#my entire personality in a nutshell

[notsosaucystuff]

When opening Pinterest, always be prepared for anything

[acstation206]

I messed up. /j

Introducing...

THE AMAZING DIGITAL ARCADE PARTY!

Yeah, that's right, I caved in.

Basically the exact same show except its established lore and setting is more largely inspired by archive compilations of popular vintage arcade games of the 80s and 90s such as Pac-Man’s Arcade Party, as well as the different takes within the sci-fi / fantasy genre by the likes of Wreck-It Ralph, Tron: Legacy, and Infinity Train. 

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= BACKGROUND (in a nutshell) 💿 =

In an attempt to save their dying business, C&A developed and manufactured the first hybrid arcade game of its own kind that combined other popular arcade games and home console games with virtual reality. However, just as the company’s luck was turning around, numerous lawsuits from game companies by the likes of Nintendo and families were filed against the company for their product, from apparently “ripping-off” Super Mario Bros. in its entirety to causing many children to either inexplicably fall unconscious or suffer from amnesia after the cabinet’s headset was put on. Just then, as C&A announced they’ll be temporarily recalling the product to fix its issues, a shocking discovery was already made by investigators that would soon bring the company to its demise: the game’s AI had gone rogue, and once a human mind dies from losing one of the games in any way, they are either permanently reincarnated as a personified cartoon character of themselves or just straight up die in real-life depending on the outcome.

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= ART N’ STUFF 🎨 =

(might wanna make a separate masterpost for that in the future but oh well)

NES Ragatha

Pomni and Caine redesigns

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= Q&As and BOUNDARIES (sort of) 🎙️ =

"Are there any plans to make a full webcomic out of this?" - Uhhhh, mayyybe? I'm not entirely sure, honestly. While there may be a few side comics and artwork from my head I want to get out sometime, I don't really have much plans for this AU that'll be worth telling a full story right now since I feel there is plenty of things that I've yet to figure out and develop in a matter of time, particularly the setting and characters (especially considering the OG show itself has only 2 episodes out as of writing and I only have mobile apps like ibisPaint X to make this all possible at the moment).

"Can I make fanfics and OCs for this AU?" - Of course! I've seen a lot of incredible things from the community, especially in regards to alternate universes, so you're absolutely more than welcome to share whatever's on your mind as long as your heart's in the right place. I can't really guarantee I'll see every bit of it since I do have some personal biz of mine to take care of at any moment, but I'll be happy to reblog them whenever I get the chance. Just tag me and we all good. :)

"Are there any canon ships in this AU?" - Yes. Yes, there are. Well, only BunnyDoll (Jax x Ragatha) to be specific. HOWEVER, you are free to ship whoever you want here! Showtime (Caine x Pomni), ButtonBlossom (Pomni x Ragatha), it's all okay. The choice is yours, a romantic buffet! (Plus, depending on the quality of my writing, I'm not even planning to dwell too much into it for now, aside from the side comics that will.)

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That's all for right now. Enjoy! :)

[gorgeouslypink]

My Take on Manifesting + How to Use It to Wake Up in the Voidੈ✩‧₊˚

The Law of Assumption (LOA) in a nutshell is the concept that whatever you assume to be true is the truth. The most common and popular summary is: an assumption, though false, if persisted in, will harden into fact.

You've probably heard this a million times before, but I really want to explain this the way I interpret the law and I want to present it to you the way I wish it was presented to me.

The entire law operates on the principle that your 3d reflects your 4d. These terms are interchangeable with concious/subconcious, inner man/outer man, etc but basically that is the main principle that you should understand and accept: Your 3d reflects your 4d.

Now, here's where I deviate a bit into my personal opinions. If you know that your 3d reflects your 4d and you see something unfavorable happening in your 3d, why would you force yourself to pretend it doesn't exist? Deal with it in the 3d but KNOW that you can change things. Go and fufill what you want in your 4d.

Imagination Creates Reality.

You've probably heard this said a million times by LOA girls but it is such an important concept to understand.

Something that completely annoyed me back when I was trying to get into the void and had no grasp on LOA was people who would say that your imagination is your "true" reality or that you need to fufill yourself so much in your imagination to the point that you don't even care about it anymore in your reality. I do understand what they were trying to get at, but for me, I was just like if I want to manifest going to a concert, I don't want to just imagine it to the point where I'm fufilled, I want to actually watch it?

Let me explain my perspective now. Your imagination is not your reality. You can close your eyes right now and imagine yourself dating Harry Styles but once you open your eyes again, you're not going to be dating him. Imagining something doesn't make it magically appear in your reality, or else daydreamers would be living insane lives.

However, imagination CREATES your reality. To really understand this, we have to backtrack. Let's revisit LOA in a nutshell: An assumption, though false, if persisted in, will harden into fact.

I think most people understand the idea but acctually applying it is where everything comes crashing down. For me, there were so many times when I was super motivated, I listened to subliminals, I affirmed to myself, I was really assuming whatever I was trying to manifest. But then it didn't manifest and I was left disappointed.

I think this is a pretty common occurrence in the community and I know I've gotten hundreds of asks with people in this exact position. This ask that I answered covers this more in depth but I want to introduce a topic that isn't being pushed as much as it should: NATURALNESS.

"The time it takes your assumption to become fact, your desire to be fulfilled, is directly proportionate to the naturalness of your feeling of already being what you want to be – of already having what you desire."

-Neville Goddard

So basically, this is what I think the law should be represented as: An assumption, though false, if persisted in within your imagination until it feels natural, will harden into fact.

There are many ways that you attain this naturalness. Most people use imagination, just imaging themselves with their desire, really connecting to the feeling of having their desire so that it feels natural to them. This is when your desire turns into an assumption.

There are many methods within this; visualizing being the most popular one. Just visualizing normally or SATS allows people to experience their desire in imagination, making it more natural to them. Some people can't really visualize so they rely on scripting, pinterest boards, etc. The options are endless but the end goal is the same: making your desire feel natural so that it manifests into your reality.

Some people say you have to keep repeating your method for something to feel natural to you but I disagree. Just going to imagination once, truly feeling it and knowing its yours and knowing the law and that your manifestation has no choice but to appear is all you need to make something feel natural to you. I think the main reason that it takes some people repetitions is because they don't have a strong faith in the law backing them up so it doesn't feel natural to them but if you know the law is backing you up, your desire will natural to you instantly.

Now, if you noticed, I said most people use imagination. What about other people? Well, once you've experienced a few manifestations and really strengthened your belief in the law and acknowledged your power as the creator of your reality, you don't really need to imagine. You just know your desire will come. It's natural for you to manifest anything you want so anything you want will manifest. This kind of goes into what I was saying in the previous paragraph about knowing the law is backing you up. This is why states was and is so popular, it's knowing the law is backing you up and just occupying the state of whatever you desire and knowing it has no choice but to manifest. I love this post by @lotusmi explaining it and I highly recommend reading it.

Now, how to use all this to enter the void. There are 4 things you need to understand, embody, and assume.

1. You are limitless: Literally. You can manifest anything and everything. Seriously.

2. The void is real: One of the main things I've tried to do on my blog is getting everyone to a point where you might not fully believe in the void until you acctually use it yourself but you should know its real. In my Doubts post, I linked so much material across different platforms and groups of people and all of them are talking about the void. Recently, in my challenges, I introduced a book where the author talks about the void and how that's where your reality is created from. I even had a follower recently make a post about how they found their Reiki book talking about the void and how it creates your reality. There's endless examples and at one point, you have to sit down and wonder how all these different platforms and groups of people are all talking about the void if it's just a lie. It can't be a lie if so many people have come to the same conclusion.

3. You are going to wake up in the void state tonight: You understand manifestation now right? All you have to do is know you are going to wake up in the void, make it natural to you and that's it. I promise when you realize that the word operates on your beliefs and that your imagination is honestly what matters because your reality is just a platform for your imagination to project onto (your imagination creates your reality), your manifestations are going to be so quick.

4. Naturalness is all you need: All you're doing when you're manifesting anything, in this case; the void is making it natural to you. Once you do, it has no choice but to manifest in your reality. This really ties into the third point, but I want you to understand this because once you realize the third and fourth point, the law will be so easy to you. If you haven't entered the void yet, the only problem is that it was not natural to you. As a void blogger, I know this is a case because I've gotten so many asks about this and everytime I can tell that they struggle with seeing themselves actually enter the void. It's unnatural to them. But recognizing that naturalness is the problem is also the solution. Just make it natural to you. Know that you are going to wake up in the void tonight and really rest easy in this. You know you are limitless, you can manifest anything, waking up in the void is a peace of cake.

So here's what you're going to:

Starting this moment, know you are going to wake up in the void tonight. Just know it. Now, go straight to your imagination and do whatever method will help your desire natural to you. Know that your reality is just a projection of your imagination and that you are the creator of your reality. Deal with your 3d but know that your 4d is what triumphs.

If you don't wake up in the void, don't spiral. Your desire just doesn't feel natural yet, that's all. Just focus on making your desire natural to you. That is literally all you have to do and you know you're going to enter. If you're someone who might need some time to make your desire feel natural to you just because you struggle with staying firm in the law, do @littlemissprettyprincess 's void challenge: linked here.

The void is easy, you are going to wake up in the void tonight, and you are going to live your dream life. I know you are. Literally embody that and tell yourself that. Anytime a doubt or negative thought comes to mind, just stay firm in your desire and know the law is backing you up. Waking up in the void state is so natural to you and I can't wait for your success story.

[ysaefinn]

Just binged your Suguru and I’m clawing at the walls!! Where have you been all my life??? He’s so…. I will be devoting all my night time imagining to your Suguru.

So… speaking as a type A, “i can do it myself”, type of person, would you be able to expand a little on doting Suguru? Like, how does he react to a reader that can care for others but believes in “walking it off”— someone who is all smiles and “don’t worry about me”s and tells little lies so that the people around her don’t worry.

If you’d like to🫣🤗

Hello darling!!!! Im so so so so so sooooo happy that reading from my blog made this happy. Truly i can't explain how much love i have for you for giving me a chance 🥹🥹

I wish you only the sweetest of dreams after you doze off from your nightly sugu day dream session my dear 🩷🩷

Im so so so so so happy you said this omg you should've seen the evil ass grin on my face when i finished reading 😭😭 bcuz this is actually me in a nutshell and my obsession with the the doting suguru agenda stems from exactly that.

Let me start of by saying that suguru understands your need to care for others, and he LOVES this quality about you. He admires you to no end, he's so so so so so so so fond of sweet helpful people, and honestly i believe he would find it much easier to trust and open up to someone like this bcuz he can relate to them a lot better.

That being said, suguru will absolutely not be falling for any of that bullshit 💀 you're little attempts to brush your discomfort under the rug will not go unnoticed by him, he knows you like the back of his hand, one look at your face is enough to see that you are indeed not ok.

As previously mentioned he loves you for who you are but he will definitely be trying to change it 😭😭 he will absolutely NOT stand for his baby hurting themselves for the sake of others (especially if it's cult!suguru oh my god that man has no regard for anything that isn't you) so you WILL be having that uncomfortable conversation he knows you are trying to avoid (maybe I'm projecting here), he can be very direct when he recognizes that you need something, he knows how hard it is to change the way you perceive others and how you act around them, but he knows you need this so he'll do it for you, anything suguru does is for your own good don't forget that!!!! And ok, fine, call him selfish, but what if he thinks the time you spend taking care of others is better spent being taken care of by him?? You're not helping by refusing to let him help you either. He will actually lose his mind if you continue to torture him like this 😭😭 of course he would be a lot more insistent when you both begin to officially date. Pre-relationship suguru knows he can only intervene so much. His ass is chewing the bars of his cage like a feral dog 💀

Anyway!! If speaking to you doesn't work, he's going to resort to inserting himself in literally everything you do until you eventually learn to just expect him to be there. He's cooking for you, hand feeding you, tieing your show laces, doing your skin care bathing you, brushing your hair, making your coffee in the morning, doing your laundry, before you can do any of it, you could be in the middle of something and he just...STOPS YOU AND TAKES OVER!!! the whole mother package pretty much, he basically drops you head first into domesticity (borderline codependency 😭😭 ) and you have no say in the matter.

The transition might be weird and awkward, and you might try to fight him but all you'll be getting back is a sickening sweet coo, "awh baby....just let me take care of you" while enveloping your entire body with his arms in one of his suffocating bear hugs then leaves you with a kiss on the top of your head to go back to cooking <- evil man with terrible intentions of making you depend on him forever.

[lokisrealpurpous]

dating loki would include

dating loki in a nutshell

hair

loki would be obsessed with you hair and would probably be touching it with any chance he gets. he would always offer to wash it and braid it, style it or to even just run his hands through it. It would also work both ways, loki would love it when you played with his hair.

physical touch

this man is touchstarved. he will never be able to keep his hands off you, no matter where you are. he'd love hugging you from behind and nuzzling into your neck, taking in your sent, holding you as he sleeps, holding hands. He also would always have you in his arms or lap.

consent

Before loki does anything, this being touching or doing things for you, he would always ask, unless he knows 100%, you are okay with it. he's very strong on consent and always listens to your feelings and checks you're comftable even if you say something is fine. If you change your mind or refuse he will immediately stop and make sure everything is okay.

reading

Loki would love reading to you, reccomending you books and would constantly be ranting on about books he's reading. When you can't sleep, he'd often let you lay against his chest as he reads you an old book from his childhood while running his hands through your hair.

sarcasm

Even if you're his lover loki is still the most sarcastic, witty person to exist. He'd constantly be messing around or teasing you, always making sure you know his jokes are jokes and picking a right time but he'd probably be pranking you alot.

cuddles

He secretly loves them. After a long day he will search for you just to wrap himself around you or cling onto you any way he can. he loves hugs from people he trusts, and he would always make sure he falls asleep cuddled up with you.

insomnia

He barely sleeps and is always awake when you wake up. He loves the night but also the sound of birds at the crack of dawn. Although he doesn't sleep himself, he will always make sure you get enough rest.

kisses

Loki loves kissing you, his favourite places probably being your neck, thighs, hands, forehead, cheeks, and his overall favourite your lips. Even a peck is enough as long as he gets his kisses. When he's touchstarved, he won't get his lips away from you.

words of affirmation

he loves praising you, and he loves it when you say nice things to him, especially after his neglection as a kid. He will always make sure you feel loved, and it goes both ways. You'd often have him sneeking behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and whispering small things in your ear like, 'you look so beautiful, my darling' 'that dress looks gorgeous on you'

gift giving

He would buy you the entire 9 realms if he could. Loki would spoil you every single day. Whatever you wanted, he would buy for you, and you'd always be getting small gifts off of him

princess treatment

loki would unshamefully do everything for you, even in public. If your heels were hurting he'd take them off, carry them, and then carry you to wherever you both need to be, if you had laces, he'd tie them up, if you were unwell he would honestly slave for you, you'd have breakfast in bed, a hot water bottle and literally whatever you ask him for. He'd probably make you some chocolate covered strawberries as well.

music

he loves music and deffinatly has a viynal and cd player in his room. He likes all genres depending on the mood he's in, and he is the type of person to play his music loud enough for the whole of Asgard to hear. You've introduced loki to many 'midgardian' artists such as lana del rey, amy winehouse, artic monkeys, the weeknd, billie eilish, and rihannah and he loves them, especially the older artists such as Bowie, Queen, ABBA, Elvis and Harry James. Loki also has quite a soft singing voice himself, and you'd often catch him singing or humming to songs. After a lot of persuading, he'd sometimes sing you old norse lullabies his mother used to sing to him to help you sleep.

[mycosmicsage]

Baldur's Gate Natal Chart: Gale

Here's the continuation of the Baldur's Gate Natal Charts.

Here we are with the continuation of this series. We've got everyone's favorite yapper, chosen by popular vote- the wizarding wonder of Waterdeep, Gale Dekarios.

As always this is going to be on pure vibes only. Considering the fact that we don't have any birthdays adjacent to Earth.

Just like Astarion's post we are going to cover the Sun - Mars and we are going to cover, what those aspects end up looking over and controlling. Including any possible aspects.

I'm going to try to keep this as accurate to astrology as possible- so without further ado, let's break into it- shall we?

Link to Other Posts: Astarion

"I'd forgotten what it felt like, to greet a sunrise without fear of it being my last."

To me the extravagant Wizard of Waterdeep is indeed a Cancer sun. Cancer suns are known for their emotional intuitiveness, and being in touch with their own emotions.

They prefer to stay at home, finding that's where most of their needs are met- yet should they be personally threatened they do take it on themselves to protect what they need to- especially those close to them.

As Gale says in his act two scene:

"Damn you. Damn you for giving me so much to care about. Our friends, our adventures... this would have been so much easier if it was just me. But it isn't."

And there just isn't another sign that cares that deeply about other people, or care on that type of personal level. Gale is also known for his self-depreciation. Which can easily be associated with the Crabs tendency towards moodiness, and self-defense mechanisms-

"After I was afflicted with my condition, I locked myself in my tower for an entire year. I was inconsolable, wallowing in my self-inflicted tragedy."

"I'll just put my feelings to one side. I think that's best for everyone. It's certainly the best thing for me."

I actually had a toss up on this until I saw the quote above. Gale is for sure a Gemini moon. mr. Intellectual over here doesn't really have a need to fully comprehend or dwell on his own emotions- or rather doesn't want to unless prompted.

They enjoy long winded intellectual discussions, talking over what they consider to be matters of importance- honestly as I write this I don't know how I saw him as anything else.

In order for Gale to get his feelings across- he talks about it. Hell, before you go to the grove or anything and it's just you, him, Astarion, Lae'zel, and Shadowheart in your party- the man tells you to go to Hell before getting into a conversation of how he's reflecting on the last days events.

He's truly expressing his innermost thoughts- and trying to comprehend it all through the means of talking- he's a Gemini moon through and through.

"I think we need to get you some air and perhaps have a long talk about unresolved childhood issues."

"You would really prefer me as I am?"

Gale is a Virgo rising. Shocker right?

With a Virgo rising they tend to come off as being slightly pretentious and critical of the people around them. Which Gale most certainly does at first- but that's just his Gale-ism's

A virgo rising is known for their incredible pragmatism- and Gale literally calls himself a pragmatic:

"As for myself: I'm a pragmatic. I see the silence before the storm."

They like to talk, communicate, and are on a constant search for knowledge - like wizard in a nutshell. He's a virgo rising. No two ways about it, I am more sure of this than anything else-

However, you know another thing that is keen to both of them?

They can't share their emotions well- and looking through Gales entire dialogue- he rarely talks about his own damn feelings in a straightforward manner- taking the long road about it all. His Gemini Moon and Virgo Rising working in tandem to hide the emotions that his Cancer sun deeply craves.

"I do - because it's through practice that I seek to perfect. To augment."

"Talking. Right. I'm good at that."

Here we are to the great planet Mercury known for the communication route- and Gale is by far the most Gemini Mercury that I have ever seen in my entire life.

This man can yap, to anyone and anything about any topic that comes his way. But- he loves that.

On so many levels.

With his rising in Virgo and his Moon in Gemini to have a Gemini Mercury as well- it breathes the fact that of course he loves to talk. It's his preferred method- and he's so straightforward about every situation that you get into. The sharing of ideas between the party, figuring out people's thoughts and opinions on different matters- and then just by and all he loves to speak about the things that interest him.

"Now - even I am tired of the sound of my own voice. Let us venture forth."

"With you, I forget my goddess. I love you."

Gale is a Cancer Venus.

They are softer, gentle and nurturing as is their nature. They are constantly giving to their partner- until it seems like they have nothing left to offer, and then they give more. To me this screams Gale. If you look at his relationship with Mystra and how badly that destroyed him (not even mentioning how he was groomed), he very clearly loves truly and deeply.

"One moment with you could sate me for a lifetime, and prise the fear from my heart. I'm so very glad you came, to share this with me."

Look at that and tell me that's not tender, and deep. Gale is shut down with love, he doesn't want it- until he meets the player character (or one of the origins). Re-opening himself to love, the Cancer self-protection mode coming down once more. Should you slight him and leave him to be with another- he gives several snarky comments about who you leave him to be with, and follows it up with:

"Sorry. I'm feeling bitter. Though I think I'm entitled to, given I know exactly what you came here to say." "We didn't just make love. We bonded, body and soul. I got lost in you. And now you've left me stranded, without compass nor map."

He wants you all of you. To be with him, and hopefully join the Dekarios clan. His heart is that of the crabs.

"I love you too. Much more than myself. More even than Mystra."

"Ambition is not a sin- why wallow in the dirt when we can reach for the stars?"

This is what I wrestled with for a long time. How do you even begin to assign a planet that matches the legitimate God of Ambition incarnate (should that be the path her takes).

Then it hit me. Capricorn.

Capricorn definitely suits Gale's path should this be the route he goes down. Gale has two paths before him that greatly change his outcomes. With Gale, it's hard to say that Mars doesn't play a large aspect in affecting his life and choices. A Capricorn strives for perfection, for the best possible outcome for themselves. They are leaders, they are determined- they will get what they want at the expense of no one.

There's no emotion here, no consideration for others. It's what he wants, and he's gonna do it. With Capricorn being in this placement it tends to show someone more well-mannered, but responds to conflict slowly (as seen with his usual initiative order). Often exhibiting being fairly practical with their means, as they strive to better things for themselves- and the world.

"My work here is not done yet. I have greater ambitions I have yet to achieve."

"Oh, you know me - ever the optimist. I'm trying to focus on the positives."

I've came to the conclusion that Gale is a Sagittarius Jupiter. He has a deep desire for travel. It's also apart your adventures that he finds himself having his most luck.

Whether that's becoming a god, blowing himself up, or finding a new life you you (or one of the other Origins) in Waterdeep. He gains a new understanding of himself, in each of them finding his own sense of purpose.

He never wanted to be a blip on the footnotes of history. Blowing himself up, or becoming a God leads to that. Or he fully comes to the understanding of himself and becomes just regular old Gale Dekarios.

It's also a trait of the Sagittarius Jupiter to have pretty strong unwavering morals, and many time throughout the game Gale talks about how he needs to have unwavering morals. They love adventure, actively search for new knowledge. Constantly on the move and looking out for new horizons.

Which sounds just like our favorite Wizard of Waterdeep.

"No - what we should be pursuing is knowledge."

"Fate seems determined to make a sacrifice of me."

Gale to me seems to be an Aquarius Saturn. Saturn takes us on the harder path in life, and Gale has certainly had a difficult one. So let's delve.

With this Aquarius placement, you have difficulty connecting with your peers- people who are your own age. Take a look at Gale's friends- they are all considerably younger than him. Sure Astarion is older, and Shadowheart is like the same age canonically- but Astarion stopped mentally aging when he died at 39 which to him as an elf is like being in your mid twenties. Same thing with Shadowheart, she's like forty-three- but the thing is it's similar for half-elves too, where she's still in her like late twenties. Then you've got Karlach, Wyll and Lae'zel each of whom are like 10-20 years younger than him.

Then he's got Elminster and Mystra- both of whom are considerably older than him. Finally there's Tara- his own personal friend who he conjured. The grooming from Mystra at a young age certainly didn't help. But with these trials, and aversion to meeting people his own age- he finds himself with a new found discipline that leads to a critical mind, wayward thinking, and that incredible genius that led to him being a renowned wizard.

Aquarius Saturn's are also known for not really looking forward to their future. Knowing that each day isn't promised. Finding it best to focus on the tasks at hand rather than dream ahead to something that might not even exist-

"Since our conversation, I'd resigned myself to my fate. Each day bore the possibility of being my last, and I accepted it."

"At least, victory in which we live to tell the tale."

Gale Dekarios is certainly one of the most difficult to place for a natal chart- I can't even begin to tell you the headache that began as I started researching for this. A lot of it is inferring through the way he speaks, and his actions- the man doesn't talk about himself or his emotions very often- or in a very clear way. Which is why I'm actually pretty pleased with the chart that I outlined.

Gale is certainly a man with a lot of deep intense emotions sitting close to his center, yet his other placements make it difficult for him to communicate those emotions effectively- or less effectively than everything else he'd rather talk on.

He's a man who wants to experience great adventure- be with people he cares about, and then go to rest at the end of the day. Or at least- that's the way it plays in his "good" ending. He's a man who can easily become corrupted by his self-sacrificing and ambition. Often times preferring those are those are the easier paths offered to him.

Gale is certainly a fun character, and he's one of my favorites to speak with. He's witty, and fun, and he know, but it's up to you as the player character to help walking him from the path of self-loathing and self-sacrifice and let him know that it's ok to have that Cancer sun shine through just a little bit more than he does.

Wrap Up: "It's over. It's truly over."

Here we are the end of the article. It was fun to go over Gale as a person, and i think I've gained a much deeper understanding of the wizard. He's witty and fun. Definitely complicated by his hundreds of lines of dialogue. I don't think I've ever been more put to a mental test like that. He's got such a wide vocabulary- and at times I thought maybe I was reading too much into things, but he just has that effect doesn't he?

But that wraps it up for Gale. Keep an eye out on my Tumblr for the poll to decide the next character to go under my eye- Have a great day, night, or whatever time it is where you're at.

Stay groovy, and I'll catch you on the flip,

Cosmic Sage

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Check out my other interet spaces!

[dekariosclan]

how would gale be w a pregnant Tav? Especially one who might be gnc/trans so would have to deal w other folks being weird about that

Ooh Anon, this question had me pondering for a bit! This delves into one of the lesser-discussed, lesser-known aspects of our fav wizard: Protective Gale©️. And while I love that aspect of Gale, it’s also a difficult one to parse because he only shows a few glimpses of it during the game! But we’re gonna try.

The most notable instance and the one most relevant to your ask, is, of course, in the very beginning of the game, when Astarion threatens Tav with a knife, then tells everyone there’s no need for this to get messy. Gale replies:

Cheerful, wanting to avoid bloodshed if possible, but deadly serious about protecting Tav. That’s our Gale in a nutshell, and that’s how I think he would approach most situations where Tav was made to feel uncomfortable—with one important caveat: the above dialogue was Gale’s protective response for a Tav that he barely knew. So a partnered Tav? A Tav he knows completely and one that he loves and adores? His ‘protective’ response would, of course, be amplified accordingly.

So, to your ask! First of all, if Gale and Tav agreed to have children, I think Gale would be absolutely 1000% invested. Not only in the overall preparations for the baby, but also in making sure Tav was comfortable and doted on their whole pregnancy. Worshipped, almost.

Because he would think they are the most stunningly beautiful creature he had ever beheld.

And if some Waterdhavian jackass decided to noticeably leer at them, or make a rude offhand remark, I think Gale’s initial response would be a few tight-lipped, cutting comments. You know, some of the bangers he’s been known to throw out if he really gets offended. He might even gently but firmly insist that this individual apologize to his beloved for their appalling lack of decorum.

But if that wasn’t enough to shut it down and end the situation? If this person got aggressive or openly hateful and said some truly appalling things about Tav?

Then I think Gale would square his jaw, smile at Tav and gently direct them away from the situation.

“My dearest, forgive me for overstepping—I know you could have taken care of this brute by yourself were you not in the current state of carrying our child—but seeing as that’s the case, please go and rest for a moment, my love, and I’ll join you shortly.”

Then, with the calmness and confidence of a former Archmage, an unwavering smile on his face, Gale would turn back to this idiot. And whilst performing a few complex finger motions to show his mastery of the Weave, say charmingly:

“Would you prefer simple immolation, or shall I rework the entire fabric of your being into a form that better understands how to act like a gentleman?”

Needless to say, Tav would be receiving a LOT of very humbled apologies from anyone who dared to offer any negative commentary on their appearance during their pregnancy.

[cuprohastes]

The Story (Re-Write)

Because so many people wanted to read the story, I had to explain a few times… It's gone. It's lost — I can't find it on Live journal or the Wayback Machine. I suspect it might have been on Google+…

Anyway, several people asked for it to be re-written. Between now and the past, a lot's happened, much of which makes for juicy plot points: And, so I'm serialising it… But only because if I tried to write it in one sitting, my brain would melt. So here's Chapter 1:

Trouble sleeping

Didn't Shakespeare write something about sleep? “Shut me in a nutshell, and I'll be hella good if I can get skibidi sleep?” 

Something like that. 

Larry was not getting sleep, or not enough. Every time he started to sink into the cloud of free association and relaxation, something skittered or whispered to him and jerked him back awake.

In an earlier time, he'd have blamed it on spirits or demons. More recently, maybe the effects of stress and mental health. His parents would have gone to therapy about it.

Larry, a modern person, brought up by Memers and soaked in tech his entire life, didn't have to guess.

It was the fucking wallpaper.

It'd sounded great when he put the first payment down for it. The installers had shown up, ground sixty years of Landlord Paint off the walls, leaving chunks of off-white Fordite all over the floor, and mounted the data-mesh.

Then they'd rolled the rubbery panels down over it, cutting them to fit, letting the test images calibrate and line up.

The first thing Larry put up was an immersive view of some idealised forest. Lush green ferns, a spritz of mist and shafts of smoky golden sun reaching through the trunks.

A week later, the first adverts popped up across the mars-scape he'd switched to. A can of SelZa sitting on a rock that developed a halo of text about how great drinking your pizza would be: Would you like to order now?

The Amazon link popped right up, and Larry had to look away before it took a casual look as an invitation to send him fizzy pizza water.

Soon the animated avatars of other brands were sauntering out from behind rocks to tempt him with Keto Water, Fréch Breeze (Guaranteed fresh air: No microplastics, with Extra Oxygen and Caffeine — Take a Breath of Fréche Air™), frozen pizza, and about a dozen competing Kombucha fermenters.

Larry thought he could live with it.

He was wrong.

Soon his soothing landscapes and themed views were plated in adverts, coruscating and blinking to get his attention. 

Phantom people stared in at him, vamping with designer goods and clothes.

Ad gremlins scampered around, making him twitch as the motion caught the periphery of his vision.

And the WindoWall had audio: The big panels vibrating to act as speakers, and picking up video through camera arrays, listening via a hundred microphones that could pinpoint him within the room.

Just part of life, he told himself.

But then he went to bed. 

The WindoWall darkened and spread an Aurora across one wall, a sprinkle of glittering stars. The audio changed to cancel traffic sounds — A soft chorus of frogs and pattering rain started to play — One wall developed a brazier of softly glowing coals…

Larry backflipped into relaxed unconsciousness hard.

… for ten minutes.

Larry woke, squinting at the sudden brightness:

An advert for SleepyTime Choc Hotlet tried to sing him a lullaby as a cartoon capybara with a fucking lamp demonstrated the sleep he could be getting if they hadn't woken him up to tell him how much better he'd be sleeping if he just bought some SleepTime Choc hotlet to drink!

The Capybara winked and turned off the light. Larry tried to get back to sleep. Fireflies danced gently around the room… and formed up to spell out the name of a mattress company.

Larry rolled over and closed his eyes.

An adorable gnome giggled at him and had a whispered, though perfectly audible conversation with a delightful bunny about how before bed she always used Freshens. Whatever they were.

Larry commando rolled out of bed, mashed his toe on something, screamed in pain, was offered three brands of slipper, four over-the counter painkillers and seven offers to sue someone for personal injury.

All of which were ignored as Larry pulled up the WindoWall app and pushed the brightness and volume to minimum — The glassy matte of the wall panels becoming black in the room lit only by the tablet screen.

Then Larry took some Ibuprofen and went back to bed.

45 minutes later he twitched and woke up to find the room lit by wall panels of text and still images for sleep aids fading in and out, and a soft sussurtion - Quiet Ad Reads that Larry suspected were supposed to subconsciously bias him to buying... Sleep Underwear?

In short succession, Larry found out that he couldn't sleep with an eyemask because the WindoWall started cranking the audio up now he wasn't looking.

And that ear plugs improvised from rolled tissue got him a volume increase and some recommendations about the mildest softest tissues — And he could save 15% if he subscribed!

And that was bad enough: Larry called up the WindoWall Customer Support after a sleepless night.

Customer Support turned out to be an AI avatar who appeared on the wall, using the built-in camera array to track Larry.

“Where are all these adverts coming from?” He asked. Starting simple.

The Face of WindoWall did a polite look of curiosity then, in rich, friendly terms, said “'Adverts' is short for Advertisements: a Method of promoting products....”

Typical answerbot, grabbing a definition from Wiki — But not resolving the query. Larry immediately asked for a real human being.

The Face argued that the chatbot could help, or else it could open the Support Pages for Larry. 

Larry insisted on a human and eventually hit on the correct keywords: “I want to talk to a human being - This is a complaint, please escalate.” And the Face went into an idle animation, repeating, “Our support staff are currently busy with other requests – Please wait. In the meantime you can use our AI responder or the support website” every minute or so.

Larry, familiar with the under-staffed human support departments, picked up a tablet and opened his current book-in-progress while he waited. 

Thumbing past a motion graphic for the series of re-writes of Terry Pratchett by an AI to add 50% extra hilarity and extended scenes, he opened Virtual Investigations: A Max Ransom Adventure...

She walked into my office feed like bad news wrapped in a pretty bow. No way she was real: A dame like that doesn't walk into a virtual office like mine. The wings wouldn't fit through the door. The angel looked at me with golden eyes and hair the colour of mocha - Like the mocha on my desk provided by CoffeeCourier™ – Roast and vacuum packed for freshness according to the quick personality quiz that matched me to the perfect coffee for my busy lifestyle. And you too can enjoy a cup of Mental-Fresh Mocha using code DETECTIVE10 “What's an avatar like you doing in my office?” I asked. In reality I was renting a VR space with a fold down bed and access to three busted washer-dryers in the basement. Online my virtual office was classy, just like you'd expect from a CubeSpace Virtual Site - CubeSpace use real scans to decorate your virtual space for the best in class work sites. Use DETECTIVE10 to get 10% off your own virtual office site for the lifetime of your subscription... She looked at me a moment then said “As an LLM I don't have a philosophy of mind to answer with. I'm here because you have 4.6 stars on Amazon Business Listings as a Detective.” I do. It'd be higher, but some people don't give you a good rating when you chase them for payment. Maybe I should stop showing up with a bill and a threat to post about thier broke asses on the Socials. “I will pay you for your services as a detective to locate my user.” She continued. I looked at her with fresh eyes. So, not someone with an angel kink – An actual House Assistant looking for it's user... the case just got interesting!

Larry was interrupted by the Face clearing its throat, now puppeted by a support worker. The Face's shirt turned green and developed a name badge saying “obj.user.name_1”

“Hello, my name is Shimonne, I'll be assisting you today. The uh notes say you want to know what adverts are...?” It said in the same voice – Corporate robbing its staff of even their own voice.

“Uh no,” said Larry, “I asked where all these adverts came from? Did the video stream get hacked?”

The Face paused and did a canned animation of looking at a tablet.

“Ah, as per the contract, WindoWall reserve the right to show adverts from...” a soft, tired sigh, “Select partners, to provide you with enhanced opportunities to discover carefully curated products” - Said in an equally tired monotone.

Somewhere, Larry assumed, Shimonne was getting dinged for non-compliant tone. But Larry appreciated the little bit of empathy.

A pop-up survey asking how the interaction was progressing slid up, invisible to the Face. Larry tapped a 5 for style and actual empathy. Fuck the Corporate Tone.

“Ok...” said Larry, “But that wasn't how it was sold to me.”

“I understand.” Shimonne said through the Face. “It is in the EULA.” They added, pronouncing it with a deliciously melodic ripple of vowels that even the Face's vocoder couldn't stamp into the carefully selected Midwest accent the marketing team for VirtuAgent had pushed.

So of course Larry asked, “How do I turn them off?”

And that's how Larry got upsold on the Premium Ad-Free tier.

Of course... He didn't read the EULA for that either.

------

OK now a bit about the story. It's very like a couple of Black Mirror Episodes. Even some Farenheit 451, Idocracy, Midnight Burger, Feed, a spritz of Snowcrash... a whole bunch of other stuff. Some of this I've read or watched, some I haven't. But I don't live in a void: Whatever's in here definitely 100% was isnpired in whole or in part by other works, or even current events, shitposts on Social media, memes on Imgur, even things on Tumblr: @marlynnofmany writes fantastic stories and pops up some seriously interesting questions about what day to day life would be like in a world where you can have a starship full of non-human intelligences deliver your packages. So if you're thinking 'This reminds me of..." the answer is probably "yeah that's right." :)

And now a snitch post for some people who wanted to be notified if the story ever showed up:

@ravencromwell @rocinantescoffeestop @vtothefun @call-me-b-please-and-thank-you @msimpossibility @museumofinefarts @faeriesaurus @starlo-official

[verysium]

I’ve been seeing some discourse around twitter about the blue lock boys and whether they’d be a loyal bf or not 😭 Curious to know who do you think would be more inclined to cheat or who just wouldn’t at all!!!

I saw someone say sae would 100% cheat like whattt I feel like he wouldn’t even bother looking at anyone else if he already has someone (Cuz I mean dating him would likely mean you actually mean something to him) but I digress

ok anon you had me pulling up a whole argumentative essay here cus WHO TF SAID SAE WOULD 100% CHEAT??? 😔 that mischaracterization is so painfully inaccurate. twitter really took the whole emotionally unavailable itoshi archetype and ran with it. let me just clear the air here because my man deserves some explanation.

sae itoshi would not cheat. as in capital N and capital O. he took nearly an entire decade off his life just to work on his own issues and finally form a functional and healthy relationship with another human being. and you're telling me he's just going to let all that wash down the drain for someone else? 😒 twitter logic really be showing its illogical side here. apparently a man can be loyal to a professional sports career for eighteen years, but he can't be loyal to his significant other.

i think this misunderstanding probably happened cus of shidou. people read the manga and saw that sae dropped rin for a bug-eyed freak and automatically assumed he was disloyal. 😑 let me just say two things here:

(1) sae and shidou's relationship is strictly professional. imagine being stuck in an god awful corporate office with coworkers who bore you with their weaponized incompetence and a boss who annoys the living shit out of you. and then one day, the company hires a new recruit who is probably the most unhinged and debauched creature known to man. you're probably left wondering how he even got hired in the first place. but then you find out...he's useful. he takes risks and gets a high return on what he invests. it's impulsive and stupid, really. but at least it's unconventional and outside-the-box. he has your interest piqued. that's basically sae and shidou in a nutshell.

(2) just because sae gave shidou his number after the u-20 game does NOT mean he would do the same to any other person who would try to encroach on your relationship. and let's be real here. sae would get one text from shidou and block his contact.

anyways, here is my analysis on the bllk boys in general. introducing the anti-cheating to pro-cheating spectrum:

(A) cannot cheat under any circumstance (as in they already hate the fact that they live on a planet with 8.1 billion other people who are not you):

itoshi brothers (atp they don't even have the physical or mental capacity to entertain a third party), ness, reo

(B) cannot cheat due to physical incapability (literally cannot pull anyone within a five-meter radius to cheat with):

ego, igarashi, raichi, bachira (not that he's in any way unattractive...it's just...i feel like he would purposefully act weird to drive off people who aren't you)

(C) could not cheat (basically option A and B but less problematic version)

yukimiya, barou, kunigami, noa, loki, gagamaru, chigiri, niko, hiori, karasu (baby boy literally felt inferior cus his crush was the cutest in his class), kurona (head empty, just you)

(D) would not cheat (on you but everyone else is not included)

isagi (unintentionally a homewrecker to others but would never let anyone homewreck his relationship with you), leonardo (idk why but i just don't trust him entirely)

(E) could cheat (depends on what they get out of it):

kaiser, shidou (honestly what did you expect when you willingly dated a blonde man...)

(F) would cheat (either proven by canon or they accidentally fucked up somehow):

otoya, oliver, nagi

[illamda-spaminations]

I find it so interesting that during the Twisted Hearts OP, when the song goes "I feel you sins all the time", they showed Mycroft and Albert respectively. While Mycroft does not understand/know everything that's going on with the LOC and Moriarty & co., I do believe he understands how Albert feels, especially about taking the punishment on himself.

For example: This scene in MTP, post-Final problem

He understands because he knows Albert and, more importantly, he has been there, it's just the circumstances and the consequences of the decision is very different. The reason he dedicated his life to working for the government was because of his father's involvement in the French Revolution. He wanted to repent on behalf of him, so he decided to take on that punishment, protecting Sherlock in the process. Albert does something very similar, he takes on the atonement so Louis doesn't have to. He believes Louis deserves so much more than punishment; he deserves a fulfilling life, a happy one, or at least as happy as it can get, and above all, the one who should reap the crops William sown [I should REALLY make a separate post on Louis ye gods-].

Mycroft could've let the Moriarty brothers do what they saw fit, as long as he was spared from the brutality, but instead he threatens them. If they don't put the country's future and prosperity first, Mycroft will personally "annihilate" him [his words not mine].

This scene really goes to show that Mycroft is genuinely dedicated to the Empire, he is very intent to serve for the country's future, but it's not blind loyalty, it's him being bound to it, it's the least he could do to make up for his father's sins [sins of the father am I right?] and it's the same for Albert. He and Mycroft love their younger brothers, to the point of sacrificing themselves in order to protect them, to make sure they live as they please, free of guilt. The difference is that Mycroft changed over time, he started to loosen up. The first time we see him outside of his office for non-work related matters was with meeting everyone in the dinner party. And for Albert? Time stopped turning entirely. The moment he entered the tower was the moment he couldn't go back. It was him, his thoughts and the messages from Mycroft to distract him. The only person who could convince him to come out of his prison and start living was William; because William's actions, sins, guilt and will to die was the very reason why Albert chose his punishment.

In comparison, Mycroft's self enforced punishment was lighter to Albert's. While Mycroft has to deal with constant stress [this is not really canon, but considering that he's referred to as the government, yeaaaaa I think he's gonna be stressed af] and grief, Albert had to deal with a spiral towards insanity, grief, religious guilt for the Moriarty plan and his compulsive thoughts. And he's sure as hell isn't going to stand on his own for a while after that.

Another thing [this time it's actually related to my point :0] is exactly when the two show up. Mycroft shows up around the lyrics "I feel your sins" while albert shows up around "all the time", which further proves my point. Since Sherlock and William showing up around the point of "I can't feel your love but I can give you love" basically describes Sherlock's goal of saving William and their relationship in a nutshell.

"I don't know if you see me as a friend but I'll see you like that anyway, and save you, just like what I would do to another friend."

What's not to say the same can be true to Mycroft and Albert?

"I can never truly understand what you are going through, but I will always understand how you feel."

[trans-queen-administrator]

Hey, can I hear about your shatterbird thoughts? She's always been my favourite member of the nine :]

[@faultlinescrew]

Oh I'm about to type for entirely too long.

Alright so a chunk of this is kinda headcanon, but any of that is fully based on canon. I had a giant fanfic planned that was literally an expanded telling of Shatterbird's life from trigger to death, and some plot points there may bleed into this unconsciously.

Number one favorite thing about Shatterbird is that initially, she did nothing wrong. She was unwillingly dosed with a Cauldron vial, and her scream and subsequent exploding of Dubai wasn't her fault. She had no intention to hurt anyone, it was done entirely out of her control as she gained powers and she should not be blamed for her first time destroying a city. The thing is, that doesn't matter in universe. She's still going to be hunted down by countless capes because she killed an untold number of people with that scream. No one's going to just let her go because it wasn't her fault, because she's the only person who can be blamed. People want revenge for their loved ones, and I'm willing to bet that she had a sizable bounty. It's similar to the situation we see with Rachel, where she can't have a normal life because she killed someone in her trigger and her identity is public, but on a much much larger scale.

I think the guilt ate at her so fucking bad at first. She killed her dad, her friends, her sister, her mother, countless others, and as much as it wasn't her fault she's still the one that did it. There's no way she doesn't blame herself for what happened, but when does she even have time to mourn? She's fled to a desert, she's gotta be struggling with food and water, and she's being hounded at every turn by people who want her dead. What's she supposed to do, let them kill her so she can atone for what she did or something?

I just love what a tragic backstory this is. She's one of the most horrible people we meet in canon, and I don't think it's unreasonable to say she has one of the highest body counts on Earth Bet, but she started as someone innocent and desperately trying to survive. And as much as I love this backstory and will defend to the death that she did nothing wrong at this point, it doesn't excuse who she becomes.

Shatterbird laughed.  “There’s only two ways to recover from something of that magnitude, to deal with the fact that you inadvertently killed thousands and thousands of people, and hospitalized twice that many.  You break, or you become it.”

(quote is from the missing interlude)

This is the quote that puts her entire character in a nutshell. The biggest question to me is... when did she become it? She implies in that interlude that it was rather quick, and that she went to Britain so she could hit a big target, but the Tattletale clone calls this out as a lie. She was running, the desert that she'd been in for months was unbearably loud with all that sand, and I think she was sick of living on the run. She wanted society, structure, something to make her feel human. I think she's full of shit saying she went there to destroy it, some accident or desperate confrontation occurred (timeline fits well enough for it to be a result of the Simurgh's attack, but that's just one possibility) and she broke London just as bad as she broke Dubai. What do you even do from there? Any slim hope of clearing her name is gone, she just has to keep running and try to ignore the guilt. And she ran to America, where the Slaughterhouse Nine found her.

The recruiting of people by the Slaughterhouse Nine fascinates me, because most are unwilling to join at first. Unfortunately the alternative is to die. No one in Brockton Bay was jumping to be the lucky winner, and the only people we know nominated themselves are Cherish and I think Siberian. Shatterbird (ever notice how she's the only S9 member with no canon first name? drives me nuts) was dragged into the recruitment process with no say in the matter just like most everyone is. Someone in the Nine found her, thought she would be a good fit because of London and Dubai (and how would that feel, to have someone on the S9 see you as just as bad as them?) and even if she explains that was on accident... what does it matter? It never matters that it was an accident. It never will matter. It's just something that she can tell herself to keep her sane.

So she's doing the fun little tests, I'm actually very curious how she altered herself for Mannequin's since he always does the same test, she's a very vain person, but that's off topic. Atrocities, horrors, being hunted by the Siberian, and suddenly she's at the end. Her and someone else.

“That’s not really a test,” Shatterbird spoke, “There hasn’t been a round of testing since I joined the group where we didn’t whittle it down to one candidate.” “We could forego the final test, pitting them against one another.” Shatterbird turned to him, “Ah.  But, again, the last test where we had to go that far was… mine?”

And she kills them. Dubai, London, those were accidents. This was on purpose, maybe even the first time she's done it on purpose. She could either break and decide she couldn't live with herself as a member of the nine, or she could just as horrible as everyone sees her. All her choices were rigged, there was never much of an opportunity to get better since so many paths closed off to her, but she voluntarily chooses to get worse. What's the point in holding on to the fact that it wasn't her fault at the beginning? She's never escaping what she did, so she'll become the monster everyone sees her as. You break, or you become it.

And there's not much of the more sympathetic side of Shatterbird in canon (partly because her backstory chapter was removed). She's fully embraced herself as a mass murderer. She revels in the attention, the fear. She parrots Jack's philosophy as a way to feel better about what she's doing, and eventually she doesn't need to feel better because she enjoys who she is now.

I don't know, I rambled for a while there but it boils down to me being fascinated by the circumstances of her gaining powers, and the shift from innocent but hated/feared to making damn sure that fear is justified.

Ok, so moving on from the backstory analysis, other miscellaneous details. Fuck it, I'm putting every thought I have on Shatterbird in this post.

She's the Nine's primary recruiter! Woo, good for her. Notably, she recruits Burnscar. Mimi is in a similar position to Shatterbird's past self with the whole involuntary mass destruction, although on a lesser scale (it'll always be on a lesser scale, Shatterbird has the worst trigger event out there in terms of consequences and she didn't even trigger). Mimi was on the streets and trying not to use her power, and Shatterbird scooped her up into the Nine.

“I- before I knew it, the Slaughterhouse Nine had found me.  Shatterbird recruited me.  And now I’m stuck.  I’m trapped.  You know there’s a kill order out on me?  If I try to quit, either the Nine or the cops will off me.  So I keep going, I work for them, and it all just gets worse.”

It's a situation Shatterbird can very likely relate to, but she's perpetuating it and making Mimi suffer like she did. No sympathy, no helping someone get through it and avoid the pitfalls she fell into, she's dragging other people down with her like a crab in a pot. Worth noting that I believe she's still bitter about the hand she was dealt even if she's embraced where it led her to, she remembers how horrible it was to be forced into everything and she does not care if she inflicts it on others.

But if someone else willingly joins the Nine, she takes it personally. Cherie says Shatterbird hates her, and that's because Cherie chooses the life Shatterbird was locked into. She's bitter that she never had that choice, and so she makes sure Cherie understands what it's like by chasing her for days for her test, not allowing any rest or sleep. However, this could also simply because Cherie sucks and is an unpleasant person to talk to, and Shatterbird is stuck-up.

Another thing I like is Shatterbird's appearance of knowledge and elegance. She's trying to appear put together, confident, in-control, and to be fair she does a pretty good job, her costume and theming are great. But under that is someone violent and angry, she's keeping up appearances to everyone else but also to herself. The fact that she's always trying to keep up appearances, even when locked in a room and doomed to die with one Witness (haha get it) she's trying to make it look like she was calm and in control when her body is found, is what 100% convinces me exploding Britain was an accident. The Tattletale clone calls her out, and to me it seems like another attempt to seem in control by framing it as deliberate.

Anyway, my attempts to woobify a mass murderer aside, I also like that she was a spoiled rich kid before all this and her prim asshole attitude points to that. She quotes Edgar Allen Poe, she reads because it makes her feel better than others, she's just so pretentious and unpleasant and to be clear I love this as a character trait, it's fun and leads to her speaking in overdramatic ways.

“Then you should know, nearly-Tattletale, that I’ve spent too long in the company of monsters to be scared by words.”

She thinks she was soooo cool saying that.

I also want to look at the last few weeks of her life. She spends so much effort propping herself up as great and in control, only to be locked in a box and puppeted around against her will. Genuinely I cannot think of anything more humiliating and agonizing for her to endure. She has nothing to do but think as she's used as a marionette.

She had a long time to reflect on her life, to look back at how she got here and what she regrets.

But I think she spent it stewing in her rage, itching and planning to get violent revenge and keep hurting others to be respected. She's unwilling and unable to go back, she'll double down on this forever because this is who she is now. And because 99% of characterization for Shatterbird isn't in Worm anyway, I may as well toss in this minor AU summary by Wildbow. If she escaped, she would have started her own version of the Nine with Damsel of Distress and Trickster. There is nothing left to sympathize with or redeem Shatterbird by the time we see her in canon, she's simply past that point. Side note but Shatterbird + Damsel of Distress + Trickster as a team is perhaps the funniest combo ever and I really wish those 3 fuckers got to interact in canon. Weirdo assholes who dress up fancy and have a taste for theatrics as a murder crew, we were robbed.

I could analyze the Hookwolf interlude but I don't want to. I'm very annoyed that Shatterbird (still no first name) is the only member of the Nine to lose the fight against her recruit instead of appearing terrifying and unstoppable. How come Burnscar can solo Faultline's crew but 3 nazis can take out Shatterbird, who has way more experience? It's pretty uncomfortable to have the only member of the Nine who isn't white be the one that loses to nazis, while one calls her a slur in his internal monologue, in the interludes where everyone else on her team is introduced as a force of nature. I think we should just collectively agree to make this interlude not canon and un-retcon the Witness interlude. While I'm on the topic it's also a bit questionable to have Sophia and Shatterbird (no first name. I am annoyed by this) as the only named capes puppeted by Regent?

But that's not the topic I wanna explore. The topic is that Shatterbird is a great character and I wish that she had depth in the story itself rather than scattered through 20 different sources, because she's legitimately my favorite non-undersider in the story. There is a lot of potential to explore her, one could interpret her backstory in a less charitable way than I did just for an example, and I really think she's neat! She takes hurting someone in an accident and then becoming the monster people see her as, something we see a few times throughout worm, to its ultimate conclusion in terms of scale. That alongside her outer layer of intellectualism and pretentiousness, which I'm a massive sucker for as a trait, and she's just perfect. Did nothing wrong (citation needed). I love her and I do hope that at least some of the stuff written her makes someone appreciate her character more.

Ok! That was... 2.2k words about Shatterbird (no first name). Woo! If some stuff seems inconsistent between paragraphs here, it's probably because I wrote this in chunks over the course of a few weeks and my feelings at the time can influence my interpretation of things and my writing to feel different when read all at once and compared. If you think I'm woobifying her too much, cool. I think it makes her more compelling to examine how much we know was her fault and how much she shouldn't be blamed for, and making her have less agency makes her more tragic which I always like. If you actually read this to the end, thank you! Have a nice day!

[deusluxuria]

Do you feel Johnny being written as wanting to get rid of his disability is ableist? I've seen that complaint a couple times online and wanted to see what you thought about it

Absolutely. It's a dead horse narrative, something that's been in fiction probably ever since fiction has existed. And that's even without getting into the ableism.

It's more than ableist, even. It's ableist status quo. It's "all my characters must have this one type of body or they're not beautiful and I don't want to look at them." Why is it, in all of fiction, we have, what... 10 characters who are wheelchair users (/hyp), and waaaay less of them who are actually respectful representation.

And the "I'll be healed if I collect all these parts of Jesus Christ himself" makes it even worse. Whether intentional or not, it feels very "Jesus will heal me and make me not Disabled anymore."

My sister isn't a JJBA fan but she's probably even more of a spitfire Disability advocate than me (it's literally her job also), and when I told her about the Jesus angle, we both lost our shit laughing. Not just because of the absurdity, but because of how it hit us both right away how much it reminded us of religion and toxic positivity in ableist rhetoric.

But. Before anyone might misunderstand me, I think it's more complicated in real life. In a nutshell, I don't think it's wrong for people to not want to have certain types of Disabilities (stuff like being Autistic is different because autism is an inherent part of the person; it's not like an injury), or to want to have them treated or even cured if possible. But it has to come from a place of understanding that Disability doesn't make a person "lesser." For one, a Disabled person could seriously harm themselves if the only reason they want to not be Disabled is because they don't want to experience ableism or they think their Disability makes them worthless.

TL;DR It's not up to me whether a real-life person wants to go through certain medical programs to potentially reverse paraplegia if possible. But as an entire story narrative... bored, old, tired, anti-representation, thanks society for literally 3 entire fictional characters who are wheelchair users and aren't abysmally written.

That being said, here are some Disabled fictional characters I love:

-Aisha from Sex Education

-Chloe from Run (2020 thriller with Sarah Paulson)

-Isaac from Sex Education (actor George Robinson has eyes like pools of liquid gems omg)

-Flynn (Walter Jr) from Breaking Bad

-Sarah from Children of a Lesser God (been a long time since i watched this one but i recommend reading about the actor Marlee Matlin who plays Sarah)

-Both characters I've seen Adam Pearson play (guy in "A Different Man" and guy in "Under the Skin) -- he also has a cool ted talk

[puckpocketed]

So do you actually believe PLD is a good player or is that part of the bit?

The PLD Post

i spent a good 2 days giggling about this to friends. i cant tell if ur a curious caps fan, a person who knows me from my other teams, a disgruntled kings fan (i’ve mostly ruled this out because im pretty sure i know all of the active ones on here) or WHAT. but i’m laughing. the tone of this ask is hilarious and vaguely accusatory but i will take it in good faith and answer <3 tl;dr yes and no. he’s better than people think he is rn, but he’s likely never going to live up to the potential of his tools unless something . idk. recalibrates his entire being. who knows!

i was working on something longer and more complex but i thought about it for more than 5 seconds and i REFUSE to go hockey-bro mode and pull out the microstats and i don’t wanna make this into a full on PLD manifesto. so. caps girlies (gn) HERE are your adoption papers under the cut!

if you are looking at pierre luc dubois who is 6’4 + 220lb and thinking “Oh he’s a power forward” i have to inform you he is in fact THEEE smallest mouse to ever play hockey in the whole world and in all of history. he sips nectar out of a thimble and sleeps curled up in a match box and goes fishing in a boat made from nutshells and twigs . he’s big, but he sort of plays small.

this is not necessarily a bad thing — he relies on foot speed and skill over hitting.

he can throw hits but prefers to stick check. he leverages his big frame to guard the puck and to defend, and it makes him simultaneously VERY effective and very much what i like to call a Nexus Of Crime. he is either drawing ten thousand penalties because people have to do something to stop him from driving the net with speed OR he is taking ten thousand penalties because he gets eager in the corners.

PLUS he’s huge and refs do just assume he’s committing a crime when they can’t see what’s going on <3 hence, Nexus Of Crime! if there’s a penalty he’s probably involved LMAO

not a “dirty” player by any means. not physical unless he decides he wants to. and there is no violence inside of him unless he’s deeply horsebonded to his team <- IMPORTANT re; playoffs aspirations. you won’t see him put himself on the line simply for the love of the game, he HAS to be committed to the team.

to be committed to his team… i’m honestly not sure what that takes. i’d guess a combination of knowing his role on the ice and in the locker room (this was very unclear on lak) consistency of messaging from coaches (also seemed to be an issue on lak)

i know nothing about caps coaching or management or the team vibes but i’m sure you can fix him <3 i’m ready to fall in love and ride this team to the sunset

this failhorse will NOT shoot the puck and if he does it will be the saddest soggiest most pathetic shot you’ve ever seen. you will tear your hair out in chunks if you watch him expecting an elite goalscorer.

he’s a pass-first guy. likes to drop pass! likes to drive play from the middle but is also capable of getting pucks off the boards. he needs a finisher on his wing. i could pull up stats here, there are stats to be pulled up, but i know this in my HEART from watching dozens of kings games: he would have had 10-15 more points easily if he wasn’t stapled to the 3rd line and had better finishers. many times i watched him tee up a very good opportunity only for his guy to miss the net or fan or just get knocked off the puck

individually, he thrives in front of the net. his ass is fat and he’s about to use it to screen the goalie. hes good at catching loose pucks in the crease to send them home <3 see his performance at worlds. he scored basically all of his goals right up there!!

most media coverage/narratives will tell you his point production dropped off bc of effort (which is true) but even the MOST resentful kings watchers will say pld wasn’t given his best shot playing with inexperienced+fringe nhlers, being line shuffled the moment he got a bit comfortable, and also not getting ANY net front time on the lak pp. i factor this into all my judgements of his performance.

He’s def earned his diva rep LMAO!! this is personal opinion here but he seems like a sensitive and easily rattled little clam… like he will have a couple of bad shifts and if there’s nobody there to shake him out of it he’ll lose his grasp on the game and play like shit <3 a rolling joke on kingstwt was figuring out which PLD we were getting that game, and you could tell by his 5th if he was switched on or off!!

they hate him for this but EYE think this is nothing new for athletes and if he can consistently stay in the zone he’ll probably be pretty good. mental fortitude of a wet tissue my beloved….

moving onto the Vibes section!! he was always good humoured in media availability and didn’t shy away from scrums even when public opinion soured against him and critiques of both his hockey and his character had reached a fever pitch. i like this about him. he always gave authentic answers and tried his best to accomodate them, and never hid behind his captains.

he gets along quite well with teammates despite the narratives. no seriously!! some of the the kings had a hang out during off-season right before they went to worlds!! there’s bisexual lighting!!!!

there’s interviews from old jets teammates that are just like. “he used to turn up at my house with his dog and text IM HERE with no warning and that’s how we became friends” or “his obsession with euro soccer teams bewitched me”. he had control of the aux cord. he was a den mother and planned group gatherings. a genuine sweetheart to every teammate he’s ever had!!

I don’t think he’s some. idk. secret 100 point producing star 1C. but i truly believe with the right environment he’ll probably hit 60 points again.

thank you for your time if you made it this far and i hope to see you all in the trenches (caps lb) next season 👍

[sheikfangirl]

Since you're the Queen of Puppet Zelda, what are your thoughts on these possible explanations for her level of autonomy?

Is Puppet Zelda merely made of Gloom and acts as a physical extension of Gannondorf himself so he has a set of eyes, ears, and hands that can travel and exert influence outside of his perch in the Depths, but as a higher quality puppet/projection (and therefore more taxing on his power to maintain) than the Gloom Hands and Phantom Gannons? Or is she a separate being entirely, created by him, but given her own agency, mind, and will to make her own decisions, in so far as she's still a slave to doing Gannondorf's bidding? She doesn't need constant effort on his part to control or exist, but would have probably cost him a chunk of his power upfront to create.

Could she be something else?

First, let's rectify one thing: I am NOT the Queen of Puppet Zelda. Puppet Zelda IS MY QUEEN. (But thanks for the compliment, I am blushing over here 🤭)

Secondly, thank you so much for your interest in my HC. I will happily share my thoughts on this criminally underused character that has drama written all over. This is an overview okay because I feel I could write a freakin thesis paper on Puppet Zelda 

Quick note: I am not pretending to be right or to have the absolute truth. This is my headcanon, the backstory in the back of my mind when I draw my Puppet Zelda art.

All headcanons are valid, games are interactive media, and the relationship and connections one has with a game are personal.

As you might know, English is not my first language and  visual support helps me explain things... so I made a graphic. I hope this will help understand my take of this character and why I love her so much🤣🤷‍♀️

In a nutshell:

I think Puppet Zelda is an independent minion created by Ganondorf using his magic powers. He created a shell in Zelda's image from 10 000 years ago to do his bidding and re-used her 10 000 years later to distract Link to buy himself the time to regenerate to full power.

Exhibit A: Ganondorf's Magic

If Ganondorf can spawn a whole list of monsters and gloom hands, he created Puppet Zelda too. The monsters are not continually controlled by Ganondorf, right? They do his bidding, they do what they were "programmed & designed" for, we might even say. I think it's the same for Puppet Zelda. But she is definitely a more defined and complex creation.

Exhibit B: The Hot henchwoman trope

I am not gonna lie: This is one of my very favorite tropes.... EVER! I always fall for the hot henchwomen. Ganon's quote from the glorious Sanctum scene during  the "Crisis at Hyrule Castle" scene makes me absolutely think she is indeed autonomous. "Did my puppet distract you?" Ganondorf asks Link in that chilling and subtext filled scene.

Puppet Zelda had one objective: To distract Link.

Ganon was busy regenerating. Having to control or act through someone would've been too power consuming. I don't buy it's a manifestation of him. AT ALL. so...yeah. hot henchwoman trope. Also, I'm a lesbian and I have no interest whatsoever in Ganondorf.

...HOT HENCHWOMAN TROPE SUPREMACY!! Yep. Fanservice for me.

Exhibit C: Real Zelda's Angst

This is where it's getting twistingly FUN.

This is an HC I assimilated like a borg from my ZHS buddy @kazraza  Her theory is so ***** angsty and delicious and I love it! 

At the time of King Rauru and Queen Sonia, Ganondorf created a pawn with Zelda's appearance so that it could get close to them and attack.

Then, in order to distract Link 10 000 years later, Ganondorf had to "refine" his weapon. He needed "data and real Zelda knowledge" uploaded into Puppet Zelda to ensure her credibility and the success of her mission. He wanted to make sure she could distract Link and trick him. 

And where did all this personal knowledge of Real Zelda's innermost intimate thoughts and insecurities come from, you may ask?

Well from the real Zelda herself of course!!

But when and where was this data collected?

We believe all of Zelda's Angst was leached directly from her during her 100 years mystic battle containing Calamity Ganon in this Malice Cocoon in Breath of the Wild. *GASP* Puppet Zelda was there all along in Breath of the Wild....absorbing all of Zelda's angst!!!

This is why everyone was confused and tricked by Puppet Zelda in TotK. This is why Puppet Zelda asks Link if he remembers their time at Hyrule Castle: she has Zelda's pre-calamity memories and this why Link is so tortured in my art! She can REALLY mess with him big time. I really like to think there is a part of real Zelda inside Puppet Zelda. Her dark side: Her anger, her cockiness, her jealousy, her selfishness... her desire. 

She is also kind of Zelda's answer to Dark Link.

Alright I wrote enough for tonight. To whoever took precious minutes of their lives to read this well...thank you! I am now moving on with my life too 🤣

For more HC about Puppet Zelda, her powers and influences, this should be all covered in future art

(i hope)

Cheers!! And glory to Puppet Zelda ✋

[sgiandubh]

honestly don't think it's stupidity, but rather the desire to stir the pot.

Dear Stir The Pot Anon,

How about both: stupid and dying to stir the pot?

I feel, however, I would have to explain myself, just to make sure my point will be properly understood. You see, lack of information/knowledge or social clumsiness has never been my own definition of stupidity. To me, intelligence will always and above anything else be equated with being flexible enough as to take into account the opposite POV, while assuming full responsibility for your own opinions, in all good faith. Thus, stupidity would be the contrary of what I just defined.

The person mentioned in that context never seems to consider the opposite POV, which she readily dismisses as 'confirmation bias' : this, to me, is a sure sign of arrogant intellectual laziness and oh, how conveniently so, when things do not suit your own agenda! She also never seems to take full responsibility for her own opinions. Instead, she would always state she was misquoted, took out of context or simply misunderstood - that is insulting her readers and making me chuckle, every single time. I mean, d'oh, how many times could that statistically happen in an organic, honest fashion? You either fuck with your audience's good faith or you really do have a miscommunication problem, right? You simply cannot drop nuclear bombs in a row and then hide behind a hypocritical 'oops, didn't mean it that way' every single time people call you out or question your motivation. It's obvious they know what they are doing/writing and they do it while insinuating all sorts of things, primarily for attention and weighing in the debate, at all costs. If that is not 'stirring the pot', I don't know what is, Anon.

Being FIRST and ALWAYS RIGHT seems to be the mandatory complement to constantly stirring the pot. That probably explains why she was also repeatedly used in the past to push a certain agenda, until her own unchecked Taliban zeal cooled down that strategy, at least for a (good) while. Add to this that propension to constantly bring attention to herself and create drama every single time her integrity is being questioned (enroll other bloggers, invent Anons, you name it) - insecure, anyone?

In a nutshell, stupid is as stupid does: equating the entire shipper community with just one of the trusted or believed theories, thus conveniently forgetting 'our' side of the fence is far more tolerant and open-minded than 'theirs'. Labelling bloggers you do perceive as a potential threat as 'nutcases', just because you probably resent their traffic figures and perceived 'success' (WTF?). Never taking responsibility for your own shortcomings and simply say 'hey, I was wrong, things like this happen and this is not a beauty pageant', which seriously is the least thing one could do if wanting to show they really respect their audience.

Enough said, Anon. I have mercifully just scratched the surface. You have asked for my sentiment and I honestly gave it to you, while also trying to be cool and collected about someone who sent more than a fair share of spite, lies and insults right down my alley. It is what it is. Some things will probably never change. The intelligent way is to go ahead, keep a cool head about it all and never waiver. Thanks for asking.

[fairyhaos]

seventeen as wave to earth songs

requested by @haocovr !

notes: this was my excuse to finally drag my ass into listening to w2e haha

[this fic's spotify playlist]

masterlist

seungcheol

sunburn. the prominent drum beats and guitars make the song feel darker than some of their others. more grounded, more determined, more assured. nothing whimsical, but still fiercely and unconditionally loving all the same. there's also protection there- the idea of intentionally burning in the sun for people you love to live.

jeonghan

evening glow. it's a song about how one is perceived and receiving love unconditionally anyway, and it's something that, oddly, fits jeonghan. it's also a song that gives off vibes of tired love: not a love that feels exhausting, but of loving someone deeply even when you're at your most exhausted. being by their side no matter what.

joshua

peach eyes. gentlest gentleman song for the gentlest gentleman person in the entire world. it reminds me of cliche romantic moments: picnics by the river, serenading someone on the balcony, kissing under fireworks. the colour imagery of pastels and gentleness fits him so well, too. there's devotion, fondness, looking over at someone and realising you want to spend the rest of your life with them.

junhui

daisy. it's whimsical. it's romantic. it's almost painfully fluffily cheesy and hopelessly infatuated and adorable, just like junhui. it's eyes lighting up almost embarrassingly bright when you see your favourite person. it's giggling internally when you finally hold hands with them. it's junhui in a nutshell.

hoshi

pueblo. it's chill. it's a chill song, don't-carish but also just at peace. it feels like the soundtrack to a vlog that he'd make, playing in the background as he walks down a bridge, hoodie hanging off one shoulder while the sun beats down on him, but he feels calm. honestly the song just makes me think of 231005 hoshi tbh.

wonwoo

love. the opening notes of this song are so, so lavender purple, and the lyrics are very silver. those of you who have read my wonwoo synaesthesia post know how important that is to me. but it's also so gentle, almost relaxed, in its message of love, like faces melting into smiles that lift up the lips almost of their own accord.

woozi

gold. the drums at the beginning with their syncopated beats is so delicious and basically sold this song as woozi-coded to me. but also the conviction and the determination and self-confidence is so present in this song. it makes me think of bronze coloured pedestals and nameless faces in a crowd but also immense sense of self-assuredness.

minghao

light. it reminds me of some watercolour-style animated movie with no dialogue, only music, and changing sceneries of watercolor people living in a watercolor world. it's whimsical, but not quite. it's dreamy, but only almost. nevertheless, it's romantic, devastatingly so, and promises care and affection like no other.

mingyu

so real. can't explain this one tbh. it starts off so chill and minghao-esque, but it makes me think of mingyu too bc this man is so perceptive and very feeling and very very empathetic. and then the crescendo into a jazzy instrumental outro? it's so so mingyu in the busy-ness of it and the swirling colours and brightness and desire to be perceived but also to be perceived well.

dokyeom

calla. the elegance and the beauty and the hope and the natural imagery that this entire song and it's title evokes is so dk it actually hurts. the blues melodies with the accidentals add a yearning note to the song and it's all so complex and beautiful and reminds me of him. also the message of protection? of nurture? of growth? does that not make you think of him too?

seungkwan

wave. this feels like roadtrips, but peaceful roadtrips. like snapshots of someone rolling down the car window, trailing their hand through the air as they drive down a road by the sea. it's like a daisy petal love, soft and numerous and almost child-like, full of a love that's been long established and carries the promise of many, many more years of comfort together.

vernon

bad. the idea of gentle devotion in the lyrics. the idea that seeing one particular person instantly makes your entire day better. the idea of utter adoration and unconditional love. that's so so vernon actually, and the gentleness and unquestioning, inexplicable, "of course my day was good. i saw you" is so devastatingly him in ways i just cannot explain

chan

surf. the chill, the groove, the lightness? it's jazzy, light like sunlight peeking through thin white curtains. it's a song that immediately makes you smile and feel almost coyly warm, almost like the comfort and security that comes with taking someone's hand and running away from other people's control: it's a giddy security, perhaps a bit tenuous, but makes you feel alive.

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