some of it is wildly dated. ESPECIALLY the first season, which is a fucking mess, with like...almost no redeeming episodes. The pilot is AWFUL. The female characters are handled...in such a sexist way that it's honestly kind of enraging. Now it DOES get better, much better, by mid season two, and pretty much starts pumping out nothing but bangers by season 3, but... there will still be some dated stuff. Plus, even the really good episodes are still paced rather slowly. So keep that in mind, if you want to start with TNG....

ALSO, extra note: The crew has great chemistry with each other, but it doesn't do much in terms of fleshing them out in the early seasons. Gene Roddenberry, the creator, really didn't want the crew to have interpersonal dramas, or even want to show them relaxing or hanging out at all. Later seasons you'll see more character moments, which are great, but... TNG and TOS kind of skimp out on showing you the human elements. You aren't often allowed to get close to the characters, see their inner lives, their personal feelings about situations, the issues they have, with themselves or others. There's a distance, this professional aura to the show, which can be kind of daunting and a little alienating, no pun intended. So keep that in mind...

But now we come to the show I am most biased towards, and shamelessly.

DS9- The REALIST

Deep Space Nine, shortened to DS9.

I must start this segment by admitting, DS9 is my favorite and I am fucking biased. That being said, I first watched it when I was 9, and didn't have any problem understanding it without seeing the other Treks. There are also a million other things it has going for it that would make it the easiest place for a modern TV watcher to hop in.

So full disclosure, this IS where I would recommend you start. But anyway:

Pros: Like I said, it did away with some of that professional distance that TNG was so well known for. The characters are richer, more fleshed out, more flawed. They don't like each other in the beginning. They have to earn their found family, and that just makes it sweeter and more poignant when they finally begin to see themselves as a family. DS9 is the "grittier," edgier Star Trek, the one that seriously tests the hopeful optimism of the future...but it never breaks it. That's important to note. It still understands the idea that humans have evolved to be better.

It covers more controversial topics in a more straightforward way. War, genocide, fascism, political instability, coups, war crimes, espionage, propaganda, religious dogma, trauma, it can get pretty heavy. But there still is this hopefulness to how characters grow and change and heal from past traumas. It also fleshes out the aliens more than TNG or TOS, taking a more nuanced perspective of them, and even has individuals who fight back against the "mono" culture that was so popular in early star trek.

As mentioned above, it also blends serialized with non serialized. You get standalone episodes, and episodes that follow up on pre-existing plots. That's where you get the nuances and the depth and the richness of the universe, as well as the interpersonal relationships of the crew.

Now for the Cons:

NONE. It's perfect.

Just kidding.

Some people don't like DS9 because of its darkness, but in just terms of where to start...I agree that there ARE some things that come from TNG that you might appreciate more if you watched TNG first. It does mostly explain these things, but the flesh comes after the bones, you know. Also, DS9 has its weaknesses in season 1, same as TNG. It has some real stinkers. It doesn't get going until season 3, and also? You know how I said it's political?

Well, some of the politics are reallllly boring. Not very sci fi, dare I say. You might find it better to watch with a guide that can tell you what to skip, because some of the early stuff is pretty bad. It also took some time to find its footing, which means there are some elements to it that might come across as just bizarre.

But anyway.

As I said, my favorite Star Trek, and where I personally started. But anyway.

Moving on...

Voyager- the Troubled

Voyager, commonly shortened to VOY.

Pros: First female captain, and she's very charismatic. For feminism reasons alone, you could start with VOY. It also has the most interesting beginning concept too. Voyager is a warship that gets dragged out and stranded in the Delta Quadrant, which is far, far from where Star Trek normally operates. So it's about a crew, stranded in what is essentially hostile alien territory, with no one to help them. Their whole mission is just to get back home, which will take them 70 years to get back to. So it has that going for it. It also has its own fascinating little crew, which has great interpersonal relationships and some great sci fi standalone stories. It does have its own overarching stories as well, which makes for some fun action and drama. Also in terms of understanding what's happening without seeing other Star Treks? Pretty good. Less connected than DS9, mostly, with a few glaring exceptions.

That being said...

Cons: Just like TNG and DS9, atrocious first 3 seasons. Also, Voy is sort of known for being a little sloppy. The writing is all over the board, ranging from mediocre to absolutely dogshit to not bad actually to pretty decent. It's a fun premise, but it's squandered a little. Characters are also inconsistent, depending on who's writing that particular episode. Unlike other Treks, it also doesn't quite meet the standard of mediocre, not even by season 3. It also doesn't flesh out some of its characters, and squanders a lot of their potential. It also has a very strange and rushed ending...also, it tries to be as edgy as DS9, but without the emotional depth, which often comes across as distasteful and even dare I say, boorish. So it has a lot going against it.

Moving to....

Enterprise- the Yikes

Shortened name: ENT

Full fucking disclosure. I fucking hate Enterprise.

Its stories are bad, most of the time. Its best episodes are still mediocre, by other Star Trek standards. Its overarching stories are terrible, with only a few even potentially interesting.

Also it got fucking cancelled by season 4, so its finale is baaaad.

Don't start with Enterprise.

Pros: Archer is great. I love Trip. T'Pol is adequate. So that's three good characters. There's one plot that's kind of cool.

Cons: It only has 3 good characters. And they are so waaaasted. As is that one plot.

So.

Moving on.

Now we get to modern trek.

Star Trek Discovery - the Doing Its Best

Nomenclature: DIS

Alright, full disclosure again. I watched two seasons of it, before quitting. But I can tell you this.

Pros: It's exciting and fresh and high quality. No more dorky little alien suits. State of the art CGI. High octane sci fi stories. Lots of death and drama and characters all hate each other and have trauma and don't want to deal with it. It's definitely made for the modern audience, and it has this like...disdain for other Star Treks. So if you haven't seen the other Star Treks, don't worry, it also has not. Not a bad place to start, if you don't care much for older shows and want something fun and new and set in space, and you like seeing phasers blow stuff up.

Cons: If you were interested in Star Trek for its hopeful future, that isn't what DIS is. DIS is more like, what if we had this one character and we focus on just her, and the rest of the crew doesn't matter? It's also sloppily written.

Now extra note: my MOM says Dis gets good by season 3. And I am inclined to believe her, because she is a diehard trekkie, and a true trekkie knows, season 3 is like...always where a Star Trek show gets off the ground.

But again. I have to admit, I never got there.

And I don't know if you'd personally like it. Maybe, if you're a fan of the more..exciting space action sci fis. If you like mega gritty war stuff, and torturing aliens to make your warp drive go fast.

But in terms of places to start...? Again, not a bad place if older star trek seems dull.

Discovery certainly is modern and not dull.

Picard- the Cash Grab

Name: PIC

Do not start with Picard. You won't get much out of it if you haven't seen TNG. You won't get much out of it if you have seen TNG.

Pros: It's good for...if you haven't seen Patrick Stewart play Picard in along time.

Cons: It's kind of terrible and messy. It also relies way too much on nostalgia and preexisting knowledge of TNG. So definitely do not bother with Picard as your first Star Trek.

Lower Decks: The Satirical Love Letter

Just called Lower Decks, I think.

Don't start here either, it is VERY dependent on you having seen every Star Trek ever. It's pretty good, but...it's satirical and to understand it well, you would've had to have seen the other Treks.

Strange New Worlds: the Fixer Upper

Shorthand: SNW

Pros: It's the only modern Star Trek that actually seems fond of the original Star Treks, while also being pretty decent just on its own. It brings back the optimism, while maintaining the high quality CGI. Its interpersonal relationships aren't bad. The overarching plot is only somewhat important, and it goes back to form, on that whole episodic thing. If you were allergic to bad rubber alien masks, and wanted to watch something from this era, SNW is the best place to start.

Cons: It might bore you a little if you weren't already a diehard Trekkie. It does depend a little bit on you knowing preexisting properties, just so far as the little wink wink, nudge nudges. It's also a little weird in that the crew doesn't quite live up to the fleshed out nuances of DS9, nor does it rise to the intelligence of TNG's plots.

So there you have it!

This took me almost two hours to write!

I don't know why I wrote it.

Something is wrong with me.

I love Star Trek.

Even the ones I criticized the most, I still like most of them.

I fully accept the Star Trek fandom's wrath too.

I know some people are bigger fans of the other Treks.

But this is my opinion, you know?

Which means I'm right, and everyone else is wrong.

[armandgender]

I am trans dean content starved, so please gimme a little crumb, a little something something, a measly little headcannon (or 30), a rant, anything, I beg of you 🙏 I am on this hellsite only for trans dean Winchester content and I just know you know what's up fr

okay sorry this took SO long to respond to but nothing was coming to me. anyway here’s 822 words of a trans dean s12 rewrite where Mary comes back and they both have to cope with how much everything has changed

—

When he spots her, shrouded in that nightgown, long hair as golden as he remembers, he assumes that Amara lied—that her gift for him was to die, and to go to heaven.

That wouldn’t be a bad gift, actually. To finally rest.

But this doesn’t feel like paradise. There’s still an ache in his knees and his upper back, and he’s almost choking on the sticky summer heat.

He takes a few steps, hands flexing, cautious. “Mom?”

Mary rises from her seat and fixes him with a look that lands somewhere between fear and confusion.

When she doesn’t say anything, Dean struggles to fill the silence himself. “Are you.. really…” he struggles to find the words, heart hammering in his throat “…real?” One hand extends towards her shoulder, shaky. It might just pass through.

But before he can make contact, she whips both hands across to grab his arm, hooks her foot around his leg, and slams him face down into the grass. She plants a foot against his neck to hold him there, surprisingly strong.

Yeah, she’s real.

“Where am I?” She demands, the smallest waver in her voice giving away her fear. “Who are you?”

This is gonna be a hard one to explain. “Ah—“ he grunts as she presses her heel harder against his neck. “I’m your son.”

“…Sam?” She starts to ease up.

Oops. “The other one.”

The air hums with cicadas. Dean is suddenly grateful for the fact that he’s facedown in the dirt, because he hasn’t had to acknowledge this truth about himself with anyone in a long, long time, and his face feels traitorously red.

“Deanna?” He tries, the name feeling ancient and foreign, like something he’d read out of one of the old lore tomes back in the bunker.

“No… my Deanna is four years old, and…”

Dean shifts beneath her, taking in a shaky breath. “A girl? Yeah. Didn’t stick,” he jokes.

She tightens her grip painfully.

“Ah— mom. I was four years old when you died,” he reminds her, shaky.

In a flash her grip is gone, feet scuffing in the grass as she stumbles back. Dean rises, palms out to catch the next attack—but Mary is bracing herself on the bench, bent over at the waist like she might throw up.

Believe it or not, Dean knows the feeling. The human brain doesn’t really want to remember its own death, and it hurts like a bitch when it all comes racing back in. He keeps his distance, trying to remember how Mary sees him—imposing and unfamiliar. A stranger.

That’s what he sees reflected in her eyes when she finally looks at him again.

“Listen, I know it sounds insane. I know,” he starts, but trails off, losing his pace. That’s his mom. Not a ghost. Not a memory. She’s real.

“How long have I been gone?” She asks, finally getting her balance back.

“Thirty-three years.” Longer than she was ever alive. Long enough that Dean has all but erased any trace of the child she remembers. “And you’re…” she looks him over again, seemingly at a loss for words.

“Dean,” he supplies. He tries to take it as a compliment when she looks skeptical. It would be hard to imagine him as a four year old girl, looking at him now. He’ll give her that.

“Listen, I… I know you, okay? You met John Winchester in 1972. Didn’t like him much at first but he grew on you, and the two of you got married in Reno in 1975. Your idea.” He huffs out a laugh, trying to ignore the anxiety building in his gut. “Your favorite song is Hey Jude. We used to dance to it in the kitchen. I tried to cheer you up by putting it on when dad walked out on us for a few days.”

Mary’s gaze softens. Dean searches her eyes, dying for an ounce of recognition. Love, even. Would she still love him?

She takes a few steps closer, stretching out a hand to rest against his chest, over his heart. Like she’s making sure he’s real. “Dean,” she repeats, trying the name on for size.

“Hi, mom.” Nice to meet you.

They teeter on the edge for a moment. Dean is ready to turn away. To hide his face when she rejects him.

Instead she takes a step forward and wraps her arms around him, warm and tight and god, she even smells the same. It’s a scent that doesn’t quite have a name. Just the scent of home, and of safety. Somewhere under his thickened skin, there’s just a four year old kid hanging onto his mother, burying his face in the soft fabric of her nightgown.

They linger there. It’s Mary who pulls away first. Dean turns to look towards the road, desperately trying to blink away tears. “We should, uh… everyone thinks I’m dead. We should get going.”

[hochi-mama-1997]

okay im posting my drdt connected to v3 theory now

and because it has spoilers for sure ill just spam image to make the cut thing cuz idk how (im stupid)

i think thats good uh

so basic theory, that in some way, everything is fictional. connected to the v3 lore. i dont really think i need to explain much? so heres where the theory starts

the someone being related to a canon character is kinda just something i thought was a sorta interesting idea, and i dont really believe it. theres not many connections i can make. levi has the same eye color as junko and the fashion talent and the hair kinda matches makoto or healthy nagito (though i think thats a fanon thing anyways) but since junko is dead and nagito is unlikely to have kids, those are a stretch. makoto could still work i guess? but again, unlikely.

and of course theres obviously this

if theres anything that could work for this theory i made for no reason its this, clearly david and shuichi look very similar. and if v3 is correct and the v3 cast would be the only non fictional ones, i guess david and shuichi having some family relation would be the only thing to make sense. but again, this is like a side bonus theory just for fun so i wouldnt think about it too much.

anyways and heres where i really start v3 theory

thats the basic logic of this theory. monotv lying about the tragedy, the false memories, reboot or just like a spin off in america, something like that

oh and i said this

thats it for that, lets look at the other part of the theory now

so far, a lot of what i found just surrounds this

this mv almost made ME turn into the literature girl insane

this part did remind me of v3 a lil

part where tsumugi says that theres no place for them in the outside world n stuff

and then we get to the comments part. wow. oh boy.

if these comments meant anything this could easily be like.. something with v3 and fiction. interestingly, the comments have dates that are back a while. 10 years, 4 years, stuff like that. i would say that either the comments are old and danganronpa is older and v3 wasnt the last and its been going on for a while, or the person who made this just didnt care about the years of the comments..?

if they do relate to drdt, the blanks for the "is the byakuya/nagito/kokichi" do easily fit to david.. that's prolly about him.

the lyrics are also interesting i think. the world wont change. the world wont give up danganronpa, the killing game wont stop. maybe.

bit hard to read, but on the top there's 5 letters will obviously die in chapter 5. if the spaces mean anything, theres another thing for david.

i like that blank is a protag who also plays the antag? theres a lot of spaces there. too many for me to really say who it could be. similarly, theres blank and blank totally swapped places.

this has to do somehow with teruko and david. theres the thing about david was supposed to be the real protag

cuz like.. this

the protag using he pronouns. not teruko. this could be what the comments mean?

and theres the mm blank anyone

four spaces. so.. levi, arei, whit, eden, nico.. theres a lot of 4 letter names in the cast. i dont have any mastermind theories atm, but if you do have one for any of those guys (besides arei prolly), i guess there you go.

i dont know who this could be. uh.. yeah.

this could just be a troll. or to say dont pay attention to these. i really dont know.

i guess v3 has people becoming brainwashed. i dunno.

theres something weird about this. i dont know what. but theres something. im just making note of it in case i ever have any ideas.

this is interesting. i did have an idea about this. that maybe this was supposed to be the main cast but drdt is somehow off script, maybe teruko was supposed to die when stabbed by xander, maybe teruko was never meant to be stabbed by xander, i dont know. the important thing is whats under mai's name. it looks like mr. naegi to me. this again can be connected to v3 where the cast got false memories of makoto being the headmaster of hope's peak. mr naegi.

anyways, description of the video. this

theres a bit more where it says i have always been a only child. the blanks are most surely diana chiem. it also fits david but thats prolly nothing.

what could this mean? well, think of v3. people had memories of their friends and family. but they didnt exist. they were just false memories.

there is no one named diana chiem. she's just fictional.

thats my take on that anyways.

i dont really have too much else. but back to teruko maybe supposed to die, it would be even more like v3. the girl protag being killed of, maybe to be replaced by a depressed blue haired guy?

i also found this theory in the comments

this could be true. i just wanted to point it out. i already thought eden was a lil strange at times.. (also there is the 4 letter name mastermiind comment hmmm)

thats all for today. make sure to like and subscribe for more hyperlink blocked.

[single-malt-scotch]

nebtho masterpost

alright. alright its time, ive put together enough for this-- this is more so a means to expose/explain to new fans an old era of mcyt thats is kinda hard to access. admittedly i only kept this to nebris/etho because itd just be too hard to piece all missing bits of Death Games together.... its not nearly as wild or in depth as present day things but its dear to me.... old fan art/fic is what got me obsessed w these two back in the day and their dynamic is fun!! and i think its worth exposing ppl to some of this old etho lore :)

nebris+ethoslab was a popular pair back in 2012-2014 era Mindcrack fandom. i assume most of yall know who etho is but nebris was also a member of the server. He was often regarded as cunning and sly, and referred to as "cheaty nebris" for various reasons (whether it was the insane amount of obsidian he managed to acquire for his base, or how he miraculously survived a fight in UHC while barely losing a heart). now why did they become a popular pair?? well.

Death games-- Etho's "game" he came up with in mindcrack s3, is mostly where it took off. They had many interactions in the forms of pranks and whatnot prior (nebris with 'team america', pranking team canada), but this is kinda where a dynamic formed-- Etho's pov starts with him getting back at mcgamer and nebris for killing pause multiple times (streamed here). The game's rules are that etho kills them a total of four times, or they can kill each other to reduce the kill count on their heads. This is definitely where etho gained his reputation of being scary back then lol. Nebris' first perspective on the matter is here.

in both of those first videos, Etho's ganged up on them in a livestream with nebris, mc, and millbee when they went to his base... in which he quickly kills them off with ease. From there is escalates!

s3 death games encounters (from oldest onward) are here:

Nebris pov, july 4th, 2012 - nebris falls to his death when trying to fight etho. a fun fact: nebris tried to keep etho out by blocking his portal with clay... since etho wouldnt break clay.

Etho pov, july 5th, 2012 - same episode as above, also showing how etho had a secret room right behind nebris' bed, which allowed him to die and respawn there without using a portal.

Etho pov, july 6th, 2012 - in which etho attempts and succeeds at killing nebris.

Nebris pov, july 6th, 2012 - same episode as etho's from that day.

theres undoubtedly potentially more bits of interactions out there and that is one of the problems of these old videos... theres lots of them, theyre long, and not all the titles give away if its related. Eventually i will build a more solid playlist but this is just death games!

there is a good backlog of fanfiction out there, i can tell you that. dig into the depths of dreamwidth, even. im sure theres quite a lot of fan art strewn across tumblr entirely untagged. regardless, its was surely one the first popular ships that characterized etho in his exaggerated mysterious self that people do with him today.