#but i *PERSONALLY* do not consider it an aesthetic i consider it the void of one

[nocturnowlette]

do you have any hypnosis audio files youd recommend?

Honestly, the answer is a "maybe".

In my opinion, in my 8 years of listening to files, not even 1% qualify as something I'd consider well made. The vast majority are nsfw, and the vast majority of those just throw any actual hypnosis away for a sake of roleplay. That being said, here are some files that, in my estimation, are at a minimum decent.

And always, read the description of every file before listening, even after reading my descriptions.

There's puppy ones at the bottom, by the way.

First, not an audio file, but an itch.io game.

brainwasher_program by sleepingirl (18+)

This is the most competently made thing I will be showing. Sleepingirl is someone I would consider a good hypnotist skillwise.

There is also test hypnosis game1 and ithinktherefore, also itch.io text hypnosis games/sessions.

Next, to my knowledge, the best file I've personally stumbled on (though it still didn't quite wow me),

Failing to Resist by Jack Drago (18+)

This file is a trance trainer, as in a file meant to use the ideas of resistance and turn that idea against you. It does a passable job, and you might find it quite powerful and helpful if you have some stubborn tendencies as a subject.

Next is another passable trance trainer,

Mind Melt by LilithUnleashed (18+)

This file uses arousal to bring about a specific philosophy of trance, one you might find more conducive to effectiveness: enjoying trance for the sake of trance itself, not just using it as a means to an end. There is no wakener at the end.

Next, a twin pair of files,

The Call of the Void and Hypnotic Acceptance by LilithUnleashed

The Call of the Void is a sort of run of the mill hypnosis file meant to be looped, and designed to condition you to trance and specifically to Lilith to some extent. Hypnotic Acceptance is a conditioning file meant to be played out of trance and doesn't bring you in to it. It's a nice idea that can have some small potential benefits, it's also relaxing.

Lilith, in general, is a competent hypnotist, if not a bit... much... at times. That's more of a taste thing, though. She does a good job, and these files are good.

There is also this conditioning loop file by her which is also nice, as well as this one.

Next is one for the pups,

Collared Obedience by LilithUnleashed (18+)

This one is, at a minimum, a very enjoyable time. It creates a mental collar and links it with actual collars if you wish and have the means. It forms one made out of various concepts relating to obedience. The suggestions didn't stick for me, but I'm a tad stubborn.

Obedience 101 - Welcome to Class! by FlowLikeTea

If you haven't noticed, I like trance training files. It's primarily because they're some of the only ones that aren't trying to just do erotic roleplay with the facile idea of hypnosis and hypnotic aesthetics. It reminds me of the ASMR sphere in that way.

Anyways, this file is just nice. Not much else to mention.

Slow and Gentle Hypnotic Induction by GoddessSoft (NotSoftForWork)

Thank you, Ms. Soft, for making an actually competent SFW hypnosis file. Soft is quite the competent hypnotist, and we'll be showing a few of her files coming up, but this one remains my favorite. It's simply a very well done relaxation file by someone who knows her stuff and has a good understanding of most aspects of audio trances.

Good Puppy Clicker Training by GoddessSoft (18+)

This is a beginner-centric clicker training file by Ms. Soft. It's thorough, long, and pleasurable. If you haven't noticed, I have not recommended files intended to make you finish in any way. I don't like them. They do not work for me. You'll have to ask someone else. That being said, GoddessSoft's page on the link has many different puppy files to listen to. Most deal with that.

Puppydog Fractionation by GoddessSoft (18+)

Another not-specifically-nsfw-focused puppy file from Ms. Soft. If I recall right, the sound balancing might be a little iffy on this one, though. Fair warning.

That's all I remember for now, but I might have more recommendations in the future. I hope you enjoy, and be sure to tell me how you respond to some of them. Enjoy!

[catmask]

does anyone have like an anti aesthetic. like something you look at and can recognize as a complete fashion/interior design/artistic movement and understand it but it makes you shudder seeing it. i am not talking like “its morally bad” “its poorly structured” like just sheerly devoid of joy for you actually invites a repulse response.

[gacha-incels]

I think one of the reasons it’s hard for people to cold turkey drop being fans/consumers of a piece of contemporary media is how these “fandom” spaces on social media have been set up. you’ve got generalized spaces online (sub-reddits, tumblr, twitter, etc. I would put even those book and film review websites here and imageboards) where you can “join” a pre-existing group of friends completely based on specific pieces of media.

for those who are post-college years and perhaps more introverted, it’s easier to talk with people online in these places and you can log in 24/7. instead of making friends in a physical schooling atmosphere where you’re surrounded by other people daily for 12+ years, you can log in and make friends digitally by being surrounded by people who all consume the same piece of media as you. so your friendship is completely dependent on this piece of media for the most part.

for younger people growing up now I think this also ties into “finding yourself” where they will see consumption of a piece of media as a core tenet of their personality. I believe this is part of why there have been multiple posts about the Project Moon/Limbus Company situation that say “don’t worry whatever you choose you’re not a bad person either way.” This is also reinforced when people online comment “xyz fan” if they want to call your judgement of something into question. They have in effect assigned you a personality based on your consumption a videogame, for example. When the creators do something so ideologically opposite than what the work presents, it’s extra shocking to those fans who considered consuming the work as part of their personality. I think this way of consumption is also why, at least from what I’ve seen, there has been such a drive to label and categorize “aesthetics” into words you can search hashtags for or put in your online profile. This also has got to be a reason why people go so hard in their defense of whatever media, because they feel like when someone criticizes the media they consume they are in effect criticizing the person who consumes it. They are essentially trying to defend themselves.

When something shocking like the kowtowing to misogynistic men situation with Limbus Company, in a sense the way these “fandom” spaces work online now makes it harder for people to completely drop the game. The consumer now has online friendships and is in entire communities based completely on this media, maybe they have also even created fanart and fanfiction. For some of them it’s part of their personality. If they drop it completely they are also losing these online communities , friends and even a sense of self. I think this is a reason you will see a lot of fans ask “what fandom/game should I get into next”, they want to fill this void ASAP.

As a gacha game, Limbus further complicates this by getting the consumer into a routine they now have to break. Every day they have logged in, done the daily gameplay, even the events and gambling banners have a set schedule. These types of games typically have an ensemble cast with specific set types of personalities so fans can choose their favorite(s). As long as they make money they will keep making stories (just look at FGO), so it’s like having a never-ending story with your favorite character. It’s like a series of movies that always end with a teaser for the next one. It’s easy to get addicted, not just from the gambling aspect.

I was confused at first why other fans were having such trouble completely dropping the game because for me, it was like a switch turned off and I was able to stop caring completely. I think it’s amazing how some Korean fans have completely deleted all their fanart and even taken their fan merch back from the restaurant. But looking into how “fandom” works these days it seems this makes it harder to drop something completely. I’m not saying these are the only reasons, but it’s interesting how this works positively for companies that make these pieces of media that are up for public consumption.

[cosmiclion]

Ok ok I think I have this dadbastian AU more or less figured out. Gonna braindump what I have so far under the cut.

-Like a lot of canon-divergent Kuro ideas I have, this is set in an alternate reality where all kinds of supernatural creatures coexist with humans.

-One of them is demons, there are different subspecies and not all of them eat souls. There was a time where all demons were feared and any human who was suspected of being in good terms with one became the target of a witch hunt. By the late 18th century, however, things have changed a lot.

-There has been an agreement or “code of honor” between soul-eating demons (commonly called Voids) and humans for centuries. Voids need human souls to survive, they cannot sustain themselves with anything else (it’s very rare for a demon to starve to death but they do become weak and vulnerable). Some of them are opportunists who roam in search of dying humans whose souls they can snatch before a reaper arrives. While others are more patient and prefer to cultivate a soul by forming a contract with someone who wishes to. Having your soul eaten is not the horrifying fate you may think it is: there’s no eternal torment, no hell, nothing. Just going to sleep never to wake up and becoming one with the demon. People accept this as another aspect of life. However, there’s one thing that’s unacceptable and it’s demons (unjustifiably) killing humans just for their souls, any demon who does this is considered a feral beast and will be hunted down (there are some methods to kill a demon for good). Even other demons look down on these individuals.

-The longer a human lives the more "nutritious" their soul is. Some Voids will form a contract with a human and serve them through all their life, and when it's their time to go the person will willingly feed themself to the demon. Other demons even become familiars and stay in the same family for generations, swearing loyalty to the next person in line after they have absorbed their relative’s soul. People consider this an honor.

-Sebastian is a very refined demon who only consumes the highest quality souls after fulfilling a contract. The day RCiel is sacrificed is the first time someone actively summons him, as all this time he met all his contractees by chance. He eats the human sacrifice’s soul because why not, there’s a first time for everything. However, when he takes a look at all the cultists gathered excitedly looking at him he feels nothing but contempt and disgust, and slaughters them without second thought and without bothering to take their souls. They have the distinctive stench of someone who has done unspeakable things to an individual of their own species, especially to a youngling, and not even demons find these souls appetizing. So nobody would dare to judge him for disposing of them. After the fun bloodbath he senses a tiny presence nearby, and locates it in a cage in the center of the room. A small, frail human lays there, apparently dead, though he still feels their soul flickering inside. Upon closer inspection he notices it’s a young child that looks exactly like the owner of the soul he just devoured. “Ah, twins. How sad”. It doesn’t seem like this child will make it, but waiting until he finally dies goes against his aesthetic, and for some reason he can’t bring himself to either end his misery or leave him there. So he takes the unconscious child out of there, craddling him in his very demon essence, and just keeps him, like a person who has found a wet, dirty, barely alive tiny animal on the side of the road. Besides, if he manages to save the child and he goes on to live, they might make a contract and then he can claim his soul in the end. It could be a fun experiment right?

-From OCiel’s POV, the story starts off very similar to in canon: he still gets horribly tortured and abused. But since in this AU it all happens when he’s younger, his small body can’t take much and eventually he gets so sick and weak that he can’t even stand, and the cultists just leave him to die in the cage while they focus on the stronger RCiel. The day of the sacrifice he keeps slipping in and out of consciousness and can’t fully register or process what’s going on. Unable to tell dreams from reality, he suddenly feels a warm, almost velvety cloak that surrounds him. It's very comforting and he clings to it with the little strength he has left.

[channelsoph]

New Era Masks

i see a lot of discourse already. people discussing what they like and what they do not. i’ve been a bit reserved to talk about it because i just didn’t see it as a worthy topic for discussion. personal preference is a far-fetched tool to judge art by. this is my offering as a consolation and a short exposition for people who feel like it's not their vibe and therefore discouraged.

thing is, art is subjective. never going to be objective. never. i have a degree in art history which i studied in one of the oldest european universities. i specialize in modern art. (this is just to say that i know what im talking about). if nothing else, the discipline taught me that it is not necessary for art to be beautiful to be considered Art.

beauty is, at the end of the day, in the eye of the beholder. also, beauty is subjective. period.

now, masks. i feel comfortable with the change and it is because i don’t judge it by my personal preference. i don't judge, period. i’ve learned to divide my subjective views from art itself. i simply view them as an artistic choice, as art in its own right. they are made by an artist with great creativity and craftsmanship. that’s the way you would view any other classical artist’s choice. this one differs in that it is new art, modern, not usual and by that different, maybe precarious for some. (speaking purely of the band lore and how the masks fit in there, not the general music scene. we have of course seen similar masks in use by other collectives) this process is nothing new though. i’m not going to elaborate on history of art and its cyclical nature, i’ll just say this is the way people react to new things.

so, masks are art. in the collective’s own words their aesthetic fills the void when they obscure identities behind the masks. we can dissect the aesthetic and its meaning behind it, not evaluating it by personal standards.

it was their choice. as is with every riff, breakdown, every solo and those beautiful jazz parts in their songs. as clear as day to me is the one thing we owe them is to not judge appearances. some people thought the white masks were eerie and scary. but the music is still there. it is still the same message powerful in its raw emotions. nothing changed. void is still filled. i feel like we owe them the respect they treat us with. it is a blessing of a bond though.

put emphasis on their art — the music, the lore, the meaning. in vein with that one thing they asked of us — to hear the message behind.

so, if you feel like maybe the new masks are not your thing and you liked the old aesthetic better and you feel that it now obstructs your enjoyment of the band, this hopefully will be a fresh perspective for you to feast on.

<3 peace and love to all

[prototypelq]

DMC DISHONORED AU

I`ve mentioned a couple of times that during answering Ember’s @dmc-questions-anon crossover ask, I mixed, purely on a whim, DMC Sparda loser twins into a Dishonored-setting-AU and truth be told, the idea has not left me ever since. A week later, I've decided to compile everything I had for this AU into one post, so here it goes.

UPDATE a month later: I went over this post again to bring up to speed some things we've thought out with @stashoflostsouls! Her help with this AU has been immense and the brainworms might have stopped a long time ago if not for her, so this whole thing is her fault now xDDD (no regrets)

This is not a complete rewrite of the original post, but the DMC3/Dishonored 1 plotline has been edited heavily and new stuff brought to light. Adaptations of other DMC and Dishonored games will be coming later too.

Big thank you to everyone who is following this monstrocity as it builds itself along!

Personal notes: I've played Dishonored games, finished only the second though, as they had not grabbed me as they do other people. Still, I am enamoured with it's setting and aesthetic. The whole AU was smashed together in my head because, in my opinion, Dishonored does not do enough work with it's characters, and DMC does not do enough to flesh out it's worldbuilding, so I mashed them together to get the best of both worlds - a super unqiue and cool thought out setting and incredibly compelling and deep characters.

Disclaimer: I am very much a DMC enjoyer, however I am not that deep into Dishonored. I've refreshed my memory with some lore videos, on the topic, but please feel free to correct/advise/give commentary on adaptation of Dishonored stuff. DMC fans too! This is very much thoughts-in-process kind of AU

With all that out of the way - as a short summary Dishonored setting is a kind of mash of royalty+hitman+humans with powers AUs together. Dishonored is a tesla-punk-ified victorian britain setting (so we got strict class division with start differences in between, helthcare is nonexsitent, and the Empire is built upon the four kingdoms, each one on their own Isle) that is built upon the whale oil and whale hunting (that is used as fuel for electricity). Setting is also magical in nature through through the Void (kind of a mix of purgatory/death/dream/eldrich horror dimension, which has an avatar/god in the form of the Outsider, his worship is considered herecy by the local 'inquisition' but it can't fuly stop the weird, horrifying or perverse rituals that are held in his name). This world is quite dark, death is abundant, and violence is quite common. Nobles play their policial games and order asassinations to eliminate their rivals, common men are exploited at industrial factories, whale hunting is the main source of income and progress, scientists and philosophers play with their deadly inventions and even human lives for the sake of their research. (for vibe purposes check out the Drunken Whaler song and Dishonored 2 trailer they sum up the aesthetic exceptionally well)

Alright, so, how can we (hopefully) meaningfully insert the DMC cast into Dishonored, and how I, with major help from Raven, see the story of the twins going on from there:

Background and general setup:

In this AU Eva Redgrave is the Empress of the Empire of the Isles, Sparda Santiago is a talented swordsman, who rose from the poor districts, climbed ranks and became the Royal Protector of the Empress (=bodyguard). Romance bloomed from there, and they had twin sons and heirs for the throne, their relationship not announced to the public, but also not a secret to anyone in court.

Twins were royal children and had a lot of freedom in their childhood. Still, they had their tutoring done by an established professor of the Academy of the Natural Phylosophy - sir Arkham. Needless to say, both boys hated their lessons, and they picked up that their father was hanging around more losely when those were held. They did enjoy fencing a lot, sparring with their dad and each other especially, and were quite good at it. (not sure where to put in so I'll insert that here) Sparda favoured using bird mail, and had a favourite crow, twins tried playing with it sometimes too.

Canon DMC Eva was able to raise her demonic sons, so I imagine she had a steel spine. In this AU I think this would mean her politics as Empress were more strict than the Empress Jessamine of thre Dishonored setting - the Spymaster was not allowed to work under the radar (as he is allowed to in canon Dishonored which causes a myriad of problems later), and she would try to manage the long list of social issues and class difference, but of course, won't be able to solve them all. Her politics were based on maintaining good trading relations with other nations and trying to improve the life of lower classes, which did earn her some opposition from nobles and 'traditinal' oriented individuals, but did not stop her. Sadly, just one Empress is one reign was able to improve the lives of common people a little, but the things mostly stayed as they were.

Since her reign and politics were not a popular choice, plus she had twins as heirs (so the chance of her sucessor continuing this course was high), an asassination was arranged.

During the outbreak of a rat plague (which happened naturally in this case), the quarantine helped prevent it's spreading, but there was no known cure. Eva tried asking the other countries for help, but received no concrete answers, and she was getting desparate. As a last resort, she decided to sent out Sparda himself on a diplomatic mission, and to conduct this search himself, he was very reluctant to part but the situation was dire.

Arkham, as he was common presense in royal court, learned of this mission, and with the help of opposing parties and the Spymaster, planned a coup to asssinate and overthrow Eva during Sparda's absence. Members of this coup were not exactly concerned about the plague, as the affected districts of the city had been quarantined in time, and posed no threat to them, plus the main casualty here are the poor. However, the plan did not exactly work out as it should - Sparda finished his mission earlier than planned, as there was no cure for the rat plague. With these grave news, he sent out his mail crow to message to Eva about this, and the fact that he was coming back earlier. Arkham was able to capture a crow with this message, caged it, and began planning for Sparda's return - with his knowledge or the arcane and acute inventor's mind he conducted a magic trap, a curse, to stop Sparda in time. Literally in this case. And so, with Sparda's early return, he was warmly met by Arkham, then subsequently betrayed and frozen in time. Frozen Sparda was held somewhere in the dungeons of the Arkham estate. The asassination took place as planned.

Eva is killed during a nighttime stroll, but the twins are a harder target inside the palace walls. Things get bloody and palace guard is alerted. However, the twins chose that night to sneak out to play in the garden, and they stumble into seeing the last of their mother. Some of the assasins stay behind to keep an eye on their escape route, they see the twins and give chase. The twins are of course, shocked and traumatised, but they did their best to give the pursuers a hard time, as both are skilled fencers. Working together, they disarmed one of them, and Vergil was even able to deal some blows, but ultimately they are just children and had to run. Twins escape to the lighthouse, which had docks with some boats that Sparda used to them swimming around. Near the cliffside, one of the asassins has had enough and, seeing as the waves will drown out any sound, shoots. Dante falls into the ocean and is held under by the waves.

Vergil has no choice but to continue running, and near the lighthouse, he gets miracuously saved by Arkham.

yes this is technically a roleswap as Vergil is saved,and Dante is forced into contact with supernatural, but if saving was done by Arkham does it really count?

Dante gets chosen by the Outsider and lives through being bestowed the Mark upon. As this was done at a young age, there will be some repercussions.

The fallout of the asassination is hard on everyone. Publically, Eva and the royal family are stated to have been deceased by the plague that they tried to prevent, and in the place of an Empress, a ruling counsil of wealthy noble houses is instated.

The curse Arkham conducted was powerful, but short-lived, so a couple of years after the tragedy he finds himself free, escapes, and finds himself displaced in time. His family dead or missing, with no trails to follow to find any of them. The tragedy weights down heavy on him, he leaves the kingdom of Gristol to try to pick up the lost pieces of himself, with no luck.

Dante is picked up drifting in the sea by a ship. With no resources, stranded and alone, he has nothing to back up his claims of being a royal heir, and no help in sight. When the news of the royal tragedy reach him, there is no point in even trying anymore, and he is forced into the life of a street urchin. He hides the Mark he received, and slowly gets used to it's powers... and the consequences of having them. With his wits, and the advantage of the Mark, he makes the best of this situation - avoids the gangs to the best of his ability, travels by stowawaying in some caargo crates on different ships, then manipulating the crewmen to teach him sailing. He makes contacts, deals, gambles and grows street-smart and cunning. Dante is known at Enzo's bar, is a common sailor in Morrison's trader ship crew, and even dealt with some contrabandists/pirates like Lucia. When not sea-faring, he spends his time in fighting rings, or investigates anything Void-related in exchange for favours. This payment system makes his services available to locals, but he does those secretly, protected by an alternate look and a mask.

Note: this background negates some of the issues the canon twins have, most notable - their demonic-human nature conflict, and in both cases the twins grow up almost properly socialised, who would have thought. Basically what I am getting at is that there is more free space and opportunity for twins to get to know someone. However, neither me, nor Raven are really interested in going down those alleys, so there won't be shipping notes here. I just wanted to point out that in this seting, relationships are not half as complicated as they are in the canon DMC. I would not be opposed to hearing some Lady/Vergil or Dante/Lucia headcanons tho

Vergil is raised in secret by Arkham in his estate, which goes as well as you might have expected. Vergil takes very badly to everything that has happened, he growns up only slightly paranoid as the result of recurring nightmares, half of the time - not his own. Arkham trying to force himself into a father figure for Vergi was not helping matters in any way, and only made Vergil fight back against any sort of control more. Vergil spends a lot of time training his physical and fencing skills (to never be taken by surprise again), studies a lot of different science fields, as any competent heir should (heir to the throne of the Empire, an heir to Eva Redgrave, not in any way shape or form did he want to be controlled by Arkham. the only reason he even tolerated Arkham and his behavior is because Vergil had nowhere to go to, and if he wanted to reinstate himself and his family name later in life he needed the jumpstart Arkham's resourches, libraries and teachings provided). He starts attending high class events like balls and such, as a special guest of some imaginary rising noble house under the name of Paul Southworth.

-------------------------------------

As a treat, have a DMC3/Dishonored1 plot adaptation:

Twins are in their twenties.

Arkham, in all thess years has been unsuccesfull in all his attempts to 'mold' Vergil into a manipulable figure, and he tries to go for another approach - starts forcing Vergil and Mary (lot Lady yet(?)) interactions. Both are of course, aware of what Arkham wants from them and appropriatly hate each other on these forced meetings.

Somewhere, around this time, during one of the masked balls, a woman takes great interest in him, and he feels frustrated with his life and rebeliious enough to indulge her.

Probably after a screaming match or two between Lady and Vergil, they actually find a connection in this mutual hatred for the situation Arkham is forcing them into and bond instead. Lady ends up taking some fencing lessons from Vergil from the whole ordeal, which they conduct in secret, of course. They grow closer and are on their way to becoming friends, which Arkham actually sees as his plan working.

Everything changes after the mysterious death of Kalina Ann.

Mary is taking her death extremely badly, she is practically inconsolable, and wouldn't leave her room. Arkham, the wonderful parenting figure he is, and who needs his daughter for future plans, makes the best decision possible - buys her a doberman. For some reason, Mary is not thrilled at this idea at all, she hates then dog and he is not well-behaved at all, which means there's now an uncontrollable and uncared for doberman going loose in the estate. Vergil and the dog met a couple of times, but the dog left him alone because he recognised this man's authority, and Vergil himself was uninterested in bonding with it. His opinion shifter when he saw the dog harassing some estate staff, and poor person retaliating back, which almost ended badly for everyone if Vergl hadn't intervened. He berated the person for being unable to take control of the situation, and the doberman got his own share of it too. The incident did prove to the dog that Vergil was the leader here, so he accepted his 'second in command' position and started diliggently following Vergil everywhere. Doberman is not clingy or overly affectionate, so Vergil was okay with his, and also he welcomed the company a little, because the death of Kalina affected him a lot too. She was the only person in the whole estate he felt comfortable around, and while they did not spend much time together, it reminded him too much of his childhood trauma. But this time Vergil was older, more competent and decided to take control of the situation himself - so he starts researching everything he can get his hands on about the Royal Tragedy, and secretly goes vigilanty-ing at night, masked, to gather the information in other private soures or anywhere he can, really.

The trauma and the doberman dillema between them, Vergil and Mary grow distant in their hurting at this time. Mary, when she is feeling more like herself again, decides to look into the death of her mother, which was too sudden to be anything natural, and was covered up quickly by Arkham and the public. She can't say for sure, but has a hunch this is related to Arkham's private Void studies (which are publically banned), and thinks there is something very fishy going on. She finds a contact and meets a person, who is claimed to be known to help in these situations. During a metting, the person is wearing a mask, so she doesn't recogise his face. He starts looking for information on Arkham, and finds some very very messed up things on him.

On night of another big noble ball, he decides to go to the source - Arkham estate and take a look through there.

That same night Vergil decided to use this opportunity to venture out himself, he got ready and was almost out, before he notices Ceberus, the name he gave the doberman, spotting some shadowy figure on the nearby rooftops heading in the direction of the Arkham's estate. He intercepts the breaker-in and they start fighting. The fencing match is at a stalemate, neither opponent able to break another's guard, untill the intruder freezes for a moment, which was all the opening Vergil needed. He goes in for a stab, only for the intruder to teleport away and make a run for it. Vergil can't let a Marked asassin get away, not after his childhood tragedy, he commands Cerberus to alert the guard and chases after the intruder. On the rooftop they catch up to one another, and lo and behold, the breaker in was Vergil's long lost brother.

It was @stashoflostsouls' wonderful headcanon that when the twins touch for the first time, it is then that Vergil himself is visited by the Outsider and Marked.

Just as in DMC canon, the twins' goals are actually the same here - both Vergil and Dante are looking for the conspirators of their mother's asassination and for anynews on their father. Unlike in DMC canon, there are less pressuring circumstance here, twins have more breathing room to actually talk to each other, and this is why here they band Together to reach their goals.

From this point on the story goes pretty much same as Dishonored 1 story - the twins investigate different noblemen that were plotting against Eva Redgrave, and it is revealed that Arkham was in the middle of it all, which was also the reason why Vergil's search has been so unsuccesfull - the evidence has been right under his nose the entire time. This is also happening during another outbreak of the rat plague, which this time, as Dante learns, originated inside the country, and is definitely not a natural occurence is it claimed to be.

This second rat plague outbreak is the Spymaster's that worked under late Empress' rule idea of 'ending poverty' (so some Dishonored 1 canon events are mixed here as well). Twins will find this out and deal with him, and the other 'royalists' during their investigation, which ends with Arkham. In his dungeons they also find the crow Sparda favoured, the message of his early return in the midst of other papers. Arkham ignored the bird after the initial capture, but staff of the estate kept it fed in the cage, he is quite old already but the twins are happy to see him nonetheless.

This plotline ends with Vergil publically reinstating himself as Redgrave, Dante keeping himself away from nobles, perhaps with a sailing trip or two, and very supportive of his brother's cause. Vergil won't be pushing for the throne just yet, in the moment he will be satisfied with getting the Redgrave estate back, but the throne is his end goal in the future.

-------------------------

Void abilities!

Vergil: professional swordsman. Has a cane-sword with him on all times. Cane-handle can be replaced without screwing the balance of the blade, so he goes with his favourite sword on missions when he expects trouble and keeps his wristbow (=compact crossbow). Vergil grew up in company of sharkes, disguised as nobles, so he prefers the ghost stealth approach so the target is not even alerted to anything happening, but for the same reason he will not hesistate to draw blood (that's not to say he likes killing, just that it is acceptable under pressing circumstances or to clear an objective)

Void Abilities: Displace (teleport, but requires a mark to be placed beforehand to teleport to, is a great tool for planning your approach beforehand or preparing an escape), Foresight/Shadowwalk (allows the bearer to explore ahead in a form of a summon that can scout ahead and take form of black bird, cat, or amorphous shadow creature, user is stationary during this ability and summons can only knock down enemies, but not kill them), Doppleganger (not new to DMC fans, works the same here - a controlled clone summon) and Bend time (allows user to stop time=gain amazing speed for a couple of seconds, user is able to freely move and act during this ability)

Dante: professional brawler. built like a brickhouse/sailor and not for show either. Keeps his wrists bandaged and always ready for trouble. Uses assasin's blade - shortsword with broad blade, stylised after fish scales, but has a modified crooked-up guard for catching blades and for easier disarming moves. Uses pistol for ranged combat. Prefers a stealthier approach, will absolutely brawl if a chance is presented and knock some heads down. Won't kill unless absolutely no other option is presented.

Void abilities: innate Rat hearing and rune/bonecharm sense (= Dark vision), Blink with the time-stop-before-use upgrade (a little more useful than other teleports for combat as you get time pause to think the encounter through, can't act or move during use, just stops time to looks around/think through before teleporting), Wind blast (a wind blow strong enough to literally plaster enemies if thrown into a wall... strenght of the ability is controlled), Pull (pickpocketing and eldreich-horror levitating bodies to the user), Semblance (lets the user make a void copy of a person's face and wear it around, does not alter voice or manners just casts an illusion over the wearer), and Doppleganger.

Twins's mutual connection to the Void, and with their souls attuned to each other, gives them some unique abilities too. They can establish a connection with each other through the Void dimension if in close proximity, share visions (for ex. Vergil scouts ahead with his powers and Dante will be able to see it too), and even share their abilities if in direct contact. Their souls connecting was always thing, it is why Vergil had so much nightmares in his childhood - he had been forced to see Dante's too.

Now, for Dante's early life Void contact consequences - he is sensitive to the Void. He has a sense for finding and locating any Void artefacts and he can hear and understand rat thoughts. Thankfully, the latter ability he somewhat learned to controll later in life, because let me tell you, Dishonored rat speech is Messed Up. (Gnaw, gnaw. Set teeth to hard wood, soft plaster, stone. Past it, a path. Rooms of delicious sea-scent, fish flesh. A feast for us! Soon, soon. First, we gnaw.) It did help Dante survive on the streets a lot, and he took advantage of many opportunities thanks to this. Rat speech is also how he learns the new rat plague outbreak is not natural. Whales and whale bone affect him too. In Dishonored, whales seem to be very intricately connected to the Void, once stated to even exist in both dimensions simultaniously, so to a Void-sensitive person this is going to be a lot to handle. This is one of the reasons Dante stays clear of whaler ships - he will hear loud and panicked whale screeches and whails and he won't be able to deal with that, this is an ability he cannot damper. He will grow used to it, but going near whale meat can factory or sailing during a whale migration season, when they are hunted in great numbers, is a very very big no no for him. I am absolutely not going to force him to go through something traumatising like this ever, surely not through a canon whale meat factory level from one of the DLCs, no huh, especially not with Vergil for company to literally carry him through this

Thank you for your time and I hope you like what I and Raven have been cooking up here! Next update we will have: Trish showing up to overthrow government, Dante going solo and bonding with Cerberus, Patty and her pet rat, Vergil deciding to kill God, and Kyrie being a witch.

[littleeyesofpallas]

can you do Bleach Name game for ichigo's friends in Karakura Town?

Ya know it's weird that i haven't done it already... I kinda thought I had, honestly. Yeah, let me resurrect this long dead series of posts...

Inoue Orihime[井上 織姫] read most literally as something like "Well+Top"(as in the top of a well(for water)) and "Weaving+Princess" but of course the name Orihime is just taken directly from the mythological figure behind the tanabata festival. It's possible the name Inoue in that context could be used to reference the Well Mansion, one of 28 categories of constellations in Chinese astronomy. Although in Tanabata Orihime refers to the star Vega, which as far as I can tell is not part of the Well Mansion.

In any case, the myth of Orihime and Hikoboshi was the basis of Kubo's original Bleach one-shot, which itself got reworked into the plot with her brother Sora, the hollow Acidwire. Ichigo lost prettymuch all of his associated hikoboshi themes in the transition from the one-shot to the serial title, so her name is kind of vestigial. The one lingering detail that was never built on was how her rejection powers were said to verge on the territory of god, and in the tanabata myth Orihime is the daughter of Tantei[天帝]:"Heaven Emperor" one of several epithets for the Jade Emperor, a figure hailed as a human ascended to immortal, the First God, and a supreme ruler over other gods. But despite that very slight thematic alignment, she was never given any divine origins.

Her bother, Inoue Sora[井上昊] reads, "Well+Top" and "Sky/Heaven," where Sora[昊] is a synonym with Ten/Ama[天]: "Sky/heaven" and both a synonym and homonym with sora[空]: "sky/heaven/void." (And it's a bit of a tangent, but that last one is the same word Kubo uses in the name Kuukaku[空鶴], Karakura town[空座町], and when Aizen says, Ten no za no kuuhaku[天の座の空白]: "The Throne of Heaven is Empty.") He was a rewritten from what was originally Orihime's late grandfather in the one-shot, which aligned more obviously with the father Heaven King role of myth.

Sado Yasutora[茶渡 泰虎] I think I've mentioned before, reads "Tea+Ferry" and "Peaceful+Tiger" which just seems to literally describe him as an immigrant(traded over on a boat, like tea) and as a gentlegiant type. It's also very possible Kubo just wanted to nickname him "Chad" and found a name he could squeeze into that, rather than worry about the meaning of the name first.

Arisawa Tatsuki[有沢 竜貴] I don't really know how to parse part of her surname here, "Posession/Existence+Swamp" seems to be the literal breakdown? It's also just an actual surname people have, as is Inoue --Sado by comparison however, is not. In any case, her personal name is "Dragon+Noble/<indicator of high rank or status>." This is why she and Orihime get a paired Princess and Dragon motif.

Asano Keigo[浅野 啓吾] reads "Superficial+Rustic/Unsophisiticated" and "Disclose+Me" basically just calling him surface level, simple, and open. He's exactly what it says on the label. Can be read like an open book. Then there's his sister...

Asano Mizuho[浅野 みづ穂] and her name is the phonetic MIDZU+"the ear of a plant/head of a spear/tip of a brush." There are kanji that could go with that but for one, I'm not just gonna take blind stabs, and besides if Kubo had wanted to ascribe obvious meaning to it, he'd have done so. No idea what to make of that one. Considering she's extremely minor and secondary to an already minor character at that, I'm willing to bet he just picked it to be aesthetically pleasing.

Kojima Mizuiro[小島 水色]: "Little+Island" "Water+Color," that is of course as in "Color (of) Water" and not to "water color paints," those have a different name entirely in Japanese. I don't know that his name really says much about him, but considering a lot of weird little details of his fairly minimal appearances across the series, I have my own crackpot theories about Mizuiro, but this isn't the time or place...

Honshou Chizuru[本匠 千鶴]: "Book+Artisan" and "1,000+Crane(s)" the association of paper craft and cranes points pretty obviously to origami, and 1,000 origami cranes (senbazura[千羽鶴]) which evokes a meaning of longevity and recovery from illness. Also the Bookishness vibe seems to be evoked in her general glasses girl design.

Kunieda Ryou[国枝 鈴]: "Country+Branch" and "(Small)Bell." "County" like a "nation/kingdom," not like "rural" as in Asano's name. The small bell evokes a clear but subtle ring, which is kind of reflected in her quiet and intelligent demeanor.

Ogawa Michiru[小川みちる] "MICHIRU" is phonetic so no attributed meaning, but her surname just means "brook/stream" (lit."Small+River") a very on the nose nod to her diminutive size. I never noticed until now but she always has different sheet music notation hairpins.

Natsui Mahana[夏井 真花]: "Summer+Well" (again, like with Inou, the structure you fish water out of, not the adverb) and "Pure/Genuine+Flower." She's an extremely minor character so I don't see there really being much overt meaning to this. Summer seems to evoke her tan*, and Flower beauty, and she's a busty tan girl. (*you know I said that on reflex, but now that i think about it, I don't know that Kubo himself ever actually drew her in color... that may have been an anime thing.)

Ochi Misato[越智美諭]: "Surpass+Wisdom" and "Beauty+Admonish" which I guess I've never looked at before now. It's not that she isn't a cute character design(and I've got a thing for kind of homely teacher characters anyway...) but I didn't realize Kubo was trying for, like, a "hot teacher" thing with her?

And those are basically all the important ones, and frankly a couple not so important ones... I'm not getting into any of Kubo's little inbetween doodles, or god forbid that ridiculous number of random Karakura High students he dumped into Burn the Witch.

(sorry i got lazy and didn't finish digging up pics for everyone, but I at least made sure to have reference for the obscure characters that some people might not remember)

[2dmax]

Every time I post art and I think I tag it correctly, it floats into the void with no interaction every time.. do you have any tips.

Hey! I definitely don’t know everything there is to know on this so others are welcome to add on, but as far as I am aware here are some things to consider:

- tumblr will punish you for adding too many tags. Prioritize reach tags over personal tags if you think you have too many. That is your shit will not show up in ANY tag or even be searchable on ur blog if you just have too many tags.

- actually check out the contents of the tags you use, or at least the ones you use more frequently. Does your work feel like it is sort of in the same realm of what other people might be looking for in this tag? If not, try some alternatives.

- i also personally go thru tags i use and reblog other artists out of them. I find by interacting with other artists and people who like art like yours, you will find your community and honestly your community on here is gonna be more responsible for a post taking off that probably using The Right Tags although tags can help

- likewise reblogging other artists to my art blog shows people i care about their art and rising tides raise all ships!

- i use a lot of -core tags. Call it cringe but i find it helps. Scenecore, kawaiicore, webcore, cozycore. Look into some of these and other “aesthetic” tags!

- at least at one point in time, having ANY link in your post will remove it from the tag. So, if you want your post to go far, add the link in a comment or a reblog.

EDIT: also another thing i do is REBLOG MY ART ALL THE TIME! So many times people will just not have seen it bc theyre a new follower or were offline when i posted it and even if they already saw it, most people are happy to see it again! So give your old art a reblog, reblog it to your main blog, and dont apologize for it!

Hope that helps! Again please feel free anyone reading to add some tips for tagging and reach. Thanks for the question anon.

[orchidyoonkook]

personal

Hi, need to scream. Tumblr seems to listen best. can and please feel free to ignore.

okay so essentially my job has removed all of the things I use and need in order to be able to do my job with my mental disorder. my mental DISABILTY. that i was honest with them and told them about at my freaking trial shift. that i told them i needed certain things in order to do well. nothing drastic. but things that helped me significantly with my performace.

SOOOOOOOOO i am now severely struggling at my job because they've taken those away cuz they were 'annoying' or 'in the way' or 'clutter'. like. im not even leaving shit every where. It's like, maybe at most 3 sticky notes? (for example) and they're written just for me, like just so i can have a list of things i can do and know to go back and look on when i need a task because ive finished the one i was doing. but then my boss reads them and critiques them as if they're for everyone. or says 'okay yeah but we do that every day so i dont see why you have to write it down. you should know to do it by now' LIKE BRO. I forget to put deodorant on some days because of said mental disability. it's something i do and have done every day since i was 12 or 13. thats 12 years. and i still forget some days just cuz my brain wasn't working properly.

AND now due to this they have put me, one of the staff currently with more seniority than 3 other staff, down to one shift a week, while every one else is full time or heavily part time.

In march i was full time and kicking ass, I was the fastest employee on my tasks, i was doing great, the customers loved me and now that all of my things that i need in order to function have been removed for everyone else's aesthetic preferences, I'm suffering, and most likely being silently fired.

like... what do i do with that. I can do my job, with my accomadations - that arent that many btw - i dont expect them to move mountains for me. But dude. I hate this feeling so much because i'm capable, theyve seen me be capable. i was for 1.5 years. like i want to be good at my job. I like and enjoy being good at my job. i've told them that. I want to do good but my ability to be good is being derailed, and i just get told to try harder, just work harder, impress your boss with how hard you work -> for minimum wage, i might add.

and everyone is like "just get a new job, just apply for more jobs you're not applying for enough, literally just apply for everything, even if youre not qualified" and i cant just do that, due to said disability. there are jobs i am unable to do. so i have to be a lil picky otherwise i'll be right back where i am now. and ive been looking for months and applying for months with no luck - no one ever responds. why list jobs if you dont respond?????

it's getting to the point where im debating opening up drawing commissions or writing commissions, or something that i can make to earn a little extra cash here and there while i get over this transition period. And that's a big deal for me because i don't do commissions. I do my art for myself or for when i want to share something i've made already, like the UTWT books. Hell, I did a tattoo design for a friend on here that i put easily 40 hours into, and i felt guilty that they wanted to pay me for it because i'd asked them for the idea. Like, i don't do commissions. so for me to be considering it is really telling for me.

anyways. this is a bajillion words long now, but i already feel better. and I'm posting it in the middle of the night in hopes that the void just consumes it and never lets it see the light of day.

If you read this, thanks and sorry for the bummer of a post. This isnt a pity party or a poor yoon thing. I'm not looking for comfort or any of that. this is a 'i don't have a therapist and my friends and partner and family are sick of hearing me bitch, when i havent been able to fix it in months despite trying my best too' thing. so yeah..

i hope the new year brings me something good.

[extremelyputridfishbreath]

🖊 + whoever that funky little experimental penguins lookin oc is

ask and ye shall receive...here's an older piece of it

like i mentioned in the tags of my last post with it, box creator is not mine! i'm not sure if this is the origin point of it, but players have been posting about it's alleged existance since at least 2009 before it eventually faded into obscurity. here's some posts about it which you can see here, here, and here!

i modeled it's newer design after richard scarry's illustrations (the author of the busytown stories) and as for the zoot suit? i thought it'd be both funny and that it'd make sense for it to wear clothing some might find "outdated" these days

so, my take on box creator? well ah, if you've ever watched a show about talking colorful horses...depending on how far you got, you might know about the tree of harmony, particularly how it protected their home (before it exploded to death and got revived but thats another story). it ah, took on the form of one of the main characters to communicate with others, and in that way i imagine box creator operates similarly. while it did not create the box dimension, it acts as an extension of it, and places box portals just about anywhere in order for it to spread...whether thats a good thing or not to you, just know that the box dimension is canonically dangerous :)

it takes the form of a penguin to make others more comfortable, but it doesn't see itself as one. penguins and box dimensioners alike still find it off-putting regardless. but considering how ah, it lacks pupils and towers over most (it's height is comparable to extant penguins rather than currently living species) it's not hard to imagine why

it can open it's beak to speak, but generally doesn't. when it does though, it tends to be offsync with their words...not unlike a jankily animated 3d model. i'm not 100% but i imagine it sounds like g man

it doesn't emote much, either through body language or through it's voice. it always sounds monotone, and so whenever it does emote can be...unnerving and comes off as forced

generally it just sets out box portals which tend to multiply/spread if left unattended. while box portals made by less powerful box dimensioners don't spread much (if at all), it's portals do if not broken right away. sometimes BC is spotted by penguins or other box dimensioners placing down the box portals, hence their nickname! speaking of names, it doesn't have one. just the nickname it was given, and it doesn't really feel the need to make one for themself and answers to box creator just fine

it 'lives' in a box dimension different to the bright purple one, that's more akin to a black void with uncountable stacks of boxes littered around it, almost in a mazelike fashion. while it doesn't need to eat or even drink, i imagine theres a little living quarters made out of cardboard deeper inside that it made after observing what the homes of penguins and box dimensioners look like

if you're familiar with weird/dreamcore aesthetic, you might know about those pesky black voids (and if you dont, here's an example underneath). BC will sometimes create them to travel between places rather than placing box portals, but after a certain someone got too curious and went inside after coming across one, and ah...may or may not have accidentally got standed in america of all places after trying to escape BC by going through an unmarked box portal... yeaaaaah they use boxes to travel unless they're sure nobody's around to go snoopin'

sadly (for scrabble) box creator did not go looking for him. but obviously he didnt die so clearly it was the right call and it was right to not check :)

BC does not interact much with others on a personal level, but out everyone they commune with dogear and gambit the most: dogear because he will take up the mantle of protecting the box dimension like his parent, the original box dragon does someday, and gambit because they caught it's attention (in the bad way) trying to save the world from herbert fucking everything up with time travel.

gambit is the only penguin to witness box creator angry!

but thankfully they managed to smooth things over and are acquaintances now :) herbert is lucky not to visit the box dimension often, though...because otherwise that could get ugly fast. lets just say box creator doesn't cope well with people doing things that disrupt the ...for lack of better words, "natural" order of the box dimension!

[princessbabygirlforever]

An older trans woman once told me that she sits to pee, which occasionally results in her peeing on herself, because that’s how hard she’s worked to block out the fact that she’s still retained her original organ all of these years. That’s what girls do: we deal in affect–feelings, vibes, emotions, moods—to counteract dissonance. If you feel like a girl, you are a girl. Serving cunt is the law of assumption. Pussy-stunting is a mindset. Delusion is a lifestyle. And dissociation is effortless, unselfconscious, easy.

After white men, only white women and girls are afforded an unstudied ease, a universalizing, pedestalizing canvas-like blankness free of aesthetic assumptions, charged with authority and unburdened by race and gender. The rest of us are seen as open wounds. I used to try to fight how I am perceived by feigning a sense of aloofness, insouciance and smallness. I did so by tucking my hair behind my ear, wistfully, longingly staring off into the distance, dissociating from my body to temporarily transport to a place where I could write like a white girl.

I would conjure the white girl vibe instantaneously when I’d listen to music, especially if the music I am listening to is really loud, almost dulling my other senses and causing me to feel what can only be described as the opposite of embodied: void-like. There, I could exist as an empty, diaphanous vessel unfilled by anything at all. There’s no burden of “identity” in the club or the bedroom or the hammam or the garden or online as the avatar of your choosing–anywhere deemed a feminine space worth inhabiting. Online, especially, is where anyone can lay down their burdens—the thick coating of class and race, geography and gender–and escape the indignities of womanhood, blackness, otherness. No fat…no trauma…no spiritual heaviness…no intensity…only purity. A blank canvas no one can ascribe assumptions and project onto. You’re the default player in the game. A babygirl.

As a terminally concerned girl teeming with big, electrical emotions, presenting myself as an open wound–where the id is steering the ship despite societal expectations and pressures to the contrary to flatten and suppress– has never quite appealed to me because I know it doesn’t appeal much to anyone else. I think of myself in relation to others, in a sort of triangulation with the world. I don’t want to be a spectacle, if I can help it, because I know I already am, that there is an audience baked into my experience, mercilessly ascribing the same assumptions to me that they would someone engaging with hallucinations on a city bus. On a city bus, to witness someone mumbling to themselves, smiling exuberantly, screaming, singing terribly or sobbing loudly in public, is to have a front row seat to an undesired excess, intensity and earnestness. That person has unconsciously chosen to present themselves, to the subtly disciplinary gaze of surveilling strangers, like a spectacle to be gawked at. They’ve interrupted the homogenizing edicts of polite society in a manner considered vulnerable, neurotic, unusual, boundaryless, histrionic, unrefined, unserious, grotesque, eccentric, amoral, out of control, shameless and cringe-worthy. Their vivid displays of animatedness, too gauche for “normal” sensibilities, so we’d rather tuck them away like an unsightly pile of rags on the floor, undermining them like we do our own id in the company of others.

This image is commonly associated with the mentally ill and the homeless, whom the public bodies and perceptions of are heavily policed and politicized. States of animatedness, of excess, are also racialized and gendered. Femininity and blackness, its sincerest expressions, deemed maximalist, evidence of effort, and therefore, failure. Too much.

To transcend our animatedness, we must turn our disciplining gaze to ourselves, self-effacing to make space for whiteness and maleness, totally erase ourselves. This palimpsestic quality is achieved through minimalist attire (no garish, colorful clothes re: avant basic), eliminating girlish and black vocal tics, adapting middlebrow tastes, writing in 3rd person, muting one’s melanated state with black and white photography, aspirational thinness so there is less of you, and an attitude that communicates aloofness so severe that you don’t even care about yourself.

These attempts at minimization, of disciplining your public animated body, will allow you to enjoy a certain remove from the wider world. You’ll be cured, no longer teeming with niggerishness and schlepping the mantle of womanhood into every room you walk into for the rest of your life. You’ll be the babygirl again, who you were before you ever knew that you occupy a subordinate role in society, and before you were privy to the myths and ideologies that have been created around your image and identity.

Like a princess, your girlhood and daughterhood had a sense of prestige, making the fact of your consanguinity almost secondary, except as a matter of differentiation from the masses of non-princesses. There wasn’t yet a force larger than life requiring self-minimization as a necessary boon. You were presumed to be a pure, guileless blank canvas of a girl. You didn’t have to arm yourself with knowledge of that—or any truth—to feel a claim to safety and purity because the fact of it was informed by your singularity.

The babygirl, elegantly inert and slow, never had to run outside of the context of a freewheeling and uninterrupted playtime. She was never embarrassed into velocity. She never had to be strong or work hard. She’s never had to learn to self-preserve because her existence hadn’t called for that skill set. Self-preservation is the ministry of wounded girls. The babygirl has never been wounded.

The babygirl is light, buoyant with a feeling she belongs right where she is. She’s preternaturally interested and keenly aware, with an insatiable attention and curiosity for entertainment, her commodities, the objects in her bedroom. She prefers living in a rapt state, the romantic eye of her mind transporting her from her present surroundings and the inherent ennui of girlhood into her imagination.

The babygirl’s emotions don’t give the appearance of an overflowing volcano of lava curdling into evidence of effort and maintenance and failure and toxicity, clumps for other people to step over, ignore, forget, apply a disciplining gaze to. She is like the waves in the ocean crashing freely into each other, free to express the gamut of her emotions, whether sad, irritable, annoyed or enraged, without it sweeping up the rest of her image and identity until there’s nothing left of her but her feelings, in the unforgiving, cynical eyes of the strangers she will meet in the world who will, inevitably, only see animatedness.

What makes me a babygirl–and what unifies me with all the other babygirls online who’re so hotly debated and contested and disbelieved–is our sensitivity and an unrelenting over-identification with objects and other people. Babygirls are committed to the aesthetic reading and viewing of still images, films and the internet, which informs a girly canon of derealization ephemera not intended to be over-identified with: antiheroines, dreams, the moon, theory, book spines, social outcasts, fonts, hysterical and ribald women, “invalid” women who live in their beds, dolls, numbers, voids, the color pink, avatars on social media, God.

All that is ostensibly facile and self-explanatory, for the babygirl, is gleaned through persistent observation. The babygirl fills emptiness with a divine estuary from which an embodied and pillow-soft love audaciously converges with nature’s brutal architecture—pulsating alive with blood and flesh.

Being a babygirl is like the infinitude of the world contained in a pop song or the gaze of someone staring down the barrel of a gun; it stretches on and on forever. Anyone, then, who sees through people like they are vacant homes waiting to be occupied by her, who thinks they know others with the cultic conviction of a true believer, who is wildly and wholeheartedly alert, is a babygirl.

And I am Princess Babygirl.

I am novelty combined with appropriation like collage art, music sampling and recipes. My palimpsest quality is not an encryption of the self; but rather, an illuminating synthesis of my embodied experience. I have been the host to various narratives, epistemes, connections and dreams that I’ve neither fully abandoned nor refined. I’ve imprinted my affects and vibes forever–going on and on like the perfect pop song on repeat–so I can never be erased. Princess Babygirl is who I was before all of the sublimated tensions, marketplace competitions, traumas, vulnerabilities, anxieties, mimetic rivalries, delusions, dreams and violence of womanhood happened to me.

As Carl Jung foretold in his writings on the Age of Aquarius, human consciousness is moving toward a more feminine-centric paradigm. I want to represent the metamodern conditions of this moment in a blend of identity-critical autotheory and audiovisual stimuli exploring affects, aesthetics, taste, psychology, consumerism, the performance of womanhood and modern femininity.

[twinfools]

I saw your post about your surgery and while it was a little while back have a question if it's okay. You mentioned that it requires another surgery for the ability to get hard, right? I was under the impression the surgery gave you the body part functioning (I didn't know how and thought it was crazy they could do this at all, a medical marvel), but unless you get that additional surgery you can't get hard? So what is the point of getting it? For aesthetic/gender euphoria reasons? Also is it non-functional in other ways like do you feel through it/does this impact your ability to feel pleasure? Feel free to answer parts or none I know it's a lot to ask, don't want to make you uncomfortable, just curious. Have a good day!

Hello! Phalloplasty surgery does not replicate a cis penis. There are key differences and limitations due to the tissue used and extent to which that tissue aligns with what it is being used to substitute. A cis penis has erectile tissue throughout which helps it get hard. A phalloplasty uses tissue from the body that does not have erectile tissue so phalloplasty surgeries (being mostly skin and fat) can’t get erect on their own. That’s why the implant is needed.

The skin is also different, thicker, and there isn’t the same shrinkage and swelling that occurs in cis penises. I think these are all vital things to understand when considering the procedure.

The point of getting phalloplasty is deeply personal. Not all folks need/want it. For some folks it’s being able to stand to pee, others it’s the ability to have penetrative sex (either after getting the aforementioned implant or using other assist devices to achieve erection). In my case, my goal was to fill a void I’ve always felt in my body. I very much feel I was born in the wrong body. I should have been born with a penis. I wasn’t, and phalloplasty doesn’t fully resolve this but rather helps to put my body into a shape that more closely resembles how it should have been.

I’ve answered the sensation question in a number of previous asks so I’d suggest checking those out for a more detailed answer on that topic :)

[darthkvznblogs]

Are there any elements or character variations from the Spider-Man games that you'd consider introducing into the Kverse?

Definitely! I’ve mentioned before that Peter’s portrayal in the Insomniac games is quite possibly my favorite incarnation of his, and you know I like to cherry pick when it comes to the Kverse (which is basically Victor and Reed’s MO in-universe haha)

The idea is that MCU!Pete is supposed to grow into something like Insomniac’s eventual seasoned Spidey, with a similar personality and approach to crime-fighting (though obviously with a larger support network, from NY’s vigilantes to the Avengers themselves). Obviously, Insomniac!Pete remains a separate character out in the Multiverse, but of the various adult Spideys, he’s the one he’ll most take after eventually.

I also like a lot of the designs, especially with the villains - Scorpion and Rhino immediately come to mind, I know some people aren’t fans of the more tech-y looking Insomniac-verse looks but I think they strike a good balance of the comic book-y accuracy I want and the MCU-esque aesthetic the Kverse mostly calls for. I like the look of Roxxon’s forces, I have a pretty neat idea for a visually similar but functionally pretty different version of the Underground, etc.

I absolutely looove the mentor-protege relationship between Peter and Miles, so I would lean towards that too (though Miles is like, a child in the Kverse rn, so any content with him would be future stuff).

I like Pete’s history with Harry and MJ a lot, so the idea is that they grew up together but Pete is currently a bit out of contact with them since enrolling in Midtown Science, with Gwen and Ned sort of filling that void at the moment. And yes, I do mean Mary Jane, but that doesn’t mean I’m getting rid of Michelle - I like them both, sue me. They’ll be separate characters, and I have some fairly crazy stuff planned for MJ that I don’t think anyone could predict!

There’s definitely a few things I’d avoid, too. Some of the alternate origins or motivations are cool, and work for the Insomniac universe, but aren’t my preferred ones for the Kverse - Venom immediately comes to mind, for example. I also don’t want Kverse!Spider-Man to be anywhere near as tech-y; I’m fine with Pete developing a few different kinds of webbing, and I’m cool with his Starktech suit being the “Avengers business” one, but I would prefer him in spandex and having to navigate crime-fighting with not much more than his web shooters and his wits most of the time. There’ll be no, like, gravity well projectors or Spider Arms for Kverse!Pete anytime soon.

[ganymedesclock]

You've written a few things that touched on various fighting styles in Hollow Knight. Any idea why The Pure Vessel has a move that looks like Grimm's cloak spikes- with its nail instead? THK has them as Flame Pillars, like a few others that we recognize as infected versions of PV's void moves from Godhome. Did PK try to teach THK to combat Radiance assuming she'd fight like Grimm?

Personally, I don't think that suggests a connection between Hollow and Grimm. I wouldn't deter anybody choosing to read it that way themselves, but I feel like given everything Grimm represents (a kind of 'festival of the end', an assertion of the futility of the end of Hallownest in this particular case) PK would work extremely hard to keep any trace of Grimm away from Hollow, considering he was trying to raise the latter to be a perfect martyr who believed unshakably in everything they were doing.

Similarly, if the point were to combat a Grimm-like entity, using the same techniques as them would be irrelevant as opposed to using a counter. I think doylistically I'd say the spike attack is just a matter of that in a 2D platformer game, certain attacks are a metagame. Hollow's shining lance spells and their 'corrupted' form's splashy fire pillars are intimidating for the same reason Grimm's cape spikes are, and since both are late-game bosses, they have some of the same tricks (they also have lunges and attack combos that cover a lot of ground). These things are metagame advantages- they're moves that are highly effective and put a lot of pressure on the player character to maneuver around and through. Radiance has different mechanisms, but same idea- her sweeping shafts of light, radial sword-spray attacks, and, yeah, also spikes from the ground. The game indicates this person is a scary boss by their ability to dominate space. For Hollow in particular, it makes sense they'd be able to turn an entire area into a weapon supposedly in their favor- they were meant to be a warden. Grimm, meanwhile, uses the 'stage' against you because he's a performer being fought in his own domain.

I think if we were supposed to read a commonality there, more of the aesthetics and mechanism would be similar. As it is, I think my read of PK as a spear-wielder who specializes in containing, trapping, and pinning opponents / forcing them to yield to 'the walls of his world' in combat would mean that the shining lances attack Hollow uses would probably be more something PK instructed them in per his own inclinations rather than something learned from or in an intended counter to Grimm.

Mostly, I think PK would not need to guess what Radiance fights like; he clearly fought her before, if not personally than needing to manage the logistics of soldiers and subordinates who did. There's a reason when very few people in the setting seem to know or understand what causes "the plague", PK's operation from day one was "How can we put this terrible moth in the most secure possible jar, lock it repeatedly, and then bury it in an exclusion zone". He knew exactly what the problem was and his response to the spreading plague was in essence a more panicked version of "oh, she's back on her bullshit"

So this might be the metatextual commonality you're looking for in the story implications rather than the game mechanics- Hollow may have been designed as a counter to Radiance. A largely stationary opponent who dominates out from a center would be well-combatted by an entity who can challenge her for domination of the area by turning the walls against her, but is otherwise extremely lightfooted and agile for how hard they hit.

Hell, that's very much the strategy we as the player character use against Radiance. Ghost uses spells that sweep the ground horizontally, smash from above or scream up from below; late in the fight, they actually force Radiance to take the high ground by pulling the void into the space to their advantage. Aggressive, agile, and able to use magic to dominate the area.

Grimm, implicitly the Nightmare King was a kind of equal and opposite that Radiance rejected long ago, and this may have been the start of her descent from a god that the moths lived in harmony with to one they abandoned for PK and who they only regret abandoning in a kind of abstract; nobody talks about the old light as if they really had that personal connection to her, while no matter how distant, cold, and flawed PK was to his populace we see people projecting their own desires and beliefs into the gap all over their idea of him. The Seer's grim moment of ascension of "Radiance, I remember you" feels like honoring a fallen king arthur type.

Radiance's Opposite would've covered the gaps in her fighting style easily; facing two powerful beings and one of them is extremely agile, flickering, here-and-not, and a given amount of aligned with darkness, the Setting Sun to her Breaking Dawn- would give you an experience pretty appropriate for facing two gods at their height. But since the whole divide in the dream domain, it creates an exploitable opening in her defenses. She lost a balancing force that left her with a specific weakness that can be filled with entities aligned to things that she cast away.