#they DO have a reason to be watching you though! but thats lore stuff

[justaprototyp3]

hello again tumblr i have art again. Uh. this is my pressure oc. au??? hes just prototype from regretevator but like a lemon shark. Hes. supposed to be a lemon shark im not the fish guy. they have a lot of lore i swear theure actually an interesting character and not just prototype regretevator as an evil fish

[scarlet-moonlight]

This is gonna be a LONG ass post but

I got around to watching Arcane s1 (I watched s2 without finishing s1 because I didn't want to worry about getting spoiled for all the stuff that will inevitably flood the league tags so I just said fuck it, I did know a little bit about what happened during s1) and now that I did, I think I like s2...less?

Like I thought I was confused while watching s2 because I skipped s1 so I might not have known about what was happening (And I did on some, like I didn't know Silco and Vander were close at one point when I saw the flashback with them and Felicia, or that Singed used to be a mentor for Viktor) but..no. Looking at s1 then back at s2 it really does feel night and day. I think the problem is that s1 is great in how down-to earth and realistic the world, the characters and problems they have, but then in s2, suddenly everything became so much more..bigger. And not in a good way. suddenly everything became so much more bloated with too many characters, conflicts that started/showed up that they needed to end in the same season cause they had to make it 2 seasons even though it could've benefitted from another one or at least anotehr act. The animation is great, the music is great, but even that just feels like well.. spectacle for the sake of it. Especially when it comes to the music, because compared to s1 and s2, s2 is just too music heavy. And I was watching s1 with my sister (who is blind reacting to all of arcane from the start) and I feel like if we finish s1 and get to s2 she might not think of it as good as s1 for the same reasons.

MORE IMPORTANTLY THO I realize how oddly ooc Jayce became from s1 to s2, mostly for his relationship between him and Mel that got sidelined in s2 for viktor. And apparently that was intended by the writers because they liked jayvik more (I used to watch Star vs the forces of evil so this is giving me serious flashbacks to the writers hell that became) Yes Jayce and Mel started off as more or less fuck buddies but there were scenes that showed that they cared about each other that they just..kinda threw away in favor of Jayik. I don't hate jayvik and I liked the memes and all but I also dont like just sidelining a woman (A black, woman no less) in favor of a yaoi ship in the grand year of 2024. Like knowing their relationship in s1 it makes me realize how ooc Jayce and Mel were acting towards each other in s2. I don’t care if they ended up canon or not, but they just acted toxic and indifferent to each other for no reason when they did have scwnes in s1 that showed they cared about each other and now I think they just did this just so they could make Jayvik look better and because of how Mel was done dirty despite me loving her character I am now actively going to ship Meljay out of spite (Also fuck you they both look sexy) (and I also like Viktor by himself away from Jayce, preferably him in s1 because of how cute he was and I want to keep him for myself)

For any arcane only fans, I happen to be a selfship/yumeship blog who's favorite charater happens to be in a really popular yaoi ship (made partially implied by canon and making him all thats ever used for when theres so much else that they can do with his lore instead of just making him an accessory to please fandom, huh doesn't that sound familar?) and I know people would hate on me for also being a girl "getting in the way" if i was in any other part of league fandom (at least tumblr is pretty chill) so don't worry we're at two for two here

Again, I like s2, I think they've done a great job but knowing what happened in s1 and then seeing s2 it just made me feel like there was so much missed potential outside of the already confusing plots and pacing issues I experienced on my first watching

and ykw Im gonna repeat what I said in a previous post in that; fuck yall, I wanted the Mel being pregnant rumors to be true just to spite yall (and that the kid would be Rell)

[bleue-flora]

if you watch the stream its clearly lore but its done entirely through text chat. I dont consider it canon at all, I do think cc!tommy and cc!jack were doing lore though but I don't think either of them were retconning anything. C!Jack says in the ''lore'' that the nukes still happened.

cc/c!tommy says they werent canon and thats why people are saying that the nukes werent canon but he doesnt have a say in that and if its his character saying it then theres millions of interpretations for that for where it still wouldn't be a retcon.

c!inniters just want it to be a retcon so badly becuase they hated the ending we got even though the ending we got was fine, no idea why they talk about how c!tommy didnt get closure or happy ending when he did. Anyone that claims this recent stuff is retconning the nuke ending is being ridiculous Im sorry.

So… in their “lore” they don’t even agree on if the nukes happened?… bruh… if they did happen, wouldn’t they both be… dead. That’s what doesn’t make sense to me. Are they reset with only 1 life? And if nukes happened Tommy would be dead, so in any context it still don’t make sense. Either they are dead from the nuke or Egg or the reset - resets them, presumably the world and their life’s I reckon so, unless the implication is like an anon mentioned previously, that we derive this full season 2 lore then it don’t make sense. They are either dead or reset, unless we are undoing all finales or the reset allows for everyone to eventually get memories back and actually walk back to the dsmp, which is more of an elaborate assumption than just accepting the well thought out lore we were given in 2022… I’m pretty sure the whole point of a retcon is to make things make more sense and less work to connect things that didn’t make sense otherwise whether because too irl or contradictory or not agree upon by ccs, for this “lore” you have to put in more effort and speculation for it apply. It’s like the exact opposite of why you’d retcon something to begin with.

But I 100% agree with you, people who hate the finale want to use anything they can to retcon it, so this chat becomes their reasoning even when it’s bonkers…

- yo guys, the hours of streams and videos ccs put together with lots of creators with epic art and production quality, yeah that’s not canon anymore but this chat between Tommy and Jack in 2024 yeah that’s the real canon! -… uh huh, yeah because that makes sense…

[gizm0-gadgetz]

Ok so

This is a thing I wrote. Its outdated now with Gadgets lore I think. Merchant Jerico is owned by @voidselfshipp (shes in an established relationship with jonny) story under the cut. How gadget joins the mechs (not really im changing it but I like how this turned out and I need to get better at sharing my stuff)

    “I think you should join us.” The offer hung in the air, neither of them responding right away. Gadget stayed focused on cleaning up their supplies, taking a moment to move the coals with their tail before stomping the traces of the fire away. Jer was watching them, not wanting to rush them into responding. 

    “You are lovely company Merchant,” They started as they began cleaning the dishes. “However, I'm not. Besides, I don't really do group work.” She took a moment to consider what they had said. 

    “But you have worked with me?” It was a simple enough point that it took them a bit to figure out a response. Their fingers tapped against the pot they were cleaning, dinging softly with each touch. 

    “Yes but we know each other, at least somewhat.” They signed, closing their eyes for a moment. “Why should I join?”

    “I think you'd fit in! It's good to have people who understand.” She hopped off the log she was sitting on and began helping them clean up. “You don't have to stay for long, but just give it a shot? We can drop you off at the next place if you really want.” They took a moment to consider the option. It wasn't like there was any reason they couldn't besides their own reluctance for closeness. “Its not like we can lose each other…so I think its worth getting to know them.” 

   “...tell me about your crew again.” They spoke softly as they focused on cleaning, well aware of how her face lit up. She began to list each member of the group, naming everything she could think of. Some of them sounded interesting; they couldn't deny that. “So, hypothetically, if I joined you-” They casually glanced up from the last dish they were cleaning and packing away. She watched them intensely, clearly invested in the next words they'd say. “What would happen?” 

    “Well you'd have to properly meet with everyone. We'd have to set up a room for you and figure out your place on the ship. There aren't too many rules to go over which helps things go faster.” She took a moment to think it over properly. “Maybe a new outfit? Thats not too much is it?” 

    “What could I even bring to the table? You already have a pilot who seems to be just fine at navigating. I don't think a second navigator would be very helpful.”

    “You could cook!”

    “We don't need to eat.”

    “Yeah but its nice.” They sighed, thinking it over. What else was in the way? 

    “What about your captain? The small creature.”

    “You mean Johnny?” 

    “Yeah. The small creature.” She snickered as they finished packing up. “Feisty man.” They shrugged before brushing dirt off their knees. “Wouldn't he have reservations? It's not like we hit it off.” 

    “Don't you worry about him. I'll take care of it. Does this mean you'll come with us?” Her eyes sparkled with joy. “Please say this means you'll come with us.” They didn't answer right away, staring up at the sky with a slight tilt of their head. 

    “Aren't you a group of…what's it called?” They frowned, snapping their fingers a few times. “BARDS! A group of bards. Storytelling performers.” She blinked a few times, staring at them curiously. 

    “I mean technically yeah. I don't see how that matters though?” 

    “I'm not a performer. I stick to myself and do my own things. I can't sing-” 

    “Oh don't lie!” She cuts them off, ignoring the look they gave her. “I know you can sing. I've seen it! Admit it or not but you move to your own melody, it just comes out most when your alone.” 

    “Right. Sure. Let's say I do sing, which I don't, even if I did, why would I perform with others? I don't work well with others.” 

    “Well you don't have to perform at all. I think it's just a hobby of theirs.” She shrugged. “It's fun to play with them but you shouldn't have to. If anything ill make sure they don't say anything!” She had a mischievous smirk that they couldn't help but roll their eyes at. They grabbed their flask and took a swig of water, thinking over all the information they'd been given. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. If anything it meant more time to hang out with Jerico and she was lovely company, really their only friend in this life. Besides she had mentioned that they would be in a similar boat as themself.

    “Fine.” She shot up like a rocket with an ecstatic look on her face. “For one trip. Okay?” She just smiled at them with a mischievous expression before taking their hand. 

    “Let's go then!” 

    “Hold on! Let me grab my stuff before you start pulling me places-” She just groaned and gestured for them to hurry up. They couldn't help but snicker as they picked everything up. Once they had everything packed away in their bag she grabbed onto them and began pulling them away. It was easy enough to not stumble on the rough terrain but as it got smoother they found themselves struggling a bit more. They entered a clearing where the crew was waiting, presumably their ship must be nearby. 

    “Johnny dear!” Jericho called out as they entered the area. The small man perked up immediately upon hearing his name, looking over with a tilt of his head and tail practically wagging upon seeing her although he seemes conflicted by Gadgets presence. “I need to talk to you, kay?” She gestured away from the group. He frowned slightly, thinking it over before one of the others elbowed him. He glared at them before quickly joining her away from the group, just far enough away so they couldn't be heard. 

    It left Gadget stood alone with the entire group staring at them. It wasn't the first time they'd seen these people, but it was the first time without Jer next to them. They weren't exactly scared nor intimidated by the group, but it made them feel uncomfortable even if they couldn't pinpoint why. There was a wide variety of body shapes and sizes making up the group, each radiating off a different type of energy. Counting them it seemed like there were two missing from what Jerico had told them so many times. Without knowing the names to the faces they couldn't figure out who was missing though. They began to mindlessly bite their lip until it bled, cursing softly when it did so. 

    After a few minutes of painfully awkward silence between the group the duo returned. Johnny was avoiding eye contact, grumbling to himself with a flustered expression. Meanwhile Jer seemed quite content, almost smug about it. She joined Gadget again as Johnny went to talk to the crew. 

    “What did you do?” They asked immediately, eyeing her with suspicion. 

   “Don’t worry about it. You get to come with us!” She grinned, pulling them into a hug. Their spikes shot up for a moment but she knew to keep her hands away from the spine so nothing happened before they slotted back into place. They took a deep breath before giving a half hearted hug back and pushing her off. 

   “Right. Cool.” Maybe part of them had been hoping that he'd say no so they could have backed out with no hard feelings but now they were in too deep. Some of the Mechanisms were looking at them as Johnny presumably explained the situation. “This is happening i guess…” Really they didn't know how to feel. They hadn't worked with a group in centuries and these people would be so different from what they had known. At least they were good at hiding their nervousness as the ship landed and she led them in. 

    They passed a large bronze man inside and Gadget swore they saw him fiddle with his hat as he watched them go past. She hummed happily as they walked, clearly knowing the layout by heart. It was obvious to them how out of place they were. They fit in the group in theory, but in practice they could see just how out of place they were by the movements they saw out of the corner of their eye. Clearly everyone here knew each other quite well and they were suddenly in the way. 

    “Where are you leading me exactly?” They asked after a bit. 

    “Just to my room for now.” She hummed, not missing a beat. They frowned slightly before just nodding. At least it would be somewhere less alien to them as they knew her quite well. “I'll give you a tour and stuff when we're all the way up. There's no rush.”

    “Alright…if you say so.” They decide not to question it. The Merchant was someone they could trust, they had collaborated many times. There wasn't anything to be worried about. Keeping quiet wasn't too hard, they weren't much of a talker in the first place and it seemed Jer knew they were trying to process everything. They did try to take in all the details they could as they traveled through the ship but it didn't tell them much.

    “Here we are! C'mon in!” She smiled, gently pulling them into a room and shutting the door behind them. It was a decent amount of space for a one person room, certainly much better than some of the places they had stayed. There were various projects sitting around and they could see a few boxes of yarn in the corner. She took a seat on the bed and looked up at them. “See? Not so bad.” 

    “This place is massive.” They finally say after a minute of silence. “This whole ship I mean. It can't be easy to keep this all up.” 

   “Well yeah that's why we each have our own jobs.” She shrugged, moving to sit fully on the bed and crossing her legs. “Its like chores.” 

    “Right…that would take some getting used to.” They sighed and moved to sit down when the door suddenly burst open. They startled and ended up stumbling right into her bed, rolling over quickly before their spikes pierced the blankets. “What the hell!?”

    “Hullo Merchant!” They looked to the door to see one of the band members with a smile on its…oddly wooden face.  “I saw we have a new friend! Who's this chap?” They did not like when it looked right at them, fully aware of how their tail flicking revealed that feeling. Jerico just laughed. 

    “Hi Soldy!” She smiled at it as it turned its attention back to her with a tilt of its head. “This is Gadget, they'll be staying with us for a little bit.” 

    “Oh goodie!” It clapped its hands a few times, clearly more excited than the others had seemed. 

    “Gadget, this is Toy Soldier.” She smiled, gesturing to it. 

    “Right. The wooden one. Thats really its name? You guys can't think of anything else?” 

    “It likes its name.” She shrugged and looked over to it again. “Was there something you needed?” 

    “Nope! I just wanted to say hullo! So hullo!” It smiled, certainly quite expressive for being made out of wood. “Jonny seemed a bit peeved you wouldn't happen to know why would you?”

    “Ah he's probably just jealous he might lose some of my attention.” She snickered, elbowing Gadget with a smirk. “Why don't you tell him to come here?” 

     “Oki doki!” It saluted before turning around and walking off, leaving the door wide open. Gadget stared at the door for a bit before looking at Jer again as their spines clicked back into place. 

    “What's bringing him here gonna do?” 

    “You'll see!” She just giggled before laying back on her bed. They hesitated for a moment before following suit, staring up at the ceiling. This whole experience was so odd and it was only just beginning. After a few minutes she sat up again and looked to the door. 

    “You called?” They shifted slightly so they could see Johnny was leaning on the doorframe, clearly attempting to look cool despite the fact his tail was wagging. Jerico got off the bed and pulled him into a hug, running her fingers through his hair. He seemed to lean into it, very quietly purring as his hair was played with. They couldn't help but snicker. He immediately shot up with a red face. “Oi! When did you get here!?” 

    “Been here the whole time hoss.” They just shrugged, sitting up and leaning against the bed frame. “Is there a problem with that Captain?” They said it sarcastically but he didn't seem to pick up on it as he perked up upon hearing the word captain. 

    “Finally some-Hey! Stop that!!” He tried to glare at jer as she scratched his ears. 

    “Why? You're so soft!” She pouted, continuing to mess with him anyways. 

    “I…” He forced himself to look away before grumbling something about a reputation. She just smiled and kissed him on the head before stepping back. Once he finally managed to stop being so red he turned his attention back to Gadget, studying them with a slight tilt of his head. “What is it you do exactly?”

    “Depends if people hire me.” They shrugged. “For the most part I'm just a nomad. Sometimes I make maps and sell those. Once or twice I've been asked to lead groups through dangerous terrain. If anything bad happened to them…well I had nothing to do with it. Probably.” They couldn't help but grin at the way he shifted at the information. It was hard to read his body language considering how good he was at making himself look bigger. “Other than that…I'm a chef.” 

    “A chef. How helpful.” He grumbled, rolling his eyes before sighing. “Right, well this isn't a taxi service so guest or not you will have to help with stuff.” 

    “I'm hurt you would think so little of me.” They bit back with a smirk. His eyes narrowed, staring at them with a bitter expression before shaking his head with another sigh. 

    “I'll speak with Ashes about getting you a room. We should have something that'll work.” He grumbled to himself as he turned around and left the room, once again leaving the door wide open. 

    “Does nobody here know how to close a door?” They laugh, getting up to close the door themself. “I don't think he likes me very much.” 

   “He's just like that. He'll warm up, promise.” They just shrugged and took a seat on the bed. Might as well learn about the people they were going to be staying with. 

■□■□■□■□■□■

    A room was set up surprisingly fast, it made them wonder if Jerico had been pushing for this for a while. They didn't bother to think about it too much as they shrugged their bag off and started digging through the few personal things they did have. It wasn't a lot and the room was quite simple but the thought was very nice. It wasn't very often that they slept in a proper nice bed. 

    The covers were soft, that was for sure. The whole place was quite clean and it made them feel significantly more dirty. There wasn't much for them to do in their room which meant they would have to go out and converse with the other residents; it just wasn't something they were looking forward to. Ashes had been nice, not that they had spoken for too long, just long enough to get situated. They weren't particularly looking forward to getting to know Jonny, he seemed a little full of himself. The Toy Soldier had seemed nice if a little clueless on personal space and boundaries. Everyone here seemed like they had so much energy and they weren't sure they could keep up with it. 

    Jerico had shown them around a bit and they remember seeing a kitchen that clearly didn't get too much use. Honestly it wasn't that surprising, these people didn't seem like they knew how to cook much. Maybe that would be a good way to show that they could be helpful. Really there was no reason that they had to prove themself, they were just here because Jer had been so nice. With a sigh they picked up their cooking supplies and headed to the kitchen. 

    They didn't have much in terms of supplies, mostly pantry goods but that was fine. Preserves were easy enough to work with and even if they couldn't make a proper meal everyone enjoyed snacks. Thinking about it they weren't sure all these people could eat but that didn't matter too much. It just meant more for them. 

    Really it was easy to fall back into a groove even though it had been a while since they'd worked in a proper kitchen. It gave them a lot of time to think about everything they had been told about the crew and what they had seen with their own two eyes. After deciding to make simple cookies everything just kind of fell into place and they worked with a simple rhythm. 

    The most interesting thing about the group seemed to be the ship itself. A sentient ship didn't seem that crazy of an idea, but they weren't sure how it worked. For now it seemed the best idea was to just be respectful to everyone they ran into and of the place they were staying. Yes, that was a good idea. They took a deep breath and put the cookies in the oven, setting a mental timer before closing their eyes for a moment to focus on their other senses. All they could really hear was faint chattering between groups and the occasional pair of footsteps. 

     “Hey.” They couldn't help but jump at the sudden voice. There hadn't been loud enough footsteps to suggest that someone had entered the room. They took a moment to calm themself, making their spines lock back into place before turning around to face the owner of the voice. She was shorter than they were, not by too much but just enough that it was noticeable. “Jumpy?” She asks with a tilt of her head. 

    “No,” They answered after a moment. “Not quite.” It was hard to pinpoint who they were staring at as it wasn't one of the members they'd already run into. “Is it Natasha?” She blinked a few times and looked at them curiously. 

    “Nastya.” 

    “Oh. I'm not sure how I messed that up frankly…” They sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose. “Never been particularly good at names i guess. Yknow what it doesn't matter. Do you need something?” Trying to study her face proved difficult.

   “No. Just thought I smelled burning and wanted to make sure Toy Soldier isn't lighting things on fire in here again.” They just raised an eyebrow while she responded with a shrug. “It doesn't know how to cook. I overheard that you do though, a good change of pace really.”

    “I do know how to cook, yes.” Using their tail they pulled the pan out of the oven, carefully balancing it as they made sure there was a spot to set it down. Nastya was peering over their shoulder, they could feel it. 

    “Baking huh? Where'd you get all this stuff?” 

    “Some of it was here already, most of it came out of my stash though. I don't have much left though, just a few jars of preserves.” They sighed as they set the tray down, positioning it to ease cooling. “It's really not that interesting. You can leave now.”  She didn't answer right away, taking a seat on a barstool and leaning over the counter. 

   “I'm tired of hanging with the boys so if you don't mind I'd like to sit with you.” It wasn't a crazy request and they knew they should at least try to be nice since they were just a guest. They sighed as they started cleaning up what little mess they had made. 

    “I mean…fine. It's not like you're going to get anything all that entertaining.” They decided to focus on what they were doing instead of looking back at Nastya. Silence filled the air for a good few minutes as they focused on cleaning. She seemed content just watching them for the moment. 

    “What type of cookies did you make?” She asks after a while causing them to stop what they were doing. It wasn't easy to describe as they had just made the basic cookie recipe they'd used for so long now. 

   “Simple ones…easy to top with various things or enjoy plain.” 

    “What kind of stuff do you like on them?” They groaned quietly, really regretting saying that she could stay nearby. 

    “Typically I use jam since I almost always have some on me. Preserves are quite easy to make and keep well. If I'm in the right area I will pick up some chocolate.” Following her out of the corner of their eye they watched as she hopped off the stool and grabbed a cookie. It was still warm but cool enough to enjoy. She said nothing as she took a seat again. “Sure you want to eat that? Might be kind of bland.” All they got in response was a shrug. With a sigh they reached into their bag and pulled out three jars, the last of the jam from their prior batch. “Apple, blackberry and strawberry,” They explained with a gesture to each. “I don't have anything else unfortunately since I was convinced to stay when I really should have been going to restock.”

     Deep down they knew rambling like this was a bad idea but for some reason they couldn't bring themself to stop. Maybe it was just because Jer had described Nastya as a good listener. She smiled and hopped off the stool once more to grab a few utensils for the jam. They continued to watch her every move as she put a little bit of each jam on the single cookie, presumably to try each one at once.

    “Strawberry will be the sweetest and blackberry the most tart. Apple sits in the middle with a slight cinnamon flavor.” They pointed out as she took a bite. There wasn't much else to say about it all. “How often do people join your crew?” 

    “Not all that often.” She shrugged once she had finished her cookie. “I'd say before you Jerico was our last member.” 

    “I'm not staying,” They corrected with a slight frown. “Just visiting. Merchant is a good friend of mine and I want to make her happy.” Nastya just stared at them with a slight tilt of their head before smirking. 

    “Right, of course.” After a moment she hopped off the stool, brushing crumbs off her shirt. “I quite liked the blackberry.” They decided to ignore her almost mischievous expression and just nod instead. 

    “Thanks…” 

   “Would you like me to tell the others about these?” She gestured to the tray with a smile. It took them a moment to decide if they wanted to explain it all again before sighing. 

    “Yeah sure. Might as well. Can't eat these all myself.” Nastya said nothing else as she left the kitchen, leaving them alone with their thoughts. Mostly about why she had seemed so certain that they would be joining the group. It was just a visit, they didn't plan on staying any longer. 

    There wasn't much time to think it over as some of them filtered in to try the cookies. They didn't bother explaining it too in depth this time, letting a few of them know before leaving the kitchen before they could be bugged too much. There was much to think about and for the first time in a while it felt like they could actually rest around people. At the very least this would be an interesting endeavor. 

[desire-mona]

ramble post

im actually not the most gigantic fan of the wizard of oz MOVIE, not because its bad or because of the bts abuse or whatever else. to me i just dont really like it.. being a musical i guess? NOW HOLD ON WAIT because the songs are great and i adore the choreography but. like i was watching it and i was like Man the dialogue and movement of the characters (outside of song) seems really unnatural and dramatic I Wonder Why. at first i was like well its 1939 what do u expect and then i remembered that its a musical and thats just What Musicals Are Like. gotta play it all up for the stage cuz ppl cant see in depth facial expressions yadda yadda yadda, i just dont really like it as much when translated to screen a lot of the time. which is weird because theatrical stage acting translated to screen is the exact reason WHY i like robert sean leonard's acting, though theres a big difference between wilson theatrical and dorothy theatrical. like the stage acting experience made rsl's facial expressions and mannerisms MUCH easier to read, but its played up tenfold in oz where Yes i can tell exactly what each character is thinking, but there arent as many nice lil subtleties. anyway i wish i liked that theatrical style of film more bc i feel like im missing out and now im just land locked to like.... rocketman? i guess? im just not a big musical person in general, especially not musical theatre, again not that i dislike it i just feel like the theatrics ruin my immersion unfortunately

the dialogue specifically in the book is very touch and go for me tbh. its very simple, which is expected from a children's book written in 1900, but i feel like its repetitive almost? not as in the characters say the same thing all the time, but the way they say it is the same thru the whole book. in moderation its fine and again this is very trivial, but i can only take so much

"i must blah blah blah blah blah, for i blah blah blah blah blah"

there's a lot of for's which i find endearing on its own but not when its said 50 monillion times. however the illustrations are the cutest sweetest little things in the universe let me show my favs

do you understand. do you understand why i love book dorothy so much. SHES JUST A BABYYYYY!

also also tin man lore goes crazy! he used to be a real guy and he fell in love with this munchkin woman, but didnt have the money to marry her, so he worked real hard chopping trees (woodsman) to get the money. for whatever reason that i dont actually remember, he pissed off a bad witch (i dont remember if it was east or west but i believe east) and got cursed to keep CHOPPING OFF HIS DAMN LIMBS bc her ass really did not want him to marry his lady. anyway he kept chopping off his limbs and this tinsman was like I Will Replace Them With Tin so he DID. after all his limbs got replaced he chopped off his HEAD, got that replaced with tin, THEN CUT HIMSELF IN HALF and got his torso replaced as well. after he no longer had his old body, and therefore his heart, he lost all his love for the munchkin woman. THATS WHY HE WANTS HIS HEART BACK HE WANTS TO LOVE HIS LADY AGAIN!!!!! but she doesnt get mentioned again so that kinda sucks tbh....

i have redesigns of all the characters as well as plotline edits and stuff in my mind but im more than likely not gonna do anything with em so ill post what i said to monty here

idk i rly like the wizard of oz and im excited to read the other 4 oz novels i have in this book AND THEN I ALSO HAVE WICKED im gonna read wicked after too. i know the wicked book is supposedly kinda freaky (idk in what way everyone been really vague when i asked) but im a full grown adult so i can handle it. but im mostly just excited to see all the cute illustrations in the rest of the book

[subwayfloorlicker1978]

tadc works better in the medium that it unintentionally conveyed itself as

okay. you’re probably reading this title thinking “but subwayfloorlicker1978… what IS the medium in question????” okay the medium in question is being a lore filled mysterious series with twists and turns and having an emphasis on twists and turns just as much as its characters.

now. this baffles me a little bit bc even though one could get that exact idea of tadc just by watching the first episode (and the fandom ITSELF literally got that impression. i mean its even evident in the fanmade aus.) gooseworx made a twitter post a few months ago that apparently tadc is made up of. and i quote. 95% character depth/stuff/etc and like 5% of lore. which is… hm.

which also baffled me! because my GOD was there a lot of lore foreshadowing and spooky (if you want to call it that.) stuff throughout episode 1. like WAY too much of it, especially if your main goal of tadc is to have it be a series centered heavily on the characters. not saying you can’t have background plot things going on, but like… 95%? seriously? i’m definitely praying she hadn’t entirely thought out that ratio before pressing the post button.

and that’s why tadc unintentionally comes across as a series with super deep lore, literally to the point where i’ve seen certain people unironically call it a horror series (which is wrong btw. even if you’re taking the c&a scenes + caine’s suspicious moments into account). it quite literally spends like 1/3 of its main scenes in episode 1 putting SO much emphasis on the c&a lore and the abstraction and everything else.

and the thing is. i dont entirely blame gooseworx for this. obviously it would be very important to flesh out the environment/world that the characters are in during the first episode (LITERALLY your first impression), which obviously includes locations like the lore office area pomni was in or the cellar where caine banishes all of the crazy people to go to. (oh and also even the topic of abstraction itself via kaufmo) but like..... there’s a reason why tadc has a game theory episode.

i’ve said this before and ill say it again. tadc and the entire “digital circus” thing and the implementation of vr headsets + lore into the story is ONLY an excuse for gooseworx to tell a compelling story about compelling characters in a cartoony wacky environment. its basically a guaranteed way for the viewers to actually see these goofy characters in a humanoid manner. however… you can’t just implement characters with these vr headset backstories and existential themes without it sounding entirely ominous. AND you can’t just drop a huge bombshell regarding the lore of the show and WHY the vr stuff happened and then go on twitter and say that its 95% about the characters.

and with the direction of the cellar and office scenes.. im not sure if it’s even possible for someone to make a clean cut resolution to the lore tidbits while still fulfilling the “5%” lore thing and not having it come off as giving off the wrong expectations. the direction of these scenes is SO intense like. some of these camera shots clearly put emphasis on small little details and the tone of these scenes pale so much in comparison to previous scenes that it catches you so off guard.

which is what makes them very well written! however they pack so much content and foreshadowing into themselves that its such a far fetched thing to say that only 5% of lore will make up tadc. that combined with the prospect of past lives. and also with the clear foreshadowing of jax being a morally corrupt person. what about the extremely heavy motifs of exit doors? there’s no way THATS going to just be gone after episode 1. goose, what do you MEAN there’s going to be corpse imagery? all of this ties into each other. lore and tone tie into each other too. come on.

but these aspects can definitely be used to craft a great story. WITH character arcs and character deep dives throughout episodes. gravity falls literally nailed this. and theoretically tadc could too. emphasis on theoretically.

also if the “memory loss” thing was actually canon and not something the fandom thought was canon (again reasonable misinterpretation because obviously if you hear pomni say “HOLY FLIP I FORGOT MY OWN NAME!!!” you’re going to assume she forgot everything else.) that would also work well along with the theoretical lore stuff if it was more emphasized. literally think of the vast opportunities for foreshadowing. maybe pomni finds out something about the other characters via revisiting the office that THEY can’t remember. maybe do something with like… reflexes and muscle memory or something related to “the mind forgets but the body remembers”. maybe use it as a plot point in relation to jax’s keys or his weirdly implied secret or something. IDK! i just think a lore and plot driven story in this environment combined with character things (50/50…) would be marginally more interesting than what we will be given.

okay one more pet peeve in relation to this before i go. deep breath……. i really hate the cartoonish body language of the main human cast. GO AHEAD BOO ME. THROW TOMATOES AT ME. LET ME EXPLAIN OKAY.

one piece of media that i think does a GREAT job when it comes to utilizing body language in storytelling is duck season. it clearly humanizes the guy in the suit by giving him certain habits that seem undoubtedly human and make him feel very… alive. like whenever he smokes a cigarette but then quickly puts it out when the player gets near him bc he’s startled and needs to keep up a facade. like THAT. that’s what strikes me as a human behavior.

so if goose’s goal would be to humanize these “cartoon” characters… realistic body language that clashes with their digital circus designs would be a perfect way to make them stick out in comparison to the npcs or caine and bring out the fact that they’re humans in an environment curated by nonhumans. it would also help a little more with tadc’s target demographic problem i think? the characters having little humanoid habits would make it seem a little more mature i think and would also go well with my idea of theoretical lore-focused tadc. not saying 20 year olds CANT be into pieces of media that have bright colors and are very cartoony. im just saying. there’s a reason why there’s so much content slop of tadc.

[system-of-a-feather]

I'm glad you're going hogwild on Bleach rn. It was also a major part of our childhood and development, and I feel like there's still a ton to get out of it, even from an older perspective. (Not trying to sound uppity or anything, I really love Bleach.)

What do you think about the idea of Ichigo as a CDD allegory? I don't think he was written with that in mind, but reading through the manga, there are a lot of scenes that make me go "hmMMMMMM."

(Never watched the anime, lol. Manga-only)

Funny you should ask that question. I have actually already made a very important post on the topic of Ichigo as a CDD allegory. /hj

Honestly though, I think its one of my favorite "not intentionally a CDD but very relatable as someone with a CDD". Like I'd have to get further into TYBW and later cause I know they expand and drop some lore secrets about the dynamic of the part (I was gonna edit that to be more accurate to the world context of Bleach but I felt that term is telling about how I feel about the allegory XD) that make up Ichigo's soul and shit.

I know a lot of what is revealed because as good as I obstained from a lot of spoilers, I actually heard a rumor that Hollow Ichigo isn't seen after the Aizen-Karakura town arc and I was so distraught at that that I let it be something I got spoiled on before it was announced that it would continue. At the time, I thought it upset me cause I thought the hollow stuff was cool, but that reasoning didn't really make sense to me because I was actually like *sad* in a "no thats not fair or right, hollow ichigo deserves to live too" which in hindsight, I realize was probably some not-entirely subconscious "no don't just delete and erase the existance of a part of yourself!!! You should make friends with them and make them your best ally!!! I want to see more HIchi and Ichigo interact ;w;"

and also

like

lowkey I had a Hollow Ichigo introject in my head that I didn't know about for the longest time so it was probably pretty personal

But personal shit aside, I honestly really do like it. I mean to some level - especially early in the series - its a lot of "oooooh spooky evil alter" vibes, but honest to god - and this is a controversial opinion - I think we need more nuanced "evil" alter representation rather than the elimination of the "evil alter" trope because shitty asshole alters exist and are actually common and I think its a lot more meaningful to show how two completely conflicting and otherwise aggressive towards eachother individuals can find a middle ground and empower eachother. Which is what Bleach does particularly with Ichigo and his hollow self and UNIRONICALLY the whole Bleach arc Ichigo has with his hollow self is incredibly similar to the "arc" that XIV and I had which, go figure. Me the Shounen Boy Optimist protagonist and a literal hollow ichigo introject had a similar arc to the Shounen Protagonist and Hollow ichigo. Do you see the shock in my voice?

Honestly if I have time and feel like it (unlikely since I don't often have time) I might put a longer opinion / discussion on it, but honestly, even outside of Ichigo, I think the way Bleach handles Zanpaktous and even stuff like Lillynette and Stark is just a really fun way to have a lot of plural / CDD adjacent themes and vibes without necessarily even being an allegory.

The idea of being able to have a manifestation of your soul and the power it has take a sentient form and the bonding, communication, and collaboration with said manifestation being the key to increased power and skill development is just??? The coolest thing?

Honestly I think Bleach has subconsciously informed a lot of how our system is structured and interacts in more ways than we are probably cognitively currently aware of and I think to some good level that whole just general vibe probably plays a role in it somewhere.

But man, I love this show. I honestly am genuinely thinking of returning to my natural autistic instincts and just chronically watching it whenever I dont have anything else to watch because I really DONT need to have a variety of shows to watch and honestly if something aint broke, why ever change it /hj

I can have a comfort anime smh

[bucketspammer4life]

☆ the boxers watching horror movies ☆

sorry for dissapearing (again) i was busy trying to stay sane, also dont think of any specific movie i dont like movies because fuck staying still, this is less like my usual stuff since its more like a "what kind of horror do they like if they even like horror at all"

Glass Joe

- horror movie connoseiur and a bit of a elitist even though he doesnt like to admit to it, will call you a fake horror fan if youre a fan of something popular, unless youve watched a film found at bottom of a basement filmed on a moldy carrot with a dead pigeon decapitating people that is banned in 20 countries and can be only bought if you solve 28 riddles given to you by 5 swedish gnomes at a snowy forest in the depths of serbia, youre a FAKER.

- likes movies that are probably banned from 9282892926288373982829192972626626262783929273928286382872728282 countries due to having excessive violence

- the only thing that will phase him in a movie is the dog dying, only because NOT THE DOG!!!

- psychological horror movies hit the sweet spot for him

Von Kaiser

- no, nuh uh. Hates horror and only appreciates comedy - horror that is ment to be not very scary

- if he were to watch actual horror movies that went to the deep end, he probably wouldnt be able to sleep for days

- cries when the dog dies in horror movies

Disco Kid

- scared but loves it, yes hes traumatized, yes he wants to see more, horror is just captivating to him for some reason, when he watches a horror movie wayy too spooky for him he whips up badly made horror movies and watches them

- gets tense watching the characters fall and run like dumbasses to the point where he just shouts "STOP FALLING!!!" When he sees a chase scene

- slowly building up a immunity to the "THE DOG DIES!!" but it still makes him sad

King Hippo

- oh dear heavens

- HATES HATES HATES chase scenes, it just makes him want to run out from the room and scream

- He just shuts off the movie or leaves when the dog dies, he wont tolerate this no no nuh uh

- the louder the chase music the more he gets visibly stressed

Piston Hondo

- OBSESSED!!! loves watching horror movies and can sleep well after it like he got read a bedtime story

- body horror is his favorite genre, hes just drawn to it

- sometimes watches horror movies with Joe, not a gatekeeper and elitist like him but still likes the kind of horror movie that has been recorded with a half eaten burger thats covered in bugs and can only be accessed if you eat a entire pumpkin pie in 30 minutes while speaking in tongues in front of a cave as you tapdance

Great Tiger

- very meh about horror, he mostly falls asleep to videos explaining lore about horror movies when his insomnia acts up

- Really likes paranormal themes along with found footage, seeing characters act like normal people is a breath of fresh air to him

- yells at the characters in horror movies if they fall like idiots (basically 99% of horror movies)

Bear Hugger

- dear heavens NO. He cant stomach horror, he can only tolerate comedy-horror since he can take a break from having a heart attack

- same reaction with king hippo when the dog dies in a horror movie, bonus points if its a golden retriever

- horror movies that are in forests or snowy places make him feel wayy more scared for some reason

Don Flamenco

- screams of fear from him, even if nothing scary is happening, cant even tolerate comedy-horror

- keeps talking during whatever movie he has to sit through so he can hide his screams

- if he was in a horror movie he would be the dumbass character falling and tripping every 2 seconds that everyone yells at

-will hide behind anything if hes forced to watch a horror movie

Aran Ryan

- hates but loves horror yes hes not gonna be able to sleep for a few hours yes hes still gonna watch it

- gets angry when the dog dies in horror movies, you could kill anyone but you decided to kill the one damn character who hasnt done anything wrong, fuck you

- doesnt watch horror movies either from : getting bored, the dog dying early on, main character going something unreasonably dumb or everyones least favorite... unwanted kissing scenes

Soda Popinski

- varying, if its your classic stuff (serial killers, haunted house, etc etc) hes very fine with that, but once you get into the more unsettling imagery hes shaken up

- movies going on in snowy places scare him wayy more since he grew up somewhere very snowy

- cries when the dog dies in horror movies, poor man

Bald Bull

- pretending to be nonchalant but probably screams from fear halfway through before trying to gaslight you into thinking he didnt go "eek!!" And it was your imagination

- movies going on in hospitals hit extra hard for him

- has to keep the lights on after watching scary movies

Super Macho Man

- pretty similiar to bull, except he tries to gaslight everyone else into thinking theyre sick and twisted for not screaming in terror

- has to run away halfway through because the horror is getting to him

- psychological horror makes him lose his marbles

Mr Sandman

- huge fan of horror, not as extreme as Joe but still a big fan since he finds it captivating, except its for comedy horror because we all need to stop having a heart attack sometimes

- doesnt get scared but shocked instead, he wont outright scream but he'll just blink twice and try to comprehend the fact that someone created THAT

[madaqueue]

Aight, pleeeaaase hit me with your fandom list. Like absolutely pop off, as much or as little detail fr you can be feral omgggg I'm sooo here for it

ANSWERING THESE TOGETHER BC MY ANSWERS ARE NOT FULFILLING HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA BUT I AM …… almost all the way through mha . and i LIKE IT like its a lot of time to sit through if i didn’t like it but …. i have not yet collected selfships from it CKSKCKDNCMD because LOOK i feel like i genuinely don’t ‘choose’ my selfships i become POSSESSED . like utterly unwell unable to think abt anything else and THATS how i know FKEKCKEKCKDNDN and i just ….. haven’t gotten it with anyone from mha HAHAHAHAHA my FAVS so far are def hawks shoto and bakugo though :33

AND FANDOM LIST IS ALSO A LITTLE WEIRD BC I WATCH A LOOOTTTT OF SHOWS BUT DONT USUALLY WRITE FOR THEM or sometimes i think i want to and then i sit down and just …. can’t 😃 and the ones i do write for are WEIRD bc like yes i am insane abt childe but when i tell you i HAVENT PLAYED GENSHIN ive just watched hours of playthrough and lore videos for him CKSKCKDKCM (see my brain just randomly collects selfships i MEAN IT like there was no reason for me to act like this with him I DIDNT EVEN KNOW HIM) but i …… have been having thoughts abt aventurine too ….. and i HAVE played hsr but i might start writing for him too …. IDK IDK IDK

ANYWAYS abridged fandom list of things i at least somewhat actively participate in is jjk (obvi), frieren (i love this show sooo much and you’ll occasionally see me rb art and stuff for it and i WANT TO WRITE FOR IT SO BAD), mha, genshin, and hsr :33

[syrips]

hello im gonna pin this post

hello my name is Syrips, im a super duper simp and simp/self-insert enabler for others who love strahd or any cos/ravenloft/fictional characters

im 28, but i sometimes say im thirty as a vague response because its easier and faster to say (or safer to say to strangers)

i think i am autistic but i am currently only self-diagnosed; i plan to tell my doctors once i compile a binder of reasons why i think im autistic based on noted events in my childhood, behavior, and my reflected perspective on things in pages of charts and text which is a totally neurotypical thing to do

im genderfluid and i am fine with any and all pronouns (different people may use different/changing/fluid pronouns on me, i am completely fine with this)

im polyamorous and pansexual/panromantic, i gush over games that have polyamory/pan options!!

i have huge CoS/Ravenloft spoilers so please, PLEASe do not enter unless you are fine with being spoiled with all kinds of content. i also wont explain what is or isnt 'canon' because, well, some things may be canon for one person, while potential/not-canon for another, so i really cannot confirm or deny it myself.. ask your DM for confirmation! (and for my players who are here, hehe, goodluck figuring it out!)

i do music, art, crafting, and streaming sometimes, here is my linktree: https://linktr.ee/syrips

please 'ask'/message/send me any and all of your curse of strahd and/or ravenloft works of art! this can include these and more!:

playlists

moodboards

art/portfolio/link to your art or artblog

pages of your OC/PC/dnd lore (both player and DM welcome)

campaign/session notes and storytime

canon and potential-/home-/head-canon dumps

narrations/imagines/ao3/google docs/fanfic/fic writings

cool crafts!!

i crave it more than strahd craves blood, please and thank you!

you can also send me stuff and let me know if you want me to gush/simp over it, provide advice, or simply acknowledge it (publicly or privately)! let me know in advance cuz i dont want to make you uncomfortable with what you share

i have no limits on triggering fictional content, just make sure to tw it properly if it is sensitive content for others

my Ask thingy is always open, i may ramble alot if i get passionate enough though so be warned! hehe

ok goodbye ill edit or change this whenever idk

Edit Entry 1 - 11th Moon, 2023

for context, keita/raze (he/him) is my irl partner. he's been a simp for alucard (castlevania) longer than i've begun simping for strahd. i only discovered this years into the relationship when we watched castlevania (where i expected to be a bigger simp for castlevania), and instead HE made high pitch simping noises as alucard appeared on the screen and i was like -sus eyes- wait a GOSH DARN MINUTE-. also, keita has a thing for necks. i shrugged it off when he first told me, but years later i started simping for strahd and now i look back at that moment like 'hm. odd.-'. anyways, i mostly started dating him because he sounds like a kermit the frog southern guy who goes 'howdy howdy' and he says 'i should be golden' unironically and i think thats pretty funny

i tag stuff as #making a keita tag so when keita presses this he can see all the stuff that he likes so that i can organize stuff and incase he ever decides to poke around my blog and use this tag search within my blog

Edit Entry 2 and 3 - 12th Moon, 2023

syrips OC/PC list (loosely alphabetical)

Other People's Adored OC/PC list (loosely alphabetical)

Edit Entry 4 - 7th Moon, 2024

hi huge warning that im fucking WEIRD. like i know people may enjoy the idea of me for entertainment/indulgence purposes but please please. if you ask/tell me to do something, i will 90%-chance take it seriously and respond bluntly/directly. please take my warnings seriously and please please interact with me responsibly!!

and i already know some would be like, 'oh syrips people always say that. they wanna act unique/special by calling themselves weird'. like. thats fair if people dont believe that but please dont be surprised when freakos start feeling more comfortable/vulnerable around you and you become shocked. like. stop trying to shame/blame freakos for what they've warned since the beginning. please, it's hurtful and disrespectful.

my asks are always open, be as blunt/direct as you want. most of my cws will be with "cw: " before it. let me know if you want me to cw tag something!

i use the #be cringe be free tag for weirdos/freakos/happy/indulgent stuff. this can include stuff that isnt 'cringe', and/or cringe we embrace. it's okay to be cringe. it's okay to say cringe culture is dead. it's okay to not see things as cringe. it's okay to embrace the cringe. it's okay to indulge, to be your favorite version of you. it's okay to indulge, even if it's unfamiliar/scary. i use the tag for moments of doing what makes you happy, regardless if youre unfamiliar with that indulgent feeling. be cringe be free!!

[beesmygod]

BLOODBORNE LORE Q+A PART 7: CAINHURST RAID, CARYLL AND THE RUNES, LEAVING BYRGENWERTH

part 1

part 2

part 3

part 4

part 5

part 6 (start of lore dump)

---

my new adhd medication is working too good.

BLOCK #LONG POST/ TO NOT SEE THESE HUGE POSTS

i will post pure speculation in italics and important nouns in bold. these are created with the intent to be enjoyed by fans and non-fans.

translation source

---

from the jump i'm going to add an editor's note that from this point on the timeline is muddled, confusing, vague and occasionally contradictory. people have moved heaven and earth trying to make sense of the inconsistencies, but the truth of the matter is that bloodborne suffered the fromsoft late game curse and was chopped up beyond recognition at the 11th hour for whatever internal development reason. whats interesting to me is the stuff they chose to keep that's complete and utter chaff. there are extremely rare items that do literally nothing but sit in your inventory, or quests that are completely pointless. enemies appear where they "shouldn't" and it difficult to tell if they are trying to impart some kind of information or if we're just getting dragon-assed in lost izalith again. its very odd and i think thats what draws people back again and again. such as....me......

i can give you overviews of these events in the approximate order that they happened but there is no guarantee that they happened exactly in this order or in this fashion.

---

from this point on, there will be a distinct delineation between "old hunters" and "hunters". old hunters are from the time of byrgenwerth and have survived into the modern day as a result of old blood injections or can be summoned from the hunter's nightmare using the old hunter bell. a distinct characteristic of old hunters is that they no longer dream (the bell description reads: "The old hunters, who have long passed from the dream[...]"). notable old hunters include: gascoigne, alfred, djura, ludwig, gehrman, and maria.

regular ass hunters are new on the scene and usually belong to a recently established institution such as the healing church, school of mensis, or the choir. or they might just be common schlubs who joined the hunt as part of the neighborhood watch. [points at the camera] that's you. eventually. not yet.

---

as perfect proof of what i'm talking about with regards to contradictory timelines and being chopped to bits: an unknown time ago, martyr logarius and a band of executioners traveled to cainhurst castle and slaughtered the inhabitants, the dreaded vilebloods. the inciting incident (or so says alfred, a heavily biased source as hes the only executioner in the game, uh, with lines anyway) was an unknown scholar who "betrayed his fellows at Byrgenwerth and brought forbidden blood back with him to Cainhurst Castle". the blood "threaten[s] the purity of the Church's blood healing" although it's not explained how or what the fuck they're talking about. according to alfred, logarius stayed behind to prevent the undying and unkillable queen from regaining power.

i do not know when this takes place. cainhurst royals were "long-time imbibers of blood" who already had a system to deal with the beast plague, implying they doing blood before blood was cool. but eventually ludwig uses the executioner uniform as the basis for his church hunters and it features the modern edition of the hunter's mark (as opposed to the older versions that you can see in this concept art and in chalice dungeons), so it had to be during or before ludwig's time. there are runes associated with both parties that were discovered by a byrgenwerth scholar, so it at least happened during or after their lifetime.

so its kind of vaguely around this time even though they talk about it like it happened 1000 years ago. since this is one of the least comprehensible story-lines of the game, we won't worry about it too much right now.

i need an image to break this up so check out the most fucked up, non-snake related map in the game:

for a company known for its cohesive maps, this is a fucking insane series of choices. i understand annalise needs to be trapped but what the fuck is this room. why is it up here. why is it magic. why is it like a hoarders nest full of the same 4 statues found literally everywhere on this map. this truly is the most mysterious game.

everyone and their mother has a completely baseless and improbable theory about who the culprit was or if there even WAS a rat at byrgenwerth- so of course so do i. let me work my way over there.

---

whether due to an ideological difference or the whole fishing hamlet genocide thing, laurence and several of the hunters left byrgenwerth with the intent of researching "the old blood" from the labyrinth. the miraculous healing powers were too enticing for laurence to ignore, but willem was steadfast in his belief that humanity was not yet ready to reckon with whatever it was that was happening here - at least, not without elevating themselves to the same level as those in the "cosmos". his distaste for use of the blood is mentioned off-hand in the rune workshop tool description.

caryll runes side note for newbies: caryll runes are a gameplay mechanic that give you buffs you can switch in and out by using an iron brand on your consciousness. the runes themselves are transcriptions of "the inhuman utterings of the Great Ones". all but a handful of the runes were discovered/transcribed by runesmith caryll and some were explicitly secret ones.

almost nothing is known about caryll except they were a student of byrgenwerth. the workshop tool named for them is found on a dead hunter tied to a chair as the reward for the witch of hemwick fight. people will try to tell you that this schmuck is caryll but that's fucking stupid. caryll was not a hunter and there's no reason why caryll would have the means or motive to pilfer their own tool from the hunter's dream. i dont know why this guy has it. maybe hes just an asshole and stole it from the dream to be a dick. who knows. hes just griefing us lol

all three translations agree that caryll runes "do not rely" on using blood, so its significant when they DO start using blood in the runes. one could read this as indication of caryll's transition from byrgenwerth to the healing church to follow laurence over willem. nearly all of the covenant related runes and the runes relating to oedon are bleeding or "contain a nuance of Blood", as it says in the corruption rune used by the vilebloods.

the executioners have a rune too, "radiance", which is unusual for its description specifying that caryll had already discovered the rune by the time the executioners adopted it as their own. there is no mention of this on the "corruption" page, nor on the remaining covenant runes discovered by caryll.

if cainhurst were to alert their subjects of the already well-known beast plague caused by the miraculous healing blood, the church's newly established grasp on the populace would crumble. if cainhurst could keep the beasts in check, why couldn't they? they already did, after all, in the labyrinth. with the vilebloods gone (or at least, dealt with), the church has unilateral control of the ministration process to the point where alfred, an old hunter, does not understand it in the least. i wonder if a certain byrgenwerth educated runesmith was invited to castle cainhurst or traveled on their own, only to discover during the runemaking process that the "old blood" from the labyrinth and the blood in the veins of the royals were one and the same.

---

"eyes on the inside" is a cutesy way of describing "insight", but the byrgenwerth system for deriving said insight necessitated the gruesome acts at the fishing village to obtain an eye-ridden cord, or at the very least, the parasitic creatures and slugs aligned to the arcane found in the village and bodies of the fishing village. willem hoped the cord would elevate his mind, and by extension himself, into a great one.

if we do some reading between the lines on the description for the "spark hunter badge", the description of "a style of inquiry that [...] closely followed the methodology of Byrgenwerth" is almost certainly "expose yourself to it" or "use living specimens" based on, well, everything and their protegees do. its not clear if willem ever actually got the cord; it only says he "sought" it. but he did, at least take part in and shape the byrgenwerth focus of learning away from blood and toward developing eyes on the inside. by putting slugs in your fucking head.

someone on reddit pointed out that the brainsucker enemies are kos parasites living inside the stitched up skulls of...people? pthumerians? i would argue pthumerians due to the fact that these enemies replace the generic pthumerian enemies in a chalice dungeon much later.

we can talk about byrgenwerth's results and fate later. because next time, the healing church is established.

---

i cannot believe how long this shit is. kudos if you read it i guess. if nothing else it gets this out of my head, forever.

[iocainesmoothie]

veilguard was incredible, 11/10

I really don't have any interest in nit-picking or criticizing what was missing or done poorly, there was always going to be too much they COULD have crammed in and inevitably so much that didn't make it because at the end of the day it has to be a finished marketable product and must be made with finite resources.

there are always going to be cuts and places that feel lacking, there are always going to be holes, but its important to be appreciative of where they DID decide to spend their resources and I think their team did a fantastic job.

the hair, omg the hair.

the DA2 atmosphere, the ME2 story structure and emphasis on companions, the lore of DAI, like they could not have made a game more tailored to my tastes.

I'm so so so grateful to everyone at bioware who made it happen and that games like this still get made, truly no one does it like they do. BG3 was great but i don't consider them a substitute for the feeling i get from Bioware games. I finished veilguard like 2 days ago and I'm still kinda wondering around in an emotional fog.

I really thought I was going to be disappointed by the romances because nothing was going to compare to the impact and shock reveal and story relevance of solavellan, but omg emmrich!?!

he's so romantic, he's such a lover, he WANTS love so bad, he's so flustered about the age gap! his character arc is ACTUALLY INTERESTING and thematic! there are actually different routes for his romance to go and theyre both HUGELY different AND good!!! AND ALSO relevant to his themes as a character!!! in either route you basically have to chose which one of you is going to (eventually) die first and leave the other one mourning and its like UGH HES SO!!!! UGH ITS SO GOOD!! YOU GET IN A LOVERS SPAT BEFORE A BIG STORY MOMENT!!! THATS WORKING SYNCHRONOUSLY WITH THE GAME PLOT TO ENHANCE THE OVER ALL STORY!! ITS SO GOOOD!!!!

also its SUCH a relief to have an option that wasnt like SUPER young, the age gap is hot as fuck and its part of his story and UGH ITS SO GOOD!!

i also just love the mourn watch as a whole, I feel like some of dragon age magic system gets explained a little too concretely (it feels like everything is either because elves or because spirits or both) and the necropolis vibes are sort of like, no we haven't solved all that there is to be solved about magic and the fade, there are mysteries and cool stuff and wiggle room in the universe for other new stuff to be introduced, like lichs and vampires and supernatural beings that arent just different flavours of spirits.

I do feel bad for the lucanis girlies though. giving players HALF as much romance content as everyone else, and then saying its because of personality reasons? for a character whos personality you wrote yourself? seems mean spirited.

like you didnt have to do that, it was actively making the player experience worse for arguably nothing, if you wanted to convey that lucanis doesn't feel free to want things for himself there were other ways to portray that than an ABSENCE of content. you have a finite word count to bring these characters to life. Wasting it like that for arguably nothing except to make players feel disappointment doesn't seem defensible to me?

not even going into the neve thing. everyone on twitter is doing the usual "boohoo you just hate neve because you hate women" thing.

I LOVE neve, i think that "fantasy-noir" vibe she and varric have is absolute PEAK, I also didnt even romance lucanis, and i think they're perfectly sweet together and i love when companions have lives outside the main character!

but i do think its double shitty to write a character who fully ignores your romance lines (like not even shrugs them off or has an awkward or negative reaction just FULLY does not react as if the game isn't registering the option you chose) but then have them actively pursuing someone else?

what happened to those personality reasons?

lucanis has never had a relationship before but suddenly he's juggling 2 people?

during his quest (his stupid lazy dream sequence quest that has to happen in the middle of another conversation while the two of you stand there awkwardly for some reason) even if you've chosen every heart option he'll still imply in his dream sequence that hes attracted to neve.

YOU get cut off from the romance route if you choose to support minrathous but he's fine with neve?

I'm just saying, if i were writing one of 6 romance routes in the last dragon age game maybe ever made, I would have been more generous. The way it treats the player is almost adversarial?

I know, i know, the opposite side of the spectrum is being TOO fawning about the player till it almost reaches the point of paternalistic condescension, like when every single character adores the mc and never questions or doubts or disagrees with them. that also sucks! that is also a bad writing choice!

i LOVED rook and solas's relationship. I am a hardcore solavellan solas simp and my sole goal was for them to get their happy ever after, solas is my favorite character across all media EVER.

that said, i loved making rook shit talk him, and swear at him and hate him, and i was DELIGHTED every time solas betrayed them, even at the very end when he, the god of lies, swears on everything he holds sacred that he PROMISES he wont try to bring the veil down again after elgernan is dead and you just KNOW hes trying to give you one more stab in the back for the road, i LOVED it. i was DELIGHTED to be trapped in that prison, it was the strongest part of the game and I cried pretty much nonstop from that point to the finale. i dont NEED every character to get along and play nice and love me unquestioningly. i LOVE carver!!! i LOVE the rivalry system!!!

again i havent even played lucanis's route and i probably never will because i'm insane about emmrich (who btw i can romance every play through and pick a different version and get a different but equally devastatingly romantic route AHEM)

also im only criticizing his writing here, at the bottom of a huge rambling text post behind a read more on a dead website at 5:30 am, because mary kirby did get laid off and didn't receive the severance she was owed and regardless of how i feel about her latest work she absolutely deserves the money and new stable employment and picking on the way she wrote her character doesn't seem like the right thing to do anywhere there is even a slim chance someone might see it.

anyway, i just think maybe they were trying to play with structure to convey something and i disagree with the results, but what do i know. I'm protesting more about that because the mechanics of writing game romances, more so than the romance itself, is my obsessive special interest and I'm always thinking of how I would do it, and to see someone get the chance to do it in the big leagues and fumble (according to my tastes) chafes me a little.

that said, iv seen a lot of people who were perfectly happy with what they got from Lucanis so maybe im totally wrong lmao.

Im also just now thinking of all the stuff we'll never get a definitive answer to if this really is the last game, or all the choices that we imported over fifteen years that ended up meaning nothing.

like if only elgernan and ghilly were left, does that mean what the wardens were doing WAS actually killing the gods? and once theyre all dead the veil would come down because it no longer had their life force fuelling it and the mega blight would come out? and THATS why solas was so freaked out by clarel?

what the fuck was the point of playing hot potato with urthemiel's old god soul over the entire franchise? what about the well of sorrows?!! what the fuck is actually going on in kalsharok? theyre just like ALL semi-tainted semi-wardens? WAS andraste a mage? a vessel for mythal? WAS SOLAS SHARTAN????!?! what was yavanna trying to rebuild the dragon population for? WHAT RECKONING WAS MYTHAL PLANNING?!?! what the fuck is the gathering storm? why did the pre-qunari race decide to drink dragon blood to become qunari to get away from them? LIZARD MEN ILLUMINATI FROM THE MOON? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!

i mean i know obviously the answer is "resource budget and time", and again im just so incredibly grateful the game got made at all, i guess im just left with the same feeling every other dragon age game gave me which is that i desperately want more.

[tillman]

can i ask abt ur dragons? like their personalities and their background? 🐉

YESS YAAY ALWAYS.. theeeres . a lot . i have like 80 something dragons on the site and probably ~30/40 who have written out concrete shit about them/their role lollllll but errm. long post here r the important ones.

from the last post these r the 5 'gods' of the area. they arent actually gods, just extremely old and more intune with magic than the average bloke in the modern day. they dont actually get all along theyre just paired up in my head cus theyre oooold.

Aspenti (any pronouns) is An Informant. to what at this point i dont think she remembers but she takes the role veeery seriously and works as a sort of messenger for the other forces doing their shit in the wasteland they live in ^_^ he stays completely silent outside of his role tho... a kind of cherub-esque figure but if a cherub was a strange thing that was so full of the like. Concept Of The Sky sometimes it exploded in lightning.

Regina (she/her) is an archeologist who became kinda fixated on the castle in the wasteland. shes often mistaken for a statue guarding the way in and out of the area and doesnt mind that much. attention gets to her head. she loves telling stories to scare the kids into behaving and is like. Kind of Insane about the history of the realm but feels a sort of weird obligation to stay out of current hypothesizing about the history even tho shes lived through most of it cus it "spoils the fun for the rest of them."

Sulcatus (it/its) is the oldest thing around. its body is what became the castle everyone in the area lives in, before even the rot of the wastelands moved in it was there. its mostly only heard of through whispers of the court at this point. like Regina it has a fondness for spreading stories of the history it lived thru, but genuinely doesnt remember most of it out of not giving a shit, so it loves telling lies to anyone brave enough to actually approach it. its lazy, polarizing, and really just a trickster. its quite cute. it used to train fighters but stopped after its last trainee kinda died horribly from its command. its fine tho its trainee is fine and doing great.

Aeternitas (he/him) is combative and kind of wretched. like hes fine he doesnt actually enjoy fights for as Aggressive as he is and how Fighty he comes across hes a huge fan of just Staring and watching stuff happen, taking up the role of a guard dog with regina just to see people squirm. hes the embodiment of the rot of the wastelands in the area like sulcatus is the castle and regina is the history, but "embodiment" in the vague sort of, Hes around cus Its around, not that he made it. people Blame him for it though (or worship him depending on ur personal view on the idea of a living rot growing over the land) and he thinks thats hysterical.

Stagnum (any) is like. the least important frankly. shes the defacto Trickster Joker figure in the mythos, but like if your mythos was completely real and your gods tripped you in the hallways because tehy dont get attention otherwise. hes the herald of life and all things living in the area but if thats just cus she was the only figure left to deify or any real magic no one rlly knows. he just likes attention.

the 4 like maaain Modern figures in the lore ive been building r these guys tho. normal ass freaks.

Euclid (she/it) is the head of a local group of vagrants who were drawn to the castle by promise of a new home after being kicked out of their original homes fr Many reasons. theyve fully dedicated themselves to helping the rot of the waste spread to the point theyve let it take over themselves, cus it provides fr them so why dont they provide for it back! shes driven and a bit too dedicated to her cause getting a little merciless in her protection of those shes deemed as under her care . shes cool. she helps a lot with the local merchants and the political shenanigans in the castle.

Vlad (he/him) is a stressed freak given wayyy too much sway mostly because Many Many powerful people think hes charming. hes So Scared of literally everything going on but is somehow the head of the guard and The Person people go to for peacekeeping. Both the head of the forum of merchants and local Powers and the leader of the ruffians who claim original ownership of the castle and make its halls a nightmare to be in think he is Simply So Charming and their little Thing LMAO.

Neve (it/its) is the loser leader of the ruffians in the castle who is vaguely obsessed with vlad. once, maybe twice dead, its a cunning and terrible scholar who heads the ghosts in the halls. though at this point its been so many years its mind is kinda scattered and half there at times. its really not that bad tho it just likes Seeming that bad. its like if a zombie was cool.

Raphael (it/its) is the self proclaimed leader of the forum. the forum doesnt.. have a leader? but no one else cares enough to claim to be one so everyone lets it pretend it is. the forum is a group of 11 dragons who embody the elements and have been in the area as long as its existed. most just kinda chill out but some get Extremely involved. raph is one of latter ones and mostly acts as an annoyance. every other one of the heads in the forum has some sort of Thing they do, produce/provide/etc but raph really doesnt??? so it tries to take to leadership. but isnt very good at it . it at least acts as a sort of like. mascot? or like figurehead of the entire area so people are charmed by its ditzy outlook.

[azulashengrottospiano]

if you want to ask about idia shroud...

hi you. you either came here out of your own curiosity or you sent an ask about "mr. hot topic on my blog for the past year" and i don't feel like explaining myself again.

first i will show you the reasons why i hated him. then you will get my opinion now. have fun ig!!

WHY I HATED IDIA SHROUD:

number one. he is such a know it all. he constantly acts like hes better than other people and is so SO condensing whenever someone struggles with something that he knows how to do well. he's just such an asshat when he seems someone that he could HELP. "a toddler could do that-" yeah idia, you know what else a baby could do? run a lap without wheezing and keeling over.

number two. he is so ungrateful whenever people do stuff for him. the ghost marriage event highlighter that about him because for fucks sakes these people tried to save your stupid ass life and all you could do was berate them. ok die then! they came here for YOU. how DARE you talk to them like that.

number THREE. he insults the hell out of rollo for his "lets get rid of magic plan" and berates him for it when their trauma is so similar and they could have had a genuine conversation, but also hey idia you FUCKING HYPOCRITE, you tried to TAKE OVER THE FUCKING WORLD FOR YOUR BROTHER. YOU DID WAY WORSE THAN ROLLO DID YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COME AT HIM LIKE THAT.

hes just so snobby and whenever someone calls him out on his bullshit (like leona!!) he is always ALWAYS like "um i didnt say anything" LIKE BITCH IF YOURE GOING TO SHIT TALKS OMEONE BACK IT UP. I HATE YOUR ASS YOURE SO PATHETIC AND SUCH A HYPOCRITE AND SO HORRIBLE.

WHY I LIKE HIM NOW:

first first first!! the thing that made me gasp the softest gasp i have ever gasped in my life when i first saw it...his pink hair. its a bit superficial i guess but now that i like idia i think he's stunning. he's so hauntingly beautiful, especially when he's just a little bit flustered and the tips of his hair turn pink. what i would do to see his whole head turn pink PLEASE.

i also think his smile is so silly, even though it's usually accompanied by his smug ass voice "should'a leveled up more!" SHUT UP!!!!! i love his sharp teeth theyre so goofy nd silly but in a cute way. honestly i think his scowl is cute too, idk maybe i just like his lips but watching them twist up in annoyance when he rolls his eyes is attractive to me dont ask i dont know either. does that say something about me? maybe. i'm content with not knowing.

onto less superficial things...i just finished reading book six yesterday and it struck me how idia's heart is genuinely so beautiful. he loves so gently and fully, but with devotion that would destroy the world if he let it loose. being loved and treasured by idia is a privilege, because once he lets you in he would do anything for you (just dont fuck it up or i will beat you up im being so serious LEAVE HIM ALONE)

the extent to which he cares for ortho is so beautiful and so heartbreaking. "leave it to your big bro" im dead. everything he does is for ortho to have a safe and fulfilling life and honestly...it kind of seems like idia is trying to pay ortho back in a sense? like you died (because of me), now i will spend the rest of my life mourning you as punishment. he wants to give him the best life possible and thats just so ourgourgouhgohou,,,, his grieving is so complex and yet its so simple. heartbreaking i tell you.

on a lighter note, he's very passionate about the things he's into as well. one thing about figuring our how to like idia was turning my reaction to his condescending jabs from "oh he's such a know it all bitch what the hell people are literally just indulging in his interests what is wrong with him?" TO "oh he's just excited and getting an adrenaline rush, it's going to his head. he's happy. :)" and that was absolutely growth on my part because. ok AUBURN LORE TIME but i used to have a friend who was very condescending and a HUGE know it all (irl IRL IRL) and i think they definitely impacted how i saw idia because i saw bits of them in him. and since they hurt me so much i projected my experiences with them onto idia, so the first time i met him in game i wrote him off immediately and hated him after i saw what he said to others and how he acted.

but one of the many problems with that approach was that i missed the gentler sides of him. the way he goes back to school for ortho. the way he powers through the masquerade social for ortho. his idea of yuu being "valuable emotional support." his love of cats, regardless of how bad he scared grim. his love of star rogue and the way he made the sequel actually happen, albiet unintentionally. i spent so much time resenting him because "of course he's just another one of those." that i didn't stop to notice anything about him except for those bad moments. and of course, i'm not ignoring them now, i just see them differently. i see him differently.

of course i love that he's relatable, and that he's smart, and i love how when he's comfortable he loses his filter and becomes idia shroud instead of just being Scared of them, but i think that's just. social anxiety. and yk what ive said this before but even when i hated him i would NOT stand for anyone coming for his anxiety. like yeah i hate idia shroud but BITCH GET AWAY FROM HIM. YOU DONT KNOW WHAT ANXIETY IS LIKE!!! put me in nrc right now idia shroud needs someone who will yell at people for him and thats going to be ME. i dont care who you are you say shit you are earning my IRE. trey clover got yelled at. no one is safe.

can i just say i love how you said "reason" like there's only one JDSJSDJSD LMAO IDK IT WAS JUST FUNNY TO ME when i love someone i have multiple reasons and i love every part of them, even the bad annoying icky parts (in fact, if you can't love their bad parts too is it even love...? i dont know, we all have different definitions anyway. some might think tolerating their bad parts is love too and we'd both be right.) theres no one reason i just think he's lovely inside and out now. he's an angel, basically.

[smaradog]

time for an introduction

hello! im smaradog but you can call me smara or mar for short, i have a weird sense of humor that feels edgy but i dont do jokes that are at anyones expense, or say weird things, since its not really something thats part of me at all, making others feel bad and/or uncomfortable is against all i stand for, at the same time my humor can kinda be silly/catgirlesque for lack of better description?? (??? ihave no idea what im saying) and kinda fecalfunny style humor overall.

dni if youre a bigot or a terf or some stupid shit like that

anyways im a neurodivergent asexual trans girl (she/her, it/its fae/faer, sli/slime pronouns please!) who speaks spanish and stuff idunno!! (i am not from spain dont pile me on with them IHATE SPAIN!!!! /j)

so yeah i draw a lot of lesbians and whatever else comes to mind

[art tag!]

i WILL start talking about something im working on or something i like for WHOLE PARAGRAPHS so be WARNED!! and heres some insane things i do!

the insane things i do in question:

art (digital and traditional)

pixel art

sound design

3d modeling (learning the basics)

music (regular music and chiptunes, and whatever weird experimental thing i can make also it kinda sucks but shh)

storyboards

modding/romhacking games

kind of a jack of all trades really! so yeah thats basically it! have a list of me dumping like a million interests i have

music: the strokes, arctic monkeys, gorillaz, daft punk, indigo quest, red vox, muse, crx, albert hammond jr., royal blood, enjambre, bandalos chinos, comisario pantera, lemon demon, tally hall, the voidz, fish in a birdcage, nelward

chiptune (counting psg chips, fm chips, low quality samplers, etc.) [fade, tim follin, jeroen tel, squarewave, shoob2000, 4mat, rushjet1]

animated shows:

the owl house

amphibia

ena

one piece (at enies lobby arc rn)

yu yu hakusho

jojos bizarre adventure (i cant deny it even if i dont talk about it, stopped at part 5)

one punch man (kinda, dont remember a lot)

adventure time (havent kept up since grass sword episodes)

ok ko (literally dont remember what the last thing that happened was)

regular show (stopped keeping up at some point) showing interest in: gravity falls, infinity train, hunter x hunter and mob psycho

films:

literally any spiderman movie from anything 2002 - now (i know theres older obscure ones)

(cant think of anything else whoops)

games:

terraria

halo (anything pre 343 sorry)

castlevania series

bloodstained

undertale/deltarune

omori (kinda lost interest)

doom (classic series, havent played 2016 and eternal)

half life series

sonic series

mega man series (classic)

minecraft (kind of? i'd rather play beta 1.7.3, but especially a fan of better than adventure)

celeste (havent finished, one of the few insane people that didnt use assist mode at the hotel chapter)

umjammer lammy

parappa series

castle crashers & battleblock theater

serious sam series

splatoon series (havent played splatoon 3)

dont starve together (i dont play often and im not super familiar with the lore) night in the woods (looks nice but. didnt finish at ALL)

portal series (i 100%ed the first game)

streamers:

vargskelethor joel (probably on top along with jerma)

vinesauce vinny

jerma985

grayfruit (i watch sometimes)

simpleflips (i watch very rarely)

i also like a few webcomics but honestly i dont remember at the time of making somehow, you can ask me about one of them though! (its not homestuck i swear /gen)

i ALSO also have super weird interests over niche little 80s - 2000s technology and stuff

due to personal reasons, i have 3 things i dont wanna hear about, but im not gonna mention them on this post.

if you made it this far reading you are insane honestly but shoutouts to you

[snappydragonsclaw]

Things that are and are not going to happen in WW au(werewolves au) future au's or just plain regular fanfictions.

1. Skylanders dieing: yes I know it's rather controversial when I first started WW I was originally going to kill off some skylanders but after doing some research I found out that in the lore of skylanders that they actually CAN'T die. I'm serious the really can't even time they would they only get sent back to earth awaiting a portal master. Just think about it everytime something happens that kill the average creature they get banished back to earth. Even before portal masters were known they got sent back to earth this happened to the giants and swap force and think it has something to do with being a skylander did you notice that only skylanders can use the portals? That's because they have a connection to it so if any other type of creature including portal masters use it they are either unable to or it acts risky often sending them to places they didn't want to go.becouse when the core of light exploded how does it only kill master eon and not the skylanders? That's because portal master's are well...mortals! We don't live forever and the skylanders are also more magical then average creature in trigger happy defeats the evil kaos the book mentions that every creature has a certain amount of magic in them and due to earth having no magic thats why skylanders shrink and turns into statues awaiting for a portal master to send them back to skylands and for them to tend to their injuries but they will never die because of it.  

2. Swearing: okay as funny as I think it would be for them to swear it's just a bit to ridiculous but I will allow words like freaking, damn and more .

3: crossover characters like sonic,crash(maybe)Mario and more: it would just be a bit to much however crash in still debating.

Okay now on the things that I would allow.

1: blood mild: I have to admit it's fun drawing blood I don't know if that's a good thing though the reason I see mild though is so it doesn't look ridiculous.

2: temporary GAINED injuries: like broken arms, temporally blindness and that type of stuff. However I would not do permanent things unless they gain before the main story.

3: banishment: yes a skylander can be banished and I mean not to earth in mean to the outlands aka kaos's homeland if they get banished they are no longer a skylander and get there ability to be semi immortal taking away from them so they can die and not be sent back to earth.

4: deadly situations: yes if superchargers can have these stakes so can a au and fanfiction.

Alright that all for now. I believe it's very possible to make a dark story without death I mean I watched movies like never ending story,the dark crystal and watership down and read warrior cats as a kid (even though warrior cats is known for it's deaths and gore) as a kid so I love dark stories.