#a+ on the loops motif though

[belorage]

I was tagged by @adelaidedrubman​ and @strafethesesinners​ to assassinate some boys in this quiz! Thank you, babes. It was nothing if not crushing. For them; I’m thriving!

Tagging: @florbelles @unholymilf (so thrilled to type this, you have no idea) @heroofpenamstan @multiverse-of-themind @confidentandgood @dihardys @jackiesarch @roofgeese @risingsh0t @shallow-gravy @indorilnerevarine @teamhawkeye @shellibisshe and anyone else who wants to torment their faves.

NIKOLAOS DIAMANTIS // behind the mask

you aren’t slick about whatever you think you’re hiding. glass shatters in your midst, blood spills, children scream. like some of your friends, your personality of choice is entirely artificial. the difference between you and them is that you can get away with it. you’re unknown, perhaps even to yourself, and your goals are complex. anyone stupid enough to fall for you is setting themselves up to be frustrated and confused, owing to your being ultimately unknowable. i hope you can find an identity that makes you comfortable.

RAFAEL ESTRADA // acerbic wit

you’re a mentor — an old scarred wolf, an injured soldier, a disgraced paladin. your teachings read as shamelessly pretentious, speaking in rhymes and biting down hard into anyone stupid enough to make the wrong move. this isn’t your first life, nor your second, nor your sixth — you’ll make the most of your time shackled to this world, no matter how many loops it takes to get it right. with every defeat, you reincarnate; a little smarter, a little quicker, crueler and nastier. will you choose to be brutal, equalizing, that final strike in the face of your enemies? will you go soft, become tender and domesticated? the choice is yours. it’s not like i can stop you.

WESLEY BROOKS // silent admission

in tarot, the fool is numbered 0 — the number of unlimited potential. as the protagonist, he is ever present, and therefore needs no introduction. the world revolves around you in ways that i can’t begin to describe, though you’d shrug it off if i were to begin to explain. i need you to know that time is running out. if you want to get this done, you need to start now. sloth is your greatest enemy in this world, and you can only run so far from the opposition when you start with such a disadvantage. keep your head high, yeah? the kid you were is still in there somewhere. you need to show him that it was worth it.

[blacktabbygames]

Slay the Princess Concept Art

We shared a bunch of concept art on Twitter today. Sharing it here, too, where you can find it all in one post. Post contains spoilers, so proceed with caution (or just play the game already if you haven't 😉)

Going to start with the first piece of concept art Abby drew for the game.

In the earliest stages of development, we toyed around with the concept of there being multiple "end game" forms of the Princess.

The initial outline, rather than being tied together by an overarching metanarrative, structured a full playthrough as a 5-6 chapter long, self-contained journey down a single route, determined by your decisions in chapter 1. Here's an alternative late-game form:

The idea of deviating end-game forms didn't lost for very long, though. As we explored the game's themes more deeply, it made the most sense for there to be a singular "true" form.

If your reality is shaped by subjectivity and perception, then the "truth" has to be what's left when that subjectivity is swept away. the Shifting Mound's final design feels like that initial truth for the Princess, though there's also another truth if you push back against her and press on into the final cabin.

We really liked this "void" design, and I played around with the idea of it being an intermediary to the final form. The "void" Princess would be what you saw upon encountering the final Princess without understanding your own truth, but once you had that understanding, you would see her as the Shifting Mound, as depicted in the game.

That gave way to the intermediary design of the SM being a sea of disembodied limbs, and we also took parts of both designs and incorporated them into the protagonist (particularly the wings.) You can see the eyes and feathers for this void form in the ending card of the original trailer below:

You can see extremely early concept art for the spectre (top), nightmare (top-right), stranger (left), beast (bottom) and ??? (right) as well!

The eyes became a motif in the Nightmare route (Paranoid's manifestation of the fear of being watched), but I also like to think of them as a part of The Long Quiet's truth. You are space and emptiness, but you're also that which observes those things, and it's your perceptions that give the Shifting Mound shape.

Anyways, on the note of the original original concepts for the game, the Princess was initially going to remain human for several loops before taking on more monstrous forms. Some concepts of that are below. Had to get Abby to tone down some of the more horrifically cartoonish designs because they creeped me out and I didn't want to romance them in a video game.

We had to hold our cards close to our chest in the non-metanarrative early drafts, which is part of why, even in the first demo, the cabin doesn't really change much in chapter 2. More room to subtly play with the concept of transformation over time.

There were a lot of reasons we moved in a different direction for the full release. The branching was unmanageably large to write, and the game felt like a slog to write.

Using an overarching narrative as a framing mechanism in the final version gave us a lot more freedom to explore wildly divergent ideas within routes while still driving the player towards the originally planned finale.

Anyways, now we've got some concept art for individual princesses. There's a lot more than this lying around somewhere, but it's all in sketchbooks, and we'll probably wait until we make an art book to show it off.

First is the tower, who really didn't change much at all. (She got a little thicker, I guess. All of the Princesses did)

Not a lot to say about her, other than the fact that we knew we wanted a set piece where she gets so big that the trees and cabin orbit around her.

The stranger went through many many redesigns over the course of development. Here, she was a "princess skin" filled with a hive of sentient bugs. The script wasn't working for me, though, so instead she became a peak behind the curtains without the necessary context to know her.

A lot of people ask how these earlier drafts of the Stranger route would have played out, and the answer is I can't tell you, because I couldn't figure out something worth writing.

The writing process for individual routes didn't really start with outlines or plot beats. Rather, the routes started from a theme and a relationship dynamic, and I organically found their outcomes by exploring actions within those themes, and then seeing if those passed Abby's editor brain.

Neither of us found actions we wanted to explore with those versions of the Stranger, at least actions that weren't a beat-by-beat retelling of chapter 1, which contained way too much variation to put on a single chapter 2 route.

If each princess examines a relationship formed by perception and first impressions, the Stranger examines one that's fundamentally unknowable. One where you've seen too much, too quickly.

An insect hive-mind pretending to be a person seemed like a good starting point, but it was too difficult to write any interactions that didn't immediately feel knowable, if still strange. So the final version of the Stranger was designed in such a way where her unknowability makes interacting with her on a human level fundamentally impossible, and you don't get to have a real conversation with her unless you satisfy extremely specific criteria.

Anyways next up is the razor's final form. We decided she needed more swords.

Hearts became an accidental motif very quickly in the development process, too. (The fact that it is only strikes to the heart that fell her in the demo was accidental, but it felt poetic so we extended it to the rest of the game.)

So on top of adding more swords, we made her heart visible. This is something we did with the fury as well, as a way of showing their emotional (and physical) vulnerability.

Here's an early version of the Adversary and what would eventually become the Eye of the Needle, back when she was still called the Fury. Originally her hair was going to be fire (as seen on the right), but it didn't feel right in its execution.

She's hit the gym since this concept art. Good for her :)

And we're going to end with the Beast, who at this point was called the Adversary. I think this was before the Witch was added? The Beast was originally designed to be a Questing Beast who lurked in the shadows, where you'd only see glimpses of her, and where each glimpse would make her appear to be a different animal. This was too difficult to execute, though we gave her a more chimera-like appearance in the final game.

This design was from when we still has the Voice of the Obsessed, and the route was going to be a more feral mirror of what eventually became the Adversary, but it felt too thematically similar while being less interesting, so we moved in the direction of making the Beast about consumption as a form of love.

Anyways, that's all we've got for you right now. Hope this was fun!

[mrvelocipede]

Hey, remember that amazing continuous-cables technique? I had an idea for a thing to do with it, and spent two days knitting swatches and fiddling with charts. On the third day I ached all over and had a slight fever, so either I'd been coming down with something or I'd been divinely inspired.

After a couple of days of recovery, I looked at my swatch and realized it needed its obvious counterpart, so then I spent another week designing an even worse chart. It didn't need the continuous-loop grafting, at least. It just used a lot of weird non-standard cables.

So now I have these:

The motifs are both 52 rows high, and they both start and end with 19 stitches. The stitch counts change a lot in the middle, though. I have a few things I want to tweak and refine in the charts, and then I don't know what to do with them. I despair at the thought of ever writing any kind of usable instructions for them, or even annotating the charts so anyone other than myself can read them.

It could be done, of course. I just don't want to spend the amount of time it would take, unless somebody was willing to offer me piles of money, or really interesting bribes.

ETA okay I'm working on cleaning up the charts! Not sure how long it's going to take. Watch this space for further announcements.

[blueskittlesart]

Do you have any theories/thoughts on why the last dragon tear is on the Rist Peninsula? Like..lore reason wise? Or did they just pick that spot cause it has a fancy spiral? This thought hasn't left my brain for weeks.

this question got me thinking, because there are quite a few spots on the totk map that are significant lore-wise in that they mention locations in other games and/or were significant in botw, but rist penninsula isn't one of them. of the locations that the geoglyphs and tears fall on, a few of their names appear to reference characters and locations in other games, which is a common theme among minor location names on the botw/totk map. aside from the naming conventions, though, none of these places share distinguishing features with any map locations in other games. there ARE certain locations on the botw/totk map that are very clearly meant to correspond to the maps of other games/cycles, but those locations will almost always have both a specific name referencing the other map's location AND distinguishing features which mirror the features of the other map very closely if not identically. the geoglyph locations pretty clearly aren't that, so the names are likely just easter eggs. these locations also don't have any significance on the BOTW map from what I can tell, aside from the occasional shrine location, which is less important to the point i'm trying to make here but this is already full of useless information bc i did the research so i might as well give you all of it. the important point here is that none of the dragon tear locations are present in any other map of hyrule aside from the botw/totk iteration.

why is this significant? because it means that botw/totk era-hyrule is the ONLY hyrule in which these locations exist. this fact, combined with the fact that certain locations seem almost designed with their respective geoglyphs in mind (the most prominent example is cape cresia's shape being perfectly fitted to the scimitar glyph, but to a lesser extent the tabantha snowfield ganondorf glyph and the NW eldin mountains master sword glyph both finding large, flat spaces suited to their respective shapes, and, of course, the final tear dropping perfectly in the center of rist penninsula's spiral, suggests that these geoglyphs and these memories were tied specifically to the version of hyrule that we see in botw/totk. Whether this has greater implications as to how the timeline of totk plays out or if it's just an indication that zelda was holding on to her memories of the version of hyrule she grew up in is up to you.

that's all i've got in terms of concrete lore, but on a more artistic level i think there is definitely a reason the last tear falls in the center of that spiral. totk continuously uses an ouroboros motif--a snakelike dragon eating itself in a continuous circle. the four dragons circle the map in continuous loops, repeating the same route endlessly, likely for thousands upon thousands of years. the spiral of rist is somewhat reminiscent of that repetition to me, but with one key difference--it ends. there is a concrete end point at the center of the spiral. once you go around it a certain number of times, the circular motion stops. you're free of the cycle. the final tear, in which zelda begs link to come to her, to find her, to SAVE her, falls at the center of that spiral, at the end of a repeating pattern of circular motions. zelda, like the other dragons, has been trapped in an ouroboros cycle for thousands of years. unable to speak, unable to remember, unable to do anything but follow her same circular path through the sky. but zelda's fate is not actually so bleak and unchangable--she's not in an ouroboros, she's in a SPIRAL. all she has to do is make it to the "center"--to wait it out until link can find her and save her, and she will be human again, and that circular motion will finally stop, and she'll be free to live her life again, to truly move forward. the act of journeying to the center of the spiral to get the last tear is forcing the player to adopt that same circular motion that zelda has been experiencing all these years, and to find the relief at the end--a microdose of the bigger battle zelda has been fighting, and which they will soon have to fight, to get her back once and for all.

[mantisgodiveblog]

(Part 15 is here)

Well, back at it again. And we're starting with the star dog.

This thing is paper type - which we'll note down to question with Loop, later, though the manual does say they have no type.

And this is the thing that dissolves Tears, if we remember correctly. We remember being very confused about it, in the demo playthrough, considering there really wasn't much indication of what it DID - and then we got prompted to maybe use it on the wall of Tears, and we were like "yeah, okay, this might as well be happening". Is that noted strange feeling related to Time craft? Like the recurring motif of that tug in your stomach?

We also remember this from the demo. Will this be relevant later? Is it how the star dog got in? What's this here all about? We don't see a way to interact with it now, but maybe later...?

[catilinas]

if you were to make an ides of march themed coffee drink what do u think screams a man getting stabbed several times over?

sleeplessness as a Motif in jc is OUT from now on we are focusing on cassius' anachronistic coffee machine.

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, I have not slept. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: The Genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council; and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection.

i think in the space of that incomplete line (i have not slept) brutus should take a massive slurp from a mug of coffee. (i can excuse the anachronism but i'm not sure if cassius would actually drink coffee? maybe he just makes it for brutus. who Has Not Slept). artist's rendition of brutus' mug:

do you think the number of stab wounds in caesar being relatively way fewer than the number of conspirators / the general poor aim and accidental injury among the conspirators was due to jittery hands from the coffee from cassius' anachronistic coffee machine (which he obtained through The Time Loop. btw). do you think the reason cicero was not included in the conspiracy was because then cassius would have to let cicero try coffee and that would have been genuinely cataclysmic to the political state of rome (i think tiro deserves to try coffee though).

anyway. if i were to make an ides of march themed coffee drink i think the only appropriate addition / flavour would be blood

[atamascolily]

One thing that I've never seen anyone adequately explain (and rarely if ever comes up in fanfiction) are Walpurgisnacht's trees. What's up with those things, anyway?

They don't seem to fit with either the cogs or the circus motif or anything, they're just kind of... there. So why the arboreal theme? Kinda random, right?

They also seem to persist after Walpurgisnacht herself has vanished.

Seriously, what is this tree doing here??? Why would Walpurgisnacht make these in the first place? They certainly don't show up in Homura's big showdown later on. And okay, fine, maybe Homura intercepted Walpurgisnacht before she could start causing botanical mayhem, but still... their presence in these scenes perplexes me.

It took me a ridiculously long time to figure out the connection, but I think the trees represent branching timelines radiating out from a single point--just like a model of parallel universes. And of course, the fact that its branches are bare and seemingly dead implies that none of these timelines will bear fruit. No life can arise out of the wreckage, just as there is no future for Homura in any of these timelines.

The only other time in PMMM we see this same tree imagery is with Homura. In a scene added for the Blu-Ray (not sure if this is the original series or recap movie), Homura walks through a grove of similar trees immediately after confronting Kyubey about Kyouko's death.

A similar mist appears right before Walpurgisnacht arrives in episode 11, but I don't know if that was meant to be an intentional reference. Regardless, the monochromatic palette in all of these scenes is evocative of depression and despair as the world is literally drained of life, vibrancy, and hope. This is Homura's existence now, trapped in an endless series of loops she cannot break and unable to do anything but keep on fighting.

In keeping with my theory that trees = branching timelines, the next shot immediately afterwards begins to flicker like a piece of film (another recurring visual motif in this series, especially with Homura), eventually resolving into multiple silhouettes of Homura.

After that, we cut to a series of film leaders (the numbered countdown signs), which are yet another visual parallel between Homura and Walpurgisnacht, and one not included in the original TV broadcast.

Similar trees also appear in Rebellion. The first one is in the glass dome where Homura meets with Kyouko, its branches full of bells. Notably, it's by the river, which is likely where the trees from the original series were located (at least the second and third examples above).

The second one is... in Homulilly's skull:

And this is where it gets interesting, because this is immediately after Homura has burst free from her purple-goop-form at Madoka's touch. The tree is either the result of their combined magics, or triggered by it, because it immediately bursts into bloom--the first time we've ever seen one do so over the course of this series.

It's a cherry tree, of course, with all the symbolism that comes with it--full of pink ephemeral flowers (just like Madoka) that bloom on otherwise bare branches. Beauty has emerged from ugliness as the result of Homura's love for Madoka, just as she herself has emerged from her grief thanks to that same emotion--which she will later describe to Kyubey as "more passionate than hope, far deeper than despair".

Thus, it's not surprising that when Homura remakes the world, the first thing we see are blooming cherry trees--even though they were always green and leafy in earlier versions of this scene. The flowers are a symbol for her love even if no one else recognizes it.

So here's the question I wonder about: what would it take for Walpurgisnacht's trees to finally bloom? Or is such a thing even possible in the first place?

[lurinatftbn]

in a modern au what music would the characters be listening to?

Man, I'm bad at these sort of questions. I'll take a stab at it, though with the whole people-have-sides-you-never-expect motif this might not quite represent the whole truth:

Utsu: Probably a mix of slow jazz, synthwave, and video game OSTs she likes. She probably has extremely narrow tastes and listens to the same stuff she finds sentimental over and over.

Ran: Black metal and other adjacent punk stuff. Environmental soundscapes when she's reading.

Kam: A combination of classical music, extremely formulaic mainstream hip-hop, and kpop (not jpop, she'd hate the increased jazz influence).

Theo: Ballads, slowcore and folk rock. Broadly, any form of music where a girl sings about sad things while playing an acoustic guitar.

Ptolema: Electronic dance music; house, techno, etc. Synth-pop. Piano collections when she's working.

Seth: Extremely specific forms of indie and progressive rock. Math rock is his favorite. He is the most passionate about music in the class and will talk about it for hours.

Ophelia: <redacted>

Lilith: The same anime OP on loop for six hours.

Bardiya: Gothic country, trip-hop, lounge music. Enjoys watching string solos. Loosely follows modern classical scenes like New Complexity but doesn't actively listen to it away from performances.

Ezekiel: Melodic industrial and hardcore, or overly-sentimental piano music and alternative rock, depending on what he's currently feeling bitter about.

Fang: Experimental and improvisational music - fast jazz, avant-rock, vaporwave. Vocaloids. Probably used to compose when they had more free time.

Balthazar: Country music, but doesn't like religious stuff. Movie soundtracks.

that's all I have the brainpower for today, I think.

[manias-wordcount]

you should totally write for howl again 💖💖

Dancing With Yourself (Howl Jenkins Pendragon x Reader)

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗢 𝗜𝗠 𝗦𝗢 𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗜 𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗜𝗧

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

There’s always music playing in Howl’s castle.

  It comes from one lone grand piano. One you’ve never seen anyone sit down and play. It sits in the drawing-room with the beautiful curtains and pretty couch cushions. And if it weren’t for you constantly going around and cleaning all the nooks and cranny of the castle, you’re sure that layer of dust you found covering it would continue to grow. Yet, it’s always there- making its music spread far and wide across the castle. Weaving in and out of rooms. Climbing through windows and reaching up chimneys. Just so it could be heard. So you suppose it’s only natural. A house as magical as this one would have a few more tricks up its sleeve every time you swear you’ve found them all. Though this surprise happens to be one of the best ones of them all. 

  In the morning, it’s a springtime medley, coaxing you out of bed and onto your feet. Slow and easy starts. Light notes and quiet motifs. Helping you say hello to the world once more. By noon, it’s summertime orchestra, guiding you around the house and accompanying you on a chore-filled day. Bold, new styles to help inspire new thoughts and ideas. And explosive rhythms for when you finally get your groove. Always there to turn a lazy afternoon productive. And at night? It’s a quiet little solo. Lulling you to bed with the softest of themes and the sweetest of tunes. The very dreams that dance around your head. 

  But this afternoon, the music is a little different. 

  You noticed it while you were doing the sweeping by the stairs. Calcifer was dozing off. A midday nap was in order for the little fire demon with the brightest spark. Still, you trekked on as silently as possible, hoping to not disturb his slumber now that you’ve moved on from clearing the ashes out of his fireplace and restocking his wood. With your sleeves pushed up, hair pinned back, and your broom as your weapon, you were determined to get through your cleaning list sooner rather than later. An evening under the setting sun and rising stars with Howl and Markl sounded like a dream come true- if you’re able to get everything done in time. 

  But something was slowing you down. Something about the music. Usually, the melodies you hear are unfamiliar. A little background buzz that pushes you to go forward each time without making you stop to take in the tune that would loop over and loop without ever sounding unpleasant or repetitive to your ears. An artistic and experimental show just for you and whoever else was in the castle at the moment. But something about this time wasn’t right. Something about this time was completely different than all the days before. 

  You had heard this song before.

  You must have realized it long ago, though the thought must have only registered fully in your head now that you’ve caught yourself sweeping the same pile of dust in every which way in favor of tapping your toe to the beat. The second you became after of how much it had entrapped you, you froze, nearly dropping your broom in the process. But living with a powerful wizard and his budding apprentice has sharpened your senses. And your reflexes. Your recovery was as swift as a breath, a count to three, and there you were- off on your merry way to sweep somewhere besides the stairs. 

  But as you approached the kitchen table, your mind became caught again.  ‘What song was this?’ Your mind couldn’t help but wonder, as the motif rolled in and flooded your head. ‘Why is it so familiar?’ Your head can’t help but question, as you slowly prop the broom up against the table and take a step back. ‘Where have I heard this before?’ Your thoughts start to wander, trying to place a name, a location, a face- anything to this song. 

  But then your eyes flutter close. A blurry picture springs forth in your mind. Moving shapes. Moving colors. A scene you must have seen many times before to recall like so. A scene you must have seen when you were young. Young and inspired. Young and excited. Young and bold. It reminds you of the first day you stepped inside the infamous moving castle. It reminds you of chasing the stairs and struggling to onboard. It reminds you of what it was like seeing magic at work for the first time, But most of all? It reminds you of being held. By someone you love. By someone, you care about.

  By someone like Howl.

  And so, your hands reach out, as if to hold someone. A hand up high, as if reaching towards the sun. A hand a little lower, as if to wrap around the shoulders of someone you hold dear. You open your eyes, to face a partner that isn’t truly there-

  And you dance. 

  You dance, and you dance, and you dance. You dance to a song you just barely recall. You make up the moves as you go. You step in a circle. And then in a square. You float about the kitchen as if it were the ballroom. With your eyes slipping closed once more, you imagine that itself not by yourself, that you are dipping. But rather it is at the hands of a handsome man. With a smile on your face, you imagine that it is not by yourself that you are twirling around in a dainty circle. But rather, it is at the hands of someone you had been eyeing for a long time. And with your ears, open for nothing but the sweet sound of the piano that plays itself, you cross your arms over your chest and sway. Imaging that, it is not by yourself, but rather, by the careful and warm hands of a good friend you can’t help but wish for something more. 

  You take this moment to slow down. To remember your steps. To practice the ones you liked best. To compose your own dance routine to make sense of the faded picture that still echoes in your mind. A two-step here. A twirl right there. Hold them like so. Hold them and never let go. Picturing all the movements and all the steps over, and over again until you’re satisfied. 

  And perhaps this is a silly thing to do. Perhaps this is nothing more than you chasing a fleeting thought instead of getting your work done. You can already imagine the laughter Calicifer will bring once he wakes up to see you dancing by yourself. And you can already imagine the questions Markl will have, once he sees you moving about the room in a trance-like state. But by now, any thought of picking up the broom once more is no longer on your mind. In fact, all you can think about doing is reaching out your hands once more. 

  A hand up high, as if reaching towards the sun. A hand a little lower, as if to wrap around the shoulders of someone you hold dear. You open your eyes, to face a partner that you once thought wasn’t there-

  “May I have this dance, my dearest?”

  And you smile. Big and wide as Howl’s velvety voice as he asks you his question. Because it gives you an excuse to reach a hand as if it were the sun. And to wrap an arm around his shoulders, because he’s someone one dear. It gives you an excuse to face him. To revel in his grasp. To shine your brightest under a soft, blue-eyed gaze. 

  And dance.

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side A

Propaganda below ⬇️

Louis de Pointe du Lac

french (creole) in the 1700s, has a crazy Ultra-Catholic brother that he builds a cathedral for on his property out of love, in which he gets turned i to a vampire after setting the place on fire in a drunken stupor because he was sooo damp lestat (insane vampire, also catholic but also not, it's complictaed) just couldn't resist, fire motif continues (he burns a lot of places to the ground, fire kills vampires, etc); denies himself human blood not because killing is wrong but because drinking human blood is a pleasurable experience (drinking blood is also how vampires have sex, so take this how you will), finds himself baby trapped in a toxic patriarchal nuclear family setting with lestat (not exclusive to catholics ofc but, come on) louis would not identify as catholic/religious but literally everything he does comes down to his immense catholic guilt complex and he believed genuinely for a very long time that he was going to hell for existing as a vampire (it's a metaphor)

episode 1 he has a whole breakdown in a confession booth about pimping, drinking, gay sex, etc. then his priest gets immediately murdered by a vampire and he then agrees to be turned by that vampire and to marry him (in his defense lestat is VERY dreamy) and keeps doing the same shit and worse but feeling extreme guilt about everything constantly. he keeps this up for 144 years and counting

He battles with faith so hard dude he spends like half his book being Catholically Guilty for his vampirism. It slaps

He got turned into a vampire after having a big gay crisis in a church. Iconic

Homura

she is a catholic lesbian whose girlfriend became god. she has been through so much.

shes such a lesbian for amdoke

Catholic guilt literally turned her into a demon

she literally watches everyone she knows die over and over and over again just so she can save madoka, the one girl who showed kindness towards her. when madoka ends up basically becoming god in order to stop the cycle of death and violence, homura RIPS AWAY THE HUMAN PART OF HER SOUL so that she can create a world where she and Madoka and their friends can live happily, effectively becoming the devil to madoka's god

She has so much religious symbolism when it comes to her relationship to Madoka. Madoka is God and Homura becomes Lucifer so that she can save Madoka and give her happiness. She literally rips God from heaven and rewrites reality though. The way she sees her self and shapes reality is through the lense of Catholicism.

most fucked up little catholic girl. we love that for her.

Okay homuras entire fuckin arc is stemmed from the fact she is Catholic. Look at her trying to save Madoka over and over again and suffering for it because she thinks if she suffers enough and works hard enough Madoka will stay. Normal people do not go into time loops willingly. Catholics will.

[megumi-fm]

this week on megumi.fm ▸ coding and coffeeshops

📋 Tasks

💻 Internship ↳ lab meet!!! got to learn about the other projects in the lab ↳ got work from home approved!! ↳ optimize protein seq code // account for missing residues ✅ ↳ add on a binding site identifier function for code using 4.5A distance threshold ✅ ↳ optimize binding site code // reducing time complexity for large PDB file inputs ✅ ↳ download and extract alphafold human protein repository and analyze pdb file formats ↳ set up progress tracker and upload code on colab ✅ 🎓 Uni ↳ Final Project: update images quality according to changes mentioned ✅ ↳ renew uni email for extra credit classes ✅ ↳ extra credit classes started this week! 🩺Radiomics Projects ↳ call with teammates to discuss next steps ✅ 📧 Application-related ↳ finished masters application form for 1/1 Uni (waiting on my referee reports) ✅ ↳ finalize referee report from my profs ✅

📅 Daily-s

🛌 consistent sleep [7/7] 💧 good water intake [5/7] 👟 exercise [5/7]

Fun Stuff this week

🍻 met up with my bestie @muakrrr <3 it was a stressful tuesday so meeting him for lunch was super comforting! he bought this cute purple drink and I got myself some ginger ale and the waiter served us the wrong drinks (gender and expectations something something) and it was amusing to watch them get confused when we corrected them 🎂 mom's b'day this week!! went out for dinner with her!! 🛒 went shopping with relatives who I haven't seen in years. bought myself a book! (rip my bookshelf) ☕ went out for coffee and dinner with my girlies (the same besties who I exchanged mugs with). we're trying to spend as much time together as possible before we leave to different countries for our masters 🎮 continuing the beginner's guide 📺 ongoing: Marry my Husband, Cherry Magic Th, Last Twilight 📺 binged: KinnPorsche The Series

📻 This week's soundtrack

Love Wins All by IU (been crying over this music video for days now. it's beautiful) KinnPorsche theme by Slot Machine: Kinn's theme [aka Phiang Waichai; TH] | Porche's theme [aka Free Fall; Eng] (first of all this is one of the catchiest theme songs to exist second only to SPECIALZ aka the JJK s2 op i'm also particularly losing my mind over how the two themes are love letters to the main characters from each other... the narrative parallels of it all are driving me insane sldkhlaksjkshs) Dum Dum by Jeff Satur + the Live Unchained version where his vocals are heavenly (maybe im so drawn to this song because the chorus is similar to the melodic motifs of the KPTS themes/soundtrack, either way, the show introduced me to him and god. I've been voraciously consuming his discography.) Ghost by Jeff Satur (on repeat all week. thoroughly obsessed with this song- the lyricism, his voice, the storyline in the MV, his acting, everything. wow. truly.)

---

[Jan 22 to 28 ; week 4/52 || I. love. my. internship. like. I have been having the most fun time problem solving and troubleshooting. it's also super satisfying to see the outcome of my code. it's been a while since I used python (I've been coding on C) so I forget that python has a lot of inbuilt functions that would do the same tasks I inadvertently entrust my nested loops with, and finding out about them is always so joyous (although it means I have to scrap off several chunks of code). i am a bit annoyed though, because the other intern isn't really doing any work that we're entrusted with so I'm having to carry the team and it's taking me too much time. but oh well. I've suggested we split tasks from next week, hopefully that'll make things better.

I've also been procrastinating a lot when it comes to my masters applications and it really hit me this week when I had to run to uni several times to get things approved and completed. Now that I'll get to work from home I need to set up a proper schedule to get application work completed wayy in advance. also need to resume my GRE prep from next week.]

[mysteryman-17]

* MUSTACHE GIRL EX ATK 180 DEF 280 * Guess she did have a breaking point, after all. * ...There must be a way to get through to her.

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The logo for Time's End was designed by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!! Like holy FUCK, I can not stress enough how awesome they are to work with. They're amazing!!

Motifs:

Mustache Girl EX

Main Theme/Title Screen

Reflections Past

Judge, Jury and Executioner

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here! The rest of the description is underneath the Read More.

Mustache Girl takes on a hybrid Asgore and Asriel role. Already feeling trapped and conflicted, her emotions are finally pushed over the edge when an incredibly large group of people -- though it feels more like the entire world with how suffocating the crowd is -- barge into her throne room and hurl insults her way, telling her to "get lost!" among other things …and (almost) all in the name of Bow Kid, mirroring what happened years ago to a disturbing degree. Finally overwhelmed by all her painful thoughts and emotions bubbling back to the surface, she snaps and violently shatters a Time Piece in a fit of rage. And thus history is made to repeat itself once more. But this time, something's different.

BABY'S FIRST HOPES AND DREAMS REPLACEMENT FOR THE WIN :D Also Happy belated New Year to all my peeps here on Tumblr lmao But ye, this is actually happening! Aside from using similar instruments (and a somewhat loose idea for the very beginning of my track,) this is very deliberately unfaithful to the typical H&D structure. Knew right away that I wanted to use Mustache Girl EX as the base for this track, and that sticking too rigidly to the structure of any other H&D would do a disservice to the feel I wanted to go for: that same kick-you-in-the-dick level of power from Mu EX, but with a LOT more of a melancholy vibe underlying all that fury. Plus, bit of a fun fact: adjustments have been made since obviously, but the first "complete" mixing draft of this track was finished on New Year's Eve 2023! (This kind of constant revising is why the His Theme track is still not done on my part btw lmaooooo.) Also… I'll fully admit something here. For the first time on a track I've done, the drumbeat's backbone is comprised of loops I got when I bought Mixcraft 10 (especially with some of the things they were offering during the first week of its launch,) and the only supplemental VST I used was Abbey Road 80's Drummer for the left panned hi-hats. I know that EDM-type stuff similar to the actual Mu EX track is completely out of my wheelhouse, and I didn't want to royally screw up the drum pattern with this different metal-ish take on it, seeing as those are something I have a TON of trouble with. All things considered, drumline came out ok! And ye on the whole, I'm incredibly happy with this track, and it's easily the most ambitious arrangement I've done to date (and the most difficult too in some aspects.) Hope you all enjoy! :)

[cboffshore]

"I hear the sea, it roars/and I want out of here." - Coeur de Pirate, "Our Love"

For #quins1kdtiys: ol' reliable couture art meets a proper model in "And That's All We Are".

(Writeup under the cut, as usual. Minor Dragons Rising part 2 spoilers there, by the by, but you'll see them coming. I'll let you know.)

Congratulations on 1k, @quintastiic! I hope this does that milestone some justice.

I've done Skybound couture work before; I've done Nya analysis before. Somehow, I have never blended them, and this DTIYS gave me the perfect chance to try that out.

For the first time in my fashion fanart history, I'm not using a boilerplate mannequin - I got my hands on one of those IKEA artist figurines and decided, well, if there's any time to try and draw someone, let's start with a favorite. I'm not hiding behind a standard template here.

For the most part, this is a simple urban riff on Nya's Skybound gi: a black velvet vest and fingerless gloves over a crimson blouse, paired with bright combat boots and flared jeans. A durable ensemble, I like to believe this base of blended aesthetic represents what Nya spends the first five seasons building herself up to be: well, herself. She scrapped a mech and her own role together - and built a legacy in the process. In one way, that's all she is: everything she's crafted so far.

Overtaking the outfit, though, is a cropped leather jacket with a sheer train designed to resemble waves.

It doesn't match the base at all - it glows. It floats. It almost seems alive with motion and light, but at the same time, it's a weight on her shoulders that makes her conspicuous among her teammates. It's a dilemma that plagues her throughout Skybound and beyond - can she make herself work with her powers? Does she want to? In another way, that's all she is: her powers? Or not?

Bridging the gap between the wave jacket and the base ensemble is an element inspired by Nya's monologue to Jay about being friends - and nothing else.

That, of course, is the friendship bracelet inspired chain belt, adorned with four venom-shaded charms:

Closest to Nya herself is another symbol of her powers, and the way she has to reform herself to solve the problems at hand: a simple water droplet, a symbol of life turned into one of risk with the venom-green tint.

On the next layer down, something more classically Claire's jewelry rack bracelet set: a lightning bolt with a tiny heart, representing Nya's evolving relationship with Jay throughout the season. Although I find it important to analyze Nya as her own character in the context of Skybound, it is important to acknowledge Jay's influence, and that's what this is for.

(Partial Dragons Rising part 2 spoilers in this one!) Dangling as far away from Nya as she can get it, but apparently trying to climb back up close to her of its own accord, is a twelve-pointed sun motif that appears in the second half of Dragons Rising to - without getting too spoilery - indicate a curse on the bearer and mark them for inevitable suffering and eventual death. In Skybound and beyond, Nya narrowly evades this fate; the symbol overtakes both of her gloves here, representing her struggle and the hand motif I adore in the season. However, she does eventually escape - and wears it dangling loosely, even casually, from her belt, almost like a trophy.

Hidden beneath the jacket and attached to a belt loop for easy access, like a tool, hangs a charm modeled after the flask of venom used in episode 61. This is resilience, almost to a fault, and a bittersweet reminder of the events of the erased timeline - they go to such lengths to keep the venom, and for what end? Nya's eventual death - and their victory. And everything that comes with that.

The charms round out the trifecta of all she is during Skybound: the circumstances, mortal or not, that shape her actions and determine her destiny.

[diamondcrownacademy]

DCA Info Part 39: Meet Sophie Fascinare 💜

Twisted from: Sofia the First

Art colored by @au-ni-ro

Sophie Fascinare (ソフィー・ファシナーレ, Sofī Fashināre) is a 15 year old 1st year student affiliated with the Glastanzerin dorm. Hailing from an isolated kingdom, she has no idea how to fit in the modern society but she will try her best to become a true princess!

History

Sophie was born and raised in the kingdom of Enchantis, a large island with a castle in the center surrounded by other large islands that house villages and towns.

At some point during her life, Sophie’s mother, Queen Meredith married a humble jeweler known as Ryland and in the process became the older step sister to Ryland’s twins, his son Amir and his daughter Jemma. She was very welcoming to her new family members though she has to constantly remind her Amir that being royalty comes with responsibility.

When her enrollment in Diamond Crown Academy was announced, her mother’s council immediately disagreed out of fear of outsiders and reject any idea of outside knowledge ruining their traditions.

Prior to her departure to DCA, her mother entrusted her with a magical amulet that was said could grant powers to anyone who wears it.

Personality

Sophie is diligent and hopeful, never gives up on a task until it is done. Though she needs to learn how to lean onto others for support when she needs it. She has a determined spirit even if she screws up, she just tells herself to take note of the mistake and try again no matter how embarrassed she may be.

Appearance

Sophie is a young girl of average height in her mid-teens. She has fair skin, blue eyes which were later changed to violet, and shoulder-length brown hair that would later include a light purple streak and is commonly shown in a ponytail.

Sophie’s Ensemble in her First Bio

This ensemble takes inspiration from the ensemble of the character Sophie is based on. the details of the ensemble are listed below with the only difference being that the bio ensemble has a purple color palette.

1st School Uniform

The outfit consists of a a bright blue puff sleeve jacket with a crown pattern, gold trim, buttons, a pale yellow ruffle collar with white lace and navy blue cuffs with silver buttons with a flower motif. The jacket is worn over a baby blue dress with the top having gold trim and white lace and also having a light yellow skirt. For footwear, Sophie wears a pair of brown shoes with gold straps with bows in the center alongside a pair of pale yellow argyle socks that have a solid purple color at the halfway point.

Sophie accessorizes with a silver tiara with the center part resembling a heart with a purple gem on top, a purple bow on the right side of her hair, a navy blue sash and most notably an amulet with a purple teardrop pendant set in silver.

2nd School Uniform

Sophie’s ensemble is drastically different from the first one. She wears a light blue puff-sleeved bolero jacket with gold trim and white pearl buttons. Underneath is glittery periwinkle overskirt with gold trim worn over a pastel blue argyle v-neck dress with pale yellow trim which is in turn worn over a white dress shirt with lace trim. For footwear, Sophie wears a pair of dark brown low heeled shoes with yellow ruffle trim and blue-violet bows and a pair of white socks with ruffle cuffs.

Sophie accessorizes with a silver tiara with the center having a heart motif and infinity loops on both sides, a blue-violet ponytail ribbon, a blue-violet ribbon with gold trim and a silver teardrop brooch with a purple jewel in the center, and a blue-violet sash with gold trim and a ribbon on the right side with a silver gem in the center.

3rd School Uniform

Sophie's 3rd school uniform is fairly basic, which makes sense since she’s adjusting to a new environment due to coming from an isolated kingdom. Additionally she was unsure how the uniform commissioning system worked so she commissioned something simplistic.

For her ensemble, Sophie wears a periwinkle puff sleeve jacket with silver trim, a pair of pale blue gem buttons on each side of the jacket, each attached to a pair of silver toggles,dark purple cuffs and the inside has a purple checkerboard pattern. Worn underneath the jacket is a pale blue sweater with a collar and a periwinkle skirt with silver trim and pale blue ruffles. For footwear, Sophie wears a pair of low heeled Mary Janes with silver buckles and bows on the straps. She wears the shoes with a pair of short white socks.

Sophie accessorizes with a silver tiara with heart and loop motif, a silver teardrop brooch with a lavender with a flower in the center and pale blue gems on the top, and a violet belt with a bow in the center alongside a silver buckle.

School Statistics

Sophie is a 15 year old 1st year student. She is classified as Student #3 and is in Class 1-A. She has yet to choose a club, but her best subject is Basic Etiquette. Her favorite school subject is Study of Magical Relics because of she was always so interested in relics, in part thanks to her amulet. Her least favorite school subject is Fencing/Sword Fighting due to her lack of experience with weaponry.

Relationships

Family

Sophie has a good relationship with her family, including her stepfather and step siblings.

Pet

Sophie’s animal companion is a cocker spaniel named, Filly. A loyal dog who always gives advice and encourages her.

During the first few weeks of the school, Filly and the other animals were the only ones she’d talk to.

Voice

According to her bio, Sophie would be voiced by Kanae Itō known for her roles as Amu Hinamori in Shugo Chara!, Ruiko Saten in A Certain Scientific Railgun, and Nana Astar Deviluke in To Love Ru to list a few.

Trivia

• Her birthday is on November 18th, making her a Scorpio. Her birthday is also the same day that Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess released, as well as being the birthday of Mickey Mouse.

• She is 160 cm tall.

• Her favorite food is Salad and other fresh produce dishes while her least favorite food is Svisker Gröt (stewed prunes). She dislikes huge servings and cutting corners.

• She enjoys derby racing, cooking with others, walking through forests, and watching animals.

• Her preferred Styling Jewel Outfit Styles is Classical.

• For her casual attire, Sophie would mostly wear printed clothes that have cute characters or nice typeface along with a denim skirt to match. She would also wear knee length dresses with simple patterns with low heeled shoes.

• Her favorite color is lavender.

• She is dubbed "Little Guppy" (グッピーちゃん, Guppī-chan) by Floyd due to being a freshman. She shares this nickname with Epel.

• She likes looking at baby animals she sees.

• In the future, while Sophie would become a Monarch she also wishes she could be something else, she dreams to own her dance studio.

• In terms of desserts, Sophie loves anything with chocolates.

• Sophie would smell like the flowers of Enchantis.

• Her signature scent would be a light cologne.

[wynsnerdyrambles]

"To the Hashira Training" Screening thoughts

Just got back from the theater a bit ago, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on the Hashira Training Special Screening! My brief spoiler free thoughts are as follows: Definitely give this one a watch if you have the time, Ufotable's animation is stunning, and while none of the content in this episode is unique per se, watching that animation on a large screen in a theater is simply wonderful. But for the rest of my thoughts, spoilers abound!

After seeing it in theaters, I have to wonder whether they'd planned this far in advance when making Episode 11 of Swordsmith Village, as it really shines on a big screen like this. I also ended up purchasing tickets to the English dubbed version accidentally, so this was my first time watching this episode in dub, and I have to say, they're really nailing it. Tanjiro, Genya, and Muichiro in particular really stood out with their performances. I also cried again at Nezuko's 'Sacrifice' which is the mark of really well done emotional execution, because I felt the tragedy despite knowing it all turns out all right in the end.

The main draw of this screening is obviously the early premiere for the Hashira Training arc, and this started off really strong. Giving the 'beginning season filler demon' utilized in Mugen Train and Entertainment District to the Hashira really was a nice choice. In particular giving more screen time to Sanemi and Obanai was greatly appreciated. I always felt Obanai's screen time was a little lacking in the original manga, and so giving some extra exposure to him is great!

While the rest of this episode is relatively fluffy, I feel like Ufotable accurately captured the dread of the Hashira Training Arc- this is the calm before the storm, and the Hashira know it. I also appreciated Amane getting some good screen time. I also, as a music nerd, enjoyed hearing all the returning motifs for the various Hashira was incredibly fun and even a little nostalgic, particularly for Uzui's theme. I am also a simple and predictable KNY fan, and I cried when I saw Tanjiro's new sword with Rengoku's tsuba. RENGOKU-SAAANNNN!!!!

The new OP absolutely slaps, and I love the imagery in it, and I can't wait until I can listen to the full song on loop. And the same goes for the absolutely transcendent remix of 'Kizuna no Kiseki' that plays over the credits. Seriously worth sitting through the credits for that alone! (Even though I always sit through the credits on principle).

I eagerly await news on when this season will hit the tv and wait with bated breath for my Tomioka Angst.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

here's something that no one's been talking about for almost 6 straight months:

act one scene two of charlie's play, the blacksmith fashions the porcelain doll a heavy suit of armor in order to keep her safe. instead, though, it proves too heavy for her, and the doll ends up cracking under the weight of it. she then sheds the armor and runs off into the night to start her journey.

obviously the blacksmith is meant to be winona. obviously the armor is supposed to be an allegory to the well-intentioned overbearingness an older sibling can have for their fragile younger sister.

but here's the thing about it. until act two scene two, charlie remains fractured from that singular incident. even then, the mask is in its fractured, black magic state. she doesn't become fully 'whole' until the final scene of the final act.

my question is: what is that supposed to imply? That's like, 4/5ths of the entire play where charlie remains in some sort of broken state. i mean, obviously porcelain isn't something that can be easily repaired. yes- when looking at this entirely logically- it makes sense she remains broken throughout the act. but if the entire play is a metaphorical retelling of charlie's life through her biased (and probably altered) lens, then what is her being broken meant to represent? and what does winona have to do with it?

it's terribly obvious that charlie still loves winona, and knows what winona is still fighting for her to come back. she cares about her now. and seemingly- in her letters to her from before maxwell's final act- she cared about her back then, too! enough to write letters. enough to visit her when she had time off.

but the play itself implies that... something happened. something that was more than being denied some self discovery by your older sister. something that genuinely hurt charlie. something that stuck with her.

it just feels very... intentional. for as poorly written as it is (and that's charlie's fault, not klei's fault. she doesn't know how to write a script, sorry sweetheart), it's artistic and it's intentional. things happen for a reason- and usually it's very obvious to figure out who's who and which motif means what.

but even before charlie ever met maxwell, she considered herself broken. and i just can't wrap my head around what that can begin to mean. winona's got her own commentary on it, too

i don't know... i guess this could just be looping back to the more obvious issue of her being an overprotective sister, but i just find it really hard to read it that way. it doesn't seem like "i didn't know that i was holding you back the way you remember i was", it seems like "i didn't know that i hurt you like that".

but hurt her how? hurt her how.