#to about the same level as canon anyway

[kavehater]

I support girls but NAH THIS IS REACHING “if you look carefully LIKE REALLY CAREFULLY 🤓☝️”

[thepunkmuppet]

I know basically nothing about rowena, but I now finally get what people mean about shipping things aesthetically. because what do you MEAN love of my life sam winchester, 6”4, deeply damaged but lovely straight white dude-man, has a cute, interesting and disgustingly tragic relationship with A TINY GINGER SCOTTISH WITCH WHO’S THE MOTHER OF A RECURRING VILLAIN AND PLAYED BY AN ACTRESS WHO’S OLDER THAN HIM????? WHAT??? I NEED THAT IN MY LIFE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW

like what is this. I love it. I’m obsessed. enemies to friends to lovers, height difference, age difference, and just generally UNCONVENTIONAL AS FUCK for a straight ship??? spectacular gimme fourteen of em right now

[peridots-pixiwolf]

[Start ID. A digital drawing of Minos Prime from Ultrakill, who's wearing a strapless slit dress and sandals of the same deep purple. He faces towards and slightly to the right of the camera, his head is tilted further right. With one hand he gestures in a vague pointing motion, his arm folded and held close to his body. There is nothing in the background, but bracing himself on one arm, Minos is implied to be leaning against something about the height of a countertop. The background is a blank purplish black, save for three diagonal stripes in the colors of the bisexual flag. End ID]

Shading study that quite literally came to me in a dream two weeks ago, after this post apparently beamed itself into my mind

(also a few edits below the cut! they're very slight but whatever :])

[Start ID. Three different versions of the previous drawing. The first changes the tone of the lighting from blue to pink, and similarly the shading from pink to blue. The second replaces the faint black border with pink, purple and blue, syncing with the stripes in the background. The third combines both these changes. End ID]

[pastafossa]

Not an ask or a request - just wanted to send some love your way. I’m on my third reread of TRT and I’m so excited for new stuff but I’m also loving everything you’ve written so far. Thank you for giving us a window into characters and a world that lives off the page. Hope you are having a wonderful spring.

Love from NYC!!

Thank you so, so much anon! 😭 I'm so happy you're enjoying it. I love widening the world, delving into all the chaos and adventures going on in this universe just outside of the canon narrative POV. There's just so much to explore, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. I'm just as eager to get back into it, and I feel like I'm getting there, but the patience is still VERY much appreciated. Things were rough for a bit, but spring is definitely feeling like an improvement. <3

Much love back from my cold little city!

[six-improbable-things]

My Friday group is going to be playing Blades in the Dark, and this is our Leech... who also happens to have taken Physicker (an ability that speeds up the whole party's healing), making him our party's doctor:

(in case you can't read it, his background is "Mad Scientist" and his vice is "Stupor (Crack Cocaine)".)

Oh, and his alias is "Dr. Quack" (currently, it might change).

He's also a drag queen.

As for me, once I saw this, there was really no other choice but Slide.

Not only does it share a name with my Best Boy (and also with one of his abilities), it's also exactly my kind of thing: taking "damage" in order to do cool shit.

[The text reads: "Rook's Gambit: Take 2 stress to roll your best action rating while performing a different action. Say how you adapt your skill to this use."]

Also, we're all roommates in the basement an "abandoned" manor, and our landlord is a vampire named Lord Scurlock who counts as a faction all on his own. Our gang name is the "the tenants", but we let everyone assume it's "the tenace" like high cards. (ten-ace)

The 4th player (aside from me, Dr. Quack, and Dr. Quack's child, Sixtine (pronounced like the Sistine chapel)), is a teenager referred to exclusively as "bloodhound" (real name Orion, but no one knows that) who may or may not live in the walls.

According to our batshit lore, my character (Jamie) broke into the "abandoned" house one night when drunk and lived there for like a week before the other two found out she was living there. (She was not being subtle, the other two just never leave the workshop.)

Aaaaand now everyone else is testing random accents while I'm laughing too hard to make noise.

[triglycercule]

and if i said the mtt reminded me of these three idols then would i get tarred and feathered

[orcelito]

Listen I accepted my bisexuality and thus opened up the avenue of m/f shipping but in a queer way. Largely poly and/or bi4bi kinds of ways. But mostly m/f shipping where I actually delve into their emotions and see what really makes them tick.

It was always the shallow m/f shipping that I had a problem with. The "he's a boy and she's a girl, so of course they'd end up together" kind of thing. Given actual proper emotional development with their relationship, though...

Then Maybe.

[gothamcityneedsme]

my favorite thing about kings quest is that king graham has children but theyre all wound up in other kingdoms so none will inherit his throne. So like the next candidate for the throne of daventry is like, a major question. But its answered offhand because the apocalypse happens and One Guy who lives down the street saves all reality so its like. Uhhhh. That Guy, I guess.

[goldentigerfestival]

The 30 day Tales challenge... in one post or else it would never get done!

Favorite Tales game: Legendia

Favorite Main Male Hero: Yuri and Senel

Favorite Main Female Hero: Kohaku

Favorite Side Male Character: Moses

Favorite Side Female Character: Stella

Favorite Canon Pairing: Senel/Stella + Shing/Kohaku

Favorite Non-Canon Pairing: how official is stahn/leon at this point i wonder

Favorite Opening Song: Destiny

Favorite Location: ??? idfk the entire Legacy??? I'll go with Werites Beacon for simplicity I guess. feels like home

Favorite Mascot: Giet. don't tell me he's not a mascot, I'm not listening. (and if you want to try having that discussion my answer is still the Oresoren so we're not getting far, are we)

Favorite Monster: ??? also dfk, probably something cute except i don't like hurting cute so i guess we're stuck

Favorite Boss Battle: UHHHH listen it hurts to say but Vicious; bc the raw emotion that went into that entire storyline ate me whole

Favorite Villain: since I'm avoiding antagonists here (such as Duke who aren't explicitly villains) and prefer to go full villain, Creed.

Least Liked Character: not opening THAT can of worms!!! :D

Your First Tales Game: boooo boriiiing. Symphonia like the other half of the western population. no fancy answer here

Your Favorite Scene: ??? I mean, there's... a lot I guess??? Stahn pleading with Leon moments before disaster??? Kanata crying that Vicious was okay and came back to them??? Moses saying literally anything ever in any scene ever??? the end of Innocence but when you choose Spada as your soulmate bc I'm a bias little fuck??? anything with Yuri and Flynn being happy together??? the entirety of Legendia???

Funniest Scene: idk but it either had Moses in it, Vicious in it, or it was Spada's "I can't believe you mixed up Frosty the Snowman with the Abominable Snowman"

Saddest Scene: Moses' Character Quest cutscene (if not the whole fucking CQ), moments during disaster with Leon, moments during disaster with Asch

Favorite Quote: a lot of stuff Vicious said ngl. can't think of nor pick one off the top of my head but every time he Gets Serious it's one of those and I fall in love further every single time. but if we wanna be REEEALLY simple? "Yeehaw". thanks, Moses. maybe Yuri has said something cool enough to get on the top list, but I'm not sure anything is trumping "yeehaw", and maybe that's equal to something Vicious said

Favorite Piece of Gameplay Music: Scutum - Decisive Battle. Pour one out for Rebirth having the fucking BEST battle theme ever.

Most Shocking Reveal: ??? I'm... not sure at this point. Giet??? was it Senel??? maybe Mathias and Ruca??? Ratatosk and Emil??? I kind of want to say Ratatosk and Emil because I remember being very impressed with the direction of the plot, in that the main protagonist/player character was actually the villain the whole time that the antagonist was trying to kill the whole time. definitely not a plot direction you usually get in JRPGs. Giet's story still hit like an entire brick building 100 storeys high falling on me though

Favorite One on One Fight: that was actually FUN??? uhhh idk Vicious against Kasque. what did you expect me to say???

Favorite Skit: way too many skits to have even a semblance of an idea. I'm going to assume it was either something related to Yuri and Flynn, Moses, Vicious, Spada or Stahn. that's about the closest I can pinpoint

Favorite Tales Spell: I don't... think I have one...

Favorite Tales Weapon: -bangs fist on desk and gets really obvious really fast- BLOOD SINS, BLOOD SINS, BLOOD SINS. after that the Swordians

Tales World You Want to Live In: honestly Legendia's and Graces' seem the most reasonably normal compared to the rest, but also shiny fingertips and Moses is a pretty solid Legendia

Favorite Animated Tales Series/OVA: (don't say rays don't say rays don't say rays don't say stahn/leon) probably First Strike if only because it focuses on Yuri and Flynn who I love, but Abyss' anime was very solid compared to the other Tales animated series that were just heavily condensed versions (or worse in Eternia's case, not even being relevant to the main story). like, I would not recommend the animated series to anyone prior to playing the game except for Abyss, which is the full major story and I have inarguably rewatched that anime more than I've played the game. I guess in terms of general animated, FS, but in terms of actual consistency to the game it came from and dedication it had in retelling the story faithfully without skipping 80 percent of it, Abyss

Favorite Tales Outfit: RICHARD??? HEEEELLO??? not arc F though that shit is too fruity for me. also Leon has VERY enjoyably bright colors that make him stand out and as a Very Deeply Definitely Not Obsessive Leon Enjoyer, I very much love that. Aegis also has a really nice outfit. Asbel's is pretty but definitely not Richard level of I'm obsessed with this look

Favorite Game Plot: -breaks everything in your room and your neighbor's room for good measure- TURN IT BACK ON NAMCO I'M PAST MY LIMIT SO I'M PROBABLY IN OVERLIMIT (Crestoria. it's that or I'm saying Legendia again. Innocence and Hearts both are really close runner ups tho!!! definitely the most unique in the franchise imo out of the mainline games and sadly confined to "nobody fucking cares about them and never did")

Favorite Game Ending: so that's got... layers. it really depends on the sub topic. I guess in terms of a happy ending, Graces (the Wii version specifically, getting Richard back. don't really care for the ending of arc F and lean more toward disliking it). in terms of a depressing fucking ending that makes me Very Upsetti, Destiny. there is literally nothing happy about Destiny's ending for me. like yeah we saved the world, but at a LOT of cost and it's just depressing. I've wanted to make a post about that anyway, but basically it's a type of ending they don't really make anymore (especially in Tales), and the emotional impact for me was a lot heavier than the other games, with Destiny 2 lingering right behind it. both Destiny games were just DEPRESSING, and no matter how bittersweet Destiny 2's ending was, it's still DEPRESSING. Vesperia at least had a more outright happy ending (that wasn't completely changed by a post game ending arc with a totally different ending) and I finally at that point didn't lose my favorite character to Certain Final Boss Death or Recurring Side Character I Came To Love Dying Unceremoniously and Undeserved. only a couple of top favorites actually came out of their games alive for me by Vesperia in terms of games I know + release timeline (to put it into perspective, by the time of Vesperia in release order (so not the order I played in bc I don't really remember the whole actual order at this point), out of all the games I know, my favorite character death toll was five to three survivors not counting Vesperia. still haven't played Eternia so I'm not counting that one). so I guess like, my answer is a whacky combination of Graces for the Wii, Destiny and Vesperia. maybe if Hearts hadn't killed my mans off then it could've had it all. 😔

[cassmouse]

Nah because remember when Ramona literally combined with her future self and then turned into some sort of floating omnipotent light goddess

the series was fucking wild and I love it

[p2ii]

.

[deputy-morgan-malone]

What Form of Love Does Your Ship Embody?

I was tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton, @direwombat, @fourlittleseedlings​, @shellibisshe​, @clicheantagonist​ and @voidika​ to do this uquiz for my ship/s, thank you!

Not tagging anyone since it’s been a while and this quiz made the rounds, but as usual, feel free to take this as an open tag if you’d like to do it! :)

Deputy Morgan Malone x Joseph Seed (FC5)

Morgan:

love as religion

[ love as the sole object of your reverence--nothing about you is holy, but maybe your love for another is ] when sappho said "in the crooks of your body i find my religion" and when the cast of les mis sang "to love another person is to see the face of God" and when halsey said "i found God, i found him in a lover" and when katherine philips wrote "to the dull angry world let's prove there's a religion in our love"

 Joseph:

love as religion

[ love as the sole object of your reverence--nothing about you is holy, but maybe your love for another is ] when sappho said "in the crooks of your body i find my religion" and when the cast of les mis sang "to love another person is to see the face of God" and when halsey said "i found God, i found him in a lover" and when katherine philips wrote "to the dull angry world let's prove there's a religion in our love"

[Interesting fact - I thought I’d done this quiz before, and I had, here, and got a different result for Morgan, Love As Being Known.  This being the ship, I did fill it in this time around thinking specifically about how Morgan would feel about Joseph, and their situation, which maybe skewed the result a little bit?  Or it’s just been a while and she’s evolved a little as a character, or I was on the fence about a few questions and answered them differently]

[perelka-l]

Hi, I’m the person who asked about Ghetsis and the paradox of his attitude towards N’s ability half a year ago. I’m very very sorry for taking so inappropriately long to answer, had a lot going on.

I gravitate towards the theory that N and Ghetsis might be distant relatives with a common ancestor, which would explain a lot of things, from physical similarities to the denial of fatherhood. They could have any other type of blood connection besides that of a parent a child - after all, royal family trees tend to be huge and messy. I think N comes from the direct lineage (which grants him special powers), while Ghetsis might be from an offshoot of the original family. In other words, the former is the legitimate successor of the king and has more rights to the throne. He’s also closer to their progenitor personality-wise.

(There are a couple of more reasons why I don’t think Ghet is N’s bio father. Taking into account the stigma surrounding adoption in Japan makes me wonder if there was an out-of-universe cause for portraying Lusamine more positively that Ghetsis. That is not to say the green satan should’ve been redeemed; imao both characters deserve to rot in hell. I just suspect that the writers only let Lusamine (and not the other villain) off the hook due to her being a biological parent. And speaking of parents... this one’s purely subjective, but I find it hard to envision Ghetsis in a stable, serious long-term relationship leading to pregnancy. Taking an orphan under your wing for evil purposes is one thing, but living with a s/o and having them bear your child is another. I don’t believe a “one-night stand gone wrong” scenario is plausible and fitting for his personality either).

As for the paradox, I’ve come up with three possible explanations.

1. Ghetsis got overwhelmed by plain old envy. Taking his royal origins very seriously, he brought together the sages, worked on searching the ruins, and adhered to a certain image. And then there was N, who simply happened to be born with the king’s abilities and in the right lineage, which automatically made him the true heir. Of course, this wouldn’t really matter to normal people, since Unova is no longer a monarchy and there’s no need for heirs, but it’s Ghetsis we’re talking about. All of his insults towards N could stem from jealousy and a sense of rivalry. I suppose observing how his adopted son just managed to resemble King Harmonia naturally (no pun intended) must’ve unnerved Ghetsis a lot. Oh, and their physical similarities could’ve added insult to injury, constantly reminding him that they share some dna, but N is still a more worthy descendant.

2. Ghetsis indulged in cherry-picking. Despite cherishing his legacy, he had his own weird ideas about ruling and disregarded some of the king’s tenets anyway (“Do not be barbaric”, “Think, act with love”, “Wars create tears”). Perhaps Ghet did consider the monarch freaky for the special ability but acknowledged his achievements nonetheless.

3. Double standards were at fault. He could excuse a great king talking to Pokemon but drew the line at some odd forest kid who fails to understand even humans doing the same thing.

TL;DR: 1) Ghetsis didn’t consider the ability inherently despicable, it’s just that he gave vent to envy and blind rage whenever his ward was concerned.

2) He viewed the trait as freakish indeed but avoided internal dissonance by focusing on historical facts he deemed favourable and downplaying/ignoring everything else.

3) It’s selective morality and mental gymnastics all the way down. He didn’t mind cutting the king some slack yet refused to extend the same courtesy to N.

Since I’m drawing on the assumption that the characters come from different branches of difference significance, I’m inclined to think Ghetsis cannot talk to Pokémon after all. Besides, if he could, he would’ve had a much easier time achieving his goals in BW.

By the way, I can’t stop thinking about just how much Ghetsis lost by pushing N away. He rejected not only his son but also an invaluable potential ally - an ally who could’ve aided greatly in his research. Teaming up with a genius who’s personally invested in exploring the ruins (who would’ve been invested had he known about his lineage, I mean) and possesses unique powers is a perfect scenario one could only dream of. Nevertheless, Ghetsis decidedly gave up that opportunity and let pride (perhaps along with envy) outweigh all other feelings, thoughts, and aspirations. In the end, pride managed to win over his interest in the heritage and over his reverence. That, in my opinion, is one of the greatest undoings of King Harmonia’s descendant. He chose to ruin his own life, to brutally sever ties with the only person in the world who genuinely loved him and who shared blood and legacy with him. You once wrote that Ghetsis holds answers to 90% of BW’s mysteries; well, the number could be brought to 100% if only he wasn’t an utter bastard.

Gosh, it has been months since this one arrived at my askbox and I just thought I would cook the answer over time and it never happened. Apologies for that. The time has come. Finally, guh!! So fret not anon, the pain of taking shitton of time to reply is mutual. So I think it's OK.

I also think about the common ancestor between those two, but more in an annoyed, grumbly manner of "fine, if it's not direct relation I will take anything". And indeed that could be a more canon-supported way of connecting those two, precisely for arguments you are mentioning.

(As a side note, though, in Pokemas Ghetsis says that they are not bound by blood. In same sentence calling him his son. Ngl I love the way Ghetsis riffs off on family ties to try and manipulate and/or hurt N. Amazing.)

But I would wonder about legitimacy - we kinda do know Ghetsis feels entitled to the crown and I don't think there is more to that than just hunger for power and N being the King of Plasma is entirely Ghetsis' idea...

(In a way, it's something that could not even hinge on N because, uh, USUM: in which Ghetsis planned to do exactly the same shit he pulled off in his universe (in which he already took over and succeeded in his plans) but with Giovanni of all people. But then, in that case Ghetsis doesn't have to add the element of being chosen by Zekrom/Reshiram, so maybe it's just a repeat run with no reasoning but pieces aligning.)

But my point is - Ghetsis' idea of him being the one deserving the power he craves doesn't come purely from his own hunger, I think. But then, he couldn't become the chosen hero. If he could, it would make things much more simple for him and wouldn't bother with finding/arranging N. Which is... something I can't help but wonder about, what would N be if Ghetsis wasn't here.

I don't know about stigma of adoption in JP, could you elaborate? 

And yeah, admittedly I am also a bit disappointed about Lusa being protrayed with significant backpedal to her evil - even despite SM compounding that ultimately she wasn't entirely in control of her own actions. I also think that what you say now is also what happened in B2W2 - the blood relation between N and Ghetsis wasn't elaborated upon, being more left vaguely in the air in BW while it was B2W2 that compounded the lack of relation. Which is... sad, really. And not the only thing I am :/ about in terms of things spoken out loud and simplified in B2W2 that in BW were implied or left unsaid (shadow triad theory my beloved ;;;A;;; )

I entirely agree about points with Ghetsis not being able to sustain any relationship (c'mon, it's Ghetsis.) (on that note I always remember that one fantastic kinkmeme fic about Ghetsis being actually woman dressed as a man and getting her child from Alder by manipulation, 10/fucking 10, but I am carried away over here) and I think one night stands would be entirely beneath him. But I think there is no need to consider, shall we say, normal ways of prgnancy and if anything, I wouldn't be surprised if Ghetsis tried to go for less moral means, starting with manipulation and ending with force.

I did now write a bit about 1. (look, I am replying as I read and think OK, I am not good with structured writing stuff) but in a way I think it's important that symbolism carries weight in Pokemon World while history is in a way pushed aside or bestowed upon small group of individuals as lore or hidden knowledge that does ultimately carry great power. I always wonder what happened first - did Ghetsis reach out to the lore and hidden knowledge because of his own background and that inspired him to try and reach for power? Or did he reach for it in his search for power?? Just another mystery.

(which, hilariously, N wondered about in Pokemas either: Sometimes I wonder what his... What Ghetsis's past was like. I don't know anything about his parents or his childhood... I wonder if I ever will." Man, those lines made me froth at mouth a bit ngl)

You mentioning physical similarities is one thing I adore to ponder about with those two, but when you throw the theory that Ghetsis due to his Harmonia lineage can understand Pokemon speaking... and considering how he treats that ability in N, there could be some repressed rage at himself, and that would only add fuel to injury to seeing the way N reaches what he cannot. (Which kinda breaks the point number 3 for me wwwww Ghetsis is a bit of a hateful individual)... My point is: yeah, he hates that and surpresses that. He could have used that to his own goals, but I don't think he would even admit that he can do such a monstrous thing.

Re: 2, I wonder if he misinterpreted / chose to misinterpret the tenets less as what to do and more as what to portray. To be fair, Ghetsis can be perfectly charming and polite (kind, if you ask him, but ahah, yeah, right) and maybe he used those rules as tips and tricks how to manipulate the masses.

Ghetsis indeed fucked up royally (lol) by revealing his cards too soon (in Pokemas as well, really, he could have carried on that act of disgraced and regretful father for so much longer). But then, I am a little not surprised he did, in BW. He did spend a good few years playing someone he is not and the moment he could throw away the mask was surely a relief, and he believed so deeply he'd succeeded that he didn't think of keeping it on his face for just a tiny bit more, as a failsafe. Indeed, he could do so much more, but he detested N too deeply and believed in how own capabilities too much. Pride and hatred and indeed, envy, no matter which angle we use to look at it.

Ultimately, that's why he is a villain and why he lost, not even once but twice.

[twig---verginix]

thinking about season 3 this morning. as a viewer, the introduction of the "Jennifer incident" felt almost cheap, at first– it's so painfully not present in any previous seasons that peels back the layers a little bit, forces you into blinking and saying heyyyyyy. you're making that shit up now. >:/. But I think it can work diegetically, even if it wasn't planned.

It presents it this way: not only has fucking with the timeline forever impacted the present world that these characters reside in and the only other people they'll ever interact with, but it's also impacted their past, their story. Not changed, per say, but more unlocked it. Like taking different actions in a video game and getting more dialogue. And it drives the viewer away from the Umbrellas in the process, widening the gap between where we are and where they are, knowledge-wise, which arguably does a nice job of adding to that off atmosphere that Hotel Oblivion seems to be going for.

[matoitech]

awakened the beast of terrible things i saw more commonly abt promare when it first came out that i forgot till now but all i can say to that is well at least i dont see that shit around anymore bcuz the fandom ppl you’d expect 2 rub their homophobic fucked up little hands over new canon gay anime men of the month moved on to more recent things and thank GOD. galo and lio need a fucking break. and me too as a real life person

[uchimakis]

been seeing so much unnecessary bi mike slander on my dash recently. sometimes selfcare is blocking 15 people and going into the bi mike tag for an hour <3