#should be in charge of NOTHING

[sysmedsaresexist]

Good luck and godspeed, America

[fickleartdump]

finrod they could never convince me you're boring and generic because you're a shiny good guy I promise

[why-bless-your-heart]

"I wouldn't make my children have to change diapers, it's gross and kids shouldn't have to deal with that" <- somebody who's never changed a diaper in their life.

[sillygoofyqueer]

Deity Jester Wei Wuxian AU because I really like it I don't CARE if you guys have no taste (/silly). What a shit ending to that last one was though, I was obviously some form of deluded with that ending. Jesus CHRIST. When Wei Ying returns to Master, he is furious. He wants to kill him, to rip him apart slowly and remind him that although he may hold the key to controlling him, Wei Ying can still fight back. He already has, once. It was a minimal, small struggle, one that had seemed to tear him apart inside, but it was enough. A sign that he does not need to resign himself to being forced to complete Master's every whim and want. It's what fuels him to pulling the poor wood that hides a room off its metal bindings as he enters Master's space, feeling that familiar tug in his chest that usually signals a transformation, but he still can't free himself of this cage of flesh and blood so he can only growl in frustration. Master is lounging in that pathetic chair of his, obviously having been waiting for him to enter, lips pressed against that damn instrument and already playing the tune that leaves him feeling separate from his own body.

At first, he can ignore it, clinging to his body - it's so heavy to move it, so heavy in a way it hasn't been since the deaths of his mama and papa - and dragging himself forwards towards the man himself. But, there's something about this melody that feels different. It seems to echo, reverberating around the room and thudding into his mind every time it bounces off a surface; it hurts, every thud another rip in his control, until he can no longer keep himself in control. He doesn't even hear the orders that Master gives him, but can only watch and vaguely feel himself moving somewhere, doing something, but then it all goes dark. He can't think, can't move, can't open his eyes. He just. Exists. It feels almost similar to how he existed after being chased out of his home when his parents had died, hidden beneath a tree and clinging to his mama's cloak as it rotted in his hands. He wonders if this is what death is like.

Wei Ying's master, known to most as Wen Haoran, moves in to take the throne after he is sure that all other competition is gone. The monster took care of all of them, but the way it had refused to attack the children had him worried. However, they were dealt with, it was dealt with, and now he can easily take over command of the country. The commoners cannot do anything, and it is easy to pit the old court loyal to the previous crown against one another with carefully placed pieces of 'incriminating evidence' that ties all of them to him in some way or another. Rumours and whispers, letters and bribes, all linked back to him in some way or another, falsified to suit his purposes. The infighting weeds out the weak ones who come begging for his support a few weeks in, the strong ones who end up swarmed as more 'evidence' piles up against them, and the smart ones. The ones who merely pretend to bend to his will. They are dealt with swiftly, leaving his control of the throne secure.

History unfolds from that moment, time passing as Wen Haoran's rule marks the start of Wen control of the country, rules doling out to become more and more oppressive as time goes on. Nobody can explain how he gained the throne, can only speculate while he tucks away the ancient, mould-ridden text that holds a short, vague passage on the monster with the melody that summons it. While he doesn't want anyone else to learn about his methods for his takeover, he wishes to ensure that future generations of the Wen also have the knowledge in case they need to summon the monster. It's stupid enough, it won't even recognise them considering it didn't even know his name, so it can be utilised again as long as the melody is played by them. So, he creates an inner library, hidden within his chambers (the chambers of the ruler), that holds all of the secrets his family should need to know to keep control of this country, one that is finally taking shape to be a truly great place. It is a secret that is passed down from ruler to ruler at first, but one that fades with time, until eighty years have passed and Wen Haoran is long dead, with Wen Ruohan on the throne.

Wen Ruohan is unlike his ancestor in that he is outwardly cruel. He is power hungry, a maniac that cares not for appearances - the Wen have been on the throne for this long, their power is practically absolute, and everyone has grown complacent with the treatment doled out to everyone within the country. Whatever the Wen ask, you do, or you face certain death. Rumours flit around that they are using dark magic but honestly, none of the rulers are even aware of the secret room within their chambers and, even if they were, would not think to find any sort of magic present in their ancestor's work. Wen Ruohan is just evil alone, he does not need any cursed magic or object to taint his mind. A clear indicator of his cruelty is when he asks the prestigious families to send a son into the palace so they can learn their roles; they can do nothing but send them over despite their fear and mistrust of this tyrannical ruler with his equally fucked up sons.

It's not long before these boys from prominent families have different tasks doled out to them that seem to mock the individual family's greatest pride - Nie Mingjue is placed as a Duizhu (captain of a company), meaning he is working with woefully less soldiers than he usually would, an insult to his expertise of battle. Jiang Cheng is now a fisherman for the Wen, supplying them with the best fish - an insult to the family revered for their trade and control of the waterways. Jin Zixuan? A retainer for Wen Chao, who delights in ordering around a member of the family that poses the most threat with their almost natural talents of politicking and charming all those that cross them (well, until you talk to Jin Guangshan, of course). And Lan Wangji, the one to willingly go to the palace so that his brother could still be the heir of the Lan family, a scholar dedicated to documenting the illustrious history of the Wens and whatever strikes their fancy, spitting on the Lans' own well-documented, impressive history and their unparalleled scholarly arts.

Lan Wangji despises his place in the palace, forced to sit in the library every day and read through pages and pages of the Wens' lies, writing down everything that could be deemed even remotely important to the Wens so that he doesn't have to go back and read through them if he misses something. This task is not straightforward even with his length, because every time one of the royals ask him to research something else, he must stop his documentations of the Wen to learn everything about the subject asked until he has enough information written down to appease those that have asked for it. It's long and tedious enough already, and every time he has to pause, it adds more time to what he has to do. It gets worse when he realises that there is vagueness around the beginning of the rule of the Wen - something that Wen Ruohan will not tolerate if he is presented with it, forcing Lan Wangji to ask for more resources on that part of history.

Coincidentally, a servant stumbles across the secret library while cleaning the room, having done the impossible and accidentally knocked a statue resting against the untouched books in the study. They look inside, assuming this is just another part to the library of the study, and dust off all of the books - they notice two books in particular - small, handbound. 'The beginning of the Wens' and an unnamed, mould-covered book. They don't think much of it, just remembering that that blasted Lan was asking for more resources on the former subject and so grabbing that without much thought to go give it to the Lan, then grabbing the mould-covered book just because it will surely be a pain in the ass for the Lan to decipher. They leave the hidden library, being sure to reset everything after they're gone, and go to give the books to the Lan. They honestly assume that the other inner servants know about it, so they don't mention anything as they deliver the book to Lan Wangji, who practically glares down at it as he opens it for more bullshit to be delivered.

[sukugo]

question!! if tumblr does go down, where are you guys going to? or at least where are u most active outside tumblr?

[lamb-dragonfly]

I've been sick and having some restless nights ...

Anyway, the previous night I've really mulled over HB and how little sense the hierarchy makes.

I think I might actually HAVE to make a PowerPoint on this ...

What still irks me is how HB and HH are in the same universe ... ugh. It makes no sense. Make them separate, please!

Imps and Hell Hounds are the lowest, even though they get to live regular human-like lives instead of like ... working 24/7 like the lust and sloth demons. Imps are the lowest, but Satan is like second in command and even at the top when Lucifer isn't around??? Wouldn't he want his underlings to be considered higher than the rest?

Why imps even exist if they don't do anything? The work regular jobs in their own society rather than interacting with sinners (other than I.M.P.). The other types of demons work jobs related to the sin they serve that ultimately act as a service to imps (not sinners).

We see the succubi and incubi make sex toys and the primary consumers are imps ... not sinners. In terms of products, Vox (a sinner) makes things that sinners buy/consume rather than any sin or demon underlings of that sin. It doesn't make sense. Why do they even exist then if they aren't in anyway doing their REAL job/purpose?

What is even the point of the goetia?! They don't do anything!

[anonymocha]

Bluepoch gave us the gift of barely-subtext tragic sapphic-centric media do NOT throw that away.

Context regarding PJSK and Undertale under cut.

Project Sekai cast is dominated by female characters but mlm is more popular, meanwhile Undertale has canon wlw rep and oh my god they’re at the bottom. I have nothing against these fandoms or media (I’m literally currently/was in them) but yeah. I just HOPE r99 doesn’t end up in a similar state.

[jewishbarbies]

I don’t care if a kid was mouthing off, I’m hitting you with my car if you lay a fucking finger on them. handle it like an adult or walk the fuck away. no, the kid is not “asking for it”. they’re a child. there is NO excuse for a grown ass man to be slapping a little girl. oh, she was disrespectful? oh, he was tired of it? I DON’T FUCKING CARE. that’s a little girl and it’s not even YOUR fucking kid.

too many people are comfortable with child abuse as long as it benefits and/or doesn’t involve them. I’m TIRED of the “when the kid running around finally gets tripped” memes. idc what my kid said to you, if you fucking hit them, I’m pressing charges so everyone knows what a fucking degenerate you are. i will handle my child because I’m their parent, any other adult in the situation can go fuck themselves and take it up with god or a shotgun.

[colorfuldream]

Okay so I've seen it a few times now and there are people who genuinely believe the Squid Sisters have the least content out of every group. I mean, I get forgetting Deep Cuts but the Squid Sisters do have as much as Off The Hook. Sure, OTH is starting to look like favorites now but the SS aren't left behind. Here's an itemized list:

They're in every main story mode. They have three whole games about them. The concept of story mode revolves around them. Just because they aren't proactive in them doesn't make it not count. Their quips and banter are what made us care and learn about them. It did flesh them out. They don't have to actively help to be main characters and receive development. The only game you could argue that is Splatoon 3 but it has a writing problem in general. It did close their story, subtle but interesting and well-written (for what Splatoon is), across the three games.

A short story. They're the only ones who have that. That has insane development, providing a lot of details about them. Like, that's a MAJOR thing that's lore-dumping so many things.

They're in almost every concert. They're in all but two concerts. They're canon too. This gives them a lot of presence in the franchise.

Lots of illustrations. Makes sense. Of course they are with how long they've been around. Still an important sign that they're a major part of the franchise (obviously, the main story is about them). It's always nice to see them in different situations anyways. They also get some lore out of them, fleshes them out and whatever. Which brings me to my next point.

Different outfits. It's not only giving us a sense of how they dress, but it's telling a story. Said it before but, for example, we know Marie likes dressing up for Story Mode and be a mentor of some sort. If you pull that string, you can get that she's someone who puts on a façade depending on the occasion and likes teaching/guiding people, her idea of mature and cool is a traditional outfit from her hometown.

Special Fest variants. Yes, they all do. However, the thing that differentiates them is that this is outside their game and, even though they were mostly reskins, they did get fully new outfits and hairstyles which neither other groups did.

Technically, they got a DLC. Even if it's the old hub and basically promo for Side Order.

They're in Smash Bros. That's not nothing. They're not spirits, they're full-on assist trophies. They better be in it honestly, but it's still something they have over the other two groups. It solidifies their status in the franchise.

Many songs, including remixes. Obviously, but they're also on the Splatfest list which never happened before outside of special events. They started it in Splatoon 2's Final Fest and started it in Splatoon 3's regular Fests. They're trend setters! Which leads me to...

Boss Fight. Final Boss, even. Callie started it. Literally. She fought us. The fact that she was The Final Boss™ puts her above the others. They wish they were her.

Solos. They did it first. They've also got not one but two mash-ups of their solos so it gotta count. I would argue that theirs are special too as they're meant to be solo pieces while the Anarchy Poisons are always put together be it on the soundtrack or the concerts. They were made to, and it's lovely, as Deep Cut's continuing the trend OTH's set: a united group that values each other and their work over fame. Their music is made to be together. Anarchy Rainbow and its Poisons is just that, something that's all of them, always. They were also fused in every live version, and the in-game live version, unlike Tide Goes Out and Bomb Rush Blush. These were forcefully mashed up as each sang over the other, desperately trying to drown out their will and win this fight. It's only now, years later, that they get an unexpected mash-up, joyful and harmonious —which in a way is a part of their story, them reclaiming this song as they bring their solos together. The Squid Sisters are working for themselves, they now do whatever they want with their careers and what they sing, how they sing, when they sing is up to them and only them.

They're the end credits of every game. Special mention to Splatoon 3 that just sacrifices its own idol group for them. Unlike Splatoon 2, Deep Cut was involved in Story Mode and for all the 10 minutes they spent in it, the end credits should have been theirs as they sure as hell didn't get a DLC. Their equivalent was a last minute addition at that, unceremoniously added later on without much spotlight. Jeez, they could have had a second collab song instead or something!

They've got the final battle song for every game. Makes sense because it's their story and their games, it's the culmination of their work every single time. Unlike the credits, they at least shared the spotlight with Deep Cut... Hey, if Marie's their boss, doesn't that make her a part of their group or vice-versa? She better be, she's the one handling their paperwork after all (poor woman, it's a mess too and they're not spending wisely. Shouldn't have been talking about becoming a manager, Marie, you're getting roped up in too much silliness and Callie won't help).

Participation in 2 Final Fests. By that, I mean actually having a team and representing it. Otherwise, they're involved in every Final Fest.

Merch. I mean why wouldn't they have some?? But it had to be added. Special note for the concert CD and special edition. I guess I'd put there the interview bit Marie conducted in Splatoon 3's soundtrack bonuses. That's another bit of trivia/insight on her work. The Nintendo Magazine interviews also count as they're relevant to their characters.

Their song is a major part of their world and franchise. Calamari Inkantation has a special place in the lore and the franchise. It's THE song but also THEIR song.

4 amiibos. They might not give their outfits (which I kinda like because I'm not fond of how they did it for the others) but they give out gear related to their story, the game, and that we should have gotten. At least they're fixing that flaw I guess.

Storyline during the Splatfests. Not sure if it should be added but it did culminate into long lasting conflict between the two of them and started their storyline. Since it's missing in Splatoon 3, I think it should be noted. It fleshes them out and makes them feel a bit more alive, like they're affected by the results.

Most of these could apply to Off The Hook too. My point is that the Squid Sisters haven't been neglected, not from Nintendo's point of view. They're more than included, arguably the stars of Splatoon 1 and 3. The thing is that Off The Hook is the fan favorite right now so most of our attention is on them, not the others. The Squid Sisters have also been so ingrained in the franchise that we're used to it. We readily accepted they would be the stars of Splatoon 3 because they took over most of Splatoon 2 until Octo Expansion. We assumed the other two groups would get DLCs, or that Deep Cut would be involved in OTH's like in the Main Story, only to realize that Nintendo didn't give a damn and gave the spotlight to OTH alone in an attempt to replicate what Splatoon 2 did. Obviously, once we got over Side Order, we kinda realized this was unfair and that there was favoritism. It didn't help that OTH was featured in regular battles and that Splatoon 2 and 3 handled Splatfests differently, with special events and work done to the idols. We've come a long way since the first game, which itself had changed plenty during its time, so it feels unfair that the Squid Sisters didn't benefit from what the others got or for as long. That doesn't mean they didn't get a lot and weren't the favorites for a long time.

Now, I'm gonna address the thing that made me write this in the first place:

They do have a story and development. Just because it wasn't in your face doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Up until Splatoon 3, the story wasn't as obvious as it could be when it came to the idols. Marina's background is clear-cut, because you cannot be too subtle about it, but apart from some big lines, it wasn't directly stated, nor was her development in Octo Expansion (it's heavily linked to Agent 8 and the Octavian but the fact that she comes to be comfortable in what species she is and overcomes her fear of being found out and rejected should count as a story). She's fascinating and it's important to the world.

But that doesn't leave the Squid Sisters flat and boring. They had an arc! Them slowly resenting each other because of their time as Splatcast anchors, because they were always pit against each other, because of the way being an idol works, is a story in itself. It was bad enough to get Callie to free Octavio, who's a terrible, dangerous person as far as she knew then, and go to the Octarians, poor, underground enemies. The Hypno-Shades are more like heavily suggesting you to obey, we know that Callie had some sort of free will to put glitter, of all things, into their ink. She also was fully conscious of her actions when freeing Octavio, and we know this guy isn't a mastermind and world class manipulator. Marie wasn't doing much better, working a lot and being stressed. Fame drove them apart and broke Callie down to the point of going to people who wanted hers dead. She freed a war criminal. Once Marie saved her, mostly from her own despair, they decided to do their own thing. They didn't need fame or their careers. Family was more important. Tidal Rush was their solos crashing against each other, not listening and trying to sing over the opponent, until Marie blasted on a song that meant the world to them. The hymn of sea kind. The song that they won that fateful contest with when they were young, the reason why their dream came true. The song that they sang when safinf their dear grandpa, powerful enough to make Octolings give up everything and try to join the surface. A beautiful memory. Something that was theirs. And so they sang. Together. "I remember everything!" The innocent days they practiced for the contest, the terrifying ride to Inkopolis, the nervousness of their first Splatcast. But they were together. She wasn't alone. Marie had always been on her side. Neither of them wanted this. If it had been up to them, nobody would have compared them to each other. They wouldn't have been choices for their last Splatfest. It's a certain kind of cruel to ask which of the two teenage girls was the better one. Callie wasn't angry at Marie, she was angry at the system. She felt awkward, self-conscious, worthless because of her status as a celebrity, because she as a person didn't matter. Her comfort? Who cares. Take the photos, sing the songs, be careful to be perfect. She was overworked, isolated, and the only person she could count on was put in the same position and told she was a competitor.

Fresh Start is the two of them reconnecting away from show business. Going back to their roots. They stop being idols afterwards, they don't sing much anymore. They get their own careers. Callie slowly finds the strength to be in the spotlight after so long and goes back to acting, unlike Marie this seems to be more of her thing. Marie keeps on with her podcast, now using it to hype Callie up. Splatoon 3 even shows us that Callie is some sort of spokesperson, announcing that an Inkopolis stage will undergo reconstruction. She's rebuilding her career on her own and making it her own. The Squid Sisters, while some of the most people in the world, weren't recognized in the Splatlands. Sure, Shiver and Frye probably didn't give a damn about Inkopolis musicians but Big Man is a fan, he's even showed them their music, and he still didn't recognize them. They're known for their music, their names possibly for themselves. Splatoon 3 is the only game not to give them a story, even its details don't imply much. But the previous two games did.

It's a story of two girls who got famous too soon, too suddenly, and got eaten by showbusiness. It's two young women taking their power back and breaking free from the idol life. It's a family that managed to heal from the damage fame caused over the years.

I dunno but I think it's beautiful and I'm a sucker for stories that criticize being an idol and family coming together. The Squid Sisters' entire thing was being idols, that's their entire concept, especially identical ones which is dehumanizing enough. It's fitting and not something you'd expect out of Splatoon of all places but it's the kind of franchise that gets surprisingly deep and dark in its smallest details.

No, they're not neglected or underdeveloped. Their story is there, just not as flashy as you'd expect. Their presence is something we're so used to that we don't clock it anymore, moreso when the other group gets attention too. Splatoon 3 didn't handle the writing well, as fun and silly as it gets, and it shows in a lot of ways. It's easy to go "so what was the point of the Squid Sisters being there?" when the story didn't bother doing anything with them for once but they weren't the only one neglected nor did they not get content in other ways!

[dawnthefluffyduck]

New game interest unlocked

(crow in bottom right belongs to @patchwork-crow-writes)

[ingydar-phan]

It’s always okay to pirate and also it’s absolutely appropriate to charge money in order to pay the people who worked on it and also a corporation who was not involved in the making of a project does not deserve to charge jack shit on top of the original price

[ganondoodle]

you know, a plothole (kinda, its one to me) i havent even talked about before is .. how is there basically no sonau tech in the past, or isnt shown nor used; the only thing i remember is that weird half assed way to try and make us care about the apparent time zelda had spent there and tell us in a tiny text you have to find scattered above the sky that she "tamed a construct beast" which .... could be anything bc its so vague and non-interesting and .. maybe one or two non-combat constructs in the background in a few of the cutscenes

but given how many constructs there are alive in totks present, and more are broken down that were probably working back in the past, did they even use anything of it against ganondorf? like, i know its called a war but we only see ganondorf charging on that badass horse we never see again and that bit lasts like .. 5 seconds? and he just ... somehow ends up in that cave so far below the earth with the other sages? HOW did he even get there

the constructs you find in the game can be pretty tanky and packing quite a punch, theres auto-targeting mini tanks, lasers and fire/electric/ice throwers, bombs and otherwise explosives, couldnt they have easily fought against some bokblins even if they were miasmafied

or am i supposed to believe ganondorf became THAT strong just through that little magic pebble (isnt that a little insulting too?), while all the other stone having people are so much more inferior AND have gans bossfight not be that hard is kinda ... weird? i know link is special an all, but he doesnt have a stone and the sages dont really add to his powerlevel, the msot they do is distract gans little clones for a bit

doesnt that, and how irrelevant the whole sonau tech actually is to the plot, feel even more like its a thing put in there just to showcase that they could do it (like ... a tech demo) and like its an unfitting sandbox element just for some very dedicated players to build entire war maschines for viral videos out of but the vast majority will not have that kind of patience nor fun with that (i for one do not care to laser explode or otherwise terrorize little enemy camps with otherwise overly ridiculous weapons bc its not fun and really not worth the effort to me)

[skrunksthatwunk]

how do i tell my roommate that her cat repeatedly pissing on and destroying my things is something that people usually offer to clean or replace or apologize for instead of shrugging off

[tvntheatre]

lalalalalaaaaa

hello once again, tumblr user @ballcrusher74

... So anyway, I'm still impressed I managed to make these. Al and Tixton drawn without reference by memory, Jawbreaker drawn with some reference that I no longer had at the time I decided to color. By the way fuck you phone camera, the greys I drew on the jacket are unreadable now because I had to edit it to look clearer.

Various close ups, because I hate my phone camera and I can't afford a scanner. Mobile Tumblr please don't fuck up the format

[blackpaintedeyes]

apparently its been two and a half hours since i woke up? the sun here has barely moved

[ashtonisvibing]

you know you've gotten too invested into the roleplaying aspect of a game when you go on a 3min rant about power imbalance and inequality and how being singled out just because you have some kinda power is a disservice to the other people who helped you in your quest

........

anyways i started playing skyrim cuz it came in today