#don't mind me just dumping a bunch of my headcanons into this post

[torithehoshi]

CCCC Digital Doodle Dump - Oct 2023

Right - bear with me. Due to the sheer amount of digital doodles I have (and yes, I am emphasizing digital for a reason) and the amount of thoughts I have didn't make posting them separately feel right so I'm trying a different format for this.

The TLDR is, I had a lot of fun drawing CCCC related things last month. And y'all may as well be prepared for the long-run with me. My main goal was to get used to drawing HMS in my style (mostly hair and little design things based on my interpretations) and it's still something that'll be changing? But it's cool to see how things have changed and I'd like to share them.

Right - with that out of the way. Everything's under the Read More due to the sheer amount of text.

Second First attempt at drawing the trio in my style - and you can especially tell with the little notes I have (trust me - there's a version with even more notes).

A lot of my references were from the videos, especially Light & Night as well as the instrumental album cover, and fan interpretations I've seen that I liked and wanted to give a shot at (primarily Mind's mechanical hands/arms were from seeing @/maybedr3am's design) and some of my own interpretations or thoughts (but I wouldn't be surprised if some of those mixes with fan interpretations. Most of them I can't recall for the life of me except Heart having sharp teeth. I know others have done it - I just hadn't at the time seen a lot). But for the most part, there is a lot of me getting used to drawing hair specifically since I wanted them all to look somewhat different and it was good to practice that.

Some of these notes do not make sense to me right now - and I doubt they made sense at the time tbh (looking at that one near Soul)

While I much preferred starting primarily going off of the videos, Mind was an exception. ...Accidentally. I struggled really hard with him and still do so that note is funny in hindsight. I liked the robot/android-esque (?) angle/reference to 'mechanical hands' folks went with but forgot I don't draw robots much. It was frustrating me and in that time, I gave him snake bites to, as I say in the notes, mirror screws. ... And now they're just part of my Mind design because I like them too much.

Also!! I mentioned that I have a version with a lot more notes (and a different attempt at Mind I hated). I didn't really want a bunch of doodles of my sona around, so this version is for somewhat easier reading. It also left me with extra space for one more thing and I was listening to Dream so, a doodle based off the last verse it was! (I love that song, it's so good)

Second one which is a compilation of a bunch of different doodle sheets I did!! These are ones I really liked and also were mostly finished. But also each of the sheets (which is an amalgamation of three) were done at different times which you can see in my indecisiveness in what I liked in making Mind look more robotic bar just the arms and the one doodle where the hair sticking a top of Heart's head changes.

Soul, surprisingly, changes very little bar me not being able to decide if he'll have that accessory or not. Also me being stupid inconsistent with remembering to color in his hands (his whole body has that split color).

Anyways - like three of these are meme/shitpost adjacent. You'll also see me trying to think about how to incorporate the crown to Mind's design since I hadn't really tried - but I've since moved it to post-Cacophony or post-Light design ideas/headcanons. I like the hairpin idea a lot. (Note: In this headcanon, Heart also has something but it's a bracelet and... there's a lack of hands in this so... yeah. Mind made it) Also me doing a thing I like to just give random new outfits when drawing a character and... Heart's the one I had the most fun drawing.

The only completely separate one! Mostly 'cause I already had it set to be separate.

It's a height headcanon thing I drew to visualize things for myself since I'm not the best with height. All it is, is that I think they're all the same height based off of what CJ said in the Medium Q&A. But then you have little details like Mind wearing platform shoes that basically make him 6'0" and Soul slouching a lot making him "the shortest". (Also hi completely human Mind design)

This was also originally done on the same doodle sheet where the "Fuck it we ball" one was on btw. Time wise, that was before I started changing how I drew the little hair sticking out on Heart's head which - speaking of...

Despite still drawing them interacting, I started to make clip files to practice drawing them on their own. I was already kind of doing that traditionally and I thought this would be a good way to get me to focus on one of the members. Especially since drawing with my tablet pen and pencil feels different but especially with these three.

Also - focusing on them individually felt like a good way to get used to how I draw them overall. I have one for Soul and Mind now, but not at the time. Idk if I'll share more of those later unless I can format them like actual reference sheets.

Fundamentally, this serves the same purpose as the first sheet. Trying out a bunch of things, just letting my hand... draw and seeing what I like and don't. Maybe even noting some little actions that I see myself drawing them doing (like the hands balled up in fists a lot). Also! It explains why I changed the shape of the hair at the top! I think the heart shape is cute - but as I did it more, I found with me trying to make his bangs look like a heart... just for me and my style specifically, it started to feel much. But then I had another idea in making it a bit more cartoon-y, which was the kind of circle/halo shape to create an angel motif and it fit well with how I see Heart. So that's how it is now!

It's actually fascinating seeing that I suddenly started changing how I drew his hair? I started this after making this for the record (which now I remember - I referenced these), and something just... changed. I don't like it considering I was actively trying to draw curls. I have a better grasp on it now though - I think.

-----

Anyways - that's everything! Uh - thanks for reading all my ramblings if you did. I have no idea if I'll format any future art dumps/doodle dumps like this again but we'll see. Doing this made me notice both advantages and disadvantages to this so... It'll really depend if I have the same amount to say, haha.

[sotwk]

A Method to the Madness?

@konartiste I hope you don't mind me addressing this question in a post, because other people have expressed curiosity about my madness, so here is the explanation. XD

It's more organized chaos than a process! I have a BUNCH of notes on Google docs that I just dump things in as I go along, and a folder full of WIP headcanon essays/posts.

Nearly all of the headcanon essays I write is in response to Asks, so a lot of what I ultimately publish is controlled by Reader Request. I receive a question, and if inspiration/energy/time allows, I haul my notes out, and just go to town. For those big posts, at best, it will take me about...4 hours total to finish? That's already maximum speed for me.

If you ever want to know ANYTHING about my AU/headcanon concepts or even just Thranduil or Middle-earth in general, please don't be shy--ask away! It might take a while to get a response (I don't respond in order received and I still have requests that are almost a year old), but I am committed to answering everything that comes into my Inbox.

My SotWK AU is something that originated back in 2004(ish?) but it was only fleshed out to this level of detail over the past year. So while the basic premise is old, I've just been piecing the rest of it together bit by bit. And there's still PLENTY to be developed because holy smokes, Tolkien's world is HUGE.

With the exception of Reader Insert requests, I also write EVERYTHING within the same SotWK AU, so everything connects. My Eomer, Boromir, Thorin, Fili, etc. fics are all founded on the same Middle-earth history/timeline I established for Thranduil and his family. That makes all the time I invest in worldbuilding worth it.

Oh and that map I published in my post is just an edit I made; the original is actually from one of my favorite sources, The Encyclopedia of Arda.

Thank you for this Ask and for everyone's kind support! <3

[fayesdiary]

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Hello everyone!

Today marks the second anniversary of this blog! Wow, I can't believe it's been two years already! (Note, I created the blog earlier but February 4th 2019 was my first original post here so I use that date as the blog's birthday)

I'm honestly suprised this blog lasted this long, since I'm a very shy person usually on the Internet and commitment isn't exactly my strong suit. But what can I say? I love it here and Tumblr feels like home at this point!

To celebrate I'm gonna reminisce a little bit and write down my thoughts about this blog. It's gonna get really sappy, I'm sorry.

Just kidding. I'm not sorry at all.

2022 has truly been the year of all time. A lot and I mean a lot of ups and downs. I started and ended my first job, went on vacation, had one of the worst instances of allergy + depression, you name it. In hindsight, every few months I was in a wildly different situation and mental state.

But the thing that overall made 2022 great was finally getting into art! To turn the ironic hate off for a moment, I love Fire Emblem. It's not my favorite series (Kingdom Hearts and Kirby share that position), but it's one I still adore and now am truly greatful for, because for a reason or another it was the only one it felt welcoming enough to me to actively make an account about it and be active in social media rather than a ghost after years.

Before I made this blog I wrote a few supports for the fire-emblem-heroes-supports blog. I think they were the first piece of writing I ever made willingly and not as part of a school assignment, and looking back I still cherish them.

Eventually I had the idea for this blog, and after a lot of hesitation in typical me fashion, fayesdiary was born! I mentioned it a few times already, but originally it was meant to be just meta analysis posts, a few headcanons and theories and my sporadic writings. Overtime though it became a lot more freeform in what I posted, and I think it's all the better for it!

I got the courage to write and posts my first fanfictions and slowly carved my own personal space here on Tumblr. Like, a very cozy rat hole. Over time, this blog became a personal hobby and it gave me a lot of satisfactions. I got close to some people I truly admire and made a few friends too!

And boy, then we get to last year, which has been an absolute blast in terms of creativity!

I don't think I ever had in mind making a dialogue dump website of Awakening, but it happened and I had a lot of fun making it and giving it a lot of tiny details! ...even if its layout has the stability of a Jenga tower and it's just the Gangrel arc. Whatever. It's the thought that counts.

I wrote a bunch more! Not as much as I wanted, but I made some stories I'm really proud of. And I took part in a few fandom events and not just one but two Secret Santas for the first time!

I took a shot at making wallpapers and made some I'm really proud of, especially the Three Hopes ones. They were so fun to make and the process was just tons of fun!

And that leads nicely to... making art.

See, the thing about me is that I always sucked at making art. I couldn't keep my hands stable, I am incredibly clumsy and I couldn't draw anything more complicated than simple childlike doodles. And while I loved painting, the fact I felt incapable of making anything good or that I could like lead me to not even bothering to try. Why bother if you're just gonna be disappointed and frustrated, after all?

Until I got into group painting at around July, and I loved it. I made some paintings I truly like, and that eventually gave me the courage to start drawing again. As a half-joke. Only this time, I decided to draw with references, and my whole world got upside down. Turns out I could actually somewhat draw if I had a reference! And somehow I never realized it in years!

Something clicked. I figured it'd just be a thing I'd do for a week at most and then drop like so many other creative projects of mine, but... it stayed. Not only that, but I got more invested into it. I went from physical to digital (with the mouse!), and eventually shifted to a graphic tablet a friend lent me (and then pretty much gifted me). Eventually the drawings became so many I decided to make an art blog! Me! An art blog! The me from even just early 2022 would have called you insane if you said it! And now not just that, but I'm even making preparations to open a Redbubble shop! I still can't believe it!

And a huge part is thanks to this blog, really! It gave me and still keeps giving me the courage to try new stuff, find new friends and people who inspire me, and lets me know people enjoy what I make or say. It's amazing, and it makes me feel so happy!

I'll be honest, I am grateful to this blog. It truly helped me get into a better place, and I can confidently say ever since I opened it I feel a lot happier. And that's coming from the local cynical bastard who usually hates themselves, but now? I went from hating myself to being neutral at worst for the most part. Even if I still have my moments sometimes, but that's normal. And now I actually have hope for the future!

But really, it says a lot that for once at the New Year party I wasn't the one who claimed the next year was going to suck. Heck, I was actually caught off guard when one of my friends said it and I said no, it's gonna be good!

Anyway, enough rambling. What I want to say is, thank you for everything. Thank you to the people who complimented me or even just commented on the things I made. Thank you to my mutuals and anonymous lurkers. Yes, I know you're there, I was and often still am one of you. And most of all, thank you to all my online friends I made here on Tumblr. When I think about it, we haven't known each other for that long, but I want you to know now I can't imagine a life without you and you brighten my day every time we chat. I love you so much and I wish you nothing but the best<3

Here's to plenty more years of this blog!

[gayfrogs03]

More batfam headcanons because I'm bored and I can. You know the drill this will get unnecessary long, and off topic because ADHD! Let's gooooo!

First things first, I saw someone talking about some of the batfam's hyperfixations/info dumping about it, and I want to also talk about that, along with Special interest, I'm just doing the boys for this part of headcanons (don't remember who they are, if you know them tag them so they get credit!!)

Tim's -who is headcanon has Autism and ADHD- Special Interests for me is not only Batman and Robin, but just Superheros/vigilantes in general, technology, Percy Jackson/Greek Mythology (being into Greek Mythology is actually what led him to Percy Jackson/just anything writen by Uncle Rick), photography, D&D (or W&W as it's called in the DCU I believe- always nicely correct me if I'm wrong!), skateboarding, music (headcanon that Tim was in the marching band, what instrument he played is up to you, and he was a theatre kid, knows of and actively listens to over 40 musical, the list keeps growing, if you don't like musicals don't hand him the aux cord), and Star Wars

I'mma say right now Tim's hyperfixations are Queer History, The Owl House (the person I mentioned before said that he, Steph and Alfred watch it together and I love that, especially Alfred watching stuff with them!), and surprisenly both crocheting and knitting, he's already made multiple family numbers things and it currently working on a sweater for Bernard

Info dumping for Tim is hard, because growing up his parents (and multiple therapist) have tried to teach him out of things like info dumping, stimming, ect. Taught it was annoying and bad so he shouldn't do it, he was taught he was better left unheard and unseen. So there are a lot of times were he holds himself back or he starts to info dump but cuts himself off when he notices he's doing it (kinda like Hunter in Owl House)

But once you get him going, he goes, and no one dares to try and stop him (might get murdered by the batfam and Tim's friends if you do). Like with the PJO series becoming a TV series, after some poking and encouragement I can see Tim just going off for actual hours about how excited he is about it, what he wants to see, what he doesn't want to see, how much he LOVES the casting and how he'll personally fist fight anyone who is racist against Annabeth's actress Leah, and more

The last person he did this to was actually Jason after they just finished a case and Jason was making dinner for them two at one of his Safe houses. Jason is listening the whole time, and even asked questions and made comments to encourage Tim to keep going, it was actually very relaxing for him

Next up is actually Jason, in my Neurodivergent batfam post I said that Jason only has Bipolar depressive disorder, but I changed my mind since then, he still had BDD but my man's also has ADHD, was diagnosed a little bit before he died

Anyway, moving on! Jason's Special Interests includes, classic lit, namely Jane Austen's books, plus some of Shakespeare's work, Star Trek (this causes arguments with Tim), plays (was also a theatre kid, just not on the musical end like Tim), motorcycles, guns (how they're made, cleaning them, different types, stuff like that), cooking, and surprising everyone gardening (he has a bunch of plants and helps Alfred out in the garden all the time)

Hyperfixations right now are, Greek Mythology (thanks Tim), Bridgerton, and coding (Babs is teaching him, sometimes Tim)

Info dumping with Jason is a lot easier than with Tim, because Jason never notices that he's info dumping, he'll just be talking, and now Dick knows just about everything about Bridgerton with seeing a single episode and is planning on getting him the books for his birthday. Once Jason realizes he info dumping he normally stops to make sure whoever he's talking to is okay with it and continues happily if they say they are.

Next is Damian (who is Autistic in my headcanon)!

Damian's Special Interest are, swords (the history of them, how their made, the different kinds, and how to use them, ect), art, taking care of animals/animals in general, learning different languages (I mentioned in a headcanon a long time ago that Tim knows A LOT of languages because he wanted to impress his parents (didn't work) but now he teaches Damian these languages and it's one of the ways they bond), different fighting styles, Disney movies, making jewelry (makes it for his friends and family as both a claiming mark (that my person, back off) and I show of affection, not that he'll ever admit it (they know anyway)), and fashion

Current Hyperfixations for the murder baby arrre, detective work (wants to be better at that part of the job), She-Ra because Jon made him watch it and now he's obsessed, psychology (he finds it fascinating how the brain works)

Info dumping for Damian is a lot like Tim, he too was taught that it was better to be unheard and unseen growing up, with Damian it's a little harder to get him started, but he too goes off once he begins, but it usually doesn't last as long as the others (30 minutes at MOST) but that's only because he is just a generally quiet person by choice and doesn't have a whole lot to say. The people he feels most comfortable info dumping on are unsurprisingly Dick and Jon, and very surprisenly Tim, it's Tim because they share a lot of the same (ish) trauma with it comes to being Neurodivergent and he knows that Tim will never push him or make fun of him

Now, last but certainly not least, Dick! (ADHD)

Dick's Special Interest are Acrobatics (duh), also Disney movies, fashion (tho he's terrible at it), baking, love languages (adores the entire thing, love to find people's love languages and show them his love through them), Queer History (that man is not straight (pan in my mind) and feeds happily into Tim's current hyperfixation on it), crafts (any kind, Bruce has so many of Dick's crafts proudly displayed around the manor (along with Tim's photo's, Damian's art, and Jason's old academic awards,he's a proud dad))

Dick's current hyperfixations include the Cars movies (much to everyones pain), the Percy Jackson series (started reading because Tim was forcing him to, but quickly began to love it), and learning to play the violin from Damian

Info dumping is very easy with Dick, if you talk to him for more than 3 minutes there is a 99% chance he'll begin info dumping on you, he is completely aware he is doing it, but grew up know what it was and that is completely okay to do so he doesn't care, and works hard to get his brothers in the same mind set. Him info dumping about Queer History on Tim is actually how it became one of his hyperfixations :)

I was going to continue with other batfam headcanons on this post after these, but this got really long so I'll start those on another post! Hope you enjoyed these :)

[davekat-sucks]

dude, people dont like you because you post ship hate in the ship tag and are a total hypocrite, not because you have different headcanons or opinions on ships

example of said hypocrisy: you say davekat is bad because “it’s abusive in the epilogues”

(which is really just how you interpret it and the epilogues aren’t even officially canon anyway)

then proceed to say that ships between doc scratch (adult and canon pedophile) and child characters who were harassed by him. which is blatantly an abusive and pedophillic ship *in actual canon*.

if you just didnt like davekat or certain trans hcs that’d be fine but you constantly shit on people for them and then dump it the tags, which is just rude

say you were looking for content of a ship you like (davejade, for example), so you search it up, and theres a bunch of posts that are just someone saying that it sucks and is terrible and how its awful

(also you say a lot of fucked up shit, like tr4p, which is a slur /in the context you used it/)

I am a hypocrite and can acknowledge that I am one. Not many others would admit to this, not even the Anons that come by sending me these kinds of things. You wouldn't have sent it if I didn't have the option to put Anonymous asks on. Because you know if you shown your own account, people will be hounding on your asses. That is what it is like to try and share an opinion on the Internet. Nobody in this modern fandom can do it these days without someone trying to cancel them over bullshit. It has come to the point where doxxing and harassing a guy is okay as long as it is for progressive movement. Also, I don't mind dark ships. It's fictional. FAKE. Just dislike when people hate other people liking it, not knowing they also have similar ones, but brush it off as uwu soft fluff crap by the end. Like you can't say Vriska and Terezi is all sunshine, funny Scourge Sisters, and lesbians without the history and baggage of the two in the series they were from. I only criticize the sort of headcanon because there is some flaws about it that I wish to share. There are others as well that want to share their opinions about a certain fanon, but are too nervous to speak out about it. Even if they are within the same sort of minority group like say an actual trans dislikes the headcanons of Trans Roxy, Trans Vriska, and non-binary Eridan, they are called out for being a traitor of it and get accused of lying of being a trans. We have seen this before on Twitter with June Egbert. I tag it because I'm not afraid to let my voice speak out. Because it is fine to have some criticism about a certain thing. Not all works are perfect and there will be someone who dislikes it. How you react to it is different. You either ignore, block, or move on. I don't mind if others say DaveJade or EriRoxy sucks. I just move on with my life and find other works that give more positive feedback. There may be times I would reblog to disagree or point out some flaw in the post, but that's it. Trap is also not a slur. It's just a term to describe anime boys mistaken as a girl. It's the Western term for otokonoko in Japan. Which will always be a thing in anime/manga. If you don't like it, then GTFO out of the anime/manga community.

[viridiave]

Daylight Prairie- Creatures of the Light (lore dump)

I've had a couple of theories and headcanons stirring around my head regarding Prairie for a while now- so right here we're gonna tie some of them together cuz I haven't lored in a good long while XD

Note- btw I'm not part of beta so this is purely just me- a crackhead- putting together a crackpot narrative. SOME spoilers for Eden are present.

<THE CEREMONIAL WORSHIPPERS>

okay these guys drive me fucking nuts

We barely know anything about these guys- and what little we do know is derived purely from their closed off uh... Worshipping space. Look at this freaking thing.

In the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by clouds for miles. Fairly advanced diamond technology. Altars with graves decked out in gold and candles. The mechanism for the entrance to the elevator to begin with is fairly complex as well- activated by butterflies and the butterflies don't even die in the process. And to top everything off, this place has a portal that leads directly to the Prairie Temple.

If this isn't sus I don't know what is- but I think I have an explanation.

There are six spaces for six more people that we are not aware of. The only people we DO know of is one bald person in the short garb and another bald person in the long garb. I propose that these six missing people are the Whisperers.

Which is... pretty out there, I know. Counting the 'voices' that we get in game, (including the ones from previous Seasons like Lightseekers and Sanctuary) we have one for Birds, Whales, Mantas, Memories, Crabs, and Jellyfish. For now, we're not counting either Butterflies or Krill- and I'll explain why in a bit.

As for the initial proposition that these Whisperers are the missing six, first we need to ask ourselves what exactly it was that the Worshippers were... worshipping. There is a possible god of which we see in game, and the name of this god is the Megabird.

Megabird here was heavily present in concepts, and in the final product we only ever get to see traces of her and heck to this day we're not sure if she's a canon entity in the final game at all. Megabird as an entity in the concepts is basically the god overseeing the world of Sky and is comprised entirely of light. It's unclear whether or not the Ancestors were aware of her existence after or even before the King rose to power. The Elders themselves are likely privy to this information, but somehow I doubt that it's something anyone wanting to assert control over their people would encourage.

There's certainly the possibility that these Worshippers were a religious sect dedicated to the Elders themselves- but since I'm here trying to propose that they're worshipping something tangential to the possible actual god, we're going to assume this isn't the case. On that note-

<THE WORSHIPPERS WERE DEVOUT TO LIGHT ITSELF>

I propose that the Ceremonial Worshippers valued the Light above all else- and this worship was extended towards the light creatures themselves.

'Oi. Vir. Crabs are DARK Creatures.'

Not all of them. Heck, a dark crab might not have been the norm back then, but that's a stretch and besides- the fact is that these crabs on the far end of Sanctuary are docile.

Keep in mind that these followers were stationed in Prairie, of all places. You know what else is in Prairie? Sanctuary Isles- home to several kinds of manta, butterflies, jellyfish, and even the elusive Elder Manta (yes that's what the big chonky boi that looks like a light krill is called- it's not a whale.).  Daylight Prairie is in no shortage of light creatures- and at the center of it all is its Elder.

Prairie Elder is implied to have responsibilities toward the light creatures as presented in the SkyShop poem featuring them:

'Fields of harvest, prairies of joy.

Farmer and fauna as one.

The Elder protects the creatures of light,

For darkened days to come.

Fly up, fly away,

For the Children of Light in need.

We shall recall our days of wonder,

And feel its air once more.'

-SkyShop Poem (Prairie Elder Pin)

In the greater context of the story, Daylight Prairie is the primary source of light energy in the form of the light creatures- it makes sense that the Elder of that realm would oversee the flow of light creatures from one realm to the other, and that the Ancestors in their domain would have a greater respect for the creatures than others. They're the ones working with them, and they're the ones that know them best.

Enter the Worshippers- who were likely serving directly under the Prairie Elder. I'm not confident that the Prairie Elder could have shared information about the Megabird- or if they even know the god existed. 'The Light itself' is pretty vague for something to be worshipped, and it's possible that the Prairie Elder instead encouraged people that the Light manifested itself into the various light creatures that we see.

In this world however- industrialization marches on, and eventually these light creatures became things to be harvested rather than worshipped. It's speculated that light creatures were used in the production of diamonds- we see signs of this scattered throughout Forest, and Wasteland by proxy. The mural under the bridge in Forest and the doors to the Temple seem to suggest as much at least. Eventually, this industrialization will grow out of hand. I have a few theories on what the Prairie Elder might have done to passively rebel against this.

<PRAIRIE ELDER AND THE BUTTERFLIES>

We learn in the Prairie Elder's cutscene that they are able to form- not summon- butterflies from fire. I'm not proposing that the Prairie Elder is single-handedly responsible for the existence of butterflies- rather I'm proposing through the Prairie Elder's abilities that light is able to be manipulated in such a way that one can create light creatures, should they know how.

It could just be the butterflies, honestly. And really it could just be the Prairie Elder that's capable of such a feat- and because of these holes in this theory it's the first to go.

And yes this is the reason why the Butterflies don't count. I think. That has holes too and I can make a case for the Butterfly Charmer technically being part of this... But I digress.

<SANCTUARY ISLES>

Sanctuary Islands could be a literal Sanctuary for the light creatures- there is an impressive variety of them present. It's also very out of the way, tucked away in a corner of Bird's Nest. The theory I'm proposing here is that the Prairie Elder and the Sanctuary Guide worked together to keep this place hidden from the rest of the Kingdom- and that it was the Sanctuary Guide that broke the bells that would have granted the Ancestors access to the light creatures.

<THE WORSHIPPERS DISBANDED>

This is... probably improbable, but my whole post was leading up to this so we're doing this. The missing six Worshippers are the Whisperers that we've encountered throughout the game- leaving in order to either develop their relationship with or protect their creatures of choice.

The Bird Whisperer stayed close and remained in Prairie- and is probably the reason why Bird's Nest exists at all. The Jellyfish Whisperer remained as well, opting to stay in Sanctuary- the natural habitat of the jellyfish.

The Whale Whisperer ventured to Forest- where there probably once was a small population of Whales, given the corpse we see in the Bridge Area and the live Whale in the Underground Cavern.

The Manta Whisperer went to Valley- I'm guessing to see how mantas were being used for labor and competitions? And Valley is right next to Wasteland so I might be reaching but they could have been monitoring that too.

The Crab Whisperer is a tricky one because we see them travelling with the Lightseekers, and yes I am proposing that this lady was formerly a Worshipper. But because we're dealing with a creature that we now know is more dark than light, maybe the Crab Whisperer joined the Lightseekers in order to observe that phenomenon more closely? Because she does refer to the crabs as friends in her SkyShop poem. Wasteland wasn't always a... wasteland, after all. Things could have been different, and the crabs could have been adapting in a time where they would be relatively dangerous but not so much that an Ancestor couldn't approach them.

And then there's the Memory Whisperer. For this one, I don't think a spirit manta actually exists- at least, not as an organic creature and moreso just an interactive holograph courtesy of the machinations of Vault. I'm actually not too sure on what this person could have been doing, but they have a call- and my best guess is that the Memory Whisperer is one who listens to the last vestiges of light leftover by a creature- because we do see skeletons in Vault, and one is of a creature that looks like an amalgamation of several spirit mantas.

<WHY DON'T THE KRILL COUNT?>

As far back as Prophecy, Krill don't appear to be aligned with the light. They aren't depicted as former light creatures, nor a corrupted variant of an elder manta or whale- they are presented as thenselves in that Prophecy mural. Though I'm sure we'll get a Krill call later on, I'm not going to count them until then.

<CONCLUSION...?>

This huge post is... full of holes and heavy speculation, I'm aware. Mostly I just wanted to dump a bunch of shower thoughts and leftover lore I came up in the Discord lore chat. Go check it out sometime, I've derived a few points in this from interacting with people there. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter, by the way- it's fun theorizing! I haven't done this seriously in a long while.

[hopefullystillliving]

Hello, I'm your Tolkien Secret Santa! I'm so excited to begin working on your gift, I'm already debating between several ideas.

I just wanted to ask if you had anything specific in mind that you'd like to see included? And if you had any headcanons about Doriath as a place! Culture, terrain, magic, anything that makes it a setting /you/ recognize. If not, don't worry about it! But I thought I'd ask!

So eager to get started, thank you for your time!

Hello! Sorry this took a while to answer, I had to type up everything (apologies in advance for how much stuff I've written lol, I've just dumped a whole bunch of headcanons in here. I hope you find some of it useful!) and link stuff and also hack into my drawing tablet that I'd forgotten the password to and hadn't used in a year :P

Also, absolutely don't feel obligated to use everything I've put here, I really like seeing other people's takes on my Best Fam, and a whole bunch of my headcanons for Doriath are actually pretty loose, so if anything doesn't vibe with you, feel free to toss it!

Putting everything under the cut for the sake of the Dash

I don't remember exactly what I put on my sign-up, (I'm pretty sure I mentioned the Nolofinweans too? Whoops this is Not about them, hmu if you want a huge ramble about the Lesser Hellspawn too lol) but I think I forgot to mention that while I put "no ships" I'm fine with canon ships so long as the romance isn't the center focus (Esp. if you want to do family fluff with Beren, Luthien, & Dior) I'm not squicked by romance at all, but I don't know what your position on ships is, so if you don't want to please don't feel obligated! I'm also pretty sure that I forgot to mention a DNW of mine- I see Daeron as Luthien's younger brother and nothing else, which is one of the few headcanons I refuse to budge on.

For specific stuff I'd like: I really like good wholesome family fluff, and I'm really weak for the idea that related by blood or not you still should choose your family. I've got a whole Thing about Daeron and Luthien choosing to be siblings, Daeron choosing to be there for Dior, Beren choosing Finrod, Huan choosing Beren and Luthien, Luthien choosing Beren and mortality, etc. Choices make me soft.

Related: my opinions on Melian and Thingol are... not great. I'm working on a headcanon post/fic about it rn, but didn't want to slow this down any more, so to sum up: I think they did what they thought was best, and genuinely love their children, but legitimately do not understand what they want/need- Thingol is overprotective, Melian Doesn't Get incarnates. Post Silm quest they improve and get more accepting, though they still don't really understand, but the relationship between them and their kids is never very close.

(I've also got a very specific weak spot for Beren and Luthien's could've- would've- should've been friendship with Finrod and the gang. Another headcanon I refuse to budge on is that Beren hung out with Finrod and co when he was stuck in Mandos, and Luthien got to properly meet them all. But that's super specific and requires a Lot of ocs, so please don't do it unless it really inspires you lol.)

Here are some posts on my vision of the characters + dynamics, specifically: Daeron as Luthien's brother, Beren ROCKS, How I write Eldritch Luthien (+ Melian's Domain), Name headcanons!, there beneath the willow tree (fic- Daeron is Best Uncle), and I don't know if you want/need visuals but Melian, Daeron, Luthien (+doodle dump) (+her, Beren, and Huan)- also literally all the Luthien art by Kokiri85 (here's a specific one) and by @carlandrea

I do have a picture of Doriath, I did it in 30 min for art class last year, so it's not amazing but it's a good enough jumping off point: a dead part of Doriath, as seen through Melian's Girdle (the purple grid).

I see Doriath vaguely as having two general "types" of forest: "Normal" (pretty enchanted forest, nightingales are a little sus, some things glow, par for the magical course), and the Deep Woods (where stuff gets Weird, proper Eldritch Faerie-Land, you will not be coming out of here without a guide and/or Melian taking pity). In a few very small areas the Deep Woods turn to Dark Woods (Definitely cursed, probably give you magic radiation poisoning, everything is Undead and Immortal, High concentration of Melian's magic, usually either places she frequent(s/ed) or near the border that need more defense (Nan Elmoth was a result of this)) I have two fics about this: A Cruel Forest and This is a Forest, which both either state or imply that Doriath itself is debatably sentient as a result of Melian's magic

For terrain, I went to Alaska last summer and now it's basically the ideal Beleriand in my mind. Doriath has a milder climate- it's essentially the platonic ideal of a mostly deciduous forest, the St Croix River Valley in Minnesota is a good approximation, though obviously it's a river valley, while Doriath is not. Any really pretty forests work, honestly. There's wildflowers everywhere, and fruit trees (probably enchanted), and conveniently placed (literally) creeks and streams. It's also very magically circuitous- you might walk in a perfectly straight line and end up where you started, or going left might lead the same way as going right will.

Culture! This is... harder. I'm focusing on Menegroth here, but I have more of a general vibe I'm going for, rather than this being hard-and-fast. I see typical clothing as being fairly typical medieval fantasy fare- though a little heavier on the medieval, with some Chinese hanfu influence- the hair also, though with more braids, when convenient it's designed to show off as much length as possible (Luthien always wears hers down, which ususally signifies someone wild/who doesn't care much about appearance. She, Melian, and Daeron also never wear shoes). Lots of flowers, either fake or real (fresh or dried). Furs are worn in the winter, but it's seen as sketchy to wear the fur of a predator you/ your family didn't hunt, so while a hunter's family might have wolf-coats, a noble probably wouldn't. On the subject of hunting, songbirds are basically sacred, given Melian, so you don't hunt one without necessity.

(This headcanon is tiny and not very well formed but there's absolutely a secret cult dedicated to Melian, and while people might say that it's bad form, inwardly everyone has probably prayed to her once or twice because if there's an angel who has demonstrably protected you from satan, you want to keep that angel.)

Lots of really pretty fabric designs and embroidery based on the nature in Doriath (the less Spooky parts, at least), symmetry isn't really big, but the Golden Ratio (Fibonacci sequence) and fractals are. Usually there isn't a consistent pattern as the main focus. I've arbitrarily decided that they have a good way of making purple dye. Generally bright, cooler colors are preferred, to match the forest, but the goal is more "flowers" and less "mossy stone". They're very good at making camouflages for the guards and hunters, though, like the cloaks in Lothlorian.

Metal work is eh to them. Useful, but as a whole they aren't super into it. Especially after the Noldor (who love it) show up and get on the Iathrim's bad side. They like it in small doses, and heavily prefer silver to gold. On a related note- piercings are nearly nonexistent, except for on the really old elves who remember Cuivienen and/or the Great Journey, or some Laiquendi who live near the border.

They're all really into the Arts, Menegroth is covered in flowy half-abstract carvings and knotwork (influence of the dwarves), mosaics are really popular since they're more sturdy than paintings. Tapestries help keep the stone of the caves warmer. Song and dance is huge- performances happen constantly, available to anyone. I imagine it varies from more traditional songs of epic poetry performed by one person, to massive choirs. I'm not very knowledgeable about dance, but I think they've got something like ballet with a "greek" chorus backing it. Their plays are probably a lot like ancient greek ones structurally, too. Speech and song is very important, since speech is literally how they distinguish themselves as sentient, and music created the universe. In general, improvisation is valued, but there's a very specific structure to it. So it looks free and natural, but actually it's very rigid. (Symbolism for the rest of their culture? Yes.)

Menegroth itself looks like it was perfectly grown as-is, with sculpture and carvings added to it. It also doesn't really feel like it's underground- there are massive sections without a roof that act as skylights, and a whole bunch of layers. Natural light and air is definitely a priority. Lots of entrances and exits, since it's so big. It's not very defensible, except for that the layout is utterly nonsensical to anyone unfamiliar, and the enchanted forest + forcefield around it.

My opinions on Elvish magic are honestly worth a post unto itself, so to sum up: most of the stuff we would consider magic they don't. It's a type of art- to seemingly break natural laws and turn wool into shifting camouflage, or to gather starlight in stone, and it's based in the Song. What they call magic is very elemental- the three broad categories are water, air, and fire, which then break down/combine into smaller categories (ie. ice/weather/wind/light/temp./earth) it's very difficult, and very rare for Sindar to learn (seen as slightly heretical- like attempting to imitate the Ainur)

Maiarin magic is a whole 'nother beast. It kind of seeps into the area based on power, proximity, and time. Basically, it's magic radiation, only less overtly deadly (although that depends on the Maia in question. Osse's probably causes a whole bunch of storms and Bermuda Triangle-esque phenomena which. Not exactly safe.) Lots of incomprehensible Eldritch stuff, and heavily Domain-based. Their magic is seen similar to how humans see elvish magic ("That's totally magic!" "No it's not? It's just another ability.") and, once again, is entirely Song based- even more than elvish magic since it was the Ainur who Sang Arda into being in the first place.

Phew ok that about wraps it up! Thanks for asking about all this, I take every possible opportunity to infodump. And thank you so much in advance! I'm really excited to see what you make!

[nicetomeetmew]

If LU was an anime (VA headcanons)

Okay so! A while back I uploaded a video (which you can find here) giving the LU boys voice actors. And in the description of said video, I promised that I was going to post a list of explanations for my voices and link it. Which I am only doing now.

These choices, bar a few, are my own personal opinion, so I'd love to hear your thoughts about them! I spent far to long working and watching anime for this but I am pretty happy with the end result, bar one (glares at Four). So I hope you enjoy! And prepare yourself. Cause this is LONG.

Legend - Vic Mignoga (Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

So fun fact. Back when I first discovered LU, I almost immediately imaged Leg with this voice. He had strong Ed vibes for me and when I started making this list, he was the only one I immediately knew was perfect. At least to me. It just has that quality; the snark with the capability of being genuine and emotional (I do apologise if the voice clips I included in the video made you sad. That's a hazard of FMA). I didn't consider anyone else for Legend, even though I did briefly consider Vic Mignoga for Warriors (more on that later).

Sky - Aleks Le (Zenitsu Agatsuma from Demon Slayer)

Man, I considered a fair few KnY voices for this list, including the voice of Tanjiro for Wild and the voice of Giyu for Twilight. But this is the one that stuck. I was struck between Sky having a youthful, soft voice or an older, soft voice (I knew his voice had to be soft. I mean. It's Sky.)

I watched the dub of Demon Slayer solely for this and it never would've occurred to me to consider Zenitsu's voice for Sky. But as the show progressed and I heard it when he wasn't... you know... begging some poor lass to marry him, I realised he actually has quite a soft voice. And when I heard it get all serious I thought "Yep. That works." And thus I placed Aleks Le as the Chosen Hero. You could argue that his voice is a bit too youthful for him but I still think it works.

Wind - Amanda Miller (Boruto from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations)

Ugh. Ugh. *increasing sounds of disgust*. I hate this.

But let's start from the beginning. Right off the bat, I was 99.9% sure Wind would be voiced by a woman. Okay so he's not 10 (that will make more sense in a second), but he's still pretty young and I imagine him with quite a youthful voice. For him, I considered Sarah Natochenny, the current voice of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon, and also Colleen Clickenbeard's voice for Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece. But these two voices shared the same problem. They were too raspy. I just cannot see Wind with a raspy voice. I guess if you really, really, really focus on it it could work but I just could get it to work for me hfff.

And then... ugh. I spoke to a mate about. He doesn't know about LU so I just told him I was making voice headcanons and couldn't think of a good one for a 14 year old boy. And he said "have you heard Boruto's English voice?" And I think my response was something along the lines of, "Ben, I have standards." But he insisted it would probably work so I watched a clip of Boruto on YouTube and much to my horror, it did seem to work. But there was problem. None of the clips had lines I could picture Wind saying. And because of that I was struggling to actually give Wind the voice. But something told me that it was the right one so... I... *shudders*... watched Boruto. I watched I think 5 full episodes before I had no more braincells and skipped thorough a bunch more and sure enough, I could finally see Wind with that voice. I think it fits him great and it honestly might be my favourite choice just because I had to watch that nightmare.

Hyrule - Justin Briner (Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia)

Ah. This one is much more pleasant. First of all, I never realised this at first but Midoriya and Hyrule are kind of similar. For one thing, they do kinda look alike. And for another they have the same "I will never give up" kinda thing going on.

Roolie is another one I knew would have a soft voice. I think Justin Briner was always down as a choice for him, except for when I briefly considered him for Four (more on that later *big sigh*). This is another anime I watched the dub for solely for this and there were a ton of lines right from the get go I could instantly imagine Roolie saying. So yeah. Aside from the tiny moment I almost assigned Justin Briner to Four, this was a pretty easy one. Midoriya has a soft voice that I could easily imagine Hyrule having. And when he got angry and his voice got harsher, I could also easily see Roolie like that too. Fun fact: there's another BNHA voice on this list... heh.

Wild - Michael Sinternklaas (Dagger from Black Butler)

AW YEAH. YOU HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH BRITISH BOI.

Ahem. Anyway. Yes Wild is British. Everyone rejoice. I was unsure of how people would react to this but I think this is the only voice on the list everyone agreed on. Which I'm happy about.

As I mentioned, I considered the English voice of Tanjiro (Zach Aguilar) for Wild. There were issues with this; mainly that it was too soft, too young, and made him sound too similar to Sky. Now here's the thing. I WANTED to give Wild a English accent. I am almost certain he would have one, like most people. However the only anime I could think of with decent English accents was Black Butler (and yes I know his final voice is from it, bear with me) and there was a problem with that. Most of the voices from Black Butler are ridiculously posh. Now you may be thinking "But Kai, Zelda has a posh English accent" and to that I would say "Ah yes but she's a princess and Wild is not". And now you might be thinking "But Kai, he's a knight an probably spent a lot of time in a place with posh English accents". To which I would say "But he wasn't always". Two words. Hateno Village.

Let me explain.

I feel like a lot of people hear the words 'English accent' and immediately think of an accent like Zelda's (and no, I am not saying everyone does and I'm also not implying that there aren't people out there who aren't British and know that there are multiple accents). Anyway, English accents are different depending on the place. And, since one can assume Wild is from Hateno Village, I would imagine their accent is different to that of those born in Castle Town. So that's why I was reluctant to give Wild a voice from Black Butler. Because all the voices that weren't insanely fancy were either far too old or did not have the right vibe.

Then one day, taking a break from this, I was watching season 3 of Black Butler (one of the only anime I watch dubbed) and I heard two voices that I suddenly thought, hang on just a second. One of those was the voice of Ronald Knox, who's a grim reaper. And the other, of course, was Dagger. I was leaning towards Dagger and what sold me was one scene in particular, which I chose as the final voice clip for Wild (you cannot tell me that is not exactly something he would say). And that was it. But Wild's was easily one of the most frustrating (not the most *glares at Four again*).

Time - David Matranga (The Father from Wolf Children)

Another tough one and also one I heavily considered for Twilight (for obvious reasons). Time's was kind of tricky because I knew I wanted it to be deep but there's such of variety of deep voices. At one point I even considered dumping the deep voice idea because it was so hard. It was a this time I thought of the voice of space cowboy extraordinaire, Spike Spiegel. But my brain said "hell no". There were other voices I considered for him, loads of which I cannot find the notes for and another one which will likely appear in part two as another character (no spoilers), but when I was picking a voice for Twi, some of the lines the father said just kept ringing big old Time vibes with me. So in the end, I decided to for it. Like I said, I imagine time with a deep voice and while to father's might be a bit more... gravelly (?) than I imagined, I think it fits him pretty well. It's serious and mature but still a certain kindness I'd imagine Time's voice to have.

Warriors - Johnny Yong Bosch (Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach)

Don't lie. You knew Johnny Yong Bosch was gonna be on here and not just because I put his name (albeit spelled incorrectly) in the thumbnail. When I started making this, I knew I wanted to fit JYB into it. In my mind, LU would be an amazing anime and almost all amazing anime have Johnny Yong Bosch in it.

Now, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether he would be better for Wars or Twi. At one point I was convinced he would be best for Twi and that's when I briefly thought about Vic Mignoga for Warriors (his voice for Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club. Don't tell me Tamaki and Wars aren't at least a tiny bit similar). But I could bear to part with Vic for Legend so I decided heck it, Johnny is Warriors and I'll find someone else for Twi later. As for the voice in particular, the two voices I considered for Twi definitely did not fit Wars. And then I remembered Bleach and immediately I thought "Yep. That's the one". I imagine Warriors having an authoritative voice, not too deep and very... uh... I don't know the right word. Clean sounding? Anyway, Ichigo just seemed to fit nicely and thus it was so.

Four - Micah Solusod (Yukine from Noragamai)

Ugh. UGH. Okay. This is my least favourite. Four was, excuse my French, A FUCKING NIGHTMARES. There was not ONE SINGLE VOICE that seemed to work for him at all. I watched a bit of the Noragmai dub because I was thinking about Yato's voice for someone (I can't remember who. It might have been Wild) and I heard Yukine's and decided to put it into reserve. As in, my last resort. And I had to use it. Oh my god Four. I love you but your voice is literally a nightmare. Is it high? Is it low? Is it young sounding? Surprisingly grown up sounding? I DON'T FREAKING KNOW.

I mentioned earlier that I considered Justin Briner for him. I was thinking about his voice for Luck from Black Clover, which may have honestly worked a bit better, but I was pretty attached to Justin as Roolie by this point. So I had to whip out Micah.

Let me be clear. No, I do not think this works well at all. I appreciate the people who tried to see that good in it, but I honestly just don't think it works. The only reason I went for it is because Yukine's voice switches between older sounding and younger sounding throughout the show and since I could decide what Four's would sound like I said to myself "Fine. Four can be the same", found some clips, slapped it together and never looked back.

I am still looking for another voice for Four and if I find a decent one, I will include it in part two.

And last but not least...

Twilight - Aaron Mitchell Dismuke (Tamaki Amajiki - My Hero Academia)

Told ya there was another BHNA voice.

So Twi was another tricky one. As I mentioned, I was seriously considering Johnny Yong Bosch for him. More specifically, his voices for Giyu Tomioka from Demon Slayer and Kiba from Wolf's Rain (for obvious reasons). I did almost go for Kiba but something was stopping me. I'm honestly not sure what.

So I was talking to a mate (and by that I mean I rambled. A lot) about VA's and at one point he suggested Aaron Mitchell Dismuke but not for Twilight. I can't actually remember who he suggested it for but anyway, that didn't work out. But when I was looking through his work, I saw that we played Amajiki and I was curious. I listened to him and I liked it.

Okay to be fair I wanted a country accent for Twi. Of course I did. But I could not a find a decent one. They few I found were absolutely terrible. So I gave up on that and decided that was Amajiki. And that was that.

And that concludes the Links VA headcanons! I am happy with most of them and once more these are my opinion but I would love to hear your own ideas!

As I have said many times, I am working on a part two and as a sneak peak (sort of) I'll tell you two of the characters that will be featured (excluding Four, if I find him another voice).

Dink (even though he hasn't, technically shown up yet) and Malon (which is proving to be a lot tricker than I thought). There a couple more but my lips are sealed heh.

Oh and speaking of Dink, the voice I considered for Time and then thought it would be better for someone else? Yeah that's the voice that's currently in the lead to be Dink's :)

I hope enjoyed my long winded explanations! And thank you for reading/watching!