#// which i may make another post to elaborate on

[crossbackpoke-check]

a doc of omega yamo being a nuisance, you say?

well…

[mebis-art-dump]

So, I was checking the hallownest.net kingdom's edge map and overlining the chunks of the wyrm carcass (as one does) to see approximately how big it is, because it extends beyond the hornet and discarded shell goes: there's even a chunk right outside the city

Compare the outstanding shell with these

But then I started noticing things

First there's something I've considered before but felt like adding to this post because it's interesting: the wyrm may have had ribs and vertebra

The imagery is the most clear in this section

And there's the massive structures at hornet's arena (hey isn't that another clutter that looks like ribs in the ceiling?)

You could see it as a snake's squeleton

You are probably thinking "bugs don't have bones" but here's the thing: some hallownest bugs do (Mawlek has ribs, gruzmother has a squeleton) (Wyrms are also technically not bugs the same way radiance is technically not a moth)

One could still argue that these could be claws or scales instead, which fair, but I think with eons of erosion, a mostly "barebones" wyrm makes more sense

There's also this asset used in the maw

Although sadly the lower more detailed part is covered by ash ingame (behind the stumpy teeth)

While discussing this, one of the original development sketches was pointed out to me:

While stuff like this, scrapped content (specially this early) should be taken with a bucket of salt, this is a curious choice

To quote mossbag: "it could be a statue or signpost, but it's oddly specific imagery"

Lol I reached image limit before making it to the part I actually wanted to talk about, hold on while I elaborate in a reblog

[styllwaters]

KNIGHT DEITIES

It's been a hot minute since I posted Vivere 44 art. Been intensely busy with school for the past few months but now that I've graduated I've got a lot of time to kill! Since the Knights post surpassed 1k notes I figured I may as well elaborate on them more. I'm so blown away by how much love they're getting already! Thank you all <3

I'm gonna talk a bit about Mountain and Plains Knight religions, mythology and a snippet of evolutionary history. I will cover Polar Knight religions in another post. The focus is on two gods in particular, Uwet-Jana and Kiraiarik.

_______

Uwet-Jana is the demigod of good health, vitality, and inner balance. In some regions they are also the god of fertility. The name of their Host is Uwetsil, and their Helmet is Serrjana. Mainly worshiped by Mountain cultures, Uwet-Jana takes the form of a Knight whose Host and Helmet are physically merged into a singular being.

Kiraiarik [pronounced ki-rai-ah-rik] is the personification of the host-helmet symbiotic relationship. They are the god of symbiosis, rebirth, and love. Kiraiarik was the name given to two immortal partners, a Host and a Helmet, who began as a singular being born to the sea in Ettera’s prehistoric era. Ettera decided to make them Two, one half (the Helmet) ruling over the sea and the other (the Host) having domain over the land. The story goes that in every form they take, they try to find each other - for their body remembers being One.

Both gods have lots of lore to their name. Further information below!

UWET-JANA

Uwet-Jana's Host body has long spines and red stripes like a Pike, and long fingerlike paws like a Helmet's manipulators. The Helmet section sports two long horns and elegant facial markings. Uwet-Jana has an iridescent sheen on their golden fur, catching the rays of the sun in a shimmering glow.

The story of Uwet-Jana is as follows: Both Uwetsil and Serrjana were born as runts, in a dark time when sickly Knights were seen as curses and not worth caring for. Their Order, believing them to be bad omens, cast them out to wander the tundra alone. They believed that the natural forces of Ettera (the Knight’s homeplanet) would quickly end them. However, Ettera took pity on the castaway, sending them three blessings. The first gift was a bone with marrow inside that ensured one is never hungry or thirsty again. Then, Ettera sent a warm, sweet wind into Uwet-Jana’s lungs which warded off all sickness and disease. Finally, a sun shower fell, the rains cleansing them and blessing them with a coat made of ivory and gold.

Transformed into a demigod with a hybrid body, Uwet-Jana was offered a place among the deities in the sky - but they refused, preferring to stay on the ground to share their gift with the mortals. Unbeknownst to them, their Order who had exiled them was struck by three curses from the Gods to mirror Uwet-Jana’s blessings: all the rivers in the area dried up and all their hunts were unsuccessful, leaving them with no food or water. Infections and diseases picked them off one by one, and a great storm ravaged the land, destroying their home and all remaining survivors. Uwet-Jana now blesses Knight Orders who take care of their sick and ailing members, and ignores those who don’t, leaving them to the wrath of the Gods.

Although they are nomadic and always on the move, many Mountain Orders will refuse to leave any sick members behind. They may also keep ivory statues of Uwet-Jana in their bags as a token of good fortune. Sometimes these statues are filled with bone marrow, or have holes which make a whistling sound as wind passes through it as a reference to Ettera’s gifts. Occasionally Pike Helmets are born with an extra long ‘horn’ spike, and are considered a child/reincarnation of Uwet-Jana. Additionally, whenever it rains while the sun is still shining, it is seen as a blessing from the demigod.

_______

KIRAIARIK

Kiraiarik's Host is depicted as a small creature with a striped pelt to mirror its ancestral form, and the Helmet as an aquatic beast with long, trailing red fins. It is frequently shown twisting around the Host, sharing its blood. Kiraiarik is also often simplified as two disembodied eyes looking at each other. (And yes, the artstyle is a nod to medieval depictions of heraldic beasts!)

To understand Kiraiarik, one must be aware of how much Plains religions are intrinsically tied to concepts of evolution and paleontology.

Digression on the origins of Etteran symbiosis: 

Large stretches of Plains Knight deserts and scrublands were once submerged beneath the sea. As a result, there are countless fossil hotspots which have been unearthed over the centuries. These high concentrations of fossilised remains have lead to Plains cultures basing their religions around said discoveries. Although many features have been warped, the general timelines are strikingly similar.

For instance, a mass extinction event occurred on Ettera millions of years ago, caused by a series of catastrophic volcanic eruptions on a worldwide scale. This event is known in Plains culture as The Remaking, traditionally interpreted as the planet shedding its skin. Many species were decimated, but some groups survived; these happened to be phyla who possessed an exposed ‘Interfacer’ organ, a precursor to the specialised Integrator organ which connects the Host’s brain to the Helmet’s. Before The Remaking, there was no prior record of the deep symbiotic connection which Knights possess (scientifically deemed ‘Hyperadvanced Mutualism’). The Interfacer organ was used in the phyla for species to communicate simple stretches of data to each other, such as health and reproductive status. After the extinction, populations of these species were dwindling. To ensure their survival, an odd phenomenon occurred in which many individuals began to interface with different species who possessed the same organ - strangely enough, some were able to successfully exchange information. These individuals survived and passed on the practice to their offspring, eventually culminating in what would be discovered as a very primitive form of mutualism. Host and Helmet ancestors (pictured above) were some of the first species to achieve this.

As the planet recovered and populations increased, the relationship continued to solidify and become more complex, with symbiotic species sharing memories, emotions and complex thought. In modern times there is now an entire class of organisms on Ettera which possess an Integrator organ for Advanced Mutualism, including Knights.

Kiraiarik is said to be a manifestation of this relationship. After The Remaking, their two halves finally managed to find each other again, eternally locked in a joyous dance of love. (Side note: the love in question is not platonic nor romantic, but a deeper kind which is indescribable and not easily understood. Due to their intricate nervous systems, Knights have a higher degree of emotional intelligence and can experience sensations we would consider alien). When a Plains Knight is experiencing inner turmoil, they will often pray to Kiraiarik to restore a healthy connection. The god’s blessing is also called upon when an infant Host and Helmet first Assimilate.

Note: Many Plains ‘saints’ and deities have palindromic names which can be read both forwards and backwards, an indicator of holiness. Fun fact, the word Kiraiariku means “Your heart and mine are very old friends.”

Thank you for reading! More Knight content coming soon ;)

[prince-kallisto]

How Crowley sets up the Overblots in every book

This is a concept I’ve mentioned off-handedly in several of my theories, but I’ve always wanted to elaborate of what I mean. I believe Crowley is behind the Overblots- and he has potentially tampered with the Overblotters magestones as well. Because no matter how powerful Crowley may be, I don’t think he has the power to affect the backstories of an Overblotter.

However, what a lot of people miss is how he SETS UP the perfect conflict and conditions for an Overblot.

In Book 1, Crowley appears out of nowhere in the library to suggest the magic duel to Ace and Deuce. Without the duel, Riddle wouldn’t have had his position of power questioned in the first place, as he gets set off by his own dorm throwing eggs at him and Ace calling him out for being a “baby.” Book 1 is also where we get a taste of just how little Crowley involves himself with personal conflicts of the students- he could’ve easily outlawed the usage of Riddle’s collars if he so pleased.

I believe Book 1 is highly significant because it’s one of the only two Overblots Crowley is present in (the other being Malleus’). In both the game and the novel, Crowley doesn’t do anything to stop the Overblot, even though I’m sure he’s capable of doing it. I think in the grand scheme of things, it’s very important that Crowley is present in the first student Overblot (Riddle) in the game and the last student Overblot of the game (Malleus). It’s as if he’s purposefully watching the set up of his plans and how the last piece puts it all together.

Book 2 has Crowley doing a similar thing: He fuels Leona’s jealousy and pride by suggesting that Malleus should be in the Hall of Fame. The entirety of Leona’s plans in Book 2 revolves around taking down Diasomnia- or specifically, Malleus. And isn’t it interesting how his entire plan revolves around something that CROWLEY mentioned? Although I do think Leona would’ve done something foolish regardless, something sparked within him at Malleus getting the special treatment. This, and Crowley enlists the help of Yuu and Grim on investigating who is behind the accidents at NRC.

In Book 3, we see Crowley beginning to employ a new strategy: of doing nothing. Haha, it doesn’t sound like him setting up plans, does it? But ancient war strategies valued “doing nothing” when necessary for a reason. Azul’s schemes were something Crowley could’ve easily prevented, but instead, he made a contract with Azul that ensured the survival of Mostro Lounge AND forced the students to take action themselves. Crowley mentioned to Jack and Yuu that he made an arrangement with Azul on releasing all the students from last year by letting Azul continue running the Lounge. But that’s exactly why he asked Jack and Yuu to put a stop to it this year: Crowley knew if he tried to make another deal with Azul, Azul would likely ask for something more- like information or potentially even an ability, neither of which Crowley could risk happening.

Book 4 is a continuation of this strategy, but it’s a lot more sly and dangerous than people think. He left Yuu and Grim almost completely isolated, with no choice but to go to Scarabia. He basically left them in a lions den! It didn’t help that he never answered the phone when Yuu needed help. And Scarabia being so isolated during winter break was the perfect time for Jamil to initiate his plans. However, it goes further back than that.

Jamil would’ve been a likely candidate for Housewarden, if it weren’t for Crowley enlisting Kalim instead for money and connections. I find it interesting that Crowley uses the same type of language that Jamil despises: “you’re a clever student. Surely you understand what that means.” And this is a post for the future, but ever since then, Jamil has been trying to dig up information about Crowley, possibly to blackmail him into making him the housewarden instead. When he “hypnotized” Azul, the first thing he asked was if Azul had information on Dire Crowley. Hmm…

Book 5 is an interesting and subtler case. VDC conveniently has both Vil Schoenheit and Neige LeBlanche, but I doubt Crowley had anything to do with Neige… *eyes his vacation outfit with a crow and an apple*

…ANYWAY, what Crowley was directly involved in was putting the dance group into Ramshackle Dorm together. Basically a drama in the making haha, with tensions rising amongst the group. But I don’t think this was his main plan at all! After all, Vil’s Overblot had very little to do with the drama with him vs Epel. It took Vil to nearly murder Neige to succumb to his frustrations and guilt. What I do think is interesting how several people, including Rook and Malleus mentions that the barrier in the Coliseum was so strong that NO ONE outside would’ve been able to help. Overblotted!Vil could’ve killed the entire group and help was never coming in the first place.

Isn’t that suspicious? Rook claims this barrier is for exams, but why is it THAT powerful that it can hold against an OVERBLOT, where magic is casted without qualms? Especially when considering that Vil is an incredibly powerful mage? Hmm. Although I will admit that the set-up is questionable, I think Crowley had something to do with the barrier. After all, in the manga, he casts a barrier that’s able to withstand Overblot Riddle’s attacks.

Book 6 is another tough one, just because Crowley has little to no involvement in the book…or so it seems. My theory gets even more wobbly here, but Crowley had to be doing something behind the scenes. He was taken away by STYX FOR WEEKS. Called before parliament, and came back without a single punishment. And isn’t that strange just how long he was gone? Furthermore, he knows about STYXs operations and how the Shroud family/Idia runs it, information that not even Trein knew. Additionally, he knew STYX would be coming to attack the school, and surrendered without a question. Although his involvement in the book is little, I think he did a lot of set up and arrangements with STYX behind the scenes, which may have included accepting Idia to NRC in the first place. Book 6 is also the first time we hear about the theory that *someone else* is behind the Overblots.

Book 7 gets even stranger with Lilia’s sudden loss of magic and dropping out. He says he can no longer cast a simple spell…but I don’t think it’s possible for a Fae to lose *all* their magic in such a short span of time naturally. Additionally, isn’t it strange that he wants to go to the Land of the Red Dragons when Levan’s title implies both a Chinese and dragon relation? Why now, after more than 500 years? We still don’t know, but it’s incredibly fishy. This, and we have the possibility of MC returning home.

Isn’t it funny that the two people Malleus loves the most are threatening to leave him at the same exact time? Malleus is an incredibly fragile boy on the inside- and for all this to happen at once with NO explanation? Of course he wouldn’t take it well. Crowley is also the one to let Lilia know that the carriage is coming to pick him up- but this is strange. Have we ever heard before of an NRC carriage raking someone outside of the ceremony days? Was the carriage going to transport Lilia all the way to the Land of the Red Dragons? Does it mean Crowley knows why Lilia’s going, or is he the reason why Lilia’s leaving in such a rush?!?

Anyway. Again, Crowley is present at Malleus’s Overblot, something that’s only happened once before with Riddle. I’d like to point out that compared to Riddle, where he was quick to evacuate the students, he permitted the ATTACK against Malleus. Hm??? Did he know that there was no chance of escape?

I’d like to know what he’s dreaming about when Malleus cast the spell on him too… but I think everything I mentioned is incredibly suspicious. It’s a bit sad that Crowley’s main “attack” takes the form of isolation. Riddle is alone when the others call him out, Yuu and Grim are isolated in Scarabia, Malleus finds the people he loves are suddenly being taken away from him…

Maybe I’m just being angsty haha, but I wonder if Crowley weaponizes isolation because he knows first hand at just how harmful the loneliness is.

[mediocreanomaly]

NESTING? PLS 😭 like ARE WE CONNECTED SOMEHOW this is so good

i have drowsy knives purring himself to sleep stuck in my head now--THIS IS LITERAL GOLD 😭 it would take a v special s/o to pick up the slight nuances of his emotions too n he'd be head over heels 🥺

but nesting instincts 🥺 please for the love of everything knives elaborate i i i wanna know all there is to know ab this man 🥺👉👈

n maybe vashy seperately too?? 🥴

Authors Note: Turned this into a full post because I'm procrastinating my drabbles anyways lmao this is going to give away a teeny tiny bit of my uncanny Vash post I'm making but I love talking about the Twins and their less than human instincts

Savern Twins Nesting HC's

Knives

•Knives is surprisingly the less embarrassed of the twins about nesting instincts, this is solely based on the fact that he doesn't see his plant qualities to be anything to be ashamed about, it's just another thing that sets him apart from humans

•Although, no one (besides you) knows about Knives nest. You may wonder how the two points can co-exist but that because a Plant's nest is supposed to be somewhere secure and safe. So while he's not embarrassed that he has a nest, he's not going to openly talk about it and risk giving away someone trying to get a peek of it (not that he really openly talks about anything)

•Knives nest is big, he had a bed custom made that's larger than a kings but circular and with plush raised walls so it feels not secure and less in the open. He's collected various blankets and pillows that fill the empty space so that he can bundle up under them, all of it is white because he refuses to let his nest look ugly or disorganized

•He's a perfectionist too so he spends a lot of time organizing and reorganizing his nest. Every time he gets a new blanket or pillow to add he has to redo the whole thing to make sure it's in the perfect spot or else he refuses to sleep in it

•Now Knives doesn't have to sleep much like he doesn't have to eat, but sleeping is something enjoys. He stresses about his plans a lot even if he doesn't show it outwardly. What better way to destress than napping in his nest?

•Whenever he decides to officially make you his mate (yes he calls it that, what else is he supposed to call it? Everything else sounds too human) all his instincts will scream at him to burrow into his nest

•For awhile you'll actually be hard pressed to even be allowed out of the nest, because why would you want to leave? As your mate Knives needs to keep you safe, and where's the safest place in the world? His safest place in the world, so please stop trying to leave the nest- you're hungry? fine he'll bring you food that you can eat in the nest

•I honestly don't think Independents hold body heat because their sisters live in water, which is one of many reasons they nest. It's also why Nai will drag you in with him when he wants to sleep so he can bum off your body heat. That's when when you learn he can purr (yeah thats right Plants purr propaganda) naps like this are the best. It's hard to stay awake when he's got you cuddled under blankets, gentle rumbles lulling you asleep

•After awhile you'll be allowed out so long as you are by his side or being escorted by Legato, or atleast unless you get pregnant

•If Knives manages to get you pregnant...you are banished to the nest again. It's not so bad though, besides he likes you like this. All round and full of his child, surrounded by plush comforters and pillows that cradle your form. At this point he won't leave your side unless he has to, if his instincts were bad before then they are haywire now, he stays curled up with you because theres no way you'd be able to defend yourself in a state like this, it's his job as your mate to keep you and his unborn child safe and sound, tucked away from the rest of the world

•When the baby is born it's where you'll spend most your time too, I mean...c'mon think about it. Your little one all tucked against you and Nai curled protectively around both of you, gentle purrs from both him and your baby as both their plant markings glow ever so slightly? If there's such thing as heaven this is it

•Knives has purposely made his nest large enough to hold his growing family, so no matter how many children you have you'll all get to curl up in the nest to find comfort or just to sleep.

•I think unfortunately once the children hit a certain age they are kicked out of the nest lol, it's more reserved for a Plants mate and young ones, so starting at maybe teen age it's time for them to make their own nest

•This isn't to say they aren't ever allowed in at all though. If Knives children are in any sort of distress his instincts kick in telling him to make sure their safe so in times like that they are still allowed in, the purpose of the nest is to provide him and his family with safety and comfort so no matter what it's there waiting for you

Vash

•Vash is admittedly a bit more embarrassed about the fact that he nest

•He tries his best to blend in with humans and thinks that people might find it weird that his instincts are constantly telling him to grab every soft thing he can find and hunker down

•Not that it really matters because he's always on the run anyways, he doesn't have time to stop and nest in the first place which makes it an easy an excuse to not nest at all, so Vash doesn't have a nest...right?

•Wrong. Like I said it's instinct and even Vash can't help but begin to nest in whatever shitty motel room he's in, especially if he's had a really rough day and just wants to sleep.

•Vash's nest is...admittedly a bit more pitiful than Knives. Knives has the advantage of staying in one spot, Vash does not, so he doesn't have a single nest but more so a hastily made one consisting of anything soft he can find. old blankets, pillows, clothes, rags, and even his own coat all make up his haphazard resting place.

•When he meets you though oh boy does it make it harder to resist the urge to stay and make a nice big nest for the two of you to hide away in

•It takes awhile for you to learn of Vash's little habit because he tries really hard to hide it away. He doesn't want you to think he's weird so when he does show it to you and you don't react negativly he's shyly asking, "do you...want to get in it?"

•Please say yes, his heart can't take any other answer. After that Vash is more keen on nesting even though the two of you travel, you even buy him a couple blankets that you pack up and bring so that he has something more consistant to nest with. The two of you will arrive at the motel for the night and you sit on the bed watching as Vash sleepily mulls over the blankets, pillows, and clothes he's choosen and organses it in a satisfactory way before he weakily pulls you in with him, purring as he cuddles up to you

•If you run your hand through his hair you'll be rewarded with more purrs and him nuzzling into your hand, but don't comment on it or he'll get embarrassed and hide his face into the blankets while he pulls away

•Vash wouldn't try to get you pregnant unless it was after he dealt with his brother and at that point I think he'd have a more permanent nest. Whether that's on Ship 3 or your own little home he's finally got a spot that he knows is always there, perfect to keep you in while you grow your baby!

•Vash loves spending time in the nest, it's from a mixture of putting off his instincts so long when he was on the run and the fact he actually has a place of comfort for once that does it, so if you can't find your partner...he's most likely buried in the nest

•It's super cute though, you'll walk in the room and softly call "Vash?" and his head will peak out of the mountain of blankets eyes still half lidded with sleep and hair all messy as he says a soft "hmm?"

•This nest is still a bit more messy and it's one of those "it looks disorganized but Vash know exactly where everything is" situations, he doesn't really care about colors or anything, infact it's proably mostly blankets that other people have gifted him over the years, he feels like it tells a story

•Unlike Knives, you'll have to be the one to eventually kick the kids out of the nest once they get older because "what do you mean they can't stay in here with us? Their still our baby!" "Vash their 20" "and?"

•Vash's plant marks always appear when he's in the nest, he can't help it! It's so comforting, besides he has you here warming him up and your kids cuddled in the covers- oop he's crying, don't worry they're happy tears

After note: I hope you liked it!!! I wanted to add more stuff about you being able to read Knives but it didn't really fit so that might have to be saved for another list I'm a firm "the boys do weird but cute animal things" believer and it's my job to infect people with that propaganda

[eyobis-andthe-bunnycats]

How exactly do screen readers interact with colored text? I know it doesn’t work but like does it say theirs colored text? Or just bugs out and skips, does it crash?

Hi! Thanks for the question. I'm not a screen reader user so I can only share what I've heard. I'll tag a few blogs at the end who may be able to have a better answer. Also, if you're referring to something I've posted and are able to, you can definitely send another ask with the URL and I will be more than happy to elaborate if you need.

Colored text like gradients is where issues come up the most. The gradient, on a meta level, is made with code that applies to one or a few letters at a time which makes screen readers spell out the individual letters or sound out the short bits of same-colored text. It doing that can be annoying to listen to and can cause issues for people trying to figure out what it's saying. I haven't heard of any screen readers being able to read gradient texts well, but there might be something out there.

I've heard a few people say that their screen reader may just flat out skip any colored text and not read it at all. Also, I'm pretty sure screen readers do not say what color a text is. So if a post relies on the different colors of text for context, screen reader users who cannot see the colors will miss out on important information.

I believe @mightyoctopus has made a post about gradients and might be able to confer or add on to what I've said. @accessibleaesthetics also has talked about some plain text in the past, if I'm remembering correctly. @a-captions-blog has said a few things about colored text too, I think.

Anyone else who has more experience can add on too!

[kerrtesy]

A Heads Up

Hello everyone, I hope you all are having a great day or night, whatever time it is for y'all.

Making this post to explain and elaborate on some parts of the recent AU (Bowser's Bodyguard AU, which I'm thinking of renaming) I've been working on. This is going to cover the general story idea, overall vibe, and the games I'm covering with this along with questions I think people may have about the general au.

Don't worry I'll always have this AU tagged, so if you don't like it you can block it easily.

So as stated above this is more of a clarification post and just generally covering my plans for this AU just so people know what to expect.

So I want this AU to be around 6 to 8 main chapters, where I will see if I can combine the Paper and Mario & Luigi universes into one. The first chapter will be on the Mario Movie.

What games will you be covering?

So below are games I definitely want to cover, please note the games are listed in no particular order at the moment.

Super Paper Mario

Paper Mario Thousand Year

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

Bowser's Inside Story

Dream Team

All games are going to be rewritten within mind of the character/setup changes. I'm not a huge fan of just writing something that is a paint-by-numbers retelling of the original story; if that's your cup of tea more power too you this is not to throw any shade on that!

For both Superstar Sage and Inside Story I do want to include the side stories the remakes added.

I will say Bowser's Inside Story will be heavily rewritten and I plan on calling it "Fawful's Revenge." The two main reasons are that I'm having Luigi prevent Bowser from eating the vacuum shroom which prevents a lot of the original plot, and I just don't want to draw the inside of Bowser. I don't know what else to say here.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Games that will either be short stories or I'm torn on covering:

Super Mario 2

Mario Galaxy (combining 1 and 2)

Mario RPG

Mario Odyssey

Origami King

Mario Sunshine

Luigi's Mansion 1 & 2

Rabbids Spark of Hope

Paper Mario 64

Super Mario 2 is going to cover Luigi's history with the Shy Guys, particularly with him usurping King Wart. This one might become a full/long chapter.

Mario Galaxy is one that might become a full chapter. It depends on what I end up covering. For instance, at the moment I'm debating on whether to have a semi-character death in it. It's weird because on one hand I don't fully consider this a character death, but it also kind of is because they leave the comic at this point and this does heavily impact the cast. So I'm unsure how to fully label this yet.

Mario RPG is a game I am very intrigued by and I would like to incorporate it into the story, but I do not know the plot of the story so it is on the fence right now. I do have at least a few short comics planned for it.

Mario Odyssey is just going to be a few short comics.

Origami King is where I don't know the full plot, but I'd like to do a comic about Shroom City just for some fun world building.

Mario Sunshine I am so torn on whether it would be a full chapter or just a short. I'm going to have to see where I go with it. Whatever it becomes I do plan on calling the chapter/comic "Obligatory Beach Episode."

Luigi's Mansion I'm going to be combining the first two games. I really want this to be a full chapter, I have just been struggling to plan out a full story for it along with fitting it into the rest of the games. I do want to try, but just in case I can't I'm slapping it into this category.

I need to give Rabbids a Spark of Hope a comic or two as Luigi and Bowser have a mission in there that is solely tied to their characters called "The Brains and the Brawn" which helped me think of their setup in this.

Paper Mario 64 will be another backstory one where Luigi attempts to use the Star Rod to send him home, to mixed results.

Games I am not covering:

Please note the games listed below are NOT because I think they are bad games, it's more because I haven't played them and/or I just don't have good ideas for how to fit them into the story.

Color Splash

Sticker Star

Paper Jam

Partners in Time

For Color Splash and Sticker Star, I just don't know the full plots of these games. Though I might do the train scene that occurs in Color Splash when Mario talks to that one Shy Guy.

Paper Jam is similar to the two listed above where I just don't know the plot and I don't want to deal with the multiverse. As in this I'm trying to combine the Paper universe with the Mario and Luigi universe into one.

Partners in Time could change, but at the moment I'm counting it as not covering as I'm just using the concept and the machine E Gadd builds. It won't deal with time travel, but instead the concept of looking into someone's memories. I don't like covering time travel so I'm just skipping it. Like I said I might cover the Cobalt Star and Princess Shroob, but I don't have a lot of ideas going for this so it might just be skipped entirely with her and her sister as villains.

Will there be shipping?

No, I'm sorry if you were hoping for anything. The most there will be is probably implied Peach x Mario, but that's it for the moment. If any of this changes I'll give a heads up just so no one is caught off guard. But romance isn't really the focus of this comic nor do I want to write romance. Listen just trust me on this you don't want me writing romance, I'm not good at it, this is for the best.

Just in case I am also just going to flat out say this so no one gets mad or feels misled when reading these comics. There will be no Bowser x Luigi in this story. Listen it's a funny and shockingly mostly wholesome ship, but it's not happening here. So I'm sorry if you were hoping for it, but I'm not doing it.

There might be some one-sided Luigi x Daisy (honestly thinking about doing Daisy x Waluigi because their Mario Party team name is Awkward Date and that is hilarious), and/or one-sided Luigi x Peasley, but in this Bowser will be majorly crushing on Peach. Bowser and Luigi are just platonic co-parenting the koopalings (think the Dungeons and Dragon movie with Sofina and Edgin). I just wanted to state this here so everyone is on the same page.

Quick side note: This isn't about shipping, but character-wise Donkey Kong and anything related to his games will only be in the first chapter. I struggle to write him and I don't know how to involve him in the other storylines so I'm just gonna have him chill in his kingdom. He will probably be making a reappearance in Dream Team as that is where I plan to end the comic.

What is the overall story/vibe of the comic?

The main story is going to focus on adventure and learning to love yourself. That's really the main premise. The story itself is going to focus on Luigi learning how to like himself for who he is and reconnecting with Mario and others while going on adventures. The big overall conflict will be the Chaos Heart itself. In this I really want to play around with the concept of the Chaos Heart and what if it didn't just go away after Super Paper Mario. I don't want to say too much about it at the moment as I don't want to spoil that part of the plot.

I feel bad because with the initial comic/sketches of this au, I made it seem a lot more dramatic/angsty than it will be. Sure there's going to be some drama but it really is more focused on the fun of the world, the adventures the characters go on, and the friendships that form out of them. I swear it's not as angsty (or I guess edgy, not sure if it was or not??) as the original comic made it seem so I apologize if that is what you were looking for.

Why I am calling Luigi Mr. L in this?

So in this, I am having Mr. L be more of his 'work mode.' It is designed to be more of a persona he puts on so he can do his job more effectively, but it is also still a part of his personality. I want to include more of his temper which is often portrayed through animations in Mario & Luigi (you know his stomping tantrum animations). Along with a few other notes, like how in the first Luigi's Mansion you kind of find some pretty sassy/sarcastic remarks through the pictures he takes with the Game Boy Horror, along with some of his dialogue in the Paper Mario games. I also want to play into him having a bit of an ego as well (playing more into the Mr. L in Super Paper Mario).

However, at the core, I do want to keep him a more socially awkward, easily frightened, and a very kind person outside of the mask/persona. At the end of the day he really just wants what is best for his friends and family. And that he is always ready to help someone even if he is scared out of his mind (though he might complain about not getting paid, or take a bit of convincing when it comes to dealing with ghosts.) I am also keeping the self-esteem issues, more so dealing with the fact he feels like all he has done is stumble through life making one mistake after another, and never being enough for the people he cares about in his life.

What are the inspirations for this?

Ghibli movies, particularly Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. I love their world building and how they handle character stories.

Magical Girl animes, I cannot stress enough how much the masks and his powers/setup are based on the magical girl shows I grew up on.

Majora's Mask, I want to do quite a bit with the masks themselves in this setup. I'm not going to elaborate much on them yet, because I prefer to reveal how they function in the comics than through this ramble.

Funnily enough, the character design that kicked off this au, or at least Mr. L's design was Death from Puss in Boots the Last Wish. I can explain, it was his cloak and his whistle. I've been playing through Super Paper Mario and I kept wondering what if they incorporated references to Luigi's Mansion more like maybe putting in his whistling, or going with a more horror aesthetic for him. Or even goes more into the concept of shadows as well, playing not only his ties with ghosts but also how Luigi feels like he is constantly in Mario's shadow. And when I saw the Mario Movie and that he was captured by the Shy Guys I was like hey wait a minute, I can do something with that.

So this story is just me playing around with those thoughts. Don't get me wrong though, him building robots to fight you along with the absolute banger of a jazz theme, and his cocky/petty attitude I have no notes and I like how he is done in the game.

So yeah this pretty much covers everything, if you read all of this kudos, I know this was long, but I hope I clarified what this comic is going to be like. Though please note that I have a job and I'm going through school, so this is going to take a bit to get going. I'm still writing out the base story, and I like to have one or two chapters fully drawn before I start posting it. I do plan on posting some of the short comics and doodles while working on the main writing.

Thank you for reading my rambles. I hope you all have a good one! : D

[rriavian]

So I'm sure this point has been made already but something I really enjoy about the Corinthian (specifically in the show as I haven't read the comics) is that the entirety of season one is just him finding increasingly elaborate ways to avoid interacting with Dream.

And I love it because it's the smartest thing he could have done.

Desire technically does something similar but that's a different point. Typically the 'villain' plots to have at least one moment to gloat over their fallen enemy. Arguably we should have seen this in episode 1, once Dream is trapped, because it's the perfect moment for the Corinthian to saunter down to the basement and be like 'haha I've just told Burgess all of your secrets and I'm going to leave you here in this glass cage I told him to build'.

But the Corinthian doesn't do that.

For an antagonist that enjoys indulging in his vices the Corinthian shows impressive impulse control when he chooses to. He keeps away from what is perhaps the biggest temptation of all.

There is so much I could say about that specifically, but I might come back to it another time. The point is that even though there shouldn't really have been any risk the Corinthian leaves as fast as he can, hoping to never come back, and while I'm sure he felt tempted to taunt his creator he never does. Then when Dream is free the first thing he does is try and get someone else to confront him, and when that doesn't work he follows Ethel to where John is. But the Corinthian only interacts with him enough to make sure he's on his way to the ruby, doesn't go with him, because he's not interested in getting caught up in the battle himself.

And the Corinthian doesn't even want to make it obvious he's helping at all.

Yet he's still prepared. Though the Corinthian only acts when Dream is free he still knew exactly where to find Ethel, who she was, what she'd stolen. That confrontation may have sent him back to the Dreaming (arguably the first time the Corinthian indulges a little of his urge to taunt though he only says he'll fight Dream if he comes after him, not that he's already making a move) but Ethel's amulet doesn't really do much to slow him down.

It's a near miss for sure.

It could have put him directly in Dream's path if timings had been different but the Corinthian doesn't lose his cool. In fact, as soon as he realises Dream isn't in his realm he slyly starts seeing how much information Lucienne might tell him. Her neutral greeting already made it clear she wasn't outright suspicious of him. It's a great scene!

(Again I could ramble about it.)

The Corinthian knows that he doesn't have the power to defeat Dream himself but he's smart enough to consider what else he can do. He knew enough about how to hypothetically keep Dream trapped to the point of advising Burgess on it, had obviously thought about it, and crucially ended up being right. Diving into the second half of the season would make this post way way too long, but the Corinthian is still trying to play things from behind the scenes, figuring out who else he can use to attack Dream.

He spends the whole season trying to stay hidden and at no point did I think it made him seem weak.

Alongside all else he is the Corinthian is shown to be methodical, patient and calculated. Realistic. It's a really nice demonstration of character for them both - for him and Dream - the Corinthian understands how powerful Dream is and never lets himself forget it, which means we as the audience never forget it. The inequality in power is built into the story, he constantly treats Dream as the biggest threat, someone who could wipe him out of play if he revealed himself. It makes for a very satisfying antagonist, one who actually seems to use their brain, because the Corinthian knows exactly what he's up against.

And it shows how terrifying Dream is to his enemies.

Because he's the antagonist of the Corinthian's story. One the Corinthian refuses to give in to, rejecting every opportunity he might have had to manipulate his way back into Dream's good graces, to return to the Dreaming with the rest. While I do think the Corinthian believed he wouldn't be forgiven no matter what, I still love how he stands by his own convictions, and though there are similarities with Gault I find his reasoning more complex and compelling. However we might consider the morality of both characters, however we might weigh the merits of their perspectives, from the Corinthian's point of view Dream is very much the villain. And he isn't an easy one to defeat.

The best chance anyone has against him is to run, to hide, maybe try and delay him with a trap if circumstances permit, but you better hope he has better things to do then give chase.

The Corinthian doesn't try to fight him.

Instead he does everything he can to stay out of Dream's way right up until there are no other options.

[exo-raskreia]

More on Utahime's potential in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc

WARNING: DELULU IDEAS + MANGA SPOILERS

So, GOJO HAS RISEN 🥳 (potentially). We'll see in the next chapter or so 😥. There are several ways this could've happened. In this post, however, I will mostly focus on Utahime.

(My reaction to chapter 260 at end of post)

Chapter 259 once again showcased flashbacks of the other characters strategizing against Sukuna, except for Gojo, Utahime, Gakuganji & Ijichi. At this point, one's inclined to believe that team was up to something during the time-skip. It's getting too obvious now.

In this post, I talked about Utahime's potential role in Gojo's revival and/or maybe have another equally important role in this arc.

While some ideas still stand, I thought of some others.

• One of my delulu theories was that Utahime & team could summon Sukuna with his 20th finger to a new vessel (maybe back to Yuuji) or maybe do something else with it, & I just got the idea that what if it's with Nobara's help? With Todo's return & the strange imagery in that recent MV for the opening of the Phantom Parade mobile game, "Avant" by Eve, which potentially foreshadows Gojo's return, & even shows Nobara's Straw Doll CT, Sukuna's new domain, etc., could it be Nobara will return as well? Could she use her Resonance on Sukuna's 20th finger, as it was revealed in 259 that Yuuji's & Sukuna's souls are still connected? (As of right now, it's possible Yuuta may be storing the finger inside Rika, so I wonder about the retrieval of it...)

Another possibility is what if they were doing something with the Prism Realm? That MV showed a bunch of those boxes with creepy eyes, like Sukuna's... What if Gojo's "special training" that he mentioned in 223 had to do with that? Like, maybe his team found a way to train in the box, as time flies differently? Or they were figuring out a way to seal Sukuna? In that same MV, we see paper seals on the boxes, so what if Utahime, as a shrine maiden, made them? Is it possible the team found or created more than one Prism, or something similar?

One thing that worries me is that the only ones who know about Yaga's secret CT are Gakuganji & Gojo. It hasn't been brought up again so... Were they planning something with that? Related to Gojo or maybe Nobara? I don't like the implications, though...

Because of that lingering connection between Sukuna & Yuuji, it seems like Sukuna was able to be a step ahead of everyone due to seeing/sensing all the sorcerers' plans that Yuuji had been a part of during the time-skip. Now, we know that Todo had kept his comeback secret from Yuuji so as not to alert Sukuna. Which could mean...that Utahime's CT was also kept a secret from Yuuji.

Sukuna still doesn't know about it. We know that Yuuji never knew about it while harboring Sukuna, & it seems that this was kept from him even during the time-skip? So, it means that he had no idea what Gojo was planning for his initial attack nor what else he was potentially doing during the time-skip.

Was this Gojo's idea? Did he just want to show off their 200% Hollow Purple? Is it because Utahime is a trump card? And/or is it to protect Utahime? (oof, Gojo, if that's so, we see u~ 👀)

To add to this, we got some recent content that makes me wonder if something regarding Utahime's character may actually happen. This is all mere wishful thinking speculation, of course.

• In the upcoming JJK exhibition (summer 2024), Gege is releasing some rough drafts from the manga & will apparently elaborate on his creative process when making them. One of them is the "You cryin'?" scene from chapter 65.

Out of all his rough drafts, he chose this one as one of the main ones for promo... 👀

In the original text here, Gojo said, "You're weak, so don't go on business trips too often." /OR "You're weak, so don't push yourself too hard."

(translation varies. Here, here, & here for further context)

The text seems to imply that Gojo didn't want Utahime to go so far away for missions (she was 3 hours away by train from Tokyo), or that she shouldn't take on such dangerous missions. Is it because he wouldn't be able to get to her sooner if she needed help, since at the time, he couldn't teleport yet? 👀

Gege changed it to "I came to save you" in the official release. Why, though? We could still tell Gojo was worried for Utahime due to him leaving the supervisor & his teammates behind to go save her from the mansion, forgetting to put up the curtain, & using Blue (which at the time, was exhausting to use) while managing to leave her unscathed. Did Gege think Gojo's concern for Utahime would be too obvious with the original text, though? 😏

• The characters got some updates on their profiles for the upcoming 4th character popularity poll. However, while most of the others got some slight changes, Utahime's only reiterates that she's a very good singer.

(Used Google Translate)

(We wish Gege would just give us more info on her but oh well 😮‍💨...)

Even this article finds the brief description strange.

Why did Gege bring this up again? Why not simply say she's a very good dancer instead, as we now know? He had said in the 2021 fanbook that her singing is a huge part of her CT, but we have yet to see it in action (unless the chanting for her 120% counted?). Some people had already lost hope that we'd get it, so is he implying that it's still something to look forward to? That her VA, Yoko Hikasa's singing talent, won't actually go to waste in the future? That Utahime still has a role to play? 👀

• On April 2, in order to commemorate Vol. 26 of the manga (containing infamous chapter 236), Shounen Jump uploaded a lofi video to their official YouTube channel in which we see edited versions of Gojo's memories. These mysterious edits have made people theorize that Gojo's memories have become a distorted mess in his brain, which is implied to be damaged in his (potentially) current state between life & death.

Utahime & Shoko appear with Gojo in one of the images.

Both girls have been theorized to help bring back Gojo. Utahime seems to be the focal point here, however, while Shoko is more in the background. Her appearance is that of her & Gojo's phone call scene, which had lasted 3min 41s in the anime (341, guys). Why is Utahime more prominent to him here, instead of his former teammate & closest friend?

(Full delulu) Could this be foreshadowing that Utahime will be the one to call Gojo back from the airport? That she will use her singing to reach him? Lure him like a siren or something? Or, like I said before in my aforementioned delulu post, does her singing have healing abilities?

Got the idea from this post that in the edit, it's like Gojo's heading (north) towards the girls, & since Utahime is at the center (of Gojo's distorted memory, mind u 😌), could it be implying she really will be the key to help guide him back? While Shoko is busy healing him?

AND SO...onto chapter 260:

GOJO HAS RISEN?! 🤩

(Gege, u better not be playing... Sukuna better not be hallucinating or smth...😑)

Right now, the Binding Vow theory seems the most popular, & while I don't like it, it's still possible. However, would this discredit the theory that Shoko healed him? And/or that Utahime buffed her? Maybe not. Shoko did say in 258 that the efficacy of her RCT can depend on the person's body/CE being healed. So, would Gojo have had to give up something, like his right eye, in order for Shoko's RCT to work, in case his CE was rejecting hers? 🤔😓

Gege will explain what's going on in the next chapters. As Gojo's return does seem rather sudden & random, it's possible it may not be official YET, but it doesn't mean it won't happen. So if this is a fluke, I do believe Gojo will return at a crucial moment.

Whether it was/will be thru a BV or with outside help, we will see. Either way, this also means that Utahime is coming back!! We'll finally see her again!! Where there is Gojo, there is Utahime. WE'RE GETTING THAT FLASHBACK, TRUST. Incredible how Gege timed this so closely with last year's chapter 222 in May, in which Gojo gets unsealed, & then in 223, Utahime reappears after a long absence WITH him. WILL GEGE DO THIS AGAIN? OH, MAN-

Ok, I know I'm fully delulu & Gege may go against all our expectations in the next chapter or so, so I'll try to keep them low. We'll see... He's not off the hook yet... 😕😫

[brucewaynehater101]

Inspired by "Jason adopts Tim" fics on AO3, prompts by puppetmaster13u & others on here and that one AO3 fic where because Bruce told Jason pre-death he can take whatever is his and Robin is his it's fair game to nab Tim and the AO3 News Article fic where Red Hood decides the best revenge is tricking the world into thinking he's the Third Robin's dad, some of your posts—

—and my love for inhuman folks

Jason resurrects and he isn't human anymore. Dealer's pick on what he is precisely but he has become much more wary of just how fragile the lives of humans are

How fragile his own life may still be

+ he's got trauma piled on top of his fresh instincts and confusion on what happened after his death

Thus when carving his place as Red Hood, he is more vigilant in making Crime Alley a place where people don't just survive, but live and maybe even thrive.

Putting down threats like predators for good in death. But doing so too much will get Batman breathing down his neck

So he takes some inspiration from Batman after his death and before Tim to inflict some fates worse than death, and rubs it in the Bat's face whenever they face of against each other. "It's not killing B"

He tries—and due to trauma—fails to bring himself to kill Joker. Which crushes him with every crime the Joker (that he in a fucked up sense allowed) commits onwards

Onto the next best thing, acquiring wealth and asking for public donations all over Gotham to build up a sufficient bounty on Joker's head to draw in the most competent killers of them all

Whoever can kill and bring the Joker's remains as evidence gets the money, and the bounty price builds up over time

He'll even add more to the bounty time to time

Jason overworks himself on his Crime Alley to the point his own men compare him to a more benevolent Batman, one who doesn't need an emotional support child

"Could you elaborate on that? I had to spend time out of Gotham for a time and don't know what happened during that span of time"

Batman gave Robin to another

But he didn't revoke Jason's ownership, did he?

Humans are oh so fragile

He knows from experience

In classic not-human logic, that makes the new Baby Bird his now, no? Especially with Batman so incompetent as to depend on him

Titans Tower is not found with Tim bloody and broken

Titans Tower is found without Timothy Drake, and countless leads implicating several yet all seemingly frame job dead-ends

Penguins and Red Hood and Luthor. Joker and Two-Face and beyond

Red Hood is found in a meeting room by his men with a Third Robin—the Robin the city owes guilt and more to—in the Crimelords arms

"B always said that I could take what's mine whenever I want, and he never said it never extended to his . . . My kid. He's mine now . . . "

Words spreads in Gotham City. It spreads indeed

It's fitting, it's fitting. Inheritor of another's name, this Robin, this Red Hood is

Joker Junior and every other tragedy only solidifies Jason's resolve to keep and care for the kid

It's funny. Jason has barely felt human since he woke up from death, since he started overworking himself for his people

Now, with a baby brother in his life? With somebody to care for under his roof? Those domestic times he swore were killed alongside the Second Robin?

This is bliss

Jason feels a weight off his chest when his Merry Men sends a message that the Joker is dead, and the bounty has been sent to the killer

When Jason discovers the Fourth Robin, too dead and revived? when he finds her alive at all? Girl is getting snatched and doted on, especially if he finds her after she's had her baby

And I wouldn't be surprised if he tracked down her kid so she could have raise her baby herself and provided all the resources and support nessecery for it

[Daughter and grandchild acquired!]

When Damian comes and the Robin mantle is passed down onto him— yoinked by Jason again!

Damian is fuming because he wasn't told that this was part of being Robin!

=======

"If you're right that Batman is trapped in the timestream, that everyone is wrong about him being dead, before presenting this to the Justice League I think this should be a family discussion.

"Because I know otherwise I'd do everything in my power to let him die for real. Ensure nobody is the wiser that Bat could've been saved.

"And at least one of the Bats will disagree with me. And this is a scenario where everybody needs to have their input accounted for."

Oooh! All of this is fantastic, but I especially love the end.

The end combines a healthier approach to the BruceQuest with a trope I love: leaving Bruce in the timestream because fuck that guy. Regardless of what they decide, I'm glad Jason at least indicated it was an option.

I wonder where Dick and Cass are in all of this. I'm also curious about how Jason would react to the We Are Robins movement. Does he adopt every Robin or just those acknowledged by Batman?

[uwmspeccoll]

Typography Tuesday

Fleurons or Printers' Flowers have been a prominent element of typographic tradition at least since the early 16th century, especially those of designer-punchcutter Robert Granjon. They became less used over the 17th century, but were revived in the mid-18th century when Pierre Simon Fournier introduced an entirely new style of printers' flowers. Soon after, their use enhanced as a fashion for classical typography changed the concept of type decoration at the end of the 18th century. The revival of fine typographic design in the late 19th century spurred a proliferation of new fleuron designs in the 20th century that has not abated to this day.

Fleurons may be combined in innumerable ways to create ornate and intricate typographic patterns. Today we show a few of those patterns from Fleurons, Their Place in History & in Print, written, designed, printed, and bound in 1988 by English type and printing enthusiast Mark Arman at his Workshop Press in Thaxted, Essex, in an edition of 170 copies signed by the author/printer. This book is another from the recent of from the estate of our late friend Dennis Bayuzick. Of printing fleurons, Arman writes:

. . . they can be grouped in a variety of combinations: elaborate arrangements are possible, and great enjoyment may be had exploring their possibilities. When I realised all this I began a collection of type decorations which, in the past seven years, has grown considerably. Part of the enjoyment has been finding specific designs. . . . All my 19th century decorations have come from old printing houses which have ceased to operate, or have gone over to litho, so they make a very mixed assortment. . . . [These] are illustrated in the following pages and the text gives a brief account of the craftsmen who created the design.

View other posts on decorative type patterns by Mark Arman.

View other books from the collection of Dennis Bayuzick.

View more Typography Tuesday posts.

[botanybulbasaur]

Schneider is SICILIAN, not Italian. YOU ARE WRITING HER WRONG.

Yes, this post is directed towards YOU, fan fiction authors!! And— yes, I will admit, it sounds a little confusing, but I’ll elaborate.

Schneider is an immigrant from Sicily, which, in all due respects to everybody who writes her speaking standard Italian, HAS ITS OWN LANGUAGE!! (Or dialect..? Aye aye aye, I am not awake enough to perpetuate one side or another of a centuries-old argument.)

For more information, you can go to a website somewhere on the interwebs (like this one!: https://mangolanguages.com/resources-articles/sicilian-and-italian-whats-the-difference/) or simply take a look at Schneider’s wiki page!

So, sí, Reverse 1999 officially makes the distinguishment here: her mother tongue is Sicilian!

The next time you pick up your keyboard (or.. phone, if that’s your thing?) to write a fic, stay away from the Italian google translate screen— as tempting as it may be!— and go to a website like Glosbe instead to use the Sicilian translator there; given you’re trying to write a vulnerable moment where she expresses herself in the first language she’s ever learned to.

I apologize if anything in this post is overly fired-up or aggressive. My family (particularly my grandfather) have been looked at like they were insane when they spoke Neapolitan in the middle of Rome, so the distinguishment between Italian and its sister languages is very important to me— as well as other Italian fans of the game, I’m sure.

That’s all for this post! Happy writing :3

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

ON THE TOPIC OF BARNABY. as well as his relationship with Wally.

So. To kick this off - Riv (@funonion) and I were Speculating, and they introduced me to the johari window:

They put Barnaby in the “facade” section, and I entirely agree. To quote them;

“So he’s Wally’s guide, right? He’s the “knowledgeable” one of the two and is always the one teaching him new things. And you know, it’s one thing if you’re just teaching him how to laugh or how to tell a joke. But.

Clown has given us two doors. One says that Barnaby understands Wally in a way the rest of the neighborhood doesn’t, and is willing to do his dirty work so to speak. The other says that their friendship was not a natural occurring thing and had to be enforced repeatedly within the show. HOW THAT’S BEING ENFORCED IS ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY but it is worth it to note.

What is Barnaby willing to keep? What is he willing to bury for his little buddy? I can’t say anything definitively yet, but the fact that I even have to ask is telling. The class clown archetype is usually used as a way to cover up for something else a character might be experiencing”

And my response, (I won’t directly quote because I have little things in the phrasing & elaboration to add / tweak );

Barnaby being a Comic Relief Character immediately raised so many alarms in my head. I love comic relief characters. They’re always so fucked up in one way or another, and Barnaby is almost certainly SO inauthentic. He’s wearing a comedy mask just as opaque as Wally’s own mask. In everything we’ve seen about him so far he’s either Teaching Wally, wisecracking/joking, or… pretty much nothing else. We got that moment of concern in audio 14-14, but that doesn’t reveal anything beyond genuine care for Wally.

Comedic characters have the best disguises. Their poker faces & ability to deflect is always top tier [and practiced], and just look at comedy-focused actors and entertainers - so many of them have severe issues, either with their mental health or life. From what i’ve observed both in that aspect & with fictional characters, they play it off & work hard to entertain/deflect [one in the same] right up until the end. Sometimes it’s a coping mechanism. Usually it’s both. If they laugh loud enough and make people think they’re lighthearted fools w/ nothing underneath, no one will look any deeper and thus they’re “safe”. 

& I’m a little suspicious that Barnaby’s red/orange/yellow spots aren’t naturally those colors. While yes, he could be (in-universe) designed that way to echo Ms. Beagle, there’s a strong possibility that that’s not it. What if he paints them to feel a connection to her, or it’s a physical manifestation of Barnaby covering up his insecurities/issues - what if it’s part of him striving to convince the world that he is what he paints himself as. 

The laidback funnyguy with a loving mom and not a problem in the world. 

And I mean, Barnaby claims to be a natural blue and I believe him! But the other colors? I’m doubtful

(I was going to include the Cast As Lil Kids Designs in this since Barnaby has all blue spots, but given how early in 2021 it was posted and how there seem to be little discrepancies from the ~official~ designs, I don’t want to provide it as evidence.)

& on the topic of Wally and Barnaby’s relationship being both real and not - disclaimer, this conversation happened before my Updated Thoughts On Them post, so there may be some minor rephrasing here from what I originally said - I’m sure that the relationship started out as inauthentic. Wally was assigned Barnaby as a best friend and technically vice versa, but I don’t doubt for a second that it became real to some extent. Clown wouldn’t treat their relationship outside of “canon” WH stuff the way that he does if they weren’t actually friends. They’ve said that Wally & Barnaby would be friends in every universe (which melts my heart <3 platonic soulmates my beloved <3), so then I have to agree with Riv. what WILL Barnaby do for Wally? I touched on this in the Milk Theory, but especially if Barnaby prides himself on “knowing Wally better than anything else”, what would Barn do to preserve that?

This relates to another conversation we had - Barnaby possibly having abandonment issues. It’s such a choice to have him of all characters be explicitly stated as an orphan. That and while every other Neighbor with a mentioned family have a somewhat large one (Howdy and his gajillion relatives, Julie and her three siblings, Poppy and her crowded tree [note: Eddie has a mentioned mother, but that info is tenuous and who knows if there are other Dears]), Barnaby has also explicitly stated that Ms. Beagle is his only family. That’s it. And farm life can’t be a sociable way to grow up, not with all the chores he must have had and how rural he might have grown up. Barnaby jokes that Home is the “Big Apple”, which could just be a joke - but jokes often come from a place of truth, and Home might be the most populated area Barnaby has lived in. Who’s to say!

Either way, Barnaby was orphaned one way or another, and I don’t doubt that it weighs on him. Especially if  his birth parents really did abandon him. That added to a possible life of loneliness… I wonder if he’s latched onto Wally emotionally, which would hit all the painful places if it turns out that my “Barnaby is more attached to Wally than Wally is to Barnaby” theory has merit. Abandonment issues could also strongly back the apparent walls he’s plastered over with circus tent fabric

Back to Barnaby & Wally: the fact that, at present, Barnaby and Wally seem to have the best disguises / strongest masks. That. looking at 14-14, i suspect that Barnaby is excellent at keeping his up, but as soon as Wally’s mask cracks, so does Barnaby’s. 

And then there’s the side of their dynamic that we could look at - it seems to be a very multifaceted relationship. The way that Barnaby genuinely cares yet in the 00 Halloween audio Wally was left off to the side and Barnaby was just “checking on him” while socializing (then again, this could be part of Barnaby understanding Wally & respecting his space / Wally wanting a break from that socialization). Barnaby is patient with Wally and yet he seems to sometimes treat Wally as his sidekick / let him fade into the background and yet Barnaby kept checking in on Wally during the 14 bug audios (this last one I could tie into the abandonment issues theory). 

Then there’s how Barnaby calls Wally kid & can tend to treat him like one despite both of them being in the same age group. The way that all of this could, in a way, relate to the infantilization of autistic people (no matter how well-meaning or unintentional) & internalized ableism. 

Note: Riv pointed out that Barnaby does seem to be doing the best with what he has, and that this can connect to the Johari Window’s blind spot / unknown. 

I do agree with this wholeheartedly! And I have to mention that - and making a Very educated guess here - the interactions we’ve seen take place in the very late 60s / very early 70s, so Barnaby’s behavior towards Wally is actually pretty fucking stellar given the time period. We can’t expect him to be perfect or do everything / say everything right. That would be boring I think! And one thing I deeply appreciate about the Neighbors & their dynamics is that they feel like real layered people, not cardboard cutouts being perfect caricatures of what people are “supposed” to be like.

Riv also presented this:

We likely are going to reach a point where Wally asks Barnaby something that he can’t / doesn’t want to / won’t answer. And like.. Ok. This is a slight tangent but I swear it’s related! When I first discovered WH and learned the Wally basics, I wondered two things.

Are we going to watch Wally “discover” new emotions? Because he certainly has them. Clown has said that Wally only ever feels happy, and a lot of people took that to mean that Wally can’t feel anything else. I don’t think we should take that answer at face value, because. I mean. Look at the project & creator we’re talking about. Layers, guys. Indirect direct answers. I think that Clown meant that Wally only ever feels happy in the Neighborhood because he has no reason to feel any negative emotion. Everything is as it should be. Until it isn’t - and I think that’s where he’s going to have to struggle with new emotions as he encounters them through new situations/events unfolding as the “story” starts to deteriorate. We’ve actually seen this a little bit - in Wally’s record audios (i believe the chronological second to last?), the way he says “Let Me In” so insistently. That’s definitely not a positive emotion being expressed. 

How will the topic of death be handled - because it will be handled, it’s stated in the project warnings. I was wondering this even before I read the list, because I was presented with a blank slate puppet character and so went “oh fuck, this dude doesn’t know about death, does he?” Obviously I wanted to know how that would go. I want to know how it Will go! 

How would Barnaby explain emotions that Wally doesn’t know how to convey? How would Barnaby explain death in a way that Wally would understand - given that Barnaby (& all the Neighbors sans Wally) knows what death is  - and would Barnaby be willing to explain such a thing? I have a feeling we may find out.

And in a way, I suspect that if none of them know, Wally will find out himself and have to process it without help. But then again, how can something die if it was never really alive in the first place? Unless the death warning relates to human characters… I’m currently assuming it relates to both humans and puppets. 

In conclusion: Barnaby has a carefully fabricated facade, he's doing the best with what he has but it likely won't be enough, and uh. shits fucked!

[prince-kallisto]

Ghost Camera: The Connection between Dreams & Reality

I cannot stop thinking about how strange the Ghost Camera is as a concept, and the very little lore we get about it is so fascinating. It’s to the point I have several posts planned to talk about it haha! I’ve begun watching the EN translation of Book 7, and I completely forgot that Yuu was able to take a Ghost Camera photograph of Mickey. I have a feeling that this photograph will play a role later in the story, because Ortho begins to establish a connection with Mickey, the mirror, and different worlds.

We see Mickey through a mirror, which only happens when Mickey is asleep and dreaming. Ortho claims that the mirror in Ramshackle may be an accidental Viewglass, where you can communicate with a person from far distances. The reason why I think this it’s because the mirror seems to be connecting to a dream realm, NOT in Mickey’s reality. It technically is haha, because the style of his room is reminiscent of the classic Mickey cartoons. But it’s still his dream, so Mickey’s corporeal body is sleeping. We know this because Mickey quite literally begins to vanish when he wakes up in his own “real world.” The properties of the Ramshackle mirror are very special, but that’s for another day (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

So if Yuu managed to get a photograph of Mickey with the Ghost Camera, which explicitly captures people’s souls as well, this means that Mickey’s soul is what travels to this dream realm as he sleeps.

Of course, this is all very wishy-washy haha, but it’s a basic foundation to the idea I want to elaborate on: The fact that the Ghost Camera could be the connector between not only worlds, but dreams and reality.

Magic is definitely a bit unreliable when it comes to theory making, but it’s significant that Book 7 is heavily building up magic and lore revolving dreams, and Silver with a Unique Magic like “Meet in a Dream.” If the Ghost Camera can capture the soul of a being, whose from another realm, and is DREAMING, this could be huge! We don’t know the extent of the Ghost Camera’s powers, as there’s a lot about its history that Crowley is hiding from us. The Ghost Camera was around since before the age of video, but it seems like not many functioning Ghost Camera’s are left.

Ortho remarks that the previous owner of such an old camera must have taken great care of it to be in such a good condition- the previous owner being Crowley. This is true, because if Crowley’s claims of the Ghost Camera being invented when Ace’s great great grandmother was a child, this camera is in a perfectly functional condition at LEAST for 100 years, if not far more, like 150 years. Considering how small the camera is, this is very impressive that all the mechanisms and lenses have been maintained for this long, and can still print pictures perfectly in full color. Of course, it’s enchanted with magic, but it’s notable the camera existed before video.

Crowley himself states that the camera is enchanted with special magic to make the soul photography possible- but isn’t it also possible that Crowley could’ve added another property to the camera? He’s so adamant about Yuu capturing everyone’s lives, to be left behind as “Memories: Fragments of Remembrance.” The students, their behaviors, building soulbonds/friendships, the school…everything has to be captured with this camera that HE gave himself. There has to be something that he’s planning with the souls captured by the Ghost Camera, which then must connection with how the school is destroyed in the endgame.

The novel also brings up the idea that everything was an “illusion.” Of course, it could just be Yuuya lamenting on the tragedy and horror of the destruction of the school and potentially lives, but magic is also a thing, making this potentially literal. The Ghost Camera can replay events that happened in the photographs, with the people in the photographs taking a corporeal form outside the photo. These forms aren’t “real,” so they could count as an illusion.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this haha, I feel like I have all these pieces but I can’t articulate how they fit together. It’s hard to predict just what Crowley’s plans are, no matter how hard I try haha! But again, Crowley having possession of an item that can capture a person in their dreams…(Don’t make this about Meleanor and Crowley, don’t make this about Meleanor and Crowley-)

Hey what would happen if Meleanor was photographed with the Ghost Camera 🤪🤪🤪 Could she be brought to “life” through the photos 🤪🤪🤪

Jokes aside, I think the “soul,” “dreams and reality,” and “imagination” will become a key parts of Book 8, and I feel like through Book 6 and Book 7, TWST has been elaborating so much more about the extent of the power of dreams, and the properties of a soul and a heart. And with the set up for connection between worlds, the Ghost Camera could potentially have the ability to bring these characters and concepts into the world of Twisted Wonderland, or at least reconstruct the Twisted Wonderland boys and certain events, by playing out the events in the photographs over and over again.

What’s even more interesting is that I recently made an analysis post, based on the theory that the Major Arcana tarot cards connect to each character via that countdown art.

Crowley’s tarot card, since his countdown number is “1,” is the Magician. Feel free to read that analysis post if you want more in depth analysis! But what’s interesting is how the Magician is explicitly designed to the connector between a world above, and world below. It’s most commonly seen as the “unification of the physical and spiritual worlds.” And isn’t this interesting if this tarot card theory is intentional? That Crowley, the man who speaks of imagination being the key to magic, who gave Yuu the Ghost Camera, who put Yuu in Ramshackle Dorm to live in…he and the Ghost Camera truly may be the connector to worlds and realities far beyond Twisted Wonderland. I will definitely be elaborating soon on the potential of this idea with Crowley 👀🐦‍⬛

[projectdrow]

How the Bad Batch can end well

So here are my 5 thoughts on season 3 and what’s to come after. I recommend @eriexplosion if you like reading interesting thoughts, analysis and ramblings, a lot of their recent posts inspired this one.

First of all, the trailer was a work of art. It gave us some really random scenes, but also some very direct information that we can speculate on like crazy, if we want to. Also, the title-episode list comes in handy, I will refer to it.

1.) Episode 1-3 one go

I’ll come back to why the show needs to end before May the 4th later, and that’s another reason for the multiple episode days.

When a streaming service like Disney drops more than one episode, they often do so because they think viewers might be lost, because the single (first) episode does not have the full “boom-bang-drama” potential.

I think we’ll see the liberation of Crosshair, maybe even Omega, in the first three episodes. The trailer makes no secret of the fact that Cross will rejoin the team. So this story will not be the main focus of the whole season and the first episode might built up solely for the climax of the escape/liberation in episode 3. At least something heavy will happen at the end of “Shadows of Tantiss”

2.) Omega as the main character

Omega’s character is a very typical tool in storytelling. Throw a character who knows nothing into an established system, so she learns everything with/for the viewer. Sure, the boys are main characters, too, but Omega is the point of view of the kids(! - I’ll come back to that later)-show we’re watching. She can’t be gone for that long, because I don’t think season 3 will be a “Omega’s adventures on Mt. Tantiss”. I think episode 6 and 7 (“Infiltration” and “Extraction”) the latest will bring her back.

3.) So what’s the story?

Actually, and some might say that’s a big take, a lot of the first episodes will be about Tech. I don’t think I need to elaborate to anyone why it makes no sense for him to be dead and never had.

When we first saw this Clone X, there were some interesting “Undercover-Tech” ideas, but after analyzing the trailer in more depth and especially what appears to be an attack on Pabu led by this Clone, well, I think that’s Tech. And not undercover, no, the full on brainwashed, highly dangerous Imp!Tech. Episode 10 is called “Identity Crisis”, which could very well be Tech’s. But they’ll get him back, don’t worry, also because the second part will be about the BB finally deciding what to do with their lives. Which leads directly to 5.), but first:

4.) (Almost) no one dies

Two reasons. First: We already had that devastating Tech-death scene. He AND Asajj will be brought back from the dead this season. Any further death this season wouldn’t convince anyone anymore, not even the kids.

Second: The kids. It’s still a children’s show. Yes, Star Wars kills of characters in them too, but @eriexplosion made a very good point in this post: That’s not what this show is about. TBB has been about the struggle of Clones finding their place, finding family, finding a meaning. All of that would be for naught, and that’s why I think everyone survives.

Also: The last episode is called: “The Cavalry has Arrived”.

5.) About the future

I think the Bad Batch was intended to be released earlier. As well as the trailer. But with the strikes and Filoni being promoted, their was a lot going on. With the triplet opening and the double episodes, we’ll finish on May 1st. And that would be just to perfect to announce the follow-up-project on May 4th. I see another Clone series on the horizon. The Clones work, the people love them, it’s all there, the characters, the stories, the animation. It’s a safe bet for Lucasfilm. And sure, it would work with Rex, Cody and more as main characters, but the Batch was intended to be and is a stark contrast to the “Regs”, especially if they get Cross and Tech back.

Sure, Omega could be the leading figure again, but… nah. I am writing this because I’m absolutely convinced that we won’t have seen the last of the complete BadBatch after season 3.

Star Wars is about Hope. So I hope.

[aquatark]

Okay! So! I'm breaking out the correct capitalization because this news is so insane! The Japanese website for Endless Ocean Luminous received a major update last night, and I want to walk through the biggest new info from it with you! This is gonna be really long, so please bare with me, there's just so much to cover...

Here's the link for people who want to check this themselves: https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/a7lka/index.html

The Veiled Sea is random, but not in the way you think

It has been officially confirmed that the Veiled Sea's terrain and creatures will change with each dive, and creatures will likely spawn in accordance to the nearby terrain. But don't panic!

After filling in 80% of an area's map, you will be given a map ID, which you can use to access that exact same map, either by yourself or with friend, whenever you like! Think of them like Minecraft world seeds. An example ID (which can likely be used upon release) is given in the photo above, accompanied by what looks like a photo of the one and only...! Maybe you can reliably encounter her on that map ID?

2. Salvages are back, baybee!!

In what looks to be a system similar to EO1 and the Everblue games, salvages of all sorts can be found under small glints on the ocean floor! The P earned from salvages immediately goes into your current amount once you've picked it up. According to the photo above, salvaging is "essential to unravelling the ocean's mysteries", and another photo states that you may even find traces of "ancient civilizations"...

3. A diving rank system has been revealed, along with fishy friends

As you discover new creatures and treasures, you will unlock all sorts of things, and your dive rank will increase! Higher dive ranks have access to more suit colors (which side note omg i'm loving the options), as well as larger creatures following you, and more creatures following at the same time! What does that mean? Well... you know EO1's friendship system, where if you're friendly enough to a fish, it'll follow you around? This seems to be returning, but reworked! The creatures that follow you depends on your dive rank: at a low rank, only small fish will follow you, but as your rank increases, you can have dolphins and even huge whales tag along with you!

4. Behold a whole new range of underwater environments

I already showed pictures of them in my previous post, so I won't here to save photo space, but to list a few, underwater magma flows, shipwrecks in the abyss, polar areas, freshwater caves, and active hydrothermal vent fields have all been shown off here!

5. Different missions will be available each dive

Not much elaboration is needed here, but each dive, you will be given special missions (such as seeking out a location or creature). We don't yet know what reward these will give us, but it's gotta be good, right?

6. A new method of identifying creatures

Creatures you have yet to identify will glow, and pressing the L button while near these creatures will unlock their information. Multiple creatures' info can be acquired this way at the same time, making for easy scanning of big groups! This info will then be available in the marine encyclopedia, which can be accessed at any time.

The encyclopedia will also record the creature's behavior, habits, and the largest/smallest sizes of it you have found.

7. Creature variants have been introduced

Though the site did not elaborate on this, it did showcase a picture of a creature labelled "variant".

This one is especially interesting, because though the scientific name here is accurate, the Japanese text below it reads... "Coco Maharaja", which is this EO2 legendary's Japanese name! Will we be able to encounter the exact legendary specimens from EO2 again in the Veiled Sea, or are these simply colored variants named after them? Either way, the creature variant system is going to be awesome, I can tell!

8. Photography is back, and better than ever!

Photos will be sent to the Nintendo Switch's album when taken. What purpose they will serve in the greater game has yet to be seen, but you can take photos with yourself in them!

9. Multiplayer and singleplayer options

I know some people were worried about multiplayer being the only mode, but this is not the case! Players can dive either solo, or with a group over the internet with the "Dive Together" option. When diving together, up to 10 random players can play... or, when diving with friends, up to 30 people can!

Additional multiplayer reveals include the ability to use tons of emotes to communicate, adding emojis to creatures or treasures you find which can be seen on the map for others to check out (the Cacao Maharaja photo showcases a bunch of these emojis), being able to teleport to any player in your current dive, and more!

10. A new mythical creature...?

The array of photos shown of new creature models is absolutely astounding... but one in particular that caught my eye is the set of new prehistoric creatures!

One of these things is not like the others though... what could "Raja Emas" be...? Can prehistoric creatures be mythical too?

This update has made me more hyped than ever for this game! I'd be curious to hear your thoughts too~ :>