#unrelated to the content of the post but not to concept in itself. i'm not sure how to articulate this well enough

[theophagie-remade]

Sex from a guy who doesn't remotely want to be touched by anyone

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

First of all, Context:

This here is a side-blog for my various Worldless creativity. I noticed there was a small Worldless fandom here when I first played the game, so here I have deposited myself.

To any and all new Protostars, hello and welcome to the shenanigans! Please note that there are Worldless spoilers here! I'd recommend finishing the game before poking through the blog too much.

I mostly do art and ramble, you might get some writing out of me every now and again. Ask box is open, feel free to chatter! Most ask content over here is kept to Worldless stuff, whether that be headcanons, AUs, silly concepts or other such stuff. If you've got something unrelated to Worldless, feel free to hop over to my main, @spectralgecko!

Tags: I won't usually tag Worldless for asks unless it relates directly to the canon game. I also won't tag it for headcanon rambles. I will tag characters though. For all art, canonically related ramblings, and stuff directly pertinent to canon, I'll tag the game. I just don't want to clog the main tag too badly.

Status: College is fun. I'm buried in books. Expect some delays in activity.

Tag navigation:

AU Taglist:

Eden Eclipsed - My main retelling AU, with a whole bunch of speculative worldbuilding involved. Has lore dumps and art. Fic is in progress, will not be posted until I have it all drafted at least.

Transposed - The magic swap AU. Only has an art and an ask or two.

Complementary Conundrum - A what-if concerning additional Starfolk colors. Also only art and maybe an ask.

New Management - The Ones from Above get booted by another of their kind, and things proceed from there. Currently has 7 chapters, with more in the works. Can be found on Ao3.

Worldless Cat Duo AU - The duo are cats. It has a set of more or less standalone chapters, and one piece of art. Can be found both here and on Ao3.

Worldless Coffee Shop AU - Mostly a silly idea. Has some very minimal building and operates on Eclipsed logic.

Worldless AU: Rosemouth College - obligatory College AU. It's not very fleshed out though. Mostly a silly idea.

Fics:

GloomGlow - An Eden Eclipsed ficlet set of seven <400 word drabbles using the five stages of grief to explore Duality as a character.

New Management - The actual fic for New Management. I need to go back and tag the fic itself properly.

Navigation:

Sqarlet'sArt - my art tag!

SqarletTalks - anything that's a text post from me. Sometimes also attached to stuff with pictures, if there's a long text with it. Includes most things where I'm talkin'. Often includes asks and rambles.

SqarletWrites - actual drabbles and stuff.

ask box shenanigans - anything from the ask box.

Worldless OC: ___ - the default format for any of my OC's and such, with their name in the blank. If there's ever an OC for a different fandom, that'll go in place of Worldless. Currently includes characters such as Aziel/The Hunter, the General, Eden, Nereo, Gabriel, and Dareia.

not worldless - self explanatory but relatively rare. Most of my non-worldless stuff will be over on @spectralgecko

Other's OCs: ___ - also self explanatory

[themanwiththeplan05]

Guess whoooooo...

I'm back! I've been busy, but I am now ready to show off the next character in my

Explicitly Magical Homestar Runner AU

Strong Sad lovers, this one is for you! Strap in, 'cuz this one is a doozy!

If you already read my first post (featuring Marzipan) then you know what's going on. If you haven't, too bad. Read that one first. This one will make a tiny bit more sense if you do. Or maybe not. I dunno.

Anyway, here is Strong Sad! And as you may note, he is special because...

He gets two forms! They each represent the different characterization he's had over the years, with the physical form representing his early and more depressing days, and his ghostly form being more like his modern incarnation.

I will refer to the different forms he has as "Husk" and "Ghost" forms respectively, and they will get their own descriptions below.

(Also, unrelated, but I really like how the sketch of this looked. That's pretty much it.)

With that out of the way, let's get to it!

Husk Version:

Before I basically redid the entirety of this AU (more on that later), I was having trouble really tying all of the Brothers Strong together in a cohesive way. Eventually, I can up with one connection to signify their familial bond: all of them are considered constructs, a concept I may explain in a later post.

Man, I'm really setting up a lot of stuff up, huh? Ah well, moving on.

Despite this connection, Strong Sad is still treated differently by his siblings because of his origins. The parents of the Brothers Strong were already content to have two young boys, but when a ghostly duo came to the Mother Strong with an even more sickly ghost child, begging for her help, she couldn't find it in herself to deny them. Since he has an actual soul (unlike his older brothers) he isn't fully accepted as a full brother (at least, by Strong Bad's standards). He was supposed to fully integrate into his form were he to have a normal life, but he never could. He's not quite sure why, and he feels quite self conscious about it.

Like his brothers, he was brought to Free Country for his controversial origins.

Main Power: Astral Projection (or whatever the equivalent of that is, I dunno)

Secondary Powers: N/A

Ghost Version:

Alright, I already mentioned it before, but this AU used to be almost completely different to its current version. It focused almost solely on Marzipan (as stated before... I think. I don't remember if I was clear on that) but it also focused on Strong Sad! Before, the ghost form was his only form, and looked completely different. Below is the only image I have of this early design.

|

\/

Ignoring the fact that he simultaneously looks like a beached seal creature and a sad beach ball, the AU itself was supposed to be more romantic before I realized I had no interest in this ship nor did I have any knowledge on how romance happens. Speaking of, if y'all notice anything resembling romance in the future, it's purely accidental.

Main Power: Shadow Manipulation

Secondary Powers: Possession and Aura Reading.

Yeah, that's it for now. Next up on the chopping block is our favorite old man in green footies, Coach Z!

Rock On! \__/,

[msburgundy]

someone asked me about people tagging as a courtesy to those with religious trauma so i wanted to elaborate a little

and i know that people do this with the intention of being kind, so i want to explain why it's actually not

for one thing, the idea that someone with unresolved religious trauma so severe that they are legitimately triggered by scrolling past a post with the word God in it would be associating with Christians at all is simply not realistic. that is a scenario that isn't happening.

but further, if that person is upset by the mere mention of God, religion, etc then you've done nothing by tagging it because that in itself is inherently mentioning it.

the only time a warning for content is at all useful is if the content is legitimately disturbing. like if you say "hey, this contains a graphic depiction of homicide so if you don't want to see it click away now" then yeah that has a lot of value, but if the mere concept of homicide was the trigger well you've already exposed them to it.

i understand that for someone with religious trauma, even positive posts can stir up negative feelings. but those are personal associations unrelated to the actual content, so those can come up just by seeing the tag. and in fact, you actually do a disservice to the person by catering to that because the way to actually heal from things is to process your feelings and what's behind them.

of course everyone does that in their own time, but when the issue is something you're reasonably going to encounter in your day to day life you set yourself up for failure by giving yourself the option to hide from it.

and it's not just me saying this, there's a decent amount of literature at this point that says trigger warnings are useless at best and harmful at worst

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-10-17/are-trigger-warnings-useless-new-study-says-yes

now i won't say none of these experiments are flawed, but the lack of viability of trigger warnings isn't really the point i'm trying to make anyway

there's also the issue that, in an attempt to be accommodating, you ultimately send the message "hey, the safe Christians are the ones for whom this is just a side thing". it reinforces the idea that serious, genuine faith is a sign of danger

but the biggest thing, and what it all comes down to, and that would still apply even if the rest weren't true, is that to treat the name, word, and work of God as potentially harmful or offensive, no matter your reason, is simply unacceptable behavior for a Christian.

if you claim to be Christian and trigger tag things about God and religion, i am blocking. your identity is not in Christ if you think your faith is something that you can separate out to make yourself more palatable to the world. i pray you do not hear those words, "depart from me, i never knew you"

[yther]

cogito ergo Sum Tumblr Ranting

there is a new type of illiteracy that'll be fully exposed in like 10-15 years due to a plethora of products, start-ups, branding of every kind using "stolen" words (single, specific, but obscure enough to sound like a noun or portmanteau generated by corporate whimsy) or useful general terms getting co-opted that have persisted perhaps thousands of years (pre-anglicized) and yet.. the internet (assume youth/average users - not proactively knowing augments are needed) results will pull a full page of bullshit unrelated or ad or extents far removed from origins before giving a simple definition to a simple fucking word and valuable fundamental concept and

there's no way there won't be a massive effect of these...enshittifying word bubbles.

not a staunch linguistic prescriptivist but this is not "typical" language evolution..

Ask a kid what adobe is! they won't know but they might know *how to gather the info* (-insert related thesis about para/prosthetic knowledge). And then they still won't understand how people live in adobe houses, and it's something that exists today, is relevant today, from Egypt to New Mexico to future of sustainability. Thousands of years, a passed knowledge, maybe antiquated but not fucking obsolete as a word.

Big, obvious example.

Lesser scale branding is still within a dilemma of innovation vs "conservation" (of mutual intelligibility) but there must be a distinction between types of benign generification, creative usage and corporate erasure of functional terminology within 1 human generation. Like a Finland tech company naming itself Avoine because it sounds cool... means oat in French and unrelated, but no one looking for oats is constantly redirected to Avoine Oy.

Kids are not stupid, they're information sponges. Digital nativism was an optimism proved fallacy.

"Ipad babies" as a way to describe online social and intellectual development is going to reach beyond motor skills, socialization norms and critical thinking skills!

I'm ranting like an old professor but I am a baby-millennial-change-maker. I want a better future, I can See it.

a love letter of irony. will any person read this post and care? no. will the words persist and someday be part of an amalgamate? perhaps. maybe it will train a machine that maximizes word salad. maybe it will be preserved, vestigial. like a dusty cassette tape coming to be a Relic (contents unknown, a fun stand-in for humans and our howl, milk-mother cry to A God. Aliens. Ourselves. To speak and be absolved of our horrifying echoes..)

there will emerge again some Rosetta Stone. Machine rendered or hand worked adobe. I wonder what the words will make of us. And if through word-fodder now, we are making that machine.

tldr

...Holy fuck we need to lock Christopher Nolan in a room with the ghost of Joseph Campbell, 3 linguists and 2 angry anthropologists until he writes a holy script(ure)... a Tenet of tenets, a 2001 Space Odyssey that guides a thread of Odysseus ("Homer's") to the Doctors Brand (Interstellar, both father and daughter) and back to The Protagonist. Who would either break the monolith // "This is a Gesture" or surround one ape with a field of mirrored monoliths all facing.. the single great ape. Waiting, watching for: ""This is my (humanity's) gesture (unspoken)"

tldrdr

This (non)sense can either be parsed or understood, but never both.

Also, if I could talk about Dune without my brain exploding, anyone forced to listen would be driven to violence.

[effervescentandpuzzlingself]

✍️

Dear Reader,

I'm reaching out once again, sharing my day filled with enjoyable and relaxing activities as a counterbalance to the impending exhaustion that the upcoming weeks seem to promise.

Earlier today, I dedicated my time to video editing, so to post on IG. I then received a message from someone, filled with compliments. The sense of reward was immense, particularly given the two-hour effort I had invested in editing that specific video. Despite having numerous clips I wished to incorporate, the constraints of IG only permit three-minute videos.

On another note, I'm currently engrossed in the third season of BSD. Originally, my intention was to check costumes for Halloween, prompting me to watch this series. However, the narrative turned out to be captivating that I've continued watching. The rest, as they say, is history.

Later today, my plan involves delving into research materials for an upcoming class. I've encountered a potential challenge in one subject, particularly one involving technology. Aware of my friends' busy schedules, I'm considering resorting to YouTube for help.

I understand, Reader, that this update covers quite a bit.

Oh, let me recount an incident from last Friday. It marked my friend's birthday celebration. Considering how welcome I always feel at their house, the multitude of guests didn't faze me. Alongside the crowd, her boyfriend was also present, and I must say, we’re pretty cool. We've interacted before through games, and we also had a chance to bond at Megamall. But, that's not the point of my story. As we indulged in a drink, a single cup each, I asked about the secret behind their eight-year relationship. It resulted in laughter. The coziness and endearing nature of their relationship warmed my heart. Witnessing my friend B's happiness is a joy in itself, especially knowing her tendency to avoid overtly sweet expressions. Her boyfriend and I playfully teased her, while he, on the other hand, answered with, "Consistency and communication." Though his explanation was elaborated, the essence of these two words is essentially self-explanatory. After B left us for a while, D expanded on his thoughts about consistency and even introduced the concept of contentment. He shared stories about how his colleagues at work would tease him about exploring other romantic interests, and I attentively listened without judgment. He confessed his discomfort with his friends' behavior, believing that they struggle with embracing contentment. They only chase fleeting excitement, failing to understand that relationships should ideally evolve into a comforting and secure haven. His response resonated deeply with me, and I wish more men shared his perspective.

Therefore, I apologize in advance, Reader, for the long read. I wanted to recount these seemingly unrelated anecdotes before they slip from memory.

[doberbutts]

Sincerely thank you for reminding me that I am not immune to propaganda. It's sobering for me to realize just how easily I swallowed "RoP is bad and anyone who watches it is a traitor" when it was presented to me using the social-justice terms I was familiar with.

Well of course, that's the whole point of what I've been saying. I don't think the majority of the people who are blindly hating on a show they haven't seen are themselves doing it because they are actively attempting to be racist. I do think that many of these people are swallowing concepts spoonfed to them by racists who've figured out that if they wrap their hate-pills in woke-appearing language then they can easily rile up a mob that still accomplishes their goals.

I'm seeing a lot of people swallowing up posts like "can you believe Amazon is deleting bad reviews??? man this is what happens when entertainment companies own review sites" without questioning WHY Amazon may be deleting bad reviews when a quick look at both Amazon and also the social media of the cast and production crew are saying "hey we're getting review bombed and harassed and threatened by misogynists and racists"

I'm seeing people using reasoning that applies to other Tolkien media as THE reason to hate on this show and force it to die, and when asked why it's different, the logic becomes circular or defensive.

I'm seeing people acknowledging that the cast and production crew and Amazon itself and even people involved in the PJ movies and unrelated celebrities and content creators discussing the real actual racism and harassment and threats and saying "you guys just want to use racism as a shield" and "calling us bigots for not liking it is missing the point".

I'm seeing people who are adamantly "Amazon bad" praising fucking Elon Musk for speaking out against the show as if Elon fucking Musk is also not an evil man with an evil company.

I'm seeing countless black people going "hey, wait a second, there's an awfully suspicious amount of racists on the side slinging the vitriol, let me just check and see what this show is about" and then when they watch it they go "yeah uh... it's the racism, the complaints are the racism, you guys are falling for racist propaganda"

I'm seeing people have Totally Normal :) posts about how the show is bad and you shouldn't watch it and no one should watch it and people should review-bomb it and it's the worst thing ever and then like three posts down is some rant about how black elves don't make sense or Galadriel was never supposed to fight or "why can't the black people be restricted to [evil race] like they were in the books".

And it's all very suspicious to me that when it gets pointed out, people immediately get mad that they're being told they're doing racists' job for them instead of idk listening to the people actually affected by racism.

[leighways]

Y’know, I debated not answering you bc what you sent sounds like the typa shit that attracts unwanted discourse. So if that was your intent (and I mean this with all sincerity): go fuck yourself.

I’m not sure where you got the idea that I’m "still devoted to" C3, esp since the last piece of art I made for that ship was pre-KTGG -- nearly a year ago. That was also the last time, until recently, that I spoke about C3 at all. So ???

I will admit I didn’t answer that ask very thoughtfully when I originally responded -- mostly bc I assumed by now ppl understood my stance on this issue -- so I went back and edited for clarification. However, if you’d read my about page instead of jumping to conclusions, you’d know where I stood.

But since that clearly didn’t happen, I’ll spell it out for you: I used to ship C3. As of right now, I don’t. However, during the time in which I did, I was in the process of building an extensive backstory AU that I am still very much attached to and enjoy creating content for. It was designed specifically to establish Copia as an outsider -- not a member of the Emeritus family -- which has been my view of him since since day fucking one (x).

One scroll through my blog will show you none of this is new. Copia's underdog status plays a vital role in how I draw, write and headcanon him, as well my general attachment to his character. Sure, you can sit there and claim I dreamt all this up for the purpose of shipping, but you'd also be lying out of both sides of your mouth. If my development of this AU was nothing more than ""justification"" for C3, my blog wouldn't be littered with loads of art and comics focused on the rest of the family and their respective dynamics. (x) (x) (x) Not to mention the countless memes and shitposts that have goddamned nothing to do with any of this.

Anyway, for me, an AU only works if you can establish a very clear departure from what's been described in canon. KTGG presented several plot holes I had never previously considered, and these muddied waters made me unsure of how to continue world building. I don't want to publish anything until there are no surprises left, so until we get more official information regarding this lore, I have temporarily pulled the breaks on this project.

Still, none of this is reason to completely dismantle something I've been working on since 2018. Nor does it suddenly make the material itself "problematic". I should be able to keep my AU (C3 storyline or not) without ppl like you accusing me of being some incest-obessed fujoshi simply bc I chose to view the source material in a way you don't personally like.

From last summer forward, every time I’ve been asked about the topic of my AU, the answer never contained any mention of C3 (x) (x) (x) bc I don't currently ship C3. If by "devoted to" you meant "it's on the back burner and also the stove isn't on" then sure, I'm super devoted.

But even if this weren't the case -- even if the amount of currently unanswered questions didn't bother me and I plowed ahead with my story no holes barred, what exactly would my crime be? Why would an AU created to explore the non-canon backstories of Copia (a Catholic orphan) and Papa 1 (his unrelated mentor) suddenly become problematic just bc once in a blue moon a scene appears in which Copia has a boyfriend? Considering all content I've made for C3 sees them as completely unrelated and has also been 100% SFW, what line have I crossed? I know my lane. I'm not mlm (I'm not wlw either, which is what you're trying to peg me as) so I would never create explicit content for a community to which I don't belong. But if you think LGBT+ folks can only make material tailored to their specific identities in order to not be fetishy, then I've got some fuckin news for you and you're not gonna like it.

Anyhoo, I don’t believe for one second that you’re this casual by-standing "outsider" -- not least bc you knew exactly where to find the post where I first addressed the plot twist possibility, but lmfao whatever you say bubs. I also love that you’re on the "outside" while simultaneously in the know about what the fandom collective has decided re: What If Copia Is An Emeritus. You need to get your story straight.

Damn near everyone in this fandom has created some sort of AU -- whether that be a world where they self-ship, a universe in which none of the Papas died, or, I dunno, one full of dragons and dinosaurs :-) The fact that you're specifically honing in on my AU with insane and disgusting out-of-left-field accusations tells me everything I need to know about both you and your motives, so listen very closely: there is nothing wrong with creating an AU that diverts from canon. Despite what you think, viewing Copia as unrelated to the Emeritus family is pretty goddamned normal around here. And considering Tobias obviously wanted us to think of him this way (and let us do so for over a year and a half) it's easy to see why so many ppl prefer that concept to the story we'll probably get.

You are not the boss of me. You are not the judge of my character. You have no authority over me, and you need to stop talking as if you do. Your tone is condescending and sexist -- which is odd, considering you're not speaking to a woman. I'm definitely not a fujoshi, but you quite possibly might be a transphobe. Or is truscum a more accurate way to describe you? :-) Anyways, thanks for that. Getting misgendered in our own inbox? We love to see it.

This is the last time I’ll be addressing this topic. If you have any further questions feel free to call my personal hotline @ 1-800-EAT-MY-ASS.