#I guess I'll replace it with a screenshot?

[thewertsearch]

I love that Sprites just have this power natively. My headcanon is that when they use it, the words physically appear in the air above them.

JADESPRITE: what did you choose? DAVESPRITE: i guess i made an unwitting choice DAVESPRITE: by deciding to flee

When John was learning about The Choice in LOWAS, I wondered what it would mean to make a real choice in the deterministic world of Paradox Space, and speculated that a Denizen’s Choice might allow you to violate this determinism. After all, if the future really is set in stone, then none of your choices actually matter, even when they're underlined.

If that's true, then perhaps Hephaestus could have helped Future Dave repair his timeline - but instead, he fled, and the Horrorterrors helped him replace it.

JADESPRITE: what happened when you saw him this time? DAVESPRITE: like i said he was awake again DAVESPRITE: but this time i wasnt in any condition to fight DAVESPRITE: so i didnt DAVESPRITE: and thats what i didnt get DAVESPRITE: hes this terrible angry monstrous guy but theres no need to fight him

It sounds like it’s always possible to conquer your Denizen without resorting to combat. This flies in the face of what John's Consorts told him, as they insisted that Typheus must be slain.

There is a little wiggle room there, I guess. It's certainly possible to slay a monster without actually fighting it - for example, by mounting some sort of surprise attack, and catching it unawares. I doubt that's what Davesprite actually means, though.

Besides, an argument could be made that you can't catch a Denizen unawares. It sure didn't work for John.

DAVESPRITE: so he looked me up and down all hard DAVESPRITE: saw the broken sword DAVESPRITE: and like before gave me the choice […] JADESPRITE: so it was the same choice? DAVESPRITE: no

DAVESPRITE: it was different DAVESPRITE: i think it must be always different DAVESPRITE: depending on the circumstances DAVESPRITE: i dont know what the choice is when you face him the way youre supposed to

Or if it’s even necessary. It sounds like the trolls completely ignored the Choice mechanic, but they were still able to win their game...

...for a given value of 'winning', I suppose.

Maybe you do need to make some Choices to win your game, then. Hephaestus seems to have been trying to help Future Dave, so maybe some of the trolls could have used their Choices to neutralize the threat of Perfect Jack before it was able to manifest.

[anderstrevelyan]

Have you ever wondered exactly what's going on with all the dead bodies in the Wyrm's Rock audience hall, if you leave and come back after Gortash's coronation?

I did some in-game research while working on a fic recently, and in the name of sparing anyone else from having to lay all this out, too—here's a list of the victims, and some notes-based educated guessing on Gortash's motivation here.

(Beyond Iron Counsul Nuff's summary in the screenshot above: "My lord requires a clear path to his magnificent future. We cut away the troublesome bramble.")

Lord Petric Amber

Lord Amber's Bodyguard

Lady Ailis Belt

Lady Haeril Birch

Baron Callem Bormul

Lady Alia Durinbold

Lady Durinbold's Bodyguard

Lady Durinbold's Attendant

Lord Sarken Eomane

Admiral Peil Hullhollyn

Lady Winstra Hullhollyn

Lord Raylen Jannath

Lord Jannath's Bodyguard

Duke Dillard Portyr

Lord Portyr's Attendant

Lord Portyr's Bodyguard

Lady Beatrice Provoss

Lord Myer Ravenshade

Lady Silifrey Sashenstar

Lord Rugger Shattershield

Lord Shattershield's Bodyguard

Lord Shattershield's Attendant

Lord Milton Tillerturn

Lord Randolf Vammas

Lady Madeline Whitburn

9 Unnamed Patriars

First I'll note that not everyone you see lingering after the coronation ends up dead: I could talk to Lady Eshvelt Guthmere, Lady Ruth Linnacker, and Lady Freida Oberon, and their bodies aren't present in the hall later.

It also doesn't seem to be connected to vocalizing support for Gortash or not—you can overhear Portyr and Shattershield challenging him in the ambient dialogue after the coronation, but when you walk around and talk to everyone else the only one who has anything negative to say is Silifrey Sashenstar. Everyone else on the list above sings Gortash's praises.

So, here's what I think it is!

In the corner of the audience hall, you can find this note:

The Parliament of Peers is the body that's responsible for electing new dukes, and they held a formal vote to raise Gortash as Archduke and dissolve their own political body. Note the numbers: there's 23 members.

So who are these members? Up in Gortash's study, you can find this note discussing bribing, blackmailing, and threatening members of the Peers, which gives us the names of eight:

Five of these eight end up dead in the audience hall (Portyr, Jannath, Whitburn, Sashenstar, and Eomane).

As for the three Peers listed who don't end up in dead in the hall—Lady Ruth Linnacker, Lord Hir Rillyn, and Lady Haeril Vanthampur—let's look to this note:

Gortash has leverage against Ruth Linnacker through the abduction of her granddaughter, and I don't think it's unfair to assume Hir Rillyn and Haeril Vanthampur are similarly under Gortash's control, whether tadpoled or blackmailed (this is the one big assumption I had to make—bear with me!).

The other two with non-murderous leverage against them in the note above do end up dead, but I think there's some added context: I imagine Raylen Jannath is the husband of Wisteria Jannath, who Gortash canonically had an affair with (maybe it's personal? Maybe Raylen didn't care enough about the leverage of his own affair, if he knew she'd had one too?). For Portyr, there's the following in Gortash's study, noting he considers him a threat that shouldn't be underestimated, so he may not have wanted to stop at threats:

The inclusion of Portyr on the list of eight Peers could imply that the other three dukes are members of the Parliament of Peers, too. There's a book in Franc Peartree's house about the current state of who the dukes are, which I don't have my own screenshot of, but here's the relevant text from the wiki:

We know Belynne Stelmane is dead as part of the Bhaalist plot. Ulder Ravengard is tadpoled. The fourth duke was Thalamra Vanthampur, who's dead. They were waiting to replace her until Ravengard was found or confirmed gone—and Gortash was given this seat.

So, back to the original list of people murdered after the coronation. I bolded the names of those who aren't seemingly collateral damage (the bodyguards and attendants, and the unnamed patriars): there's 17.

17 killed after the coronation

Plus three Peers controlled through blackmail or other means

Plus Duke Stelmane and Duke Ravengard, dead and tadpoled respectively

That adds up to 22.

Add in Gortash's own vote, which he would have from taking (Thalamra) Vanthampur's seat, and you get 23.

The same number as the members of the Parliament of Peers.

Gortash didn't just orchestrate the Peers naming him the city's first Archduke, and he didn't just influence them to dissolve the political body that could vote another duke in. He made sure the individuals were destroyed, too.

[washedfey]

Deep Flares - a Maxis Match Eye Set

DAMN, managed to finally finish these bad boys after quite a few days of work but I do think they turned out pretty great, especially for my first ever piece of CC!! Hi btw nice to meet you all :) I sincerely appreciate the stylised look of the sims 4 but the eyes never really did it for me and I just couldn't find a custom set with the sharp colours and painterly look I wanted to I decided to make these!

They come in a Default, Non Default, and a facepaint.

I also decided to make a completely optional heterochromia set (under skin details) that works for all ages :) Links, more info and game swatches under the cut:

Above are the swatches with their basegame names.

I tried to stay as faithful as I could to either the in game swatch colours or the colour of the swatch itself while giving them a little more love.

So these sparkling beauties are available for download as a Default (replaces basegame colours), and a Non Default (adds colours as extra swatches). You should only install one of these not both.

The facepaint version can be installed with whatever other version you want to download or as a standalone.

And there's the heterochromia addon! It's applied under skin details and it's in the right side lip mole slot.

DISCLAIMER FOR THE FACEPAINT VERSION: This version has a couple pros and cons...

On the pro side the facepaint only replaces the texture of the iris and pupil so it should be compatible with whatever sclera replacements you might have. On the con side however, I wasn't able to negate the basegame eyes specular map for these ones so if your default eyes have a specular map it'll show through. This may or may not be an effect you want idk try them out I guess! Also on the con side this version is not available for toddlers specifically (I just couldn't get the category to be selectable idk, if anyone has any idea what that's about pls let me know).

DISCLAIMER FOR THE HETEROCHROMIA ADDON:

This addon uses the texture space for the neck/chokers so if your sim wears a choker or a scarf the texture will show up on the eye. most of the other necklaces are fine so it's not a huge deal just something to look out for. If there's demand for it I can also make an extra version of this one that uses a different texture space in case you really need your sim to have both heterochromia and a choker.

Alright disclaimers out of the way here's the link! Enjoy :)

CC Credits:

I used this mod by @northernsiberiawinds to keep my sims still in CAS as well as some of their face sculpting packs!

This facial hair by @veigasims

These eyebrows by @angissi

And the CAS screenshot poses are by @helgatisha

(The "model's" name is Emory Marino btw)

Phew that was a lot

Anyway I had a shit ton of fun making this so I'll either make a pets set next or a vampires one let me know what you think pretty please Ah and let me know if there's any issues with the set or if you have any special requests or ideas!! :)

02/04/2025 : Made heterochromia base game compatible for all ages

[ci0zi0]

Okay then Brian...

I guess I'll have to think of something else.

Let's say... perhaps... Mephone4 really DID do days worth of coding and programming in the span of a few seconds.

And let's say Springy WASNT made by Mephone4.

If you aren't gaslighting me, Mr Koch... you're telling me Mephone4 didn't subconsciously make Springy.

But, since he was glitching, Springy was made by some form of MeLife. Or at least some kinda Meeple tech.

Which... wasn't by Mephone4.

But the thing is.. life can only be MADE by MeLife. It.. it's in the name.

But... what if he was made by MeLife?... but not by MePhone4?...

What if the Shimmer Egg that is in Cobs' possession.. is still with Cobs?...

Okay. Hear me out for a sec.

Assuming Mephone4 didn't create Springy, that means something ELSE created Springy. And under that assumption, something else at Meeple.

Perhaps it was Cobs?..

But wait! How could Cobs do that?.. Mephone4 is the only one who can use MeLife!!...

..........

Wrong.

Right here. Something always felt kinda off.

Support ending on older devices.

...devices?.. devices plural?..

Cobs was always studying the organic energy of the Shimmers, desperately wanting it for his own gain.

Though it's constantly questioned how the egg he stolen was used.

Thing is about Shimmers.. they don't seem to have one direct source of energy.

The source of light the shimmers have appears to be the energy they own.

Energy flowing through the shell inside, being orbs of light.

Which can separate and move around.

Multiple lights. More than one.

Now.. the baby shimmer has multiple lights as well.

Two main ones representing the eyes and extra particals of energy below used to float it upward.

Now, these lights are the energy source. The natural energy Cobs needed.

The eyes of the shimmers are the main forms of energy. The most concentrated. The strongest.

Now.. Cobs is a smart guy. I really doubt he would've used the only shimmer egg he acquired and used it all up completely.

So...

He made two.

Two Mephones.

Mephone4 and Mephone4s.

This screenshot is direct proof the energy here can be divided. Cobs used the main source of the Shimmer's energy to make Mephone4 as an experimental start. A beginning to test the waters.

It's why Mephone4 had so many tasks. He needed to see what the Shimmer energy was capable of. He needed to go farther and higher with the use of its power.

Mephone4s is a creation Cobs made because he knew Mephone4 wasn't pulling his weight. A Mephone that can replace Mephone4. Be the true accomplishment he needed.

Mephone4 n Mephone4s are practically identical in a few ways. But the main part is how Mephone4s had MeLife able to be installed.

Despite Mephone4s downgrading, the system still allowed MeLife and all the uses of Shimmer Energy. Mephone4 didn't lose any ability. He kept them. Kept the way to generate and recover contestants.

Now.. this is why Mephone4 dying didn't kill off the egg's use. Because it was split between Mephones.

But the egg wasn't used completely for Mephone4 and Mephone4s exclusively.

Cobs didn't want to waste such good energy.

He still had some left over.

The energy wasn't as strong, but seeing as other Meeple products can express, they too had a little amount of it.

Such as Mepad.

Mepad is able to teleport. How???... He can teleport, most likely due to some amount of Shimmer energy given to his device.

MePad isn't effected by the screams due to not having a core amount of Shimmer energy in his system. He was given some left overs.

Mepad was there when Mephone4 was fleeing, after all. Meaning Mephone4s was in slight development and not finished. Yet Mepad was given little energy.

Mepad has a personality, and isn't fully robotic. He sounds and acts robotic but he developed through the show to care and emote. He's more than other Meeple products.

Mepad was probably given waaayyyyyy less energy than Mephone4 n 4s but a vast bit more than future Meeple products.

As for Cobs, he was losing energy that he had from the Shimmer Egg. He's draining every last ounce of energy out of it into his Meeple products.

It's why they get worse and worse in design and function.

And, it's why he needs Mephone4.

Mephone4 is the most advanced. He has the most energy and power out of all Meeple products.

He contained a true part of the egg's energy source.

Yet Cobs lost control over him once he left.

The moment that wire was added into Mephone4, the control came back. And this control allowed Cobs to get Mephone4 back into the system.

Allowing him to create MephoneX by connecting energy sources.

Mephone4's energy source.

As for Springy.. remember Springy? The reason why I made this post?..

With the new context of there being MULTIPLE devices with MeLife, Cobs probably attempted to generate things with less Shimmer energy.

Which resulted in Springy being an awful mess.

Yet, he found some use for him and gave Springy a purpose. Sending him to Invintational.

Since Springy was created on a poorer version of MeLife, he couldn't help but glitch. He wasn't stressed or overwhelmed, it just was in his data.

He was imperfect.

Mephone4 was able to recover Springy due to technically running on the same network as whatever Meeple device created him.

So it was computer stuff. It was essentially looking through the database and downloading a file before it got deleted.

And doing so, allowed Mephone4 to bring Springy back.

This doesn't mean Springy has no bugs though, as he glitched after recovery. But it appears less harmful now that he was generated with a more stable software.

As for the original device that made Springy.. It doesn't matter if the device was alive, seeing as when Mephone4 died in season 1 all the contestants lived.

One last thing before I conclude this ramble.

Why did unplugging the Me device end everything for Mephone4?...

I like to think of it like this...

Mephone4 was connected to the main network of Meeple.

All his creations.. everything was on the network, the database.

Cobs couldn't have control over Mephone4 due to the device not being his. It's like how an actual phone works.

If you don't have the pass code, you don't have access.

Yet they all work under the same internet.

Cobs was able to delete the contestants due to the wire hacking in access.

Providing control.

But it doesn't matter when the main network is pulled offline.

The moment things are offline, all connections get terminated.

Like Bluetooth. Everything was paired with Mephone4.

Disconnect that, and the connection is severed.

Cobs could've pulled the plug anytime.

Cobs perhaps didn't want to pull the plug, because then all his devices would go offline.

Doesn't mean they don't function.. they're just disconnected.

This is a big loss to Mephone4. But it could be to Cobs as well.

But in the end it doesn't matter.

He got what he wanted.

[shiny-jr]

how to steal a heart (I)

[ a dummy's guide on how to steal the heart of a poor pathetic man ]

- Warning: Yes, this is still a yandere thing. You have been warned. Female reader. 

- Note: This has been an idea (heavily inspired by Howl's Moving Castle) I had in my docs since fall 2022. I was talking to a mutual about how writing on Tumblr vs Quotev feels very different. If I leave something unfinished on Quotev, I feel incredibly guilty which prevents me from posting new stories. However, on Tumblr, I don't feel as guilty. Not sure why. Anyways, I know most of my followers here don't care for my ocs, and I've been wanting to post this for so long. So instead of posting on Quotev, I'll post it on here just to get rid of the urge to share this story (might delete this later). This is the same story I posted that little screenshot of not too long ago, and that screenshot was basically just the prologue chapter. So yeah. Hope you enjoy?

IN WHICH THERE IS A SEAMSTRESS . . .

Black smoke concealed the window like a thick veil as the walls around her shook. It was a sure sign that the train was inching by. The screech from its whistle and clanking against the railroad tracks, so loud that it must’ve been heard over a mile away, only confirmed her guess. Her hands continued to cut smoothly through the linen fabric, separating enough to fulfill another order placed this morning. As the young woman worked to separate the colors and gather more material, the corner of her eyes caught sight of the smoke concealing her perfect view. 

The train’s fading motion and clanging against the tracks was eventually replaced by chatter just outside her workshop. It all became background noise, as she began to utilize the sewing machine. Lines formed over the cloth, blending it and connecting so they formed an article of clothing. Needles, pins, and scissors cut and dug deep through the cloth. Buttons of all shapes and sizes were neatly organized in little boxes, so she could easily take what she needed. Time just seemed to fly as she worked so quietly and efficiently, oblivious to the hours ticking by. Any other noise fell on deaf ears, even as a knock resounded on the firm wooden door that happened to be wide open already. 

A pause before the person tried again, knocking a little louder again. “(Y/n)?” 

Snapping out of her efficient trance, the tailor snapped to attention and straightened her sitting posture. Gazing at the door and back the window where the sun was much lower than before, it took her a moment to figure out what exactly was going on and what time it was. It was later in the day, and the woman at the door was Dalena… Well, everyone called her Ma Dalena because she was a kind older lady who tended to see the young female tailors as her own children. At least, most of the tailors. 

“We closed up five minutes ago. You can go now.” Ma Dalena gave an encouraging smile that displayed the dimples on her skin, showing signs of age evident by the wrinkles. Judging by her long dress and small woven handbag hanging from her wrist, it was probably safe to assume that she had evening plans. “Why not spend the rest of the day with us?” 

Us. Correct she was again. As welcoming as the invitation was to join Ma Dalena and the other tailors, she wasn’t willing to join them anymore. Not after the first time when she dared to venture with them. After shifts, the tailors had a tradition of going out into town. Not that it was a bad thing. But they used their time cafe hopping, searching for flirtatious men to satisfy their need for affection. Oftentimes, they would get caught up with the pushy kind. And ever since some troops from the military have returned from their duties, well… encountering a bunch of men who hadn’t felt the touch of a woman in months, was not ideal. At least for her. 

Taking her foot off the pedal to pause her work and silence the sewing machine, she pretended to consider the invitation before mustering a polite smile with a shake of her head. “Hm… It sounds nice. But I promised the client I would finish this so they can pick it up tomorrow. So I’ll stay, but have fun. Have another drink in my place, alright?” 

Ma Dalena merely nodded in understanding, her polite smile turning somber as she turned on her two-inch heels and began walking to the front entrance. The chatter of the other tailors ready and eager for the rest of the day off, went quiet as she announced, “We’re leaving now. Hurry now if you’re coming!” 

The chatter resumed, accompanied by the sound of more heels tapping quickly against the wooden floors in an effort for the straying members to catch up with the group. They complimented each other's outfits they spent days making by hand, discussing various fashion trends, gossiping about clients and others in town. 

In a way, she did and she didn’t regret accepting the invitation. It may have been nice to have good company for once, but it never felt right when she was present within their clique. It was as if she were trying to forcefully add a puzzle piece to an already complete puzzle, which is why she stopped forcing it. She wouldn’t want to sit there awkwardly during tea, unsure what to say as they spoke so confidently and loudly. It felt as if she were an imposter, someone trying to disguise themselves to blend in. It was why she worked in a small separate room, away from everyone else. That, and because she was the fastest tailor there. Part of her wondered if Ma Dalena was beginning to dislike her since she turned down invitation after invitation. But how was she to explain what she was feeling, when it would only sound like whining? 

Drowning out her thoughts with work to occupy the space in her mind, she pressed her foot against the pedal and began sewing once more. The loud hum of the machine filled her ears as it worked against the red cloth under her fingertips. This was the way it was supposed to be. Mindlessly spending her waking hours working at a craft she didn’t excel at, but was decent enough to earn wages in. All while wondering what could’ve been, and secretly hoping that maybe soon there is something that can be–– 

“Look! Look out there! It’s Reyes’ temple!” 

“Reyes?!”

“Where? I don’t see it!” 

“There! Over the hill!” 

Now that was something you don’t see everyday. Everyone retreated back to the window, desperate to catch a glimpse, even Ma Dalena. Halting her work once again, (Y/n) too was the tiniest bit curious. 

In truth, magicians failed to interest her, not that she had an opportunity to see them much anyways. But all those in Etére knew to be cautious of two particular magic wielders: La Bruja de Bruez, the Witch of Bruez, and Reyes Ladrón de Corazones, Reyes the Thief of Hearts. The pair were like the local boogeymen, tales of their horrendous deeds spreading and becoming bedtime stories for children in order to scare them into good behavior. 

Ever since her youth, she heard stories of La Bruja de Bruez. It was said that she was a wicked woman who’s lived for over a hundred years. A slight against her is taken seriously, and she curses those she comes across. But she was no mere fairytale. The witch has been a thorn in the country’s side for a long time, as she terrorizes the towns she visits. There hasn’t been much action taken against her, because she’s so powerful that hardly anyone stands a chance and she’s so elusive. Besides, the royal family don’t particularly care if the witch curses a random citizen every month or so, as long as they don’t have to risk pawns in their own arsenal of magicians just to take her down. 

Only a few years ago, a second magician with fearsome spells and a horrible reputation, appeared. Reyes Ladrón de Corazones, or more commonly known as Reyes, was another brujo many feared, although not as much as his counterpart from Bruez. There were rumors, yes, but they were more lighthearted with little evidence to ever back up the claims. While the Bruja de Bruez spared no one, it was said that Reyes chose to pursue only young beautiful women. If you asked around town, half of the population would consider him a threat, while the other half would giggle and whisper about his rumored good looks. Maybe that’s how he lured them in? With charms. Either way, he was a cause for concern. It was said that at a young age after abandoning his position as apprentice under the royal sorceress, the most powerful known magician, he not only challenged her but won and stripped her of her powers. Of course, no one can neither confirm nor deny it, as the king kept a tight lid on the situation and supposedly those who approach Reyes meet a terrible fate. But his abode was proof enough of his sheer strength. It was like a castle, a temple wandering on mechanical legs, rumored to not only be fueled by magic but also made of it.

Through the mist and low hanging clouds, just over the rolling hills on the horizon she could make out the distinct shape of a temple. A magnificent temple that appears so small from so far away. But she knew that it was a beast, a titan wandering the wilderness where very few dared to venture. It prowled around on its mechanical legs, spewing black smoke as the only trail it left behind. Reyes’ moving temple disappeared behind the clouds, seemingly vanishing from sight. Onlookers within the tailor shop could only awe and wonder aloud what the brujo was like, what was true and what was not, their minds creating horrible fears and outlandish fantasies that would take root as rumors. 

Lowering her gaze back to her work, she resumed once more, but the rumors overpowered the hum of her machine until their words reached her. The other tailors proceeded back to the front entrance, marveling about what they just witnessed. Was he hiding from soldiers practicing their flights just outside the town? Did you hear that he literally steals the hearts of women, but only beautiful ones? Someone said that a pretty waitress on the other side of town had her own heart torn out and stolen by Reyes just last week! 

The door was shut and she was alone, left with her work and the noise outside. Swiftly she worked, able to repair tears and wears with ease and create other things. Able to get lost in the work for much longer, until she felt the ground shake and the screech of another whistle. The afternoon train. It’s smoke covering her window once again. It was getting late already. Not wishing to waste the rest of the day by continuing work or go to bed with a book she had already read twice, she switched off the machine and organized all the tools back into their places. Brushing off all stray strings from her dress, she then rearranged her completed work thus far and prepared to have a different kind of day. 

Today, she would try to make it a can be sort of day. Even if it meant just visiting a close friend like Lía at the bakery. Just putting out the effort to go out today was more than she was usually willing. Although wishing it would be something special, a proper can be day without even trying, was like wishing to be acknowledged by a person you admire but never once talked to, it was much like winging it on a test without studying and praying you would get a perfect score even though knowing that it’s almost near impossible. But it isn’t statistically completely impossible, so you cling to that thin shred of hope that’s as taut as a piece of string. 

The whirring of small planes buzzed overhead, the flying machines brandishing their flags like the proud and numerous soldiers. On nearly every home and business, there was the flag hanging over the door, a symbol of patriotism and support of the war effort. (Y/n) quickly crossed the streets and reached the trolley station that would take her further into town. Right now there was not a soldier in sight, but that was sure to change the closer to the center of town she got. She only prayed that there wouldn’t be any trouble with them. 

The trolleys were full, people all going towards the center of town, in the same direction the planes overhead flew towards. If she had to guess, most of the people within the trolley were likely friends or family of returning soldiers. All giddy from the victory high of a major battle just won. 

While watching the scenery go by, she wondered how Lía was fairing. 

It was because of Lía and her family that she now worked in a tailor shop. (Y/n)’s parents had met an unfortunate end while traveling outside the kingdom. They were doctors dedicated to a good cause, determined to stay in dangerous war torn lands to heal and treat the poorest of folks. While she was busy with school and often alone but checked on by family friends, her parents were saving people an ocean away in a faraway land where Milavi’s war had spread. They had been too close to Milavi claimed territory, likely mistaken for doctors healing rebels, and were thus punished for their good deeds. With no one left to turn to, her family’s closest friend, Señor Obregón, adopted (Y/n) and treated her as one of his own. 

Señor Obregón was a quiet but respectable man that spent his time either working or with his family. He was the one that taught her how to sew, knit, and tailor, after she became curious of his skills. There were two other girls, Lía and Cova, a few years younger than (Y/n), which is why she became the oldest sibling. Lía was the beauty admired all throughout their childhood and still beloved to this day. She most resembled her mother, but she wasn’t half as vain. Cova was the youngest and somehow the smartest, as she was able to quickly grasp the concepts from lessons even in (Y/n)’s class, despite being a few grade levels apart. She mostly resembled her father and his own wits. Then there was her, (Y/n), who had… whatever was left. Of course she never held any resentment toward her sisters, since they were always well behaved but perhaps a bit annoying with their squabbles. Lastly, was Señora Obregón, Rosita, who she just called Tia Rosa for short, was never rude or dismissive to her. Tia Rosa was actually very outgoing and talkative, but she was the sort of woman that wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something from last season. She desired the finer things in life and settled for no less, which is probably why Señor Obregón ended up in an early grave due to working himself to death just to try and afford the luxuries his wife craved. 

Immediately after the funeral, while they were still dressed head-to-toe in black and their eyes were puffy from crying, Rosita sat all three of her daughters for a conversation about the future. It would be impossible for her to keep them all in school, especially considering she hadn’t worked a day in her life. However, she wasn’t cruel enough to just toss her young girls out into the streets with nowhere to go. So, she devised a plan for each girl. Cova would be able to best utilize her smarts in a challenging field full of promise, which is why she was sent to a good witch in the next town over, to become an apprentice in magic. Lía was already very popular around town, she would thrive in a social environment like the bakery on main street where to this day men constantly asked for her hand. As for her, (Y/n), she would stay here in Obregón’s tailor shop, where Tia Rosa deemed was best fit. Afterall, she did know how to carry on the business, she had even helped their reputation grow substantially as more people came in every day and profits increased. Although, she hardly had the time to spend the earnings on herself, that’s what Tia Rosa was there for. Rather, never there for. She’d collect earnings from the business (Y/n) ran and would disappear for weeks or months at a time to another town or city. But that's besides the point… 

By now, the trolley she was on was near the center of town that happened to be within blocks away, the streets became crowded with people walking on foot. On roads below bridges, there were lines of military tanks rolling by. Not much further in, the sidewalks were jam packed with hundreds, upon thousands, of people. Confetti rained down, banners and flags were strung from every corner and door. Every window was occupied as citizens cheered and waved at the parade of temporary victors, a show of military strength. Soldiers in their crisp uniforms marched in unified lines, cavalry on horseback carried large flags. 

As the density of the crowds increased, and the volume of cheers and the parade along with it, she felt her heart beat louder. This was too much, it was too loud, she couldn’t even think…! But she had come this far, to go back home now when she was so close would be a little pathetic. Avoiding the commotion like a plague, she decided it best to take the maze of alleyways to calm her nerves. There were hardly any people on those backstreets, just the occasional stationed soldier. Focusing her gaze on the war propaganda posters on the brick and clay walls underneath window boxes filled with colorful flowers, she pretended to carefully study them as she increased her pace from a calm stroll to a quick speed walk, examining the items as if they were the most fascinating objects she ever saw. Really, she’d rather not make awkward eye contact with the soldiers on guard that watched her like a hawk, which is why she hurried along until they were out of sight.

Now that she was alone, with the crowds and their entertainment separated from her by walls of homes and businesses, she felt relief as the once loud sounds melted into background noise. For now she could concentrate on the address scribbled out on the folded piece of paper in her hands, and her anxiety could be replaced with confusion as she attempted to navigate these small hidden paths. This was only the second time she was on this path, since (Y/n) barely had time to ever go out due to work and her own incompetence. The first was on a holiday some weeks ago when the shop closed early, which granted her a few hours to venture on the main roads to the bakery where her friend worked. This was the second time, and she’s never taken the back roads, which was why she couldn’t tell left from right here. 

Just in time, she looked up from her note to stop her feet from moving, as she came face-to-face with an obstacle. It wasn’t another dead end, this obstacle wore clothing and golden pins, and had a head that could easily look down from his height and see the top of her hat. Immediately she stiffened up and took a step back, hesitantly forcing her eyes to look up at the smiling soldier that casually leaned against the wall. 

The young man only appeared amused as she jumped a step back in surprise. (Y/n) noticed that delighted sparkle in his eyes, as if her skittish self and startled reaction was his entertainment for the afternoon. Before she could open her mouth to mutter an apology and force her head down to continue ahead, the man leaned just a few inches closer to get a better look at her face hidden by the rim of her colorfully embroidered sun hat. “Huh, just like a mouse. Are you lost?” 

A mouse… A skittish field mouse. Would that then make him a rat or a predator? Holding her tongue so not as to speak her mind, she merely shook her head. Offending a soldier would not be good. Not that she had the confidence to say the quick comeback that came to mind anyways. “No… I’m not lost.” That was a lie. 

The young soldier persisted, refusing to move off the path as he continued to block her way. “You look lost. Say, what do you say to an invitation to tea? Afterwards, we can go over directions and escort you to where you’re heading.” Even his partner in patrol, an older gentleman, also a soldier but likely more experienced by at least a few years, moved from his post and approached in curiosity. 

As the second man stepped closer, she could distinctly hear his polished shoes tapping in a steady rhythm as he stood beside his friend. Her own heart rate easily outpaced his steps, and it wasn’t increasing due to excitement, it was due to growing unease. Yes, she knew rationally that these soldiers likely meant no harm and merely wanted to flirt, but her mind could only conjure up the worst possible scenarios as she reminded herself that they outnumbered her, they were stronger, and they had their long firearms strapped to their backs. Keeping her head down, she replied, “Thank you, but no. I’m supposed to be meeting up with someone.” 

Just like the first did, the second soldier bent down a bit to peer at her features. Just like his accomplice, he wore an amused smile as he shook his head and remarked. “A mouse? That’s not very nice. Don’t worry, you’re much better than a simple little mouse.” 

Rolling his eyes, the younger soldier only continued, “If you’re old enough to drink, we can go to a bar if that’s more your style? Do you live around here?” 

This was getting ridiculous. Did they never learn to accept rejection? No means no, even children could comprehend that. But for now, she was at their mercy, no one would come to help her here. It would be up to them to decide she was no use for any fun and let her go, or continue to persist for their selfish desires. “No. Please let me pass.” 

Barely phased by her firm reply, the younger of the two turned to his partner and scoffed, “See? I told you the girls don’t like the beard you’re growing out. It scares them.” 

It’s as if her plea went through one ear and out the other, not swaying them in even the slightest bit. The older gentleman merely rubbed the stubble on his chin, “It makes me look better. Besides, I’m sure she doesn’t mind. She might even prefer a man with facial hair.” Actually, the word gentleman did not describe him well. 

In that moment she was wondering, would she truly risk it all just to snap back in reply? It must’ve felt so satisfying, but was it necessary? Later, would she come to regret her decision or revel in it? Would she seriously use this sprouting frustration, minimal not only compared to her current fears but also in the grand scheme of things, to temporarily push past her anxiety and say something…? Probably not. As annoying as these men were, like the constant buzz of a pestersome fly, they hadn’t caused any harm except to waste a bit of her precious free time. 

“Ah, there you are, mi corazón. I was worried about you.” A smooth and silky voice interrupted.

[disassembly-required]

Somehow it took me until now to notice the left page of this is the navy seals copypasta ... I guess it just goes by so fast and not the focus, it looks like gibberish unless you REALLY scrutinize it.

I can't find this brought up anywhere else?? The only thing that comes up is N's voice actor reading the copypasta during a stream.

Anyway for comparison, here's the original copypasta--I bolded the legible words in the book. The swear words that would have otherwise been visible on screen were replaced and I transcribed them as such lol

What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my [big ol' mean]* words. You think you can get away with saying that [uwu]** to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot.

Replaced: *fucking, **shit

(Edit: ignore the random round thing in the first screenshot.. thats my accessibility menu button and I have no idea why it showed up in the screenshot, it's not supposed to)

[moollypop]

indigo park theory: what ARE the mascots?

i've had many thoughts on this since chapter 1 came out, so this will be a long one.

TW for animal cruelty and abuse below.

first off. they are NOT animatronics. uniquegeese has explicitly said that himself on streams, and this is added on by the fact that mollie literally gets decapitated and dies, blood spurting out of her disembodied head. lloyd and mollie also just, generally look a lot more like living, breathing creatures than just some mascot suits or robots with their fur, feathers. as well as being able to blink and emote.

so that begs the question: how do these exist, if they aren't just robots and are in fact flesh and blood? well... judging by some of the context clues we've gotten so far, i think i can make a guess:

Indigo Park created the mascots through animal experimentation and genetic remodelling.

first off, the mascots themselves. at least, in the state they appear in. they are far more reminiscent of wild, feral animals than killer animatronics or toys or what-not from most other mascot horror games. lloyd in particular stands out in this.

when we first find him, he's all curled up asleep on the theatre stage. again, another point to these being living breathing things if they require sleep. only to then run off on all fours as soon as he wakes up and notices ed, then proceeds to stalk them within the backstage. keeping to the shadows and retreating when he's spotted or isn't in position to properly attack, again, like a real lion stalking its prey until it's within striking distance.

lloyd DOES walk on two feet properly, though. primarily when he trots away after first being sighted in the backstage, and later after ed grabs the key, lloyd does physically walk around even though it isn't visible to the player and he despawns after they leave the room with the key until it's time to do the jumpscare.

(credit to horrorscoped's "what indigo park hides in rambley's railroad and theater areas" video for the screenshots)

second, and what i think is most important to answering this question: mollie macaw. it's established in her death screen that she can mimic things that she's heard, including voices, which macaws in real life can also do. and while it's hard to hear them during her chase sequence, she has SEVERAL voice lines that play. most of them are taken from the rambley's railroad ride from earlier in the chapter, but there are several others that seem to be taken from employees or guests before the park's closure. i'll link a video to them here, but the lines i'm referring to in particular are:

"Stay in your seat!"

"I wanna play with the birdie!"

"Don't touch that thing, son..."

"Get up, you stupid freak."

"Get back in your cage, bird."

"The customer is always right."

the two i'm focused on mainly are fourth and fifth ones, which are undoubtedly park employees. calling her a freak, telling her to back into HER cage... paints a very, very unpleasant picture of what's going on. one that is confirmed even more by an easter egg in rambley rush, where if you fall into the fourth pit while moving to the left, you can find a second mollie inside a cage.

verbally abused and caged up... like a mistreated animal.

so... why? why create these "mascots" instead of having employees dress up in costumes like other parks? they clearly intended to at one point, as they had at least produced a costume for rambley before the mascots entered the picture... simple, really. money.

if you were a business and wanted to maximize profits with little morals, why not try and turn animals into your company's characters for your theme park so you can avoid paying your employees a little extra for going around in costume? if companies are willing to replace writers and artists with AI, why not put in a little more effort to create something else to do that job for you instead of having to pay someone else to do it?

but, something happened. maybe one of the mascots finally had enough and attacked an employee or guest? who knows... whatever the case, the park was suddenly and quickly evacuated with the events being covered up.

and the mascots were left to rot. with no humans to supervise them and keep the instructions and training and company-mandated rules drilled into them, combined with the isolation and likely mental toll it took... they regressed. they slowly lost what made them "mascots" in all but appearance, and now? they're animals again. wild, feral animals. ones that don't see a random person as a guest to greet, but as a smaller, weaker animal. a prey.

and with so many years having passed, likely not having much in the way of food outside of any other wild animals that might happen to wander into the park... they're likely very hungry.

[project-sekai-facts]

Your recent update made me wonder about something. I don’t know how much you know about this but wanted to try asking anyway. Hopefully this makes sense? Why would the English translation choose to censor things? I assume translations are being done in America where queer things are slowly becoming more accepted but is that a factor? Are the translators themselves changing certain things due to their own biases? I don’t know who they are and don’t want to assume anything about them, but I can’t help wondering if that’s part of the reason? Or is it because of something like, for example, sometimes movies or TV shows have certain content removed based on where it’s being aired, so is it something like that? Is the game being released in regions where queer content is banned or removed? Now that I wrote it, I feel like this is the most likely answer but what do you think? I basically just rambled in your ask my bad. Also, do you know if the Korean and/or Taiwan servers have censorship too?

oh there's more than just the Asahi thing and i have mentioned it in passing before but i'll cover it properly here. "the miles i fell in love with is so cool" -> "it was so cool! i guess that's miles for you" is definitely the biggest example though.

First off, a minor thing. it doesn't really happen anymore but in the earlier translations they quite often use words other than partner, like "pals" and "buds", in the VBS story. Probably one of the best examples of this would be An and Kohane's 3rd kizuna title, which the JP name was often fan-translated as "Making each other better" or "Raising each other up", and is called "Two supportive pals" on EN. Which does have the same meaning but the "pals" seems so unneccesary when they could've used partners. The original text is Takameau futari, the first part means "to raise" or "to lift" and futari means "two people" or "a pair/couple". So it technically is a good enough translation but using pals when partners would be more accurate to canon just seems.. off.

I’m assuming their avoidance of the word partner is because it could easily be misinterpreted as romantic, but they seem to have moved on from that at this point.

There's also THE POWER OF UNITY where they switch out "love" (daisuki) for "cares about a lot" when KAITO is comparing the relationship between Arata and Souma to Akito and Toya. Daisuki literally means "likes a lot" so often you'll see people translate it as love, though likes a lot is still valid. "Cares about" is not a direct translation but definitely can still convey the same meaning, so again instance of valid localisation it just seems like an odd choice when using love would've conveyed the exact same meaning and been more true to the original.

Then you've got another instance of them not translating daisuki correctly in Dear Me, As I Was Back Then (sorry this one is a wiki screenshot my phone died). This is worse. Like I guess if you really want then it does have a close enough meaning to the original. Like I guess daisuki meaning "like a lot" or "love" could be localised as "you're the best" if you really wanted it too. But even then, the line before this is "I'm gonna show just how much I admire her!". Minori's shout of "I LOVE YOUUU" from the original would be way more fitting here. "You're the best" feels too casual and buddy-buddy - even if Minori didn't know Haruka at this point, Haruka still had a big impact on her life and imo "I love you" would be the best to use here.

There’s also this one from Walk on and on that removes one key thing. In the original, Toya says something more along the lines of “I was able to make this track because I want to continue to be a partner who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you from now on and always”. This is a bit more similar to the Asahi incident in that they’ve restructured the sentence to make it two, adding in the thing about performing which isn’t even there originally, and replacing “korekara saki mo zutto” with “keep singing with you”. And “keep singing with you” still works, but it’s much more toned down, let’s say. You know what really is odd about this translation though? If the quote I put seems familiar, it’s because it’s also the name of Toya’s event card. Kinda odd they omitted that from the story then, huh? The thing is the translation of the card is very accurate so removing it from the story starts to seem intentional, especially when everything around it is accurately translated like with the Asahi incident. Also doing this removes the fact that the card name references the story so what the hell are you doing EN? It's the same sentence, if you can translate it correctly on the card you can translate it correctly in the story.

There's definitely more than this, this is just what came to mind first and I don't want to make this post too long.

These were certainly... choices. Especially with the ones that avoid translating daisuki as love because they do translate as that on other occasions, most frequently with An and Kohane. I'm assuming the reason they omitted it with the guys is because it's far harder to pass off guys saying that they love each other as platonic because societal expectations or whatever, but I'm actually surprised by the change to Dear Me because normally they're pretty good with Minori and Haruka usually. Like they've translated daisuki correctly for them before and leave in everything else that indicates Minori has a crush on Haruka, so why not this line?

I'm tempted to say that they just change the things that they think are too hard to safely pass off as platonic, but then again they left all of the unsubtle ship teasing in Buddy Funny Spend Time, which has a lot of focus on Minori and Haruka's relationship (and they even added in Haruka saying that Minori makes her heart tickle in her card story), so I'm genuinely not sure why they left that in but then changed one instance of Minori saying she loves Haruka which doesn't even have to be interpreted romantically. Like what is the limit here? An can say she's going on a date (with Kohane) and the WEG regulars can ask who she's been seeing, but Asahi can say he fell in love with Tsukasa's character and it gets removed. Both of them have romantic connotation. The only thing I can think of is that An's comes from a whole card story and event, but Asahi's is one line that's easy to remove. Same with Toya saying he wants to stay with Akito forever.

In other words, it's a mess and I don't think any of what I just wrote is coherent either.

Interpret all of this however you will at the end of the day it’s all just ship tease which is up to interpretation anyway. Except the Asahi thing. That one is a censor.

Oh and the KR and TW servers don’t do this.

[wickedviago]

Shameless Self-Promotion Saturday

(I'm not sure I know what day it is.......)

A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to the lovely @fenrelmercar for tagging me!!!!!!!🤍🤍🤍

We make a post and show off what cool stuff we created over the past week. Art, Screenshots, writing (anything from a questionnaire about your OC to the 100K epos...) anything we do is worth to be seen and to be promoted. And by tagging people, commenting, and reblogging, we share the love and boost ourselves and other's confidence.

Tagging my fellow creators @lostiel @lotusrhys @rook-de-rivas @rooktotherescue & @taterdraws 🤍🤍🤍

Well, I'm not gonna be adding all 100+ pics of Viago I've edited in the past week, so instead I'm offering you:

1. A tiny segment from my current WIP (I have no idea when this will see daylight, but it's throwing daggers at me as we speak).

"Do you regret it?" His voice was filled with hurt. "Us?" "What?" She asked just before a sob broke her thoughts. "No, Viago." She turned in his arms, cupping his face in her smaller hands. Aurora had never seen him look this mournful, this heartbroken. Her chest tightened at the sight, like a weight pressing down on her before it would suffocate her entirely. Aurora was already hurting him, she could see it in his eyes. "I could never regret giving in to something I had only dared to dream about." A swift kill was always considered to be more virtuous. There's no need to cut off a limb with a blunt dagger. "Viago, I have to leave Treviso. I have to leave you." The confusion on his face lasted for a moment before it was replaced with desperation, his hands clutching her against him as if she was his only salvation in this vicious word. "No," he said, "what are you talking about?" "I've ruined everything. If I don't leave, who knows what kind of punishment I'll have to face tomorrow. I cannot face them, Viago." She shook her head slightly. "Neither can I stand on the sidelines and watch you suffer because of my mistakes. I'm your responsibility. Whatever they decide will ultimately affect us both."

2. An unseen pic of Viago.

3. A link to my FIRST DA tiktok edit. (Yes, you guessed it, it's Viago again.) WATCH IT HERE

Alrighty, that’s it from me… This is literally just a love letter to Viago at this point.

[punctuation-completionist]

okay! percontation point/rhetorical question mark investigation has been done! i am putting this under a read-more because it's super long but if this causes accessibility issues please tell me lol (i don't remember if it does but i am trying to make my original posts more accessible so...)

tl;dr for anyone who doesn't read the whole thing, i basically just looked through some really old scans to prove the origins of the percontation point (and that sounds really boring but maybe it's interesting? it would be more interesting if progressive punctuation would email me back lol)

. ? ! , : ; ' " – — - · ... [ ] { } ( ) / < >

22/22

bonus:

⁂ * † ‡ ⁓ ~ & ⸺ ❦ ⸮ ‽

11/20

so basically, this is related to this post* i reblogged a bit ago because something about the graphic on it was bothering me... here's the graphic in question btw

[image id: a picture with nine punctuation marks in three rows of three. the first row has (from left to right) the acclamation point which looks like an exclamation mark with two stems pointing in sort of a v shape from the dot, an exclamation comma which looks like an exclamation mark with a comma instead of a dot, and an interrobang which is a question mark with an exclamation mark laid over it. the second row has the love point which looks like a question mark with two of the top parts put together to form a heart, a friendly period which looks like a period with a curved line underneath it, and an authority point which looks like an exclamation mark with a curved line perched atop it. the third line contains a rhetorical question mark which is a backwards inverted question mark, a doubt point which looks like a question mark with the top part shaped more like a cursive z, and a question comma which is a question mark with the dot replaced with a comma. end id.]

so, i've done a lot of research on irony punctuation throughout my days—whether it be to argue with a reddit comment or just for punctuation day reasons—and i would say i know a lot about irony punctuation (of which rhetorical questions fall under i guess? according to wikipedia at least)

so, that post was bothering me because the rhetorical punctuation mark i know is the percontation point (⸮) invented by henry denham in the 1580s & the mark used on the post was an inverted form of this

now, here was the easy investigation on who made this graphic. i already said so in the tags of the post, it was by progressive punctuation; they even have a specific page on their website with this information. now when i saw the rhetorical question mark they used, my first thought was, "maybe they're talking about a different rhetorical question mark" but then...

[image id: a screenshot from the progressive punctuation webpage on the rhetorical question mark. it says that the inventor is henry denham, it was invented in the 1580s, and it was invented in london. end id.]

see, so here's the real problem. they're citing it from henry denham when his mark doesn't look like that. so then i did the logical thing and tried to find where henry denham even printed this thing in the first place. and that's where the fun(?) part begins.

❦

so, i have a range in the time periods i'm looking for (⁓1580–1589) and i have a name (henry denham). first question: who's henry denham?

the answer isn't that interesting but it's contextually helpful. henry denham was, suprise suprise, a printer from england. allegedly he's iconic but the most i can find about him is that he's a printer and he invented the percontation point. one website (link) claims the use of the point to be from around 1575–1625 which is kinda not 1580s but. i don't know what the deal with that is. (if i figure it out, i'll explain it) and attributes it to either henry denham OR the translator anthonie gilbie (and denham was apparently his printer?? idk man this is a whole web of shit)

so, who's anthonie gilbie? firstly, the only things i could find were for anthony gilby and not some guy with a weird -ie but that's not really relevant because the guy is also a translator from 16th century england so like. i don't think that's likely they were two separate people. so, anthony gilby is a radical puritan who translated the geneva bible into english. the geneva bible is one of the oldest english language bibles, predating the king james bible by around 51 years so i guess that makes anthony gilby pretty important. shakespeare used it, cromwell used it, milton used it, it's a big deal. gilby only translated the old testament, another guy called william whittingham translated the new testament so that does narrow down the thing slightly

but also, i'm not reading the fucking bible again especially not in old english so. i want to narrow it down more.

and that means we're going back to henry denham ! yay! since the source i was using was the only one that provided anything at all on the origins of the percontation point, i went back to it to see what else it had to say. and what it had to say was that there were two examples, one was the psalms of david† (in roman font) and the other was a book called tragicall tales (in blackletter font). so with those being our only two leads, we have to follow them.

⁂

so i search up "psalms of david 1581" to see if i can find a scan. and the first thing i find is a 1581 enchiridion on the psalms of david (1st edition) that's 795$. yikes. luckily i don't think that's the one but that certainly did freak me out since it was from the same year and shit. anyways. the online geneva bible has 150 chapters of psalms so we'll just talk about tragicall tales first

now what the absolute f⸺ is tragicall tales? and to that i say. well. i don't really know.

except, jk i do apparently know now! tragicall tales was a novel written by a man called george tuberville‡ and published in 1587, and while i can't find any direct statements that it was denham that invented it, it is in blackletter font and printed the same year as the article said so... i think it's a safe assumption to make that this was denham's work. the next thing to do would be to find tragicall tales which i wasn't too excited for given the last time i tried to find a book for this it was almost $800 dollars.

but i struck gold. not only did i find a copy on archive.org (link), i also found a typed out version (link) but the punctuation there is badly transcribed in my opinion so. take what you will from it but. idk man i think i found the right stuff. so without further ado:

and while this is probably the oldest crustiest scan ever and also 400 pages long, i did find something! yay!

[image id: five screenshots from the internet archive scan of tragicall tales, each containing a backwards question mark aka a percontation point. end id.]

now, i know looking at this, it's kinda hard to tell what's going on due to the quality of the scan, typeface, and other stuff, but i'll break it down real quick. the percontation points here are after the words wife, fame/same (it's probably a long s but it looks more like fame if that helps), about, will, and wife again. i tried to get a few that have normal question marks in them to prove what i'm talking about (they're in the second, fourth, and fifth screenshots) you see em? cool, because my eyes might fall out of my face with how long i had to look for these. good lird.

but what about the inverted one? now, i did scour this as hard as i could and the closest one i could find was this

[image id: a screenshot from tragicall tales reading "la mia donna bella è buona". end id.]

but at the same time, the typed version has that as an è and not punctuation of any kind and while i don't agree with the typed version 100% i do think that makes more sense. so there. that's all we got out of tragicall tales. back to psalms!

❦

i was very excited to read this.~ (that's a snark mark btw. i was not) i already had to read the bible once recently for ... reasons? (i'm not super religious) and that was the new american bible not a fucking bible in middle english. so. this is somehow worse. and yet. i ended up trying my best to find it

now seemingly it slipped my mind that unless there was a scanned copy of an original it would likely not have the mark i was looking for because i looked for ages. it was a fucking nightmare. psalms sucks especially geneva psalms. but, archive.org came to my rescue yet again. and let me tell you. it still didn't help

firstly, the geneva bible looks like this.

[image id: a screenshot of a scan of the geneva bible. it has two columns of text along with notes off to the side and footnotes. it is written in middle english. end id.]

if you're lucky (?) the geneva bible looks like this

[image id: another screenshot of a different scan of the geneva bible with a similar layout but it is more yellowed and fancier. end id.]

yes, i looked at two different scans of the same book sue me. or don't preferably. but this did give me one clarifying idea of what i was doing wrong. the article i had referenced said that the question mark was in roman font. the main text of the geneva bible seems to be in blackletter. so i had to look in the side columns. and look in the side columns i did. and yet, that didn't seem to help any either (if anyone wants to look the first one is linked here and the second is linked here; i don't think they're in there though in hindsight)

and yet, there was one last place to search. the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. a completely different text by anthony gilby (and his name has the -ies in it in the scans i can find of this so that's also a good omen) and it's still david psalms so i hunted it down. and great news

[image id: a picture of the first page of the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. it has the translator listed as anthonie gilbie and printers listed as richard yardley and peter short. it is extremely brown and looks very old. end id.]

it's an even older looking book! (though to be fair, the geneva bible was older they probably just reprinted it more often) (i found it here if that's anything)

quick intro to people: theodore beza was a french calvinist who lived in geneva. he's not really important to this story. peter short and richard yardley were printers who worked for the stationers' company (aka the worshippers company of stationers aka the worshipful company of stationers and newspaper makers) and i will get back to that.

so now we're getting... somewhere? i mean, this book does have cool wood cuttings right?

[image id: a picture of a wood cutting of a man kneeling in front of a book, with light and a fancy frame. end id.]

but does it have percontation points?

[image id: a picture from the psalms of david truly opened and explained by theodore beza. it has two percontation points in it. end id.]

oh hell the fuck yes it has them. look at that! two of em right there! that solves that mystery. and i didn't even have to look at the geneva bible. but it's fineee <- didn't want to look at the geneva bible but whatever

but where's henry denham?

like first of all, the article i was using said "1581" for the psalms thing so either that's a different psalms with percontation points in it or something got screwed up because also... the printers are names on here and neither of them are denham, especially considering the book came out in 1590 and denham quit publishing in 1589 (or maybe 1591? it's unclear). they also confusingly say he was succeeded by short and yardley and while i can't find anything about yardley, i do know that denham also worked for the stationers' company so they were at least colleagues in the printing business . so this isn't denham is seems but also... he did make the percontation point in 1587 in the tragicall tales so i don't think it's a question of inventing it, that was probably still denham. there might be another psalms out there with percontation points in it but who knows? i really don't think we need more proof when we say that this -> ⸮ is the percontation point :}

⁂

so where the fuck did this other one come from‽ because if i know one thing it's that progressive punctuation has generally been right... so what's the deal with that?

of course i did the only logical thing and emailed them. i hate emails but i did it anyways. for you (if people don't reblog this just for the sheer effort i will be mildly saddened. here's a secret interpunct for you for reading all this shit. -> ·)

and of course, i didn't get an email back immediately which was disappointing. in fact, as i post this, i still haven't gotten an email from them (i waited like a week but if they do email me back i'll update you)

so anyways, then what did we learn if i never got an email back? how to do dumb research for a day and learn absolutely nothing new? i mean i actually kinda don't know how to conclude this now that i think about it. i guess we learned that henry denham probably invented the percontation point and that maybe we should start using it more often. and that you should check infographics you see online, i guess? maybe don't check them this intensely though because. that was a lot. :{

* don't you dare go harass the op i swear i will kill you if you do

† apparently these aren't by david according to most scholars but whatever

‡ unrelated as far as i am aware to tommy tuberville, a u.s. senator from arkansas. he seems to be kind of an asshole but i'm not from arkansas so i don't really have an opinion

[lemonnere]

LEMON, LEMONNERE, NERE... YOU'RE LITERALLY DRIVING ME INSANE WITH YOUR AXIS DESIGN. I JUST GOT HOME THIS IS INSANE

I was literally just thinking about your Axis design and how you draw him YESTERDAY how the FU

Oh, and the way the post is formatted? Golden. Perhaps, jaundiceyellow even.

I'm specifically talking about the "HOLD THIS, IT SUITS YOU" drawing that I saw as I was scrolling down the Undertale Yellow tag.

I saw the text, stopped midway to tell myself "this better be that one edited screenshot where the trashcan lid is replaced with an L," and it did. I love him for that so much. I'll gladly take an L from Axis any day. Please do not expose him to internet slang.

(Translation: Please do, I want to see the most off-handed nonsense Axis is going to babble without restraint. You're giving me ideas.)

I'm so sorry, I'm normal about Axis.

(💭: I am not sorry, I require more Axis content and yet my hands refuse.)

{this is where it completely derails from Axis}

Oh yeah also

PROJECTING ONESELF ONTO ONE'S COMFORT CHARACTER LIKE THEY'RE A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION FOR REAL!

Want to hear about (starlo) things I think people should talk about more?

No? I'll go anyway, because I like giving people ideas! I don't have anywhere else to throw this at because I can't illustrate these little things, let alone find a way to incorporate them in ways other than writing. I think you might enjoy these little thoughts bc I suck arse at drawing myself with the characters I'm much better at thinking about them until my brain explodes./silly

I'm also too scared to post these thoughts on my blog first, mostly because of my (nonexistent) organization!

Starlo pacing. Ed mentions this when the Feisty Four try guessing Deadly Duel, at night “back and forth, whispering to (him)self.” I do that too so I think people should think about the angst potential of this. WHAT IS THAT (cow)BOY SAYING??? IS HE WORRIED ABOUT THE ROBA??? WORRYING??? DOES THAT COUCH HE SLEEPS ON GET MUCH USE??? PROBABLY AFTER ED USHERS STAR BACK IN THE HOUSE!!

Starlo's glasses. Obviously he wears it under his hat for the sake of seeing, and he obviously didn't put it on last second as he's stumbling off just so that he can have a dramatic reveal before he takes off his hat. (Though that would be really funny.) What am I getting at? Well, as a glasses wearer, Starlo getting his frames up and rumbled in some silly whimsical rodeos. And then get extremely pissy about it, “this was 1k,” “now the frame's uneven,” “be gentle, no, DON'T HOLD THE LENS,” “awwh... my glasses are looser and keep slipping off my face,” “fine, you can wear it... but you're paying if it gets damaged.”

I'm totally not speaking from experience. (lie)

OH YEAH I forgot this one. “Star, ain't you supposed to be in glasses?” “WAIT, SHOOT, I FORGOT THEM AT HOME..." *voice trailing off as Starlo is running*

Like I also forgot that I'm not wearing my own a moment ago.

Starlo doesn't get the full picture. You know how cowboy movies have cultures, traditions and ideas that are second nature to watching them that we can research at any time? Monsters don't have those. Well, at least not Starlo, not Alphys. They're limited to tapes (Starlo's case.) So, in this case, I think of Starlo doing cowboy things just a liiittle bit wrong, like two steps too far from the right. I'm talking about things like holding a gun in the dominant hand, recoil, how exactly to tie a lasso how to maintain and store it, how horses and travel on them work, the sun, uniform and all. Movies tend to sacrifice details for cool factor and I'll bet Starlo won't realize immediately. Oh, and trigger discipline. Starlo has definitely tried spinning a revolver using the trigger guard. and shot someone (it was a BB gun. He definitely wouldn't try it with a real one, let alone get his grimey paws on it./af)

Starlo can draw. He drew the wanted poster for Vengeful Virgil on the bulletin board with Ceroba. He's capable of doodling and dabbles in it, even if a little bit. CEROBA AND STARLO DREW TOGETHER. THEY DREW TOGETHER! (need I say more?)

I'd talk about Axis too but I see better Axis propaganda than mine.

and I'm getting lazy :³

Starlo thoughts GO!

Looking back at my ask before I send it. Man this really was an AUDHD—/j/ref

GEHEHHEEHEH IM SUPER GLAD YOU LIKE MY AXIS !!!! >>:)) Definitely prepare for more because this guy is hella fun to draw whether it be robot or hooman form 👍👍 And never be afraid of suggesting ideas too hee hee

THIS ALSO APPLIES TO ANY OTHER CHARACTER OFC Especially Starlo. The sweetheart ever. I'm so normal about him that I had literally already thought of almost all of the stuff you just said there and I'm glad to hear more people gushing about it GRAHHH I recently silently added him to my kin list (along with Axis) because a lot of the stuff he does (and stuff I imagine him doing) is so me-coded whether that be positive or negative stuff

Idk about the pacing thing at first I thought it was funny then I saw people thinking it's about the voices in his head talking and then I saw other people thinking it's part of him being autistic coded . Idk all I know is I do that ... It ranges from a simple conversation to myself about the dumbest stuff and it can become me trying to reassure myself of things . I can totally see Star struggling and doing the same, Imposter syndrome sucks😭 ALSO THE GLASSES THING I'M A TRUTHER THAT BRO BREAKS THEM I sat on mine twice . Absolutely tore them apart . My man is not very smart despite being a nerd (and we love him for that)

Oh yeah him kinda sucking at his cowboy act is just straight up canon and I love it. If he was good at it it wouldn't be the same 👎👎 let him put his own spin on things !!! ALSO OMG STARLO ARTIST REAL THAT'S SO CUUUUTE God I love these sm I'm crying violently

I'm always open to hearing more about Axis as well !!! I absolutely suck at coming up with anything for any character !!! /Lh (That's why requests help my brain do gymnastics) ✌️✌️✌️

[bettydice]

OC MEME

tagged by @nelsynoo, I'm just going to do more of these because why not

GENERAL (she doesn't have a super defined canon appeareance in my mind, it's more Vibes, but this screenshot encapsulates these Vibes pretty well; Bethany is about to put her in a chokehold and drown her in the harbour and she'd be right to do so)

Name: Hawke (no canon first name, but I've played around with it recently due to Rescue From Fade Fic, and it might be Aristienne but after Leandra's death nobody calls her that ever again and she hated it anyway)

Alias(es): Hawke

Gender: Female

Age: if we're going by latest DA game, I guess mid 40s now?

Place of birth: Lothering

Spoken languages: Common tongue, Smirking

Sexual orientation: Bisexual

Occupation: trying to live a chill life, but it's Thedas; freeing slaves with Fenris maybe

FAVOURITE

Colour: green

Entertainment: tavern-related activities; having Fenris read trashy novels to her; darts but it's daggers

Pastime: I have a hard time differentiating this from entertainment; I think she likes to whittle but rarely finishes something; having Fenris read trashy novels to her

Food: will eat anything; I think Fenris and her can cook well together, when they can be bothered (she's the chopper); adequate cook in theory, but she gets ideas like "oh I don't have this ingredient, I can replace it with something that starts with the same letter, oh i don't have any butter, I'll just leave it"

Drink: will drink anything

Books: trashy novels read by Fenris, *sometimes* she'll even read them by herself

HAVE THEY

Passed university: naaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Had sex: yeah *finger guns*

Had sex in public: proooobably

Gotten tattoos: she's spent a lot of time inebriated in Kirkwall with Bela, so yes definitely (actually, editing this and saying she's gotten her ears pierced multiple times, because she's like "pretty!" and then never wears earrings and the holes close and 3 years later she's like "hey what if I got my ears pierced", repeat OH THIS IS IN THE WRONG CATEGORY but somehow I can't c+p while editing this so I'm leaving this here fuck that)

Gotten piercings: gonna say no

Had a broken heart: how can you get through da2 without one, but it's fine, some glue will fix that baby right up

Been in love: I'm sure there was someone in Lothering, maybe she had a crush on Bela for a hot minute, then Fenris

ARE THEY

A cuddler: yes, this octopus need affection

Scared easily: if you're scared or not you just gotta do it all the same, it's all good

Jealous easily: I think she used to think like "oh I totally understand if you want someone else more" but at this point, naaaah

Trustworthy: yes, but also it's Hawke, kinda depends on what you want to trust her with

FAMILY

Sibling(s): Carver (rip) and Bethany

Parents: Leandra (rip) and Malcolm (rip)

Children: no, none, never

Pets: Lady Penelope of Woofcester (immortal)

already forgot who I tagged in the last one and will not look it up @jadesabre301 @songofsaraneth @stealthflower @perahn @faejilly

[thesoulspulse]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52784995/chapters/161818144

The AO3 link is being stubborn again but you guys know the drill by now. It should still take you where you need to go!

I also have a bit of an update to share on my plans for the rest of the story since we're getting closer to the cruise ship section. I've decided that rather than replace the remaining chapters, aka chapters 32-35 I'm going to remove them on FFN so I can start fresh with the new battle segment with whatever sea monster Danielle ends up fighting and then re-add the last part with meeting Frostbite's clan. It'll make it easier for me to keep track of what chapters are going to be majorly changed because its anyone's guess if we'll end up with the same number of chapters as last time to reach all these different plot points. Lastly, don't worry, to anyone who left reviews on the chapters queued up to be rewritten almost entirely I'll be sure to take screenshots of everything so I can still appreciate what you wrote to me!

[mylight-png]

ignore if youre sick of answering surely repetitive questions! sorry

Can you explain why the specific phrase ”from the river to the sea” is antisemestic?

the way i understand it is it refers to “freeing palestinians” or dismantling the State of Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. I guess to me it seems like the problematic part is the, getting rid of Israel part, which seems redundant to say from the river to the sea. Like, is that why that specific phrase is offensive or is there more i’m missing?

Yes, the dismantlement of Israel is the problem with that, but it goes further. I'll include a screenshot from a post Rootsmetals made about this on Instagram:

In essence, the problem with this slogan is twofold.

Firstly, the dissolution of Israel as a state is inherently a problem. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world right now, built on the land we are indigenous to. The idea of a free Palestinian state is not inherently antisemitic, but the call for that state to be "from the river to the sea" means that it would completely replace Israel, the only Jewish state in the world.

Additionally, this slogan has been used by terrorist groups such as Hamas, who hate Jews, and their use of this slogan has made it clear that they would not tolerate a Jewish presence in the theoretical Palestinian state that would extend "from the river to the sea". We can see this in how Gaza does not have and does not allow Jews. We can see this in the acts of October 7th. We can see this in their founding document. Hamas, the group hoping to establish their rule over the land spanning "from the river to the sea," would absolutely ethnically cleanse or, even worse and more probable, genocide the Jews currently living in Israel.

The river and sea in question, by the way, are the Jordan river and Mediterranean sea, so the slogan is talking about the entirety of what is currently the state of Israel.

So it isn't that you're missing some double meaning, it's just that most people don't understand the true ramifications of a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea" and what it would mean for the Jews living there now.

Just to make it clear: the slogan "from the river to the sea" is a genocidal slogan targeting Jews/Israelis.

Linking Rootsmetals' guide to the different chants and the context behind them here.

[whumperofworlds]

What Piece of Media Does This Whumpy Scene Come From? Game!

Rules are kinda simple!

I describe a whump scene. But the scene is from an actual scene in a piece of media (TV shows, video games, comics, that kinda stuff!). All of the characters will be replaced with Whumpee, Whumper, etc to make it more of a mystery!

You, the person who wants to play, will guess what the scene is from via reblog, ask, reply on the post, etc. I'll be giving 24 hours for each scene, and I'll reveal what the scene is from in a reblog!

If you guess right, I'll reblog, take a screenshot, etc of your answer to reveal what the scene is from! If you would rather not be mentioned or whatever, just let me know and I'll keep you anonymous! If it's wrong, I just don't reblog and all!

You can also submit your scenes to me! Only condition is that you don't say where the media is from to the audience to not ruin the surprise (you can tell me so I can reveal it if no one is right and all) :)

And that's it! Will make a scene in a second!

[queerandcartoons]

i took as many screenshots of the doors in The Amazing Digital Circus's "bedroom" hallway

i'm getting really into The Amazing Digital Circus, and noticed the doors when Pomni, Ragatha, and Jax went to go meet Kaufmo.

before we begin, which i'll put below the cut, please excuse me bad screenshots. Spoilers below, obviously!

We have the recognizable characters-

Ragatha, Jax, Gangle, Kinger, Pomni, and Zooble.

We then have Kaufmo-

I'm separating him cause a) the above section has six, and six is an even number and b) he'll soon have an X on his face, most likely next time we see him.

Speaking of X's on the face- there are a LOT of characters with X's crossed over their faces.

Notably, we have Queener, the only named character (that i know of) that is off-screen "abstracted" and therefore placed in the cellar-

Now here is my X-ed out character door spam and shitty screenshot collection, arranged from most "clear" to least "clear", which is dictated by camera angle and by screen quality-

We have- 1) Yellow sad clown with (bunny?) long ears and blue collar. 2) a orange/yellow and green Squrimle (worm on a string) 3) a yellow/orange dog 4) a purple creature, maybe with one eye? 5) a pastel blue/green sock puppet with a pink/purple stripe, blue inner ears, and a red flower (gives me the same vibes as the mouse from Bear in the Big Blue House, or maybe something else I remember watching on playhouse disney...but that's just me idk) 6) purple dragon/dinosaur with colorful scales

Here we have 1) blue 2) ???? with yellow/pink mixed in 3) ????? i genuinely don't know but it seems to be white, blending in with the background 4) colorful jester? and 5) yellow

Other doors have this on it-

This is one of those wooden dolls used as sn art reference figurine, and there are many of them. At first, I thought they were placeholders for newcomers, and this image would be replaced with the image of a character once they join the circus, but no. Later in the episode, Caine and Bubble are in a fancy restaurant dining area, and these dolls act as filler around them, "eating" at the restaurant as other patrons.

My only question is, what are these things? My best guess are the NPCs Jax mentioned at the beginning of the pilot, but to be completely honest, NPCs usually aren't given rooms alongside the main characters. We also see them around, simply existing. First when Pomni is searching for Caine and sees one in a bathtub, and second, when Caine and Bubbles are in a nice restaurant, with the wooden dolls serving as other patrons