#you go you funky little theorizers

[shinxeysartgallery]

I was looking at some Episode 7 screenshots earlier and just realized there's another funky little blink and you miss it moment.

When "Tessa" is attacking Uzi, there's two brief frames where her eyes shift to yellow.

We'd all been theorizing that the Solver switched hosts to take out N after he decapitated "Tessa", but this seems to show that it was trying to control them both at the same time. Wonder what the entity's plan would've been if it had been successful? Both of them going after N? But then again, Cyn did try taking over Uzi in Episode 8, which would've meant the Solver was piloting both hosts at the same time, so maybe that's not completely out of the question?

[bubblybloob]

So, which run from Scarlet Hollow would you say has been your favorite until now? Any favorite trait/trait combo?

Favorite combo was the first I took of course, Mystical and Talk to Animals! You get to be so weird and everyone is so put off by your antics!

Some long ass rambling and spoilers below!

Individually, TTA can feel a little useless at some points, it’s never a passive ability so you only get use out of it when there’s animals around. It especially feels lacking in chapter 2, where there are two instance of running into wild animals (the bird and the bats) that feel weird since you don’t get to pause and chat with them and they don’t say anything noteworthy about ditchlings, the mines, the town, etc.

I get why it can feel like that, you don’t want players to feel they made a mistake choosing talk with animals by not having animals appear throughout a chapter, but you also don’t want player’s who didn’t choose it feel like they’re always missing out on important stuff by having too many animals.

I really think they should let more passive thoughts with TTA occur. The only instance I can recall of it appearing as a thought is if you’ve had Sybil’s tea and it’s like “she won’t judge you for your quirk :), go talk to her”. It caught me so off guard when I first saw it and Mystical pointing out that my thoughts were all weird made me almost stand up like “WHAT”. But even though it doesn’t sound like TTA would have passive moments where it’s not directly in action, I think it should, maybe our character is privy to random facts woodland critters have told us, or we’re more in tune with nature or something. Idk, it’s not useless and it’s incredibly hard to compare it to the other traits cause it essentially makes previously non-characters like Dustin or the Goat into characters, that’s something no others trait does.

Now for my more positive thoughts on TTA, damn is proving you can actually understand animals at the library so satisfying, and it stays satisfying as Kaneeka slowly comes to believe it herself over the course of the chapters! I'm so glad it seems to be getting taken more seriously by the characters as the chapters pass, we start by getting introduced to the trait in chapter 1, then we don't use it much in the second, then we get to talk to the mayor and, if Gretchen is alive, get the knowledge that something is up with Reese. And then we can learn that the PASTOR TALKS TO ANIMALS TOO. In chapter 4 visiting Pastor Daniel is great, I love that the game is setting up for TTA to have more of a spotlight.

Now Mystical. Mystical is probably my favorite trait. I've heard some people say it feels useless early on, and I think those people may not have played with it in their first run, cause going in blind with mystical makes you aware of a lot of stuff, like knowing someone will die out on the trails on Monday before it actually happens made me so tense, and knowing something is suspicious about Sybil when she gives you that look, or that "You're finally back where you belong" sending the shivers of foreboding up the spine!

It gives you longer visions if you have it (and are drinking Sybil's evil tea), so it's great for me who loves theorizing and lore. And the channeling of Charlie’s spirit in his funky funhouse of fright? That whole sequence with the seance options is what truly got me hooked on the game.

I also love how it seems mystical MC’s can be a little frustrated by chapter 4? The whole “hopefully my powers will finally do more than make me unwillingly channel ghosts” makes you sound so fed up with how not only are you forced into knowing things will happen and having no control over it, but also fed up with how no one takes you seriously. Like Stella seems a little excited at the prospect you could be a psychic when meeting Duke, and Avery is chill with everyone so they don’t judge you, but everyone else brushes you aside or looks at you weird. Also Sybil, fucking Sybil trying to make me feel my abilities are less than her’s during the tea reading. Lady I will find a way to have me and your daughter mystic blast you, you can’t even do anything without making people drink tea, suffer.

Anyway sorry for the rambling! I’m obsessed with this game, so much so I joined the discord, I rarely join stuff like that due to nerves, so that’s how you know the brainrot is REAL.

[compact-turtle]

How would Atticus be like with a Mexican reader?? I just wanna call him, “mi amor, guapito, hermoso, mi corazón” !!! All the cute names. Teaching him Spanish, how to dance, cook, and usual customs.

It would be super cute just him asking what does the name ur calling him by mean and u say some lovey dovey shit. Also the fact that we kiss on the cheek for greetings. *gasps* or how he is pretty isolated so he’s either gonna have to get comefortable with random family pulling up or reader giving him an ARMY of kids. Just so that they don’t get lonely cuz family is hella important!

"Mi amor, where's the salt? I can't find it" You called from the kitchen, "I need it to finish making dinner."

"Reckon I saw it sitting in the spice drawer."

-Atticus strolls into the kitchen. He notices you standing near the counter looking for the salt. Quickly, Atticus rummages through the nearby spice cabinet. Without missing a beat, the salt is located. He slips the salt into your hands.

-You thank him then continue cooking. For a few minutes, Atticus just continues to watch you cook. The smell lingers in his nose and his mouth began to salivate.

-A small sense of curiosity began to bloom inside him. Multiple times, he remembered that you would call him mi armor. He couldn't figure out what it meant. Were you unhappy with him? Is this why you called him that?

"What'd ya call me earlier, Doll? Me a-more?" Atticus asked.

"Its mi amor, Atticus. It just means my love in Spanish."

"Hm."

-Atticus comes up behind you. His arms slither around your waist. Slowly, small kisses are littered all over your face. Your nose, cheek and forehead are all claimed by his lips. Not a single inch is spared.

-You laugh as he buries his face in your neck. His warm breath tickles your neck. As you try to squirm out of his hold, Atticus tightens his arms around your waist.

"Let go now. I haven't finished." You say as you playfully pushed his arms away.

"No."

----

-He would love pet names in a different language. It makes him feel so happy that you thought of him. He'd try to learn Spanish to give you one as well. (Honestly would probably butcher it and give you something that sounds funky. You'd totally have to correct him and teach him what it really means).

-Would eat up telenovelas and get super invested in them. At the end of the day, he would pull you into his lap and you would watch it with him. Theorizes about future plot points and characters with you.

-Struggles to make food with you. He can only cook an omelet, oatmeal and potatoes. However, Atticus really enjoys your cooking. He finished it every time and always asks for more.

-Super lost when it comes to your culture. However, he understands with time. You just have to be patient and explain it to him slowly. Would enjoy participating in it with you. sees himself as special since you took the time to integrate him into your culture.

-----

-At first, he wouldn't like being around someone else's family too much. It gives him anxiety because it reminds him of his own messed up family dynamic with his parents.

Also, having to many people around. He's not used to it. Eventually, he'd come around after repeated exposure. Even grows on the children in the family. Comes to learn that not every family dynamic is abusive or hurtful.

-Would be super nervous to have his own kids. A little afraid that he might turn out like his father BUT knows better. He's a bit strict with them since he wants them to learn discipline. However, reminds them about how much he loves them through his actions. (Ex: taking them on special bonding trips)

-Absolutely adores when you're pregnant. Gives your stomach little kisses and wants to listen to the baby. Tries to cook all your pregnancy cravings (fails but A for effort) Messages your feet and back.

-Refuses sex. He's really afraid it'll hurt the baby somehow. Only does it when you coax him into it. Very gentle and constantly asks for reassurance.

----

[columbocorners]

wips of otto and noone's refs ! some soft design notes OTTO DESIGN NOTES - I like to think the eye clothing is something he seemingly picked to try and be more connected to cece in some sense, a lot of spirals and areas were he is just littered in eyes that are scattered just as much as are his goals and motivations - his coat is meant to be a little too big for him, people theorize about the candleman / ferryman being like otto or that they're one in the same and while it is interesting, I like to think they're parallel to one another and I use that as a means of the coat being kind of like the candleman / ferryman's - mismatched sock supremacy !!!!!!! - broski carries sweets wherever he goes, I like to think he has a general sweet tooth because he kind of eats candies in the middle of the night while going over noone's session tapes, mans got have his girl dinner NOONE DESIGN NOTES - theys got a tooth gap because honestly with the way noone's voice actor speaks, I just think it's funky doo silly and makes it even more precious when she has moments where she smiles because you get to see her tooth gap reflect itself - traditional patient clothing but with a little more detail, just to make it kind of cozy + some shorts - I like to think she and otto have molees and that noone's moles are moreso on their legs or around their shoulders - dirty feet because you gotta be so real with me that noone just is an outside kid or likes to play with bugs or collects them like they explained with the moths so girlie is watching stick bugs dance you can't prove otherwise - and the scars are from nightmares, I like to think a little of the nowhere creeps up more than just mental / internal in them so it might've been from just times where nightmares got particularly difficult or she cut themselves at some points while running and otto often helped with cleaning up the scars / could be an accident from gardening or etc.

if anyone's got any questions abt their designs, lmk

[gamebunny-advance]

More Thoughts About The Pikmin 4 Demo

Spoilers Ahead

So I've played through the demo twice now, the first time hitting the goal as fast as possible, and the second time trying to collect as many things as possible before hitting the goal.

I was able to clear the first area 99%, but I don't know what I was missing. The game implies that I'm missing a treasure, but I'm certain I got every above-ground treasure. However, when I had Oatchi sniff out for it, he took me to an empty lot, so I suspect that completely buried treasure might be back, and they don't show up on radar. Or maybe it's counting the raw materials that I was just a tad too slow to get before the day/demo ended. I might play though the demo one more time to test that theory, but atm I think I've done everything I can possibly do in the demo.

That said, if that was a near full clear for one area, then I wonder how substantial the rest of the game is gonna be. Pikmin 3 as I recall wasn't an enormous game and also wasn't difficult. It's also my least favorite because I got through it so quickly and easily that I don't have any lasting memories of it. I don't need 4 to be an arduous game like 2 was, but if the rest of it is gonna be this breezy, then I'm probably gonna beat it in under a week.

Despite that, I do actually like how short and focused the caves are turning out to be. There are so many great new QoL features in this one that it is gonna make going back to older titles even harder, but I'm worried that it's gonna be over too soon.

I also mostly like how the game plays. I'm not a huge fan of the auto-lock on, because it kinda makes battling a little brainless and frustrating when you're trying to do something that the game doesn't think you should be doing. Other than that, everything else feels pretty good.

I also like most of the new characters. We got a bunch of new funky looking freaks, but so far I like their personalities more than the Pikmin 3 crew. Shepard is my baby. I want to feed her lots of snacks. Besides that, almost all the castaways being from different planets but having the same body plan has my mind wandering about how expansive this universe is. But, more than anything, I hope we finally get a straight answer about why almost everyone seems to crash-land on PNF-404. Speaking of...

There's also the fact that despite my earlier theories, this planet is apparently still PNF-404. While I didn't post about it, I had theorized that perhaps the planet wasn't actually Earth, since none of the information before now ever called this planet PNF-404. I figured that it was a new planet settled by humans given how new all of the (presumably) man-made structures are, but now that I know this game seems to be an alternate take on Pikmin 1's story instead of a direct sequel to 3, it's possible that the "post-apocalyptic" part of the story might have just been dropped entirely. (I guess Nintendo decided that they only needed one series to take place on post-apocalypse Earth).

Then again, I forgot why we all thought PNF-404 was post-apocalyptic in the first place. The presence of human objects with the absence of humans doesn't necessarily imply that they got wiped out, especially considering how so many of the things they left behind like food and battery powered technology were apparently still edible and functional respectively. My new theory is that whoever lives in this house is just on vacation or something, and their house got overrun with pests in the meantime. But, knowing Nintendo, there probably isn't going to be a "real" answer about where the humans are.

[citriosis]

about

lemon / lem

24

they/them (occasional eldritch he/him)

black + queer as in fuck you

my brain and body are a nightmare

eldritch horror contained in a lemon

that's right, folks, after a little over a year, this is now The Main Blog™. it's about goddamn time lol. that means all likes will come straight from the source; this funky little lemon living in a crt tv. yippee.

more info under the cut (not mega important but it could be nice to have!)

socials

writing + ttrpg sideblog: @here-comes-the-bard (mostly for bigger things, character tags stick here :})

language learning sideblog: @citrijp (currently on hiatus for a mental health break)

the sims sideblog: @citriosims

pinterest: citriosis

twitter: citriosis (almost never used but it's there)

interests

bold = currently brain full of it (will probably forget to change this lmfao)

writing (especially about ttrpg blorbos)/storytelling + character analysis

music. just music in general. but talk to me abt ghost and pals + vane lily especially

speedruns + history thereof

avatar: the last airbender

undertale, deltarune, and undertale yellow + theorizing about them

mario games + spin-offs

psychology

honestly science in general

language learning (jp)

ace attorney

final fantasy XIV (still working through 6.0 hahaha help)

ttrpgs

animal crossing (new leaf + new horizons)

stardew valley

the sims (especially 2+3)

project mili

pizza tower

definitely not everything. but a lot of things. and if you like those things. bats my lashes at you. hi.

tags

(again this isn't all of them bc i have a terrible memory. consider this a WIP and an optional read.)

-> general

#; the citrus speaks - one fruit talks too much (i.e., posts that i made myself or added to)

#; the citrus answers - might be a bit presumptuous but one fruit answers asks

#; citrus jams - one fruit subjects you to their music taste (threat)

#; reblog + #; i'd do anything for queue - reblogs and queued posts

#; lemon's inane ramblings - rambles in the tags OR a post that's not really a thesis and is just me going bananas

#; lemon thesis moment - i will inevitably forget that i have a writing/ttrpg account so this is for character analysis rambles

-> media/other interests

#; the ttrpg tag(tm) - The TTRPG Tag™

#; the pen is mightier! - writing tag

#; gay-ce attorney - ace attorney. mostly narumitsu, hence the name

#; critically acclaimed mmorpg - ffxiv

#; stardews and stardon'ts - stardew valley

#; everything changed when the fire nation attacks - atla

#; DIGITAL HALLUCINATIONS - the amazing cigital circus

#; i don't go here (but you do and ily) - things my friends really enjoy + rb about a lot that i may not know shit about but still enjoy their enjoyment of

-> characters + ships

#; this bard needs therapy - yaevinn baines of posada tag

#; healing hands - nithvinn (yaevinn and his partner, nithral) tag

#; cryophobia - vian tag

#; sunsnow - vinkaide (vian and their partner, kinkaide) tag

-> misc

#; love women and love loving women - local lesbian loves women in a queer way. in other news, every 60 seconds, a minute passes.

again, there are more—like a lot more—and eventually this will be a definitive list with links and shit which is why it's at the bottom, but i'm forgetful

[cf56]

My thoughts on episode 5

SPOILERS for season 3, episode 5 of the Animaniacs reboot.

Yes, we're still doing this. This episode contains Teeniacs, the one I've been obsessing over for months, theorizing about, posting screenshots, answering asks. Did it live up to expectations?

...what do you think? While it turned out to mostly be a funky screenshot collection, and possibly trailer bait, I'm not going to let my extremely overinflated expectations and current ravaged emotional state trick me into saying this segment was bad. It was pretty good for what it was.

The one thing I'm legitimately disappointed about is that we didn't actually get Teen Dot. I wanted to see an aged-up Warner, even if for just a few seconds in a joke segment. Turns out they were the same age and the perspective of the animation was playing tricks on us. Well, maybe alternate Dot was a little taller. Not anything drastic, though.

We did still get to see an alternately aged Dot.

We've already seen baby Dot multiple times in the past, though, so it's not as exciting.

I liked the way Yakko said "bro" and acted as Wakko's wingman.

I enjoyed seeing this, especially how excited he sounded to say it:

Does this mean Yakko is 15 now? Maybe we really do have an aged-up Warner in this segment.

I thought the brief vampire transitions were cool to see.

Teeniacs.

The most disappointing part of this segment for me was how it was a minute and a half long, and then we got no Warners for the rest of the episode.

I don't have much to say about Starbox and Cindy. What could I say? Cindy is proven to be a malicious little monster who hurts Starbox on purpose. I can respect it.

The main thing to talk about in this episode is obviously Groundmouse Day. It is officially confirmed that Pinky is not, in fact, the genius. Right, guys?

I liked how this episode focused on the obvious fact that Brain's schemes are mostly thwarted by stupid little twists of fate, and if he could just have a few redos, pretty much every single one of them would work. It's always super satisfying to me when a cartoon character who has been failing to do something for an entire show finally breaks through and does it, such as Brain successfully taking over the world.

I enjoyed Brain getting one over on the surfer dude and being unapologetically pleased when the guy is emotionally affected by it. He deserved that one.

Edit: Oh, and I liked the furry joke.

So yeah, not going to lie, there wasn't much here for me in this episode. It felt like filler, especially because the main plot of the episode isn't even resolved in this episode. Almost wish they would just have done a full Pinky and the Brain episode focusing entirely on Groundmouse Day.

Also, shout out to this person for being entirely correct.

I really don't know how to rank this one. None of it was bad. None of it blew my socks off. There were some fun sights in Teeniacs, but that was about it for me. I can't really judge Groundmouse Day yet because the rest is in the next episode. It could really go above any of the episodes except episode 3 and below any of them as well. I'm just going to go off of which ones I would rather rewatch, which means this episode will be ranked last. If I was a huge Pinky and the Brain fan, it would be different for sure.

My current ranking of season 3 episodes:

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 2

Episode 1

Episode 5

I encourage you to add to the discussion of this episode if you want, but don't say anything about any of the episodes that come after. Thanks for sticking with me.

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[empty-pizza]

thoughts on harrow the ninth chapter seventeen

okay i haven't even started the chapter yet but i want to talk through more possibilities

i've tried to stay open to the possibility that this could be a big memory thing. but mr. g had talked about gideon at the end of book 1. so if it is a memory thing, it either had large enough range to even affect big g (at that point, it might as well be a timeline thing) or, as i theorized earlier, harrow hears the name gideon as ortus. which might be a stretch at this point, but i can't say it's impossible. it's one of those things where the more the name comes up in different ways (like in the narration) the more it's just like, really.

the timeline change possibility is confusing, mainly because as i said earlier, if the timeline really changed, the letters, and harrow's deal with ianthe, wouldn't exist. now, a completely open possibility is that we're working off of totally non-standard time rules, which is entirely valid, but leaves me little room to theorize. as there's virtually endless possibilities for how it could decide it works.

but let's say it's fairly standard timeline rules. let's say we go back and... i guess, kill gideon? hold on, let me think. gideon is one of the souls in harrow, i believe (well, she is in both timelines, but on one side as a lyctor and on the other just as a factor in her great necromancy). does that mean she had to die in the same way as the other babies? or just that she had to die at the same time?

well, moving on from that, let's say it's fairly standard timeline rules. how do we play this? let's say harrow goes back in time, kills gideon to prevent gideon from dying later (girls, am i right). comes back to the present, and then... what if there's time lag to changes propagating, like it's back to the future? that's always an open possibility though it's a bit wishy washy. so then harrow comes back from the past, gives the letters to harrow... no, it still doesn't make sense. though, only in the way time travel doesn't make sense in general. like yeah we can say that this would simply propagate into the letters not existing. but then we're following it through to the point that we have to start following paradox rules, which is definitely not what's going on here considering the present timeline seems fairly stable.

so, i think it's probably not time travel, unless we're following non-standard rules. or just, y'know, something very clever i haven't thought of at all. that said, i do feel like i'm narrowing down the possibilities — just in a way where i have no idea if there's anything left, out of the things that i've thought of. and it can, of course, be something i thought i could rule out.

anyway wasn't i gonna read more

okay, mercymorn time. mercy is another interesting counterpoint of immortality to augustine; she feels similar things but expresses it differently. has no patience for harrow's shit, but still has that same underlying attitude of just... not really knowing how to process these new kids being meant to join you group.

the switcheroo of how, against god's prediction, mercy does not want cristabel's name to be spoken around her, while augustine was happy to talk about her, is interesting. i think that god, personally, was just wrong. but i think augustine's happy answer does not actually mean he was happy to ask, considering how many layers he hides himself behind.

ooh, the bit about knowing anatomy. specifically, Mercy's ostensible affront is the mathematician's sort; she doesn't think it needs application to be worth knowing. and yet augustine still points out it could be good for killing lyctors. i wonder which one mercy was really motivated by.

ortus (this one, not the other one) wants her dead. this is definitely funky. need more information.

i suppose, if we're open to the possibility of time being played with, then there is a way that ortus can be the same person. i will avoid going down those possibilities unless evidence arises to incite me to, i think.

[melchinafan]

Hey wait, I should repost (and elaborate on) my observations and headcanons that I was posting on twitter while the Redfall account was posting promo videos leading up to launch. Leaving out the now-obvious theorizing and cult symbol recognition, it's mostly...no, uh, it's all just Devinder stuff, whoops. (His primary outfit still baffles me in some ways. Also, adding a few things I've noticed in-game so far.)

First, observations:

he's got sharply-square-toed calf-boots (in all his outfits, but especially the default) and I am thoroughly jealous perfect blend of practical with formal vibes, amazing shape without giving up the traction of a good rubber boot sole I NEED THEM

he has three stickers on the back of his phone (in the announcement trailer): one like his UK Cryptid Association patch, one that's a cartoony caped vampire with sunglasses, trying to hide from some bright flashes that says "NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY," and a round one with a simple eye that says "TRUTH SEEKER" along the top (and has a sentence around the bottom, but it's too small and blurry for me to make out, to my eternal lamentations)

his buttons are on the "wrong" side of his shirt when his collar is open (but with the attention to detail otherwise present from the devs, and the fact that they're like that in-game AND the announcement trailer, perhaps it was deliberate and they're magnetic buttons?)

he doesn't appear to be using belt loops in his hero trailer (though he definitely does in the Casual Hunter outfit, so they just probably weren't on that fancy model)

his standard belt is nylon with a quick-release buckle, which is also the buckle style on his backpacks (including the leather one)

his Dapper outfit has a nerdy leather shoulder harness with two pouches, one for his cell phone on his left side, and a paper journal with pen on the right (which would be hidden if he wore a jacket, but per the description of the outfit, "no jacket required")

while there are buckles on the front of said harness, there's also lobster-claw clasps on the back as an alternate release mechanism and very subtle pun

his primary outfit's gloves have a small gold fleur-de-lis printed on the end of the velcro strap, whereas his dapper outfit has driver's gloves with a snap strap

he has orange gloves(?) in his primary outfit, under his leather gloves, which are at least long enough to go well under his sleeves so no skin peeks out (what is this? why does he seem to have layered gloves? are they neat-colored compression gloves? or does he have ballroom-length gloves that match his silk scarf "a gift from [his] parents" awwww, so he can just doff the jacket and leather gloves at any time for a quick dapper look? presumably not, since he removes them for his casual outfit, but I just ??? truly baffling)

attended New College in Oxford doing the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) course (which is apparently a 3-year thing), plus spending "the better part of a decade" cryptid-hunting...if we assume he started hunting after finishing his schooling, and that range being around 7-10 years, he's probably...somewhere between 28-31, maybe? could be younger if there's overlap between them, could be older if he didn't immediately dive directly into each thing

calls his viewers "Dev-iners" how cute is that I love it

seems to be titling his adventures in Redfall as "Delving Into Darkness"

clearly a Doctor Who fan (quotes include "allons-y!" after falling, and "don't blink" when he uses his Blacklight—and his first dapper suit being blue-and-brown could also be a subtle reference along with the fact that he has both a wristwatch and a pocketwatch as a potential "time lord" reference, unless that chain attaches to some other nerdy trinket)

he has written and recorded notes as the descriptions of two legendary weapons (that I've seen), as follows:

Clacker (electric pistol, blue and yellow funky little thing):

Hey Remi! I don't know where you found this thing, looks like it was assembled by an Elwetritsch after a 3 day bender. One of those cultists with more thumbs than sense, no doubt. But I pulled it apart and fixed up a few contacts so the chance of fatally shocking yourself is minimized (note my word choice). Now it's like a little cousin to my Javelin. You know, it's kind of cute now that I'm looking at it. -- D

Snipe Hunter (stake launcher, an unpainted version of what he had in the announcement trailer, with sharpie-scribbled notes in several places on it):

Crousley Tapes (Private) Cortana Suggested Title: "It's a cloudy day and I'm thinking of my mum" [VOICE REC BEGINS] "Note to self, something to file away for later. Whenever it turns foggy like this, like sodden grey cotton, I think of mum. When I was a kid she said that I had a big imagination. Unlike a lot of people, she meant it as a compliment. I saw things, things other people simply missed. But she told me to always trust myself. Sounds easy, but every day since then I've tried to live up to that." [VOICE REC ENDS]

Which leads to: headcanons!

he's the oldest in the group (because Jacob's timeline is fuzzier to me, and Jacob asking "your parents okay with these little field trips of yours?" in Dev's hero trailer is SO much funnier to me if Dev's the oldest)

has chronic pain in (at least) his hands (possibly from piano plus frequent fiddly tinkering, or just General Fuckery that happens for some folks regardless of age—and I assume it's mild to moderate/otherwise fluctuates, since he's clearly not slowing down with tinkering, and is capable of at least short tunes on piano)

specific reasoning/potential evidence for the above includes but is not necessarily limited to: possible compression gloves, quick-release buckles, maybe magnetic buttons, plus the clasps on the back of his nerdy dapper harness (they may be how he does easier release when he struggles with the buckles? assuming his other joints aren't borked, because they're behind him? I'm less clear on if they're actually practical though)

neurodivergent as all get-out (is this even a headcanon, it feels like it's been self-evident from the second he showed up, though the specifics are up to interpretation)

trans/nonbinary because why not, I'm already out here projecting, and he layers enough for the vibe, also "TRANSlocator" puns

bi? ace? monsterfucker? etc.? I don't know, I need to see if anything specific comes up in dialogue at all but he is just so very queer as is the whole cast it's great

he clearly used some research he did into the psychic Nests(/the dream-like Trance) to create his (literally-)dreamy Quantum Kerfuffle decoy (the final Translocator skill), because holy SHIT does that thing draw in every vampire within what I swear is the same radius a Nest covers, it's the most beautiful hazard on the entire island

[tammyhybrid21]

Dumb Headcanon thoughts PART 2. This time it’s the Slugcat Edition... Along with a few bonus things because goodness.

This time we’re starting off a bit more hot. Mostly because I actually have a lot of additional things to say in general regarding this one simple fact. It is canon. Pebbles refers to you multiple times throughout different campaigns as a rodent. And sure you could take that as him looking at the slugcat and been a bit of a SatAM Robotnik about it... but I more like to take it as a statement of fact because it can lead to so much fun theorizing... thus my top sheet.

Side note, seriously, go look up what animals are in the rodent family, there’s some WILD revelations of it. Anyway... point the first... Beaver Inspiration... this also explains Slugcat buoyancy... their fur traps air for insulation in the water... Thus they naturally kind of go UP-- On the other hand, they regularly need to groom that oil through for this layer to do its job properly...

WITNESS... MY CREATURE DESIGN.

Dsbvjhbfsjhbfjhds, no but seriously, I have a lot of thoughts regarding this. I also really love the way the fandom has come to the conclusion that Slugcats are descended from a simple pipe cleaning organism. I agree honestly, their diets are just too funky to not be from something like that... also the edible moulds throughout the game.

On top of that, I think that said organism was also a “template” one. Aka, lab rats. It would explain why the iterators seem to tend towards Slugcats more than anything else...

Oh side note. I have another personal reasoning for giving Scugs white blood aside it just been funky. But because of how Rain World canonically doesn’t have a full divide between plants and animals... I got inspired specifically by milkweed plants, and some... things people believe about them.

Basically there’s an old, old rumour about it having healing properties. Also that squish fact... it’s based again on real world information. This is directly inspired by how rats can squeeze into gaps(also raccoons but they’re not rodents). Also just some fun to explain pipe travel... this is how shortcuts work tbh.

Anycase, yeah... More of the biology and developments thing. I do think the iterators did some encouraging of the development. Not entirely their fault though. Not at all. Again, there’s a lot of environmental pressure. Different creatures responded to it differently... for the lantern mice it became a matter of getting up high and then... well... yeah. They didn’t find much pressure from then on.

For the slugcats though, they ended up in the further wilds. In the ruins, and nomadic.

At some point I’ll come back on Scavengers. But not anytime soon. For now, here’s my slugcats are sentient propaganda... Which I fully believe is because of how they function in community and seem to be nomadic. I mean sheesh, Gourmand’s whole implied campaign. The iterators using them as messengers, or even with slightly more complex tasks... Or majorly more complex tasks...

Pebbles just expecting Rivulet to somehow know and understand retrieving his Rarefaction cell... To deliver it to Moon... also on Moon’s side... Iggy’s whole... thing, which I’m certain is the overseer’s decision alone, but just pleading for the slugcats to go bring neurons now! Yeah. Go Iggy, if they were a slugcat or other creature they would so choose violence. Love that little overseer.

SURPRISE. YOU FELL INTO MY TRAP CARD. This isn’t just a post talking about Slugcats but I also wanted to talk about the Cycle. In which case, yes I am a dirty heathen who thinks that the respawn is real. But before you stone me for that, I do have some in game evidence. As well arguments for why it doesn’t work on everything. Beyond just mechanics...

I think that there’s a few necessary ingredients for it to work. And the core to them is ties to your identity and sense of self, attachments to form and body. Which solidifies as you grow up, different people and creatures at different ages(although most creatures aren’t that attached I don’t think... why you can lose tamed lizors and tamed slups who haven’t found that connection yet). ALSO YES, I do think that a human randomly in Rain World would just... reincarnate... the greater cycle it is...

Mostly because to have a sense of yourself and place you also need to be more aware of the world. A place not just in your body but the world around you... I have more comments but those can wait for when I get around to doing a proper talk of what it means to ascend and break the cycle...

From Dust to Dust and Ashes to Ashes all that’s left of you is others memories, nonexistence just returning to once cosmic dust.

Final last point bonus. Just some Spearmaster thoughts really. I love to imagine Spearmaster is just one really messed up creechur because Suns literally doesn’t understand as much as they think they do. Amazingly designed, but really horror creature in action.

[ikam177]

I finally found what my issue with pretty much all fandom servers I found was (other than the worrying amount of antis), and it's that they're just...not really focused on their fandoms, ironically?

It's all about idle chat with no focus on fanworks. Heck, there tends to be way more "passive" fans (as in, fans who "consume" the media in question and then don't really do anything with that beyond saying they like it) than creative ones. The servers usually have channels dedicated to fanworks, but since creative fans are way fewer in numbers, it feels intimidating to post in there because it gets too much attention.

I'm no good at idle chat, straight-up terrible at it actually and conversations I'm in keep dying out because of that. But talking about a funky AU idea I had, or theorizing together with someone? I could go on for hours! I wanna do drawpiles, group writing sessions, just throw ideas at each other!

But so far none of the servers I found really favor this kind of interaction, because fans who create stuff tend to keep to themselves. I don't know about how the others feel, but for me that's pretty isolating. My love language is creation, I just don't know how to relate to people who...don't create. I want fandom servers that actually encourage creativity, not just chatrooms with some fandom decoration.

I just wanna vibe with other artists, you know? Right now it feels like we're all scattered in our little bubbles. It's not that fun.

[eyndr-stories]

To Be Alive (FNAF SB fanfic) C2 - Extreme Bumper Cars

In summary:

At long last, the thrilling continuation of 'To Be Human'! There are more shenanigans for Star and co to get up to, and new horrors to be subjected to! Not to mention, Eclipse is still at large and up to no good... As 'To Be Human' is a self contained stand-alone story, one could very well choose to leave the adventure as is! Considering there are some heavier themes in this one (biggest thing here being death, specifically) that's exactly what I would recommend you do if you like everything very much the way it ended in 'To Be Human'. This story is an exploration of a few ideas I wanted to work with left over from the first story, and a way to tie up some very minor loose ends, as well as a return to some characters and a world I had a lot of fun with.

Things To Know:

Reader insert! Y/N is not used and gender is not specified, though the reader does have a blorbo-appointed name (Star)

Non-specified relationships between reader and Sun & Moon, this can be read as pals, family, partners, whatever you like, totally up to your interpretation

Sun & Moon are separate bots and referred to with gender neutral pronouns

The reader and other characters are often in mortal peril! This world is full of Funky Creatures (other than you) and some of them attack and hurt several characters, including the reader character

Some blood and minor gore

Occasional swearing

Death

(as always, let me know if I should add anything!)

Ao3 link: Right here!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

C2 - Extreme Bumper Cars

     "WHAT."

     You turned to Monty, who'd grabbed your shoulder.

     "Mind running that by me one more time??" Monty asked, his voice unnaturally high.

     "I don't want you all to worry," you started, patting Monty's arm. "We found out a little while ago."

     "How? Why??" Foxy questioned, sounding just as concerned as everyone else looked.

     "Well…" Sun spoke up, all four hands folded into tight pairs. "As you know, the air is clean of the toxic chemicals from the asteroid that killed the last humans left on Earth. However, as we've discovered, the earth itself is not. The toxins were absorbed into the ground. Every plant, every new organic creature born after the asteroid contains some of the same toxin, which Moon and I theorize is how some mutations in some of the animals occurred as well. The toxin is deadly to humans, as we know. It is, unfortunately, everywhere. In all the food Star needs to eat, and the water they need to drink."

     "We're working on a cure, of course. We've been working very hard, and making good progress, it's just… painfully slow going," Moon added, their voice tinged with impatience.

     "…" Monty stared at you intently. You couldn't read his expression.

     "Hon, I'm so sorry," Chica offered quietly.

     You shook your head. Everyone was worried about you, they were all upset, and that wasn't what you wanted. "It's alright. Listen, everything dies eventually. Even if I wasn't at risk of dying soon, just by being human, I wouldn't live as long as any of you by a long shot anyways. It's really not so bad."

     "Oh. Oh no," Freddy mumbled.

     Monty pulled you into a hug. Even as he nearly crushed you into putty, you could see that everyone was sad now. Foxy put their hand on their head and leaned back against the counter. Bonnie looked close to tears and was gripping Freddy's hand tightly. Even Roxy looked upset.

     Dammit. That was supposed to have made things better. Fuck.

     "Like Moon said, we're working hard on a cure! And we really have been making progress, so lets not loose hope just yet. Star's going to be just fine," Sun stated, sounding a little strained.

     "The cure would also help any humans who might decide to return to Earth some day. And from their research they're also learning more about the creatures in the forest too! So everyone will be safer," you added. The good news and assurances seemed to raise everyone's spirits a little, so you went on. "Please don't be sad. You're my friends, I don't want any of you to be sad. Like Sun and Moon said, they're working really hard, so I'm sure they'll have a cure in no time and everything will be fine."

     "We can't help caring about ya. You're right though, no sense in getting our wires in a bunch just yet." Foxy straightened up and gave you a gentle pat on the head.

     Monty reluctantly released you from his crushing hug. "You better make it out alright, you hear me?"

     "I'll try my best," you said. All this attention and concern and care was getting to be too much. "Lets all go see Roxy's race, okay?"

     The group all agreed, brightening up for what you suspected was your sake. You hoped the race would get everyone in better spirits. Together, you all closed up shop and headed out as a group towards the other end of town. You stowed your new notebook and pens away in your bag, and your ukulele had a handy strap on it that allowed you to carry it over your back with your bag.

     The streets became more and more populated the farther in you went. You had your hood up and were surrounded by your friends, so you didn't draw too much attention. Sun and Moon, on the other hand, did draw a few eyes. After publishing their research and findings around you and the history of what happened to the humans, they'd become celebrities, to some degree. Especially in the human fanatic circles.

     Despite your disguise, you still found yourself the center of attention once or twice along the way. Usually bots would spot Sun and Moon first, and then would notice you, their famous human creation. You didn't mind the attention very much, didn't even mind the questions bots would ask you about humans and human culture. These bots were just excited and never meant any harm. And, admittedly, all the adoration and amazement was nice too. Roxy seemed to be getting annoyed at having to stop, though. The others didn’t mind, especially Bonnie and Freddy, who seemed to be off in their own little world when they weren’t in the shop. They were holding hands and smiling and chatting with each other quietly, laughing occasionally.

     "Maybe we should get disguises as well," Moon muttered after politely excusing themself from a pair of boxy one-eyed bots who reluctantly rolled away on heavy duty wheels. Both bots looked to have had a paint job done recently, sporting bright blue and yellow colors.

     "Oh please, you love the attention," Sun teased.

     Moon scoffed. "I just don't mind that no one looks down on us anymore. We're viewed as legitimate scientists now."

     "We were legitimate scientists before, regardless of what anyone said," Sun pointed out.

     "Yes, yes." Moon waved them off. "In any case, Eclipse could have eyes anywhere."

     Sun nodded. "We can look into disguises later."

     The lot of you made it to the race track without issue. It was Roxy's turn to draw attention now. A lot of bots here knew her as a racer, and she had quite a few fans. Working downhill through the crowd and towards the track was slow going as Roxy proudly greeted each and every fan. Bots of all types were gathered here, on the edge of town between the track and the buildings and bustling streets. You couldn't help but stare, especially since all the attention was on Roxy, and no one would really notice your ogling. A lot of bots were similar in design, but with modifications and paint being as accessible as they were, no two bots looked the same. As far as general models go, you'd learned to recognize three distinct types.

     There were bots that looked to have been made solely for specific jobs or tasks, for instance a particularly tall bot who stood out in the crowd, towering over everyone with thick telescopic limbs and wide hand-like appendages, who you guessed was good with construction, lifting heavy things up higher than most could reach. You nearly ran into a different bot, someone smaller than you, with a blur of small limbs folding in and out as they navigated the crowd, each limb fixed with dozens of fine little tools, clearly made for detail work of some sort.

     Slightly less common were bots like the repair gang, modeled after animals and ancient creatures. These types of bots were, as you'd been told, some of the very first models ever built, their accessible blueprints left by the humans making them easy to build more of and improve on. These bots tended to serve any manner of different roles in society, going where they were needed, their designs being more adaptable, albeit less specialized.

     Least common were bots like Sun and Moon. These bots resembled humans the most, having originally been crafted in their likeliness. Although, as Sun and Moon had told you, they'd gotten a few mods in their time, the biggest change from their original design being an extra pair of arms. These humanoid bots, as you'd been told, had been built from prototypes and early stage creations from humans figuring out how to build the first iterations of sentient bots. These bots tended to be more complex, their blueprints less clear and less accessible. A large part of their design included the technology that made them self sustaining, energy producing robots. As you'd been told, reverse engineering the tech and figuring out how to make every bot self sustaining was extremely difficult not only because of how rare these bots were, but also because to make any actual progress on this research, a volunteer bot would need to be deactivated. Needless to say, focusing on alternatives like renewable energy were far more preferable.

     You were pulled from your thoughts as you and your friends found a spot close to the track, at the front of the crowd. A short concrete wall was all that separated you from looping dirt roads. Everyone wished Roxy luck as she departed, hopping the wall and heading out onto the track towards the warehouse turned garage at its center. Seated atop this building, looking out over the entire track and the crowd was the race's moderator, an enormous bot everyone called the DJ. They would provide fast paced and energetic music during the race, as well as move any wrecked vehicles off the track with their extendable limbs and claw-like hands. The first time you'd come to see a race, you'd been warned about the DJ's associate, a miniature version of the DJ who was allegedly no taller than your knee. The mini DJ would scurry throughout the crowds and rob distracted bots of any valuables and loose batteries during the race.

     Speaking of the DJ, their music started up, signaling the race was starting soon. The crowd settled and pressed towards the wall surrounding the track.

     You pat your hands excitedly along the top of the wall. You ignored the headache pounding dully at your skull and focused instead on the music.

     Ten vehicles all lined themselves up at the starting line as the music thrummed with enough force to shake the pants around your legs. You could easily see Roxy's car from here, with its neon green painted metal ring encircling it, a sturdy barrier between Roxy and the other vehicles.

     "Woo!! You got this Roxy!!!" Chica cheered beside you.

     Out on the line, you could see Roxy's hand pop out of the open top of her car. She gave a quick wave, and then the music began to build as the DJ readied their giant flag.

     The DJ gave their flag a little spin, then brought the flag down sharply, exactly on time with the beat drop, and the race began.

     Vehicles tore away from the starting line, leaving a cloud of purple dust in their wake. Roxy looked to be squarely in the middle, where most of the chaos was happening. The bumper around her car kept her from getting crushed between something that looked like a tank, and another vehicle with three connected segments.

     Three cars were out of the race before the first bend. One looked to have been caught in some kind of tar spillage, and the DJ was having some trouble plucking it off the track. They'd already taken the other two vehicles off the track, one having spun off and hit the wall around the garage. The other had flipped and rolled, but you could see its driver fuming outside the wreckage, angrily kicking at their totaled vehicle.

     Back in the race, Roxy was steadily pulling ahead. She hugged the curves tightly, her car drifting smoothly around tighter turns. She was neck and neck with what looked like a cannon on wheels.

     "If she gets ahead of that cannon, she'll be in it's range," Chica said.

     "Is that allowed?? A canon for a car?" you asked, struggling to project over the music and the cacophany of noise form the track.

     "Aye, there’s no rule against it," Foxy told you.

     Monty added, "There are actually very few rules in racing! It’s the best."

     Speaking of the canon car, it fired a cannonball at a car ahead of it. The car was very small and nimble, running on only three wheels, and had been doing a great job of dodging and weaving around the chaos of colliding cars. The small car narrowly avoided getting crushed under the cannonball. The canon car swerved around their cannonball. The car tailing behind them wasn’t as quick, and collided with the cannonball. The DJ quickly pulled the car off the track.

     Roxy pulled ahead as the canon car was loading up another cannonball. She had almost passed the smaller car when the tank from before swerved, slamming into Roxy's bumper ring. The tank didn't let up, the massive machine easily shoving Roxy's smaller car along until it was pinned between the tank and the outer wall. The friction with the wall forced Roxy's car to slow, and she fell back behind the tank.

     "Oh no, she's in range of the canon-!" Chica yelled.

     The cannon fired, cannonball crashing right into Roxy's bumper ring, narrowly missing the car itself. The cannonball tore off the left half of her ring, which rolled and tumbled as it tore away, and ended up flying right into the canon car. The debris threw the massive canon off balance. The car careened to the side, tipped, and rolled. It took out another car as it fell out of the race, then was carried off to the garage by the DJ.

     Four cars left. Roxy was still in it, though her car looked a little off balance and would tilt dangerously if she turned to the right a little too fast. Which was bad news, as a sharp right curve was coming up, the last loop before the final stretch to the finish line.

     The segmented car was currently in the lead, though the small nimble car was gaining on it. Roxy was alongside the tank again, which was already veering to try and crush her car against the outer wall again.

     At the last moment, Roxy hit the brakes, quickly falling behind the tank and pulling around the other side of it as the tank slammed into the wall, and kept going. The tank crashed right through the outer barrier, its treads getting caught up on the concrete as it rolled over the wall. Rubble from the barrier clogged up the treads, and the tank was out of the race. Roxy wasn't out of trouble yet, though; the turn was upon her.

     Roxy's car spun, and for a moment, you thought it might be finally careening out of control, but it only spun one-eighty degrees. Roxy quickly shifted gears, and she was suddenly driving backwards, with the half of the bumper still in tact now facing the outer edge of the turn. She made the turn with ease without tipping.

     The crowd went wild at the stunt. You could barely hear the music for a moment over the cheers. Chica was jumping up and down excitedly next to you, Monty and Sun were both yelling, Foxy was laughing with amazement, Freddy and Bonnie were cheering, even Moon looked impressed.

     It wasn't over yet, though. The segmented car and the nimble car were neck and neck, and Roxy was still gaining. The finish line was in sight.

     The nimble car slowed slightly. It came up beside the segmented car, lining up right with the contracting accordion connecting the first two segments together. The cars were close enough now that you could see the driver of the nimble car pop up, their arm wound back for a punch. They launched a spring loaded fist right into the accordion connecting the segments of the other car. The accordion shuddered and snapped, and the segments collided together, the force too much for the back segment to handle alone. The car careened to the side and rolled, nearly taking out Roxy, who'd come up right behind. She swerved, still driving backwards. She was quickly gaining on the nimble car, and it looked like the nimble car couldn't work up enough speed to outpace her.

     "It's gonna be close!" Chica said.

     Roxy was starting to pass the smaller car, moving up along its right side. The smaller car had other plans, though. The driver popped up again as the nimble car drifted closer to Roxy, no bumper on that side to stop them.

     Roxy spun again, managing to pull off the stunt quick enough to nail the other car with the bumper as it spun around, colliding with the smaller car. The smaller car was knocked away before the driver could throw their punch, and while the driver managed to swerve and keep the car from crashing, they lost a great deal of ground in the process, falling behind Roxy's car, just as it flew past the finish line.

     The music switched to a celebratory tune, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Roxy's car rolled to a stop a short ways away, and she jumped out and climbed up on top, facing the crowd and raising two triumphant fists, flashing a proud grin.

     You yelled and cheered along with your friends, heart still pounding from the excitement. Roxy ran over to greet everyone after graciously accepting her winning medal. She looked even happier to receive a big hug from Chica.

     You grinned at all your friends, all of them happy and excited. Monty and Foxy were exclaiming excitedly with Roxy about the sick stunts she'd pulled, Freddy had lifted Bonnie in a celebratory hug and was spinning him around, Sun and Moon were congratulating Roxy on a race well won. You smiled and took it all in, wanting to hold this moment in your mind for as long as you were able.

     The moment kept you in high spirits, even as you said farewell to everyone and departed for the lab. It even kept you in high spirits through the whole walk home, even though you had to stop a lot more than usual to rest. You just couldn't seem to catch your breath.

     This didn’t go unnoticed by Sun and Moon. They sat with you in what you were calling the living room of your little home, that little area near the door with the chairs. You sat yourself in the nearest chair the moment you were through the door, barely managing to get your backpack off before doing so. Your two solar themed companions sat as casually as they could, though you thought they still looked uncomfortable.

     Sun looked at Moon, who looked back at Sun, who sighed.

     “So, Star,” Sun started. “How are you… feeling?”

     “Tired,” you replied honestly. It felt like you couldn’t take in enough air. The walk had left you entirely exhausted, though you were trying to hide it, breathing through your nose.

     “Right. But how are you doing, Star?” Moon asked.

     “…Oh.” You paused, looking away. “You mean like… with everything?”

     “Yes,” Moon confirmed, and Sun nodded.

     “Oh, I’m fine. I’m alright, not too stressed or anything,” you said.

     Moon and Sun both stared at you, clearly disbelieving.

     You sighed. “Alright. Yeah, I’m…I know I’ve faced my mortality before. Heck, I nearly died a few days ago when I fought off that big bird creature. But still, I… I don’t wanna die. I’m… scared.” You thought about the humans in the catacombs. This must have been how they felt. Like it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t your fault you were dying, there was nothing you could do about it. You’d done everything right, but it didn’t matter. You were still dying, and it wasn’t fair. It was terrifying, and there wasn’t anything to be done about the fear. No forest monster to fight off or flee from and be done with it. You just had to sit with it.

     “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you. If there’s anything we can do to make it easier, let us know. And we’re going to keep working, okay? We’re going to find a cure,” Sun stated.

     “I’ve been compiling and sorting through notes in my head all day,” Moon said. “I’m sure Sun has been too. Even when we’re not working, we’re still working. It won’t be long now before we figure something out.”

     “Right.” You tried to let that assure you. You still hated the feeling that it was entirely out of your hands. You thought again about the humans in the catacombs. “It’ll be good to have a cure for the other humans too, if they ever come back to Earth. I would hate for the people in the catacombs to have all died saving the world just for the world to turn around and wipe out all the humans.”

     “We’ll find the cure, that’s for certain,” Sun assured. “It’s just a matter of… doing it quickly enough for you to have a long and healthy and happy life, like you deserve.”

     Moon got to their feet. “I think my circuits are going to fry if I keep sitting around. I’ll be down in the lab.” Moon paused beside your chair. They gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze, then carried on towards the door.

     “I’ll join Moon in a moment. First, I can make you some food. And then you should get some rest, alright?” Sun sprang to their feet as well, heading for the kitchen.

     “Alright.” Normally you’d argue and try to stay up, but you really were tired.

     As Sun moved around in the kitchen behind you, your eyes fell on the ukulele you'd set down with your bag. You picked it up and adjusted in your chair, getting comfortable. You started to play around with it, just enjoying the act of noise making.

     Before long, you were actually feeling a little better about things. You weren't sure what it was, but just something about having a little bit of fun really softened the fears.

     You played around with the ukulele until it was time to eat. Sun left to join Moon down in the lab, but not before wishing you a happy birthday. After you finished eating, you clambered up onto one of the top bunks, bringing your bag and all your things up with you.

     You stayed up for a while longer than you should have, testing out your pens in your new notebook. You doodled silly things, your friends, leaves and plants and creatures from the forest, and you practiced writing in that language all the bots used, and all the languages your brain could recall. Everything was rough and wobbly with your unpracticed hands, but the colors were nice and you were having fun.

     When you finally drifted off to sleep, your dreams were calm and kind and restful. All things considered, you'd had a pretty great birthday after all.

[rightpastnowhere]

my critical role WIPs and ideas

essayofthoughts has a post up like this and i decided i wanted to do one, because i am nothing if not a copycat. plus, having these posted means i can be held accountable to finish my projects lmao. feel free to ask me about any of these!!! i will answer as much as i can without major spoilers for things i do plan to eventually post

ongoing fics/series with some parts posted

alstroemeria: perc’ahlia / drabble collection / canon compliant / a drabble collection centered around the different reasons to kiss someone. open requests!! feel free to drop some in the comments

chapters 1-4 are posted here!!

find the perfect words, if they exist: perc’ahlia / one-shot series / canon compliant / a series of fics where i theorize on d&d languages through the lens of percy and vex moments and studies

part one, resonate, focusing on celestial and set after percy and vex elope, is posted here!!

with nowhere to go and nowhere to return: eventual perc’ahlia & general vox machina / fic series / noragami (manga/anime series) AU / percival is an outcasted god, and vex’ahlia is his new regalia, and keyleth is his god best friend. more characters to arrive as the series progresses

part one, dawn, which introduces percival, keyleth, and vex’ahlia, is posted here!!

ideas i am currently developing with varying amounts of writing done (these are either working titles OR just little monikers i thought sounded cool)

waltz: perc’ahlia / modern au / percy and vex, engaged, have to put their wedding on hold when the de rolo estate burns to the ground

worldlock: perc’ahlia / canon divergence / how far are you willing to go to get back what was taken from you? 

elysium: perc’ahlia / canon divergence / not all of vox machina survives the final battle with vecna

watercolor: vox machina / soulmate au / when you first touch your soulmate, it leaves a mark of color on their skin

wedding wreath: perc’ahlia / canon compliant / on their way to marry, percy and vex stop to fulfill an old tradition (which is probably just something percy read in a book a while back, anyway)

vox mechs-ina: vox machina / crossover au / vox machina, but i throw them into the worldlore of a band called “the mechanisms” and essentially make them funky futuristic steampunk cyborg pirates

de rolo kids fic: vox machina / canon compliant-ish / essentially my headcanons surrounding percy and vex’s kiddos, and how these idiots processed parenthood

ideas that are just rattling around my brain rn with nothing/very little written for

peace in all seasons: @essayofthoughts gave me a title prompt here and i liked what i did with it. basically, a study of perc’ahlia throughout the first year after vecna

fenthras-centric thing: studying my headcanon for vex’s thoughts on fenthras as well as some thoughts on the bow itself

deities au: vox machina as gods, you know the drill. i answered an ask game for it here

nier automata au: vox machina as androids in the nier automata universe, except i blended some of the lore with critical role stuff, and some of my own ideas that aren’t from either media

class/backstory swap: au where percy grew up in a small village that was razed by a dragon, and the twins were raised as nobility in a small elven town that was attacked by the briarwoods. i might switch around the rest of vox machina as well for fun

[bookwyrminspiration]

🐳 here, thank you for the kind words and also re. your question - I know nothing about whales beyond what I remember from the 4 month whaling unit we did in 3rd grade but I think they’re neat and the emoji is cute! giraffes are pretty slay too though (and I think it’s good to indulge your 7 year old self at any possible moment <3)

hello again! even if you don't know a lot about whales, your whaling unit is more whale education than I ever got. I don't actually know a lot about the ocean or it's creatures, living in a mountainous desert kinda skewed the units towards different things.

I looked up some whale facts though, and apparently they're divided into two different groups: baleen vs toothed whales. Some of them have teeth and some of them do not have teeth. Apparently dolphins are classified in the whale family as well. Killer whales often travel in matrifocal groups. oh damn I forgot narwhals existed for a hot minute those dudes are pretty funky. Narwhal means corpse whale and was derived from Old Norse? Nice!

Anyway, I do still hold a fondness for giraffes even if they're no longer my favorite; I simply spent so long loving them I can't let them go. I've got a giraffe onesie and a litttle stuffie (gifted to me by my partner) that I named Moo. No two giraffes have the same spot pattern, they sleep standing up, it's theorized their tongues are purple/black as UV protection from the sun, their pregnancies last 15 months, and they only need to drink water every few days because most of their water comes from vegetation--and drinking water is awkward and makes them vulnerable because it's difficult to reach the ground, so they'll stay in groups so another can keep a look out while they drink.

Idk what it is about them, but little me absolutely latched onto them and refused to let them go, and I am more than happy to indulge her :)

[probsnothawkeye]

Just listened to the Technomancy Project season finale and I am *unwell*

Let's talk about it because holy shit yall

Spoilers below

But also if you're not listening to The Technomancy Project you gotta fix that ASAP because it's so fucking good

Starting this episode with an adorable in character patreon plug now knowing where this episode ends is. Hurting me. That said, if you can support their patreon I highly recommend it there is some very fun stuff there

I love Allie and Perdita so much. The fact that Elijah is there like "so are we all about to die" while Allie is questioning Iggy's relationship with Perdita and Perdita is only replying to Allie's questioning was 10/10 Love the silliness of it. Wish the episode stayed that silly

Jason and Elijah continue on their quest to rip my heart out. Jason is just a golden retriever of an immortal and will not take no for an answer when it comes to friendship and fixing things and it makes my heart hurt. And we get another sprinkling of Eli's trauma <3

I love love LOVE the way the Vitori are voiced. Having the two layered voices, each with their own distinct sound and personality that shine through is just. So good. Iggy was a whiny little traitor baby but gods they were well voiced

Also we had THE RETURN OF THE QUEEN MY FAVORITE IJEOMA!!!! Ijeoma continues to be the coolest character around she practices magic she takes no bullshit she's wonderful and I love her.

Jason's little speech before they went to the Vitori ship, talking about how glad he is that he's there with Allie and Elijah is making me tear up again just thinking about how this ends because fuck that HURTS Noah Belachew has done such a lovely job with Jason

Also have to give it up for Griffin Puatu and his performance of Elijah all season because gods know I love this funky little wreck of a magic man. Both Griffin and Noah in the final scenes of the episode? Ripped my heart out I will be haunted forever (positive)

But the real haunting is going to come from Erin Lundquist and her sobbing as Allie is pulled to safety while Eli and Jason are left to a questionable end. The raw emotion of it all had me crying at my kitchen table and fully stopping everything I was working on. Erin is SUCH a phenomenal voice actress and Allie is one of (if not my absolute) favorite roles she's done. I'm going to be thinking about those sobs forever

Also also a massive shout out to Emily, Josdon, Colin, and Ausdon for their writing this season they absolutely knocked it out of the park and I can't wait to see what's to come

I'm never going to emotionally recover from this season, so the next can only hurt me more :)

This entire season has been an absolute thing of beauty. I have laughed, I've sobbed, I've theorized, I've love every fucking minute of it. The Technomany Project is one of the best shows out there right now and if you're not listening, you now have a hiatus to get caught up

[cockadilf]

You’re kind of misinterpreting what I’m saying a bit.

I don’t mean that in every game you can ignore the story. When I said that the narrative doesn’t tend to drive the gameplay, I simply meant that in the sense that the gameplay was not made the way it was because Nintendo wanted to tell a story and this gameplay would fit that story the best.

In your example of OoT, the dungeons, and all the mechanics in them, are the way that they are because of the gameplay, not the story. Yes, the plot drives you to explore the dungeons, but the dungeons do not exist as a result of the plot. OoT is a unique case because we know that originally, there was going to be a hub world in a similar vein to Mario 64 which led to the various dungeons, but that changed throughout development. This for one tells me that the idea for dungeons was always there before the actual plot of the game was fleshed out to the extent it is. The gameplay came before the story. The story was an after thought. Not in the eyes of the players, which I think is what you’re saying, but in the eyes of the developers, the story is irrelevant.

Skyward Sword is different though, because that game to me is very much made to tell a story first and be a game second. It’s much more linear than any Zelda before it, for example, and this is a direct result of the story it is trying to tell. Much of the gameplay is driven by this need to tell a story. It’s not a bad way to make a game, as games like the Last of Us can tell us, but it is not the usual way Nintendo makes Zelda games (or any of their games that aren’t rpgs, really).

I’m not saying you can ignore the story in every Zelda game. That’s just the case with the original Zelda 1 and 2, and with BotW and TotK. BotW was the extreme that Nintendo took after the failure of Skyward Sword, because as I theorized, Nintendo learned the wrong lesson from Skyward Sword.

You also seem to be making an assumption that because I said Nintendo is willing to ignore the story aspect, that leads to their games having bad stories that don’t blend well with the gameplay. That’s not what I meant! Rather, I think Nintendo is excellent at blending story and gameplay. I just think the gameplay part comes first.

I don’t think Link turning into a wolf in Twilight Princess came as a result of Nintendo wanting to tell a good story. I think it came as a result of Nintendo thinking that wolf mechanics would be cool and fun and interesting and unique to play. And then after that, they came up with the story for how to implement it.

It’s not like Nintendo thinks the two are mutually exclusive, but Nintendo is willing to bend over backwards to let Link turn into a wolf or clone himself into four or ride around on a spinning top even if it means the lore is gonna be a little funky here and there. As long as it makes for a good game, then sure! It’s gameplay first, story second, not gameplay first, story never.

As far as continuity goes, I wasn’t really addressing that in my original reply, I just wanted to use your last comment to go off about a theory I had. But as far as that goes… I personally like what they did for at least BotW. I like that there’s references to every game in the timeline. But regardless, it just goes to show what my original point was, which is that Nintendo doesn’t care about the lore as much as the fans do. You can be disappointed about that, but why should you be? Who cares what Nintendo thinks, to be quite honest? You can just enjoy your own theories and headcanons and disregard whatever stupid things Nintendo did that you don’t like. I was originally just commenting on how I think it’s funny Zelda fans give Nintendo so much credit when Nintendo has done nothing to deserve it. If you think Nintendo used to do a better job than they do now, good on you! Enjoy the series however you want.

I feel like the Zelda fandom is so funny because we all seem to be actively fighting against Nintendo at every turn, since Nintendo clearly does NOT care about consistent lore that makes sense or is interesting, all they care about is making a fun game. Which is totally fine btw don’t get me wrong, I care more about gameplay than story too but it’s funny to me how the Zelda fandom is so focused on story to the point of complete disregard for canon.

Zelda fans will really be like “I’m going to invent the most wild theories for why chain chomps exist in this universe” when Nintendo was just “Wouldn’t it be funny if we included chain chomps in this game?”

Zelda fans will act like Nintendo writers are geniuses for coming up with all the Zelda lore when Nintendo just said “Let’s make this one a pirate game” and that’s the real reason Hyrule is flooded in Wind Waker.

To be clear I’m not making fun of Zelda fans for this. I’m a Zelda fan, after all. I just think it’s funny. Zelda fans are doing all the work Nintendo refuses to do.

I think the only time Nintendo put story over gameplay was Skyward Sword, because I think they really wanted to make an origin story. But even then I don’t think the ideas of loftwings and floating islands are in the game because the writers thought it would be interesting lore, I think they did it because they were like “what if Wind Waker but in the sky, that would be so fun.” The only reason loftwings exist is because flying would be fun gameplay.

Lore has always come secondary. Nintendo has always made the concept first and then tried to shove it into the timeline afterwards. They gave up with that by the time BotW came out and that’s why TotK doesn’t make sense as a sequel in any way, because Nintendo does not care about making a coherent timeline.

I don’t think either side is in the wrong for this, again I just find it funny how Zelda fans will act like the theories they came up with were always Nintendo’s plan. No it’s just that you’re smarter than Nintendo and you should be proud of that.

Anyway bye