#i can't believe i'm getting to put this lore knowledge to use

[yasmeensh]

Book rant? Anthropology, apes, and racism discussion.

I started reading a book titled "Bonobo Handshake" by Vanessa Woods. I picked it up because a) I want to learn more about bonobos since my knowledge of them is minimal. b) the author had interacted with bonobos in person so it's an interesting perspective to read. c) the book had positive reviews.

I was not expecting the author to start off telling us about the 'discovery' of bonobos in this way.

W-what do you mean, in Belgium? The author makes it clear that bonobos live in Congo and she gives us a few examples of local bonobo lore. Meaning, people in Congo know the bonobos very well. Way to go to give a colonizer the credit??? wtf. In this perspective, she is letting us know THAT was the moment when Bonobos entered western science, which is true. But I was really hoping the author would give it a more holistic view than this, but it seems she really believes in this??? And let me tell you, from what I am picking up between the lines, she ONLY accepts western science. Here is an example:

This is the page that confuses me immensely. I don't know if she is trying to come off as sarcastic or not. She sets out for us that Takayoshi Kano is the star of Bonobo research, but in the next paragraph says there is no one studying Bonobos. "there was never a Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey for bonobos." UHM NO? YOU JUST SAID THERE WAS???

[highlighting and writing over a picture of the page (32) since it's a library book and I can't write on it.]

She says Japanese researchers are responsible for all we know on Bonobos, but then starts talking about de Waal's zoo discoveries in detail, and they seem pretty minor compared to Kano's work with wild bonobos. She did point out that scientists don't take de waal's observations seriously because it's from a zoo, but she doesn't remedy that by telling us if it can be supported by Kano's work or not when compared. Kano is ignored. He does have one book available in English, so it's not like we can't ever learn about what he observed. you said western mainstream media don't want to listen to a man who only spoke Japanese??? UHM. You are too??? Why did you jump to de waal? If it's a book about bonobos, then please give Kano a little spotlight and tell about his research. (I actually want to read Kano's book now but I can't find a borrowable copy of it. It's a complicated long loop to get one. But it's possible T-T!!!!)

I very much dislike her tone in 'oh it's the Japanese that tell us about bonobo'. It is as if no one is actually researching them at all. They are 'foreign' so it doesn't count. Meanwhile, if it's a white person's discovery, it is humanity's. But if it's someone else theeennnn well we are not sure if it's actually real :/ Not until a white person observes this can we really put this into humanity's archive of knowledge. Otherwise, whatever they learnt is not very important or worth talking about.

I'm not gonna drop the book, because it does get me thinking about stuff and that's what I read books for. I guess it reminds me of University days, of how irritated I get when we are assigned a problematic reading to pick apart and present to class. I hope I'm not picking this apart too much 😭 I'm not sure if I'm enraged and reading too much into it. I might be totally wrong. idk... I think I need to join an anthropology book club to have people to talk with about this. Only way for now is to share on the internet and maybe a discussion starts. Want to see what others think of this (especially if they read the book).

[hungnitan]

Penacony TB 2.1 Impression

Contains heavy spoiler and mostly a rant so don't read it if you still not finish the story (lol)

Before unto the stories, I must say I kinda get the reasons why hoyo put Acheron in first banner and Aventurine in second half after read TB 2.1. For Acheron, I think her identity as emenator nihility is the key lore to expose before 2.1 began so there's need to expose it at trailer (despite her reasoning coming to Penacony still unknown somehow lol). While for Aventurine, this is kinda delulu on my side but there's possibility we might know the things happened to him after 2.1 from his daily message.

Onto stories, I only say one line... IT'S VERY HONKAI VIBE ! Telling one person stories from they born into the one we know now with angsty vibe of course lol. You know, the things I scare when hoyo release Acheron trailer and myriad celestial is how Aventurine past can beat that honkai queen and (un)fortunately I was wrong (lol)

IT'S FULL BLOW OF AVENTURINE DARK PAST and yeah hoyo score a full mark with it !

For composition I think it's 80% Aventurine PoV and 20% others which is unsuprisingly since I'm pretty sure he will not appear again for future Penacony chapter but what I'm suprise is so far Astral Express basically can't do anything much in Penacony so yeah Xianzhou Luofu TB back again.

Despite that, I'm very happy with TB 2.1 like this is what Honkai story should do ! Up until now, I always thought HSR still not show their full equipment and pretty weak with their story, Tingyun only snapping some head isn't near those previous Honkai heels you know (lol).

I'm going to talk a long rant on 80% since hoyo decided to love him with his so well written stories and I love him too (XD)

The things with Aventurine and Ratio, I guess this what we would called "same mind don't need talk much". They're bickering so well, even acted betray each others without any communication and smooth enough to fool Sunday

But sorry I'm not getting fool (I know they're soulmate lol), the reason is I found one hole in Sunday Ratio convo here

Ratio saying about cornerstone is so precious to ten stonehearts but the box contain can be opened by other than them ? If that's true, I can't believe someone like Aventurine would risk someone like that participate in his grand scheme without reasons... plus Ratio doesn't strike me as someone who sells his teammate or what he called him lol no matter how iritatting he is especially only for pursuing knowledge, since it sounds so idiocy.

Suprising fact, he even try kill himself few times at dreamscape ! Like is that something you can try out of fun even If knowing you can't die ? Well yeah, in first place he doesn't mind to die anytime but doing it yourself and passive talk are two different things you know...

two question I thought Aventurine never answer directly which is pretty related. First of all, different than Sunday which I think he's type of "I will kill everyone and then myself if they hurt my sister" but he's already at own limit to think for his own survival + he doesn't have anyone to get revenge for. Elation still have some excitement when saw someone in despair but I don't think Aventurine (at that time) could feels same, well we don't know things after 2.1 since his past chains severed by Acheron, maybe he will open a new leaf (I hope so, let him live happily ever after with Ratio or Elation or even Trailblazing with us sounds good too lol)

It stabilize the fact that Aventurine and Ratio are good friends despite their talk, voiceline, and teammate voiceline at least from Ratio side which is the vital point Aventurine still alive as now. I really skeptic on his dead or alive status at 2.1 livestream, well mostly I can't believe any Shaoji said that time (plus the fact Gallagher is just a normal bartender lol)

TB 2.1 conclude with opening a new terrain with dreamscape's secrets, the Family and Watchmaker aren't same side, IPC will added another ten stonehearts member to game, a mysterious voice will join the fray. Penacony story so far so good, even their newest branch stories execute nicely but I don't have any excitement anymore now knowing Aventurine not gonna show up anymore (XD).

Now with Aventurine closed his screentime, I think Acheron (her past and purpose coming to Penacony still not reveal much), Firefly Sam (SH motive and she need to pursuading TB), Jade and/or Topaz (replacing Aventurine role) will play a bigger parts for future version

Put aside that, my 220 pull still on waiting for Aven banner ! I kinda had bad feelings about his banner pull, even my relics planar farming still not done even after I started doing it from BlackSwan banner...

[atiny-for-life]

Ateez's Full Storyline Explained - Part 20

( MAJOR LORE UPDATES - I'm really excited!)

Masterlist

Will - The World Ep. Fin Diary Entries:

The Intro provides us with a bit of backstory to the setting of 'Crazy Form':

The city is currently mid-Revolution: the people who left the system (now classified as Sense Offenders) are actively fighting against the ones still trapped within - tensions are mighty high to say the least.

Graffiti proclaiming "Wake up" and "Be free" covers the city walls, though it has been hidden by the suppressors under concealment screens (this is something we get to see in the MV).

Fed up with the Black Pirates' activities, the government is no longer satisfied with just denouncing them as a terrorist group and asking for them to be turned in - they now deem anyone who joins their cause to be a co-conspirator. Simply put: If you're caught inducing emotions in anyone, you'll be executed on the spot. You won't even be taken to the Disposal Site.

We cut to a scene right in the center of the city square where Guardians pull up in their cars and approach the display erected there for one clear purpose. A rope is lowered and pulled, hands are dusted off and the Guardians take off again. Words are no longer needed. They leave behind, hanging below the display, the corpses of multiple captured and executed Sense Offenders. A warning to all who dare to resist: the next one could be you.

Unbeknownst to them, it has the opposite effect. Tears and sobs fill the air, cries of sadness and anger. The loss of innocent life reinforced what they already knew: it can't go on like this. Their deaths won't be in vain. The system can be changed.

The aftermath of the raid on Prestige Academy had spread by word of mouth, getting past all attempts at censorship, and showed them a path of resistance.

We now rejoin Ateez and Black Pirates right after the Prestige Academy raid where Seonghwa had left with the leader of Thunder.

The boy's brother, exhausted from crying, is sleeping in the corner while the remaining Ateez members are freaking out over Seonghwa's disappearance. Though luckily, he isn't gone for long and rolls up to the bunker shortly after.

Hongjoong immediately pounces on him and is like: "Tell me you didn't run off with that girl because she looked like the 'Be Free' girl like Yeosang suggested." And Seonghwa's like: "It's not like that."

He pulls out an unfamiliar map and explains it was provided by the girl as the leader of Thunder, the students' version of the Black Pirates, aka fellow revolutionists.

They'd put a tracker on the boy before he was captured and believe he's being taken to the Disposal Site which is the place the map is of.

Still doubtful, Hongjoong questions the girl's and Thunder's motives - why not join the Black Pirates? Why act behind their backs? - but Seonghwa reassures him: as the elite of the elite, Thunder has access to information that can lead them directly to Z.

We now get more background information about the Z-World and Strictland's main oppressor 'Z' in particular (which has me personally very excited because we're tying in some more old plot threads; side note: the Glossary has been updated accordingly):

He's the Z-World's leader of Sciensalvar. However, unlike in the A-World, where this organization was founded in 1999, is still rather small and lead by Henry Jo (see Fever Epilogue Diary Version), this Sciensalvar is a pseudo-religious scientific organization spearheaded by 'Z'. They're behind the creation of the AI simulation for the 'best solution', aka the answer to their question of "What do I need to do to gain absolute, unchallengeable power?" To which the self-learning AI answered: get rid of all human emotions. With this knowledge, they created a political party under the catchphrase: "The pursuit of a peaceful world without religious conflict and terror through emotional control." Said party grew in size until they were powerful enough to pass the 'Emotional Regulation Act' which lead to the solidification of the class system to the point where 'defective' people are now being 'disposed of'. However, as they have not yet achieved total control, Z and his political subordinates stay exclusively in Z's hideout near the city center where only the elites reside. They never leave the building, only the elitest of the elites ever get to enter and once they exit, they remain under strict surveillance by the Android Guardians to prevent the spread of insider knowledge. Android Guardians, who are collectively referred to as the Imperial Watch, are the only ones allowed to freely come and ago since they're not human and thus immune to being corrupted by emotions if captured and interrogated.

The Black Pirates have never been able to obtain the precise location of Z's hideout despite past efforts to catch a hold of suspects who they then coaxed into spilling by utilizing their breakers to surface long suppressed emotions.

Working with Thunder, despite the risk, thus now seems like their best shot at finally eliminating the hideout and securing a massive leap forward in the revolution.

We cut to Z's office where the Prestige Academy principal was just executed by the Head Guardian of the Imperial Watch.

A new order is given by Z: "Now that we've set the bait, the Black Pirates will go to the Disposal Site to save the child. Take care that no mistakes like this are repeated at the Disposal Site. Or you'll be the one replaced this time."

With a troop of 100 Android Guardians, the Head Guardian enters the Disposal Site alongside a slew of blue butterflies who spread out among the workers with red, marred skin from the furnaces.

The Head Guardian refers to them as the 'Red Humans' who are 'so hideous' they 'resemble goblins more than people'.

The troop marches after a butterfly fluttering down a hallway toward the cells where the to-be-disposed-of people are kept - humans who've been classified as physically disabled or harboring feelings.

They appear enchanted by the sight of the butterfly, unlike the Guardians who took no note of them, which leaves this singular one to continue onward past the cells toward a boiling furnace filled with the remains of the disposed. 'Red Humans' are stirring the remains in the incinerator as the butterfly rises up past the executioner platform.

Upon closer inspection, the butterfly can be identified as an animatronic containing a camera.

The next entry informs us that it's Yeosang who's in charge of the tiny delicate butterfly drone and here, to me, everything regarding these blue little critters finally falls into place (which is why Part 5 - Deja Vu and Part 15 - Answer have now been updated accordingly):

Back in Deja Vu, Yeosang took note of the blue butterflies fluttering around Strictland and how they're so common and, despite their beauty, get fully ignored by the unfeeling Android Guardians. As a result, he studies their appearance and anatomy, creates a 3D rendering (which we catch a glimpse of in Deja Vu and its appearance is similar to the one of the pirate ship hologram we got to see in Crazy Form, leading me to believe this is their usual modus operandi when they develop tech). By the time Answer rolls around, the 3D model has been turned into a fully functional animatronic with a built-in camera - a drone. This explains why the butterfly in Answer looks more artificial than the one in Deja Vu - it's not organic, it's a delicate little machine. A spy gadget.

Moving on to Ateez who are parked outside in their van: they're utilizing the beautiful little butterfly drone to compare the map to what they're seeing.

Deeming it all good enough, they strap in and Mingi crashes through the gates. They storm inside, trap the workers with their burnt skin in side-rooms and split into two groups - one in charge of freeing the imprisoned, the other in charge of warding off the guards.

The first group was left with the Cromer since they'd need to transport all the imprisoned to the Black Pirates' Bunker as fast as possible, which left the others at a significant disadvantage in their fight against the Guardians, even with the weapons provided by Left Eye.

They quickly get overpowered and Hongjoong is left on the ground with a gun pointed straight at his head. Jongho is left to call for back-up.

Back at the hideout, however, things are also going south - a fellow pirate bursts through the doors and informs them their location had been leaked to the Guardians. He barely gets to finish his warning before a beam saber cuts down his back and leaves him coughing up blood before he drops dead.

Wooyoung's thoughts are racing as he questions how their location could've possibly gotten out before Mingi looks to Seonghwa: "Please tell me you didn't share the location of the bunker with the Thunder girl".

Seonghwa, previously extremely sure of where the girl's loyalties lie, begins to doubt.

Meanwhile at the Disposal Site, a scream rings out - the Prestige Academy boy's.

The Guardian still aiming at Hongjoong's head offers an ultimatum: "Tell the members with the Cromer to come over here. I'll give you 10 minutes. Or this kid- well, you know what'll happen."

The timer is set. Hongjoong relays the information to the four members at the bunker.

Unable to leave the bunker fully unprotected however, the four try to fight off the Android Guardians before they depart, only to be struck down. Left on the ground. Spitting up blood. Seonghwa. Mingi. Wooyoung. San. Four down.

At the same time, at the Disposal Site, the remaining four are dragged along the ground to the execution area.

All eight of them think about how much happened to them since they entered the Z World - how much it felt like fate. They realized how powerful music and performance can be, how it can stir emotions in other people, how it's powerful enough to be used as a weapon against oppressive forces in this world. It allowed them to feel emotions they'd almost forgotten about and gave them a goal to achieve. They'd been happy here. And now they might die here.

But just then: a zap. And a Guardian hit the ground in the bunker.

People wearing "ridiculous masks" (according to Wooyoung) and armed with modified electro shockers flooded the bunker and began to take down the Guardians before helping the four Ateez members to their feet.

With their identity hidden behind their masks and voice modifiers, they promise to take everyone to safety and ask the four to come back once they're done at the Disposal Site. Their leader also hands a note to Seonghwa.

With no other option, the four take off with the Cromer's help, though the boy's brother manages to leap on them quickly enough to be taken along.

They make it just in time and use the Cromer to zip across the room, disposing of the Guardians' weapons by throwing them in the incinerator, but the one clutching the boy is quick to raise the kid by his throat and threaten to toss him feet-first in after them.

Momentarily defeated, Ateez get tied up with rope, but the boy's brother, who'd remained hidden nearby, manages to slide a jackknife he'd been keeping in his pocket to Yunho. One by one, the knife gets handed around as they free themselves.

Meanwhile, the boy begins to talk to the Guardian who'd dropped him back to the ground - it's revealed he'd been working alongside them all along to obtain the location of the Black Pirates' bunker.

When the boy had first found out about his older brother's break, he'd fled Prestige Academy and posted a message on Black Link (the system set up by Left Eye in Movement Diary Version: The Revolution which pings the Black Pirates when a citizen's chip fails so they can reach out and contact them) after failing to find the Black Pirates and their bunker.

With no one to help him, he hid out at the Disposal Site in hopes of finding a way to safe his brother once he was dragged there by the Android Guardians.

While still there, he received a message from his brother, asking him why he hadn't come home last night. Relieved, he returned home and discovered a message from the Black Pirates who disclosed a rough location of their bunker and offered to help him if he still needed it, though they'd have to clear him first over their security system.

However, after seeing the reality and experiencing the horrors of the Disposal Site, the boy chose to return to Prestige Academy instead and beg for mercy for both himself and his brother.

The Guardians agreed but requested the exact location of the Black Pirates' bunker in return.

Upon hearing this, Ateez felt betrayed which the boy's brother openly voices. He tells his brother that, after experiencing emotions, he can't go back and pushes him to leave the wrong side and rejoin them while there's still time to make things right.

Yeosang manages to trip one of the Guardians with his newly freed legs which gives the boy a chance to take his brother's offered hand, but just before they can make contact, the Head Guardian grabs the brother by the collar and throws him off the execution platform down to the incinerator.

The members threw off their ropes and pushed the Head Guardian into the incinerator while the boy jumps after his brother and Mingi activates the Cromer.

Mingi catches the gaze of the boy's brother as his legs slip into the incinerator. His eyes close. Mingi grabs the boy's arm before he could share the same fate. The boy screams.

Newly traumatized, Mingi drops the boy in a safe place and rejoins his members who're actively fighting the Guardians and makes quick work of them by tossing them in the furnace one by one.

The boy breaks down in tears.

Only the Head Guardian was left. But unlike all the others, he was suddenly tackled from the back by the boy who was rushing at full speed and dragging them both toward the incinerator.

Hongjoong's hand shot forward, grabbing the boy's arm who mouthed "I'm sorry" right before the Head Guardian's weight dragged them over the edge and out of Hongjoong's hold.

Hongjoong had no choice but to sit by as they disappeared into the incinerator below.

The distant sound of an explosion. "I know how you feel but... We need to get out of here first. The bomb's about to go off," Seonghwa reminds Hongjoong.

San takes them away with the Cromer right before the blue butterflies spread throughout the building flash red and explode, collapsing the Disposal Site.

While all this was going down, the masked people who'd helped at the Bunker were revealed to be Thunder and the note handed to Seonghwa was revealed to be a map.

By the time the Disposal Site went down, Thunder managed to pack all the prisoners into a big bus and take them past all the security barricades into the city center thanks to their high ranking elite status.

Thunder's main base has a garden. It consists of trees and flowers bearing the names of the two brothers and all the fallen Black Pirate members lost in the battle.

Dressed in black, Ateez, the Black Pirates, and the Thunder members bow to the dead as fireflies circle over their heads. "I will not let your sacrifices be in vain. I promise." Yeosang's words echo everyone's thoughts.

The fireflies ascend above them as if they were carrying their wishes to the stars. They watch them rise for a long time.

The village is located in a forest away from all government surveillance. A small haven. Thunder's leader is showing Seonghwa around as she tells him her story:

She met the Grimes siblings in this place and when she heard them sing, she realized that something valuable had been taken from humanity. Taken by Z. Reminder: the Grimes siblings are the ones who first helped Ateez when they landed in the Z-World (see: Fever Part 2 Diary Entries). At that time, she was already recognized for her talents at Prestige Academy and put in the position of Thunder's leader. As a skilled actress, she managed to continue on undetected, even while she silently planned find a way to rise high enough to meet Z - an opportunity very few ever got. By using her status at the Academy, she managed to prevent students from getting taken to the Disposal Site: spewing empty threats instead of reporting them as 'defective'. Her time there also allowed her to carefully approach others who had awoken thanks to the Grimes siblings. Together, they held a funeral for them after their souls were taken (see: Fever Epilogue Diary Entries). They heard stories of the Black Pirates and Ateez but, as a smaller group, needed to be more careful and couldn't reach out to them.

Her story gives Seonghwa hope that there are more groups out there fighting for their cause.

When he voices the thought, the girl feels the same hope for the future.

After the raid at Prestige Academy, the school is shut down and repurposed while students are transferred to other schools in the area based on their performance.

Thanks to a heart rate controlling device provided by Left Eye, the girl passes the emotional detection checks and manages to excel in her studies and is deemed the superior candidate among all students - she earns the position of Z's protocol manager. A position which will take her to Z's hideout.

They take her to the city center and into the underground parking lot by the central bank's building. From there, she's guided through corridors until they reach Z's office.

Inside, he's already waiting for her and immediately addresses how closely she'd been paying attention to her surroundings the entire way there - from the car ride all the way up to now. As if she were curious. "Curiosity is also an emotion. Curiosity is dangerous, you know."

Ever the perfect student and actress, she replies with "What is 'Curiosity'?" and offers her chip to be checked - a chip that has been modified by her to switch on and off on her comment to avoid detection at school.

She passes the final test and is hired on the spot.

[rammystar]

More people saw my Freddy Riley posts than I thought they would so I thought I'd throw some non-selfship stuff out there for fellow Freddy fans :D I eat sleep and breathe Inverse Mercury now and I wish they weren't so vague with essence lore sometimes cause I want to know everything about him... I have some headcanons of my own that I'll put under the cut :3 And if anyone has ideas of their own or something they disagree with I'm very curious to know!! These are very loose ideas and I think I could be easily swayed on some things

💠 I got the idea stuck in my head that he shares some loose similarities to Shang Tsung from MK1, so in my mind now I feel like Inverse Mercury had a similar upbringing. Freddy wasn't raised in a particularly wealthy part of the realm, but very early on he realized how to skillfully wield his greatest weapon– his words– to his advantage. Much like one of his deductions in the game says, he needs to "seem" hard-working, because those are the kind of people that others put their trust in. And as Shang-Tsung is described in his wiki, he is "Too lazy for hard labor and too shifty for honest work". I think Freddy, growing up, valued his own wits above all else, and thought he was too good for the life he had. He strived to be more, but at the time he had to settle with being this snake oil salesman.

💠 Because of how vague the lore is presented I can't tell if Inverse Mercury is still technically related to the law and acts as an attorney? If this is the case then I imagine he used a lot of his downtime burying his nose in books, having an insatiable thirst for knowledge because he knew his intelligence would be a great shortcut into achieving a lot of his goals. And also maybe he studied law in particular to be able to find loopholes to protect himself from getting into legal trouble LOL

💠 Now I don't really know how he came into a position of power, to the point where he had people groveling at his feet like in the trailer. In Shang Tsung's case he got his power from a 'mysterious' benefactor (who turns out to be an alternate version of himself), which I don't think is likely to happen in Freddy's case. For now I just choose to believe the nature of his job and his passion for reading brought him to the ancient books that he familiarized himself with, and used to his advantage. I also think he was probably more well off than Shang Tsung was at the very least, so he probably had easier access to these powerful texts.

💠 Finally the dynamic that Freddy has with Eli in this essence reminds me a lot of the dynamic between Shang Tsung and Syzoth (assuming I interpreted the essence lore correctly). In summary (also referenced from the wiki), Shang Tsung once asked to study Syzoth for his unique ability, and when he refused, Shang Tsung threatened his family– effectively manipulating Syzoth into working for him. Eli similarly seems to have been deceived or manipulated in some way, and we know something like this would definitely not be below Freddy Riley (as much as I love that man).

These are all the ideas I have so far 🫠 I'm so normal about Inverse Mercury I promise (this hasn't even touched on how I wish I could insert my sona into the narrative, but this was supposed to be Freddy Riley centric because I felt bad posting so much about the two when I also just want to show my appreciation for him alone. I did have a little oneshot for them that I wanted to write, but I thought maybe I'd turn it into an x reader despite the very little demand I see for stuff like that because I wonder if maybe people would prefer that instead JDNDJD who knows... )

[moodymisty]

Soorrryyy in advance for the below word salad!!

Dumping all the worm induced blueberry thoughts plagueing me today here, so I may be rid of them.... Also I have very little knowledge of the lore I'm mostly going on what I see here.... sooo yeah it's me just just twisting whatever loose grasp I have on the characters😅

The Cato content is really getting to me (your art is not helping fighting it off!!💜). I put on a little spin on it though (real life experience kind of spoiled it for me), for myself, of the reader bullying him into character development instead...😅 (I think an inquisitor reader would be much harder to bully + would have some weight to throw around herself or a custodes love interest). Also I'm a whore for the idea of men getting their shit together to earn the love of their target of affection.

On the other hand that addition of Titus being present when Cato barges in on the reader in their room sent my mind to the gutter. Like, Titus and the reader being intimate during this Cato just pulling rank and ordering them about how to proceed (just now, my writing this I'm facing the fact, that my skills are seriously lacking to describe it in more detail....)

Also, I'm reading Dark Imperium, so there are some wishful thinking of Thiel living a happy life with a doting wifey, same for Andros (I can't believe only a couple of pages can make me go 'rip king, you were soo right and deserved better'). Also just, a cute medic reader taking care of Guilliman's wounds (putting some healing/pain soothing oinment on his neck scar, etc)... Also, also, Dad Guilliman having a daughter first than a son from reader and him freaking out as the two proceed developmentally at completely different speed (the daughter hitting everything super quick while the son doesn't and just him dealing with the dissonance of it)....

Well, now I have cleansed myself for today.... (Pls don't ask how my brain can go in soooo many directions within a day....)

I wish you a nice weekend!💜

None of us can form our thoughts coherently, don't worry. if anyone has the illusion that I can it's only because I can reread my responses to everything 36 times before posting.

also, yes. The idea of catching Titus/diplomat!Reader in some way or another (i always imagined him overhearing them talking privately somewhere and it's VERY obviously intimate conversation) and he just loses it. Either barging in, or just kind of losing hope that he's too late and he got beat by Titus so why not crank up the douchiness even more then?

Guilliman implies that he still feels the pain from the scar in DI so yeah helping him would be nice, even if it doesn't actually help, I'm sure he'd enjoy the feeling of someone caring. <3

[bb-enablefreebuild]

NTN opinions

so I haven't read NTN very recently (or the other locked tomb books) but its the most recent installment about Nona I think about a lot.

Muir said that she was splitting Alecto the Ninth into two parts, NTN and then ATN. She explained that Nona already had a complete story arc and could be its own separate book. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that.

But to be quite honest, I feel like most of NTN could have been cut. The most important parts of Nona are these:

More detail about the Blood of Eden

Nona's relationship with Varun the Eater

Her dreams of John Gaius

Now don't get me wrong, I loved seeing Nona going to school as a teachers aide and making friends! The problem is, the relationships she develops with the kids like Hot Sauce aren't...very important. I think it would have been better if Nona developed relationships with characters that she already knew, like Crown (Coronabeth) for example.

If Nona being friends with a group of kiddos is important, then maybe she should do it specifically with kids from the Blood of Eden. Out of all of Nona's friends, her relationship with Noodle the dog is the most important, and maybe Hot Sauce. She could be another niece of Wake, the same as Pash. It would explain why Hot Sauce is so suspicious of necromancers and why she shot up Nona in that one scene.

Also, If Nona is the secret weapon, why isn't she more involved with B.O.E? It's implied that the Blood of Eden is on the struggle bus. Wouldn't the inception have more depth if Nona was among their ranks right before their eyes, it'd be a major example of why they've failed for so long to stop Mr. Jod.

Cam and Palamedes could have gathered a few trust worthy relationships used to protect Nona too. Heck, the Blood of Eden could have a "school" of their own where they teach the kids of their soldiers propaganda, look at how Pash was raised!

I genuinely believe that all of the stuff that happened could have been condensed to a feasible first part. As an author, cutting things we're proud of writing is like shooting yourself in the head then doing it again. But I think if I was in Muir's shoes, I would've done it. I love Hot Sauce, Kevin and the other kiddos so much but they're just...not important enough for the over all plot :(

Lastly, and this is where I'm getting super nit picky, but I wish there was more world building. I 100% appreciate Muir's trust in the readers intelligence and for us to put the pieces together. I understood that Steles were used to travel far distances and "flip" planets to be colonized for necromancers. I VASTLY prefer this instead of five hundred pages of exposition (Fourth Wing) slammed into the beginning of the book.

That being said, a little bit of exposition is fine. Gideon The Ninth does this perfectly with explaining thanergy and other necromancer related info. We learn more in HTN as well. I think Muir was thinking that "Nona wouldn't know these things, so it can't be expressed in the book" which I totally get, but Nona has a canon excuse for just Having knowledge! Her uncanny reading of body language and understanding of different languages? Her ability to draw animals from Earth that were lost to public knowledge? Nona just casually absorbing information and thinking about it in her internal monologue is completely reasonable. I say this to point out that Muir was too vague with the world building in NTN. Yes, I could fill in the gaps but I would have loved more information about the colony planets outside of the House system! She's doing too much showing, which I think is precisely why NTN got much too long.

Anyway, PLEASE take all of this with a grain of salt. I love Nona the Ninth and I think the way it was written is digestible and good! It's just not how I would have done it. Please Tamsyn I'm begging you for lore I am BEGGING YOU FOR LORE.

[pikmininaplane]

Fit lore!! I’d love to hear about your thoughts for Phil figuring out fits secret if you’d like to share, the same thought has been floating around in my head as well lol

OHOHOHOHO friend I love you /p I'm putting this under a read more because I. Ended up writing a lot more than intended–

So the thought came to me the day before Fit's lore, when Fit asked Phil if he'd be there the next day. Obviously it didn't mean anything else than "will you attend the event/will I see you tomorrow my friend ?", but my brain immediately went "what if Phil was involved in Fit's lore"

This, combined with the fact that I've been hoping someone would find out about qFit's secret or at least get sus of his behaviour, led me to believe that qPhil would be the best person that could find out about it, actually

'cause like– first of all, qPhil is probably the person qFit's closest to, without counting Ramón or any of the eggs. I mean, he's friendly towards most people, and gets along pretty well with qBad, qPac and qMike, but qPhil has literally given qFit access to his eggs' bunker, which, to my knowledge, he'd only given to qMissa and qWill, the fathers of said eggs, before. qPhil, who would probably have earned the #1 paranoid dad crown if qBBH hadn't been around, fully trusts qFit with his children.

And like I said, I really want someone to find out about qFit's secret, but like. Wouldn't it be more interesting if it were someone qFit is close to ? Someone qFit trusts, but also someone who trusts qFit ?

Also, as much as I want someone to know at least part of the truth, I don't want everything to be revealed to everyone yet, and I feel like most people, if they found out about qFit's secret, would reveal it to the others – some others, at least. Would qCellbit or qMaximus hide it from the Ordo Theoritas ? Would qBaghera, qForever or qBad hide it from each other ? Would the people actively investigating the island keep the existence of a third, unknown party to themselves ? Well... maybe. That is up to discussion. But they'd want to tell, at least, and that's not what I wish for.

Now qPhil ? qPhil is a lot less involved in the lore, or even in the RP itself (no shade, I love ccPhil, his character and the way he plays him) – he isn't even part of the Ordo Theoritas. He's not really interested in solving the island's mysteries – his priorities lie with the eggs and their safety.

I truly think qPhil would be a friend qFit could confide in. Because let's be real, qFit could probably use one – mans has been lying to everyone on the island for months, and the only one that knows part of his secret is Ramón, his 3 months old child, who he hasn't even told everything. Between that and the growing pressure (for real, what's with the cats appearing around him,,) qFit is under, he can't keep it all to himself forever.

I don't think qFit would tell him himself, though – and neither do I think qPhil would ask. I mean, even if he thinks qFit's chat messages are suspicious, he isn't the type to inquire about it.

... But accidents happen, y'know ?

[As he jumps down the elevator shaft, Phil can't quite shake off the feeling that something's wrong. That whatever Fit's doing down there, it isn't any of his business, and he should probably just go back up and tell Fit to meet him at his gym, or anywhere, really.

But, well. He's already there. Might as well go further.

The trail of torches leads him deeper and deeper, until it finally stops, in a tunnel like any other. But Phil isn't a fool. He can hear the faint tapping of keys.

It only takes him a few seconds to find the hidden entrance.

Fit stands up as he comes in.

The room is small, barely big enough to breathe, and dark. Its only light comes from the computer screen sitting on the wooden desk, in the middle of the room, between the two men.

Neither of them speak.

Phil can see the thoughts flashing behind Fit's eyes. He's certain of it now, he's found something he shouldn't have found, and Fit has yet to decide how to react. Unconsciously, his hand has moved closer to his trident; consciously, Phil prepares himself to grab his sword.

But Fit doesn't attack. He simply places his hand in front of himself and gives Phil an awkward yet friendly smile.

"Hey, Phil ! Didn't expect to see you there... !"

Phil wishes he could just return his smile and pretend like nothing’s wrong. Ignore what he’s seeing and go back to Chayanne and Tallulah.

... but it's a little too late for that, isn't it ?

"Oi, mate," he calls out as he crosses his arms. "What are you up to."]

... something about leitmotivs and Phil finding out people's secrets by walking into their secret underground rooms...

So yeah, TL;DR: I want someone to find out about qFit’s secret because it’s a shame such a huge share of the lore is kept, well, secret, and I think qPhil would be a perfect first confident because they’re really good friends and he wouldn’t just tell anyone :] Plus I love their relationship and I’d love to see it being explored more please I’m begging

(Also I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who's been thinking about it and I'd love to hear your own thoughts if you're willing to share them 👀)

[widderwise]

Prompt: DP x DC or Marvel (Mostly Marvel on this one)

For the record when it comes to DP I can't swear to what is canon/fanon. My DC/Marvel knowledge is better but I can't say which timeline/version is which. They have too many versions of people/events.

So, going with the thought that destroying the Ghost Zone/Infinite Realms would destroy the 'living' dimensions attached to it, it would serve to reason that more than just the "Earth" in that dimension would be at risk. Some fanon speaks of the possibility of 'pruning' dimensions that threaten the Realms sufficiently. Both Marvel and DC have extensive non-Earth people. Given that humans are threatening them, why wouldn't the Ancients turn to older or more powerful people in the 'problem' universe to shut down the upstart humans.

In DC, it could be the Green Lantern Corps. Forget Hal and them, just send someone to OA. It would be in the whole dimensions interest to stop the humans. I don't know GL lore well and I'm sure there are other groups that would come shut Earth down either diplomatically or taking it as an excuse to conquer. That's assuming Spectre himself didn't deal with the GIW and their backers himself. Given what he did to Constantine, he is more than powerful enough.

In a Marvel dimension, it could be the Nova Corps which I know even less lore about but are the closest things to space cops I know of. My original thought actually went to a different authority. Purely on Earth The Ancient One/Stephen Strange/Wong should be all over that kind of problem.

But! Outside of Earth there is a figure who claims to be the protector of the realms of Yggdrasil: (Niflheim, Muspelheim, Asgard, Midgard (EARTH!), Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, Helheim)... ODIN!

Space cops are one thing, but Asguard is living mythology so the Realms, maybe a representative from Valhalla, sending a message (maybe a delegation of Ancients? Pandora, Clockwork, Vortex, Nocturne, Undergrowth, etc) to Odin that Earth is making trouble and it's his job to fix it? It lose lose for him if he doesn't. One, end of life for everyone there and two if he lets others investigate they might dig up his dirty little secret in Helheim (his 'dead' daugher Hela).

He is less than shocked of human stupidity and decides to send Thor to 'negotiate' and fix the problem. Timeline wise I'd say after Avengers but before Thor: Dark World. So Loki is currently imprisoned. Odin and Frigga think this will be an excellent chance for Thor to prove his ability to rule Asgard. The preferred method would be diplomatic, but Thor is expect to deal with the humans threatening the universe one way or the bloody way. Just in case, maybe Frigga has Loki ready to step in and actually be diplomatic.

So, Thor shows up back on Earth not to be a hero but to take on part (even if a very small part) of the US government. He announces his intentions loudly, maybe it gets overheard and his words (maybe not the smoothest ones) spread around.

Danny Phantom (ghost prince/king?) and his fraid (I know it's fanon, but I love it) get put in protective custody (likely with the Avengers) whether they like it or not. The Ancient actually stepping up and treating the kids like kids (horrors- Danny hates it-mostly) Tracking down Dani is harder, she probably gets in trouble with someone (GIW, Shieldra, etc). I feel like bad/especially dense Fenton parents might be prime pickings for Hydra.

I see a comedy of errors on Thor's part. Some angst from the ghosts being harmed by the GIW. A massive migraine from Tony Stark who is trying to be actually diplomatic, not piss off his own government, and deal with a small mid-western town that has an information lock down his tech hadn't detected before. (The whole of Amity disappeared for a bit) I see Steve taking Thor's declaration badly and not believing that 'ghosts' can destroy everyone. Shield/Hydra wants ecto-tech and has no issue 'detaining' ghosts.

I think I'll write at least the scene where Thor arrives back on Earth.

Other less fleshed out thoughts:

-Hela is totally at least part dead. Is she a halfa too? Hela mentors Danny eventually? O.O Maybe Danny decides he doesn't want to be KIng. Queen of Ghosts Hela. Maybe a less crazy Hela because she had ghosts to chill with all this time? Either way, Odin is in trouble now.

[nervouslywaitingforlife]

Last minute (rambles) thoughts before book 7 chapter 5 releases.

== Cards ==

This time we didn't have a cad to go with this chapter which is interesting. We had one for ch 4 with General Lilia (I remember that day well) and for ch 3 with Cerberus Gear Ortho. Which were there for reasons, Ortho for being the last one awake in NRC in ch 3 and Lilia for being the main character of ch 4. So I find it interesting that there's no cards this time around. Maybe the plots of ch 5 is going to be a bit more messy.

Thought I am guessing (hoping) that Silver gets a SSR by the end of Book 7. This is a hope though.

== Banner ==

On the banner this time there are two characters, Silver and Sebek. The characters on the banner are kinda important.

For ch 3, this is just after malleus' sends everyone asleep. And the banner has Malleus and Silver on it. This makes sense as Silve is the main character for a good portion of this Ch and we also learn his UM here. Also for Malleus and we finally understand what a impact his UM caused.

For ch 4, this one has General Lilia, Silver and Sebek. Which makes sence as this chapter is all about General Lilia and some Briar Valley lore.

For ch 5 it just has Silver and Sebek, which is a bit weird. No baul or Lilia. No other characters. No Idia or Ortho. Just what's going on...

Another thing to consider is emotions, mainly the emotions they display. For ch 3 Malleus looks happy with himself and Silver looks angry, For ch 4 Lilia has a mask on so we can't see his face but Silver and Sebek look ready to fight.

But in Ch 5 Silver looks to be in thought while Sebek looks angry. This could mean that in this chapter it will focus on them and deciphering the dream they're in.

Though another thought is that they're separated from Lilia's dream, probably by Malleus and, are sent either into thier own dreams or someone else's dream like Idia's.

This chapter could be an in between chapter, from Lilia's dream to what ever is next in the story.

(I would look into the background of the banner but (to my knowledge) it just shows where the characters were last.

Speaking of Lilia's dream...

== Lilia's Dream ==

Lilia's dream hold a lot to the lore of twst, especially for Briar Valley, we all had a lot thrown at us last chapter like:

- Silver Owls

- Knight of Dawn

- Malleus' Egg existing for a while

- Malleus' Mother and Father

And it will probably take another chapter to understand all of that and all the reveals that come with it (though some will probably be held onto for a while longer maybe.)

Something that I do find interesting that I don't believe anyone has mentioned (I may be wrong) but Lilia's acting weird in his dream. I'm Idias dream he has some memory of what happened ind NRC (Not fully but still), but with Lilia he is a different person.

Lilia is smart and is a changed man from his war crime days so why did he just go strait to a general who doesn't recognise Silver? I'd this is the same Lilia that we know he would recognise his boy instantly and try to help but he doesn't.

That has always stricked me as odd with Ch 4... Although it's a dream so Lilia shouldn't forget his memories, did Malleus make him forget Silver?

== Dreams ==

The entirety of NRC is sleeping and we're just going to explore Lilia's dream? Hopefully not.

This is again more of a hope than a theory, but I can see some other characters dreams being explored maybe in this chapter or next chapter. Especially the housewardens, we've seen Idias dream briefly but what about Leona or Riddle. Leona would probably dream about being king or possibly being liked by people and castle staff while Riddle would probably dream about his mother being kind or Heartslabyul doing good / behaving.

Again this is more of a hope though I would love to see this happen.

Though what of the world outside of dreams?

== Ortho and the awake world ==

So in the background of all of the general Lilia stuff, Ortho, his parents and Malleus' grandmother and all trying to put a stop to Malleus' overblot.

But we haven't seen them since Ch 3, so how are they? What is Malleus doing to stop them? Maybe they'll appear in this chapter.

== Unknown UM ==

There's still a good few unknown UM, these being the UM for...

- Ace

- Ortho

- Lilia

- Sebek

== Ongoing questions ==

And for this chapter, I'm gonna put some money on the table and say that at least one person's UM's will be revealed. Who? Well I would put my bets on Sebek personally. I don't have any hard evidence it's just a vibe really.

Questions from either earlier in this book or relevent to this chapter (possibly):

- Silver's lineage and crown pendant

- Crowley. Just everything about him

- Malleus' family

- Malleus' grandmother in particular

Anyway at the end of the day I feel like this :)

== ==

And that's it for my TWST talk.

Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow, please keep us posted!

[the-stray-liger]

Where do you recommend someone start out with the .hack franchise? 'cuz there's a lot of stuff and it's kinda intimidating to get into

RUBS MY GAY HANDS TOGETHER a friend just asked me this on discord lol

OKAY so there's a ton of games and a lot of anime and manga to read and I'm kinda trying to remember it as I go because it's been years

ok so the first wave of games that you should check out in chronological order is infection, mutation, outbreak, and quarantine. Along with those came 4 episodes of the Liminality anime which goes along the game but happens outside of the game in real life. Liminality is very worth checking out if you play the games in that order.

Then you can give a spin to .hack//SIGN which happens in the same version of The World as the first games, it's super interesting and emotional and I highly reccomend it. It includes a parody episode called GIFT that actually used to put me on my ass as a kid.

I didn't like legend of the twilight, it's an anime that even to me in my peak anime cringe moment was very anime cringe, but I guess you can check that out too.

Then we have G.U. which happens in a different version of The World for reasons that I won't spoil, and revolves around a different character. These were my fav games: Rebirth, Reminiscence and Redemption, the third one being my fav out of the whole saga because it made me cry a lot.

There is an anime prequel to G.U. called .hack//ROOTS. I believe there's also a cd drama that I had my abusive exboyfriend rip for me back when we were together and he used gifts to demand physical affection for me but I have no idea what it is about so if you don't speak japanese you can skip that. Roots is very interesting too, I feel like it gives you a lot of context for Haseo (the MC of G.U.). But I did watch the anime after playing the games so I dont feel like you need to do that in chronological order.

There's also the G.U.+ manga which is like a G.U. alternate spinoff and honestly I really really really loved it and I think it's worth checking out

This is where it gets complicated for me because I stopped paying attention to .hack// for a few decades following a really bad breakup in 2010-11. I think .hack//Link came out next but I didn't keep up and I'm not sure of what comes next.

G.U. Last Recode came out in 2017 I believe, I own the game but haven't played it; I think it's like a remake/summary of the G.U. saga with a few things added in and others taken out. Liek I said I haven't played it yet so I can't speak for it.

But that's all of the .hack// knowledge I can provide at the top of my head. Hope that is helpful! And I really hope you can give the .hack// franchise a chance, it has some really beautifully thought out lore and some characters that even 13 years after playing it for the last time still live rent free in my head!!!

[deltaruminations]

Notes on potential layers to the Scary Number wrt Gaster

(I'm getting tired of typing Gaster's stupid name over and over so I'm calling him G lol)

It's well known that G is closely associated with the number 6, particularly the number of the Beast (666):

The typer value in Deltarune's Introduction (Survey) is 666

Fun Event 66 leads to spr_mysteryman, whose unused battle stats are all repetitions of sixes, and all of the Gaster Followers are found through fun values in the 60s

The typer value used in ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN is also 666

It isn't news to players that UT/DR uses the visual and emotional language of secularized Christian symbols, as well as of the esoteric and occult, to a variety of ends. The use of the Scary Number as a direct reference to Gaster in particular may very well have such layers. Here are some very rough thoughts on that lol

Layer 1 - It Spooky lol

Even to a broad, secular audience, the number 666 is well-associated with the supernatural and occult, and therefore to both fascination and discomfort with the unfamiliar and unknown. It furthers the sense of mystery around G and stokes feelings of unease and mistrust toward him (feelings that may be intended in part to obfuscate his nuance, but also may not be unwarranted in themselves).

It's worth noting that making mysteryman's battle stats so "high" presents G as being mythically, impossibly powerful. Even Flowey X and Asriel only have 9950 HP and 9999 HP respectively. We could also read into those stats as signs of corruption (in a digital sense), as if each value has expanded arbitrarily to fill the maximum characters available to it. This suggests a power that is both impossible, even broken, and lacking any comprehensible meaning or purpose.

Layer 2 - Roles in Conspiracy

The surface associations of 666 with horror themes largely comes as a result of its role in Apocalypticist and syncretic conspiracy theorizing. In the former case, it is often interpreted as the sign of the Antichrist ("one who opposes Christ"); in the latter, it's often believed to be in some way prophetic or indicative of a more secular evil.

Thematically, conspiracy can be taken be taken as a mistrust of information, a dissatisfaction with "canon" answers, and an insatiable drive to find alternative conclusions. The idea that a pursuit of knowledge in itself could be just as (if not more) dangerous dangerous than any truths it seeks to discover is consistent with themes in eldritch and cosmic horror.

From a metanarrative perspective, piecing together G's lore very obviously feels like becoming involved in conspiracy, because in many ways it is. The ambiguity of information demands identifying auspicious symbols and triangulating possibilities between them, while rarely (if ever) having enough information to truly confirm anything beyond doubt. We often find ourselves wondering if it's even a good idea to piece together that lore in the first place -- what is G capable of doing if we do put him together?

We can't know just yet what, if any, significance the idea of conspiracy could have from G's perspective, but we may be able to take some swings. I'll discuss one idea in the speculation section, after layer 3.

Layer 3 - The Beast(s) of Revelation

There's a good chance I'm reading in too deep at this point, but I think it's interesting and worth throwing out there regardless. I should also note that I'm an ex-Catholic who was always very apathetic about the whole Religion Thing so I'm in no way an expert on this lol

The actual Biblical significance of 666 is its association to the Beast of Revelation, specifically as its "mark." However, there are apparently two beasts it could be referring to.

From Wikipedia:

The first beast comes "out of the sea" and is given authority and power by the dragon. This first beast is initially mentioned in Revelation 11:7 as coming out of the abyss.

The second beast comes "out of the earth" and directs all peoples of the earth to worship the first beast. The second beast is associated with Revelation 13:11–18 the false prophet.

"Out of the sea" is obviously a red flag if we consider that whole thing with Onionsan and the music they keep hearing. We may also have reasons to consider "ocean" and "abyss" to be interchangeable in a video game metanarrative context.

"Out of the earth" is less clear -- should we take it as literally coming from underground (ex. from the bunker) or below reality (ex. a Dark World), or as being something that is "of the world," formed out of its material, such as a Lightner? Perhaps such as the Knight?

There's also that stuff about the dragon which idk??? Maybe something there??? is jockington the devil

Again, I think it's hasty to draw any firm conclusions from this. I'll leave my thoughts for the speculative section that follows.

Speculation

These ideas both build upon my thinking that G, before "shattering," was a Lightner in Deltarune and may have been opening Dark Fountains and/or driving sad little men mad with his dastardly charms. This is the part where you're free to just peace out if you think that idea is too bonkers lol I don't blame you

G may have been vulnerable to conspiracy and/or manipulation

Conspiracies tend to take hold because they prey on inherent vulnerabilities in the human (and monster) condition -- our need to adapt to hardship despite having imperfect knowledge -- and not necessarily because believers are malicious in intent or incapable of rationality. Conspiracies are also key tactics of recruitment & control among high-control groups, who prey on those vulnerabilities by claiming to have answers. Note the common trope of cults in Lovecraftian horror.

We have reason to think that G may have tendencies toward excessive, potentially dangerous rationality and may have been vulnerable (at one time) to offers of truth (as well as, possibly, offers of things like personal connection).

We know that G's scientific work -- his pursuit of knowledge -- had dangerous potential. At the very least, it seems to have resulted in the loss of his physical form, if not also whatever happened to the "followers." There's also some stuff about his leitmotif that I think indicates a prone-ness to fruitless rumination (actual music writeup coming eventually. hopefully. maybe. i got a lotta shit to say on that topic ok)

The stuff about connection -- I mean he definitely seeks "connection" now but it's a professional relationship on paper, and he's also been a disembodied consciousness for years so it's no wonder if needs a buddy. But i do (very personally) believe it's pretty reasonable to think that an overanalytical perfectionist with a tendency to speak and behave strangely (ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN indicates that he was weird even before going ghost) and maybe kind of a strange face might have ongoing issues with forming meaningful relationships lmao

G may have been manipulated by the "first beast" into doing whatever doomed the world

G may have, in experimenting with Dark Worlds, uncovered some kind of entity from the "abyss." This entity may have convinced G by Some Means to open further Fountains and share the entity's "truths" (perhaps in the form of shadow crystals). In this way, "666" could be seen as describing G as the false prophet.

ALSO If we believe that he wrote Raslei's prophecy, and consider that it may be itself a flawed reaction to those earlier mistakes (we don't actually know yet whether closing the fountains and amassing all the darkners is a good idea either), then Ralsei is now a false prophet, instated by a beast from the "abyss" (incorporeal romhacker G) to listen to him. so either way the "Dragon" still ends up rising. oh and also G is now sort of abstractly the Antichrist (Antiknight?) working in opposition of "Christ's" (the entity's? the Knight's?) goals. hoo boy are you having fun yet. i sure as shit am

Something that really tickles me about this idea is that for all the stuff we've seen leading us to think of G as an eldritch entity it turns out there actually Could Be some kind of terrible horror with unspeakable intent wreaking havoc but that thing isn't G, G is just the guy who empowered it (and set in motion the destruction of the world/himself in the process)

also just to be clear: the manipulation idea isn't just me jumping through hoops to absolve G of any crimes. we all acknowledge that asgore still stole children's SOULs even though he had sympathetic reasons to do so lol

in hindsight i'm realizing maybe all of the real significance of this could just come down to the whole "antichrist" thing which is very clearly supported in Deltarune (the Knight wants fountains open. G doesn't.) but in the spirit of conspiracy theorizing and false prophecy i'll leave the rest of this up. it's only fitting right

[yamatossideboob]

One Piece 1116 spoilers!

My spottings this week:

Yamato's taking his time getting ready for his field trip but whatever as long as he's on page. ily Yamtoe!!!!! hi Otsuru!!!

Struggling to remember here, were the Ancient Weapons known at all to the greater public? even as myths or historical fact? either way they are now lmfao

There's something so unsettling about seeing Imu looking up at that portrait, and I can't articulate why... it's weirdly human coming from someone/thing who's previously been so removed from humanity.

aww Ingram, Karoo, its okay lads, shes on board a sky ship fleeing political retaliation with an albatross man and Monsieur Mangetot

i do hope we get a moment with Vivi seeing her own missing persons poster. or! or! her own wanted poster??

okay I'm really glad we now know this stolen Mother Flame business, AND finally get confirmation that the weapon used to destroy Lulusia IS an Ancient Weapon, and Uranus to boot! This is immense!!! Aside from the confirmations, this also potentially puts a cap on any AW use since their fuel source is clearly limited, which stops them from like. breaking the OP endgame bc why else wouldn't the WG just spam it constantly lol. Althoughhhhhh since York is still likely to make it off Egghead, and she surely knows how to recreate it, I could well be wrong...

also wow York is even worse than we thought

One Punch King????? howrya mate!

srsly though, the knowledge of what really happened to Lulusia reaching the public is gonna be the fucking cherry on the Fuck The WG sundae coming very soon

This is such a packed chapter and yet *this* is the moment I've been waiting for.

I've said before on here how I wished the link between Vegapunk and the extermination of Lulusia was emphasised more. The parallels between Vegapunk's innovations and real life scientists having their work used for evil purposes is too great, and while OP isn't quite the series to explore a subject like that as it deserves, I'd been holding out hope that this manga would at least lampshade it, if not have Vegapunk address this. I can be satisfied with this. I am glad Vegapunk understands what his work lead to, even if he never meant for it to. Such is the price of capital and the state dictating scientific development babes.

also damn I hope that little panel of Momo and Kinemon means they won't be completely caught unawares by the Blackbeard gang showing up to pilfer Pluton a.a ;;;

ah yes hi Mr Oral Fixation, good to see you as always sexy

aaaaaaaaaand hi Shirohoshi. I forget if you know *you're* an Ancient Weapon too lmao

actually yeah Joyboy why DID you preserve the Ancient Weapons whats that about hmmm

Sengoku trying to off himself by onigiri choking to avoid questions about wtf he knows about the Elders and Void Century

Akainu maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad

FUCKING YES CROCUS!!!!

I still hate how cute you are York. stop being horrible.

Man I can't wait to see how the hell Stella pulled this off lmao

Also YES THE GIANT ROBO HAD A PURPOSE THE WHOLE TIME LMFAOOOOOO

(I'd heard the theory wrt the transponder and the robo but I didn't believe it fsr 💀)

So this will take the heat off the giants and Strawhats long enough for them to gtfo, I guess the Ancient Robo will meet its end here by Elder claws? I hope at least we find out what its connection to Joyboy is before it gets scrapped

Rayleigh soused as a student during Rag Week, I hope he shows up again in a more long-term way sooooooooooooooon

AND another chapter next week!! this absurd ridiculous gargantuan lore drop keeps on chugging!!! What will we learn next? What cameos shall we have? Will the Ancient Robo actually do something beyond one (1) panel?

Tune in next time nakama! Til next time! 💪✖️

[star-light-shadows]

The truth of "A Terrifying Voice" - Deltarune Theory.

I feel like the Deltarune fandom has been completely sleeping on some pretty massive clues and making assumptions about the Snowgrve route that don't make very much sense.

And it all starts with Noelle stating that the voice commanding her to proceed was "A voice unlike Kris's. . . A terrifying voice."

The general idea of the Snowgrave route believed by the fandom is that this voice is the player, controlling Kris to tell Noelle to proceed.

But something fundemental about that doesn't make any sense.

We didn't SAY Proceed. We chose it out of a set of dialogue options.

The entire point of the meta-ness in Toby's games, taking the player as a diagetic entity in the story, is to take what are usually gameplay abstractions and take them literally.

The terrifying voice belonging to the player doesn't make any sense if we take it literally. As no one who plays Snowgrave spoke "Proceed" or "Snowgrave" into a microphone. And I'm sure most people wouldn't have a voice that would be said to be "terrifying" anyway.

We can choose dialouge options, but its a firmly established thing that we do NOT have control over the voice these options are said with. As shown by how many times in the game Kris says dialog options we choose with inflections we didn't.

(Saying they'll join Berdly with an incredulous tone, sounding confused at Susie's question about Noelle and Ralsei, yelling "I'm not Fine" after Spamton Neo, etc.)

And it's also implied that Kris themself is giving us these dialogue options to choose, as there are multiple times where the options themselves seem to have preconceived notions or where the way the option is phrased directly corresponds with how Kris enacts the option. ("Nononono" about reading Alphys's anime review, literally just saying "Unknown," and "Noooo" with multiple Os corresponding to Kris howling like a dog when Noelle asks if she needs to give them dog treats to get them to sit still.)

So if we don't have control over Kris's voice, and Kris is the one who usually gives us the dialogue options to control,

Then Who is the terrifying voice that said "Proceed"? Cause it can't be us! All this suggests it's a diegetic character.

Well. Kris is not the only one whose voice has been controlled.

Many have made the comparison between Spamton and a ventriloquist's dummy, but no one's pointed out the lore implications of this fact. The entire point of ventriloquist dummies is for the puppeteer to speak through the puppet, putting on the show as if the dummy itself was the one speaking.

This brings a new light to Spamton's status as a Puppet, and what exactly Gaster used Spamton to do after turning him into a puppet. Given Gaster's running theme of spreading cursed knowledge a la Lovecraftian horror, as well as the garbage noise, (Which we know Gaster can speak through thanks to Entry Number 17,) it's clear that he used Spamton to spread his cursed knowledge further, speaking the garbage noise through Spamton's nonexistent lips.

This strengthens the already obvious parallels between Kris and Spamton, yes, but more importantly, it gives us a prime suspect for who the terrifying voice could be, given the implications that they are a diegetic entity.

Gaster has demonstrated the power to take over someone's voice, something the player noticeably doesn't have. Gaster has a canonical voice of his own as well, and it can very easily be described as sounding broken or wrong, especially if the Garbage noise is involved, which is reason enough for Noelle to refer to it as terrifying.

The idea that Gaster is the one behind the Snowgrave specific dialogue options also makes a notable amount of sense out of something that's never really questioned by the fandom, and that's why "Proceed" is phrased the way it is in the first place.

It sorta just randomly starts being used as a trigger word without any kind of prior use in a sentence in the Snowgrave route that would feasibly make the player associate it with Noelle's manipulation prior to its first use. Which makes it especially hard to believe that the player is supposed to be the origin of the phrase.

But if Gaster's the one speaking, it simply fits with his dialect. He's a scientist. His dialect is succinct, to the point, calloused, and treats the action we force Noelle to do as a procedure.

And it's not exactly very out there for Gaster to in some way have control over Kris, as it's established they have some kind of connection in the very intro of the game, and this isn't even the only time Gaster controlling Kris is alluded to in the game.

Spamton references the epilogue segments where Kris's soul is removed from their body as Kris being "A Heart on a chain." This is also interpreted by most of the fandom as referring to the dichotomy between Kris and the player, but yet again, if you really think about it it very directly contradicts such an interpretation.

As it portrays Kris as one and the same as the heart that was trapped. NOT the body that did the trapping.

It only makes sense for the soul we control to be Kris's soul, as the soul is the culmination of a person's being, and Kris's consciousness is still clearly present. Ralsei and Spamton both support this notion, with Ralsei directly referring to it as Kris's soul during his tutorial.

So if the soul is Kris's, than what is left when Kris is removed should, by definition, be anything BUT Kris. It would need to be some kind of entity possessing their soulless body, which is supported by the glowing red eyes and general "unnatural" presentation of Soulless Kris, as well as the blatant parallelism with the scene in Undertale where Chara possessed Frisk's body.

But how do we know this possessor is Gaster? Aside from the already established connection thanks to the Goner Maker, that is?

Well, for one, Queen's portrayal of the Knight using a knife calls back to the first epilogue where Soulless Kris shows a Knife that looks the exact same as if they were going to do something important with it. Heavily suggesting that Soulless Kris IS the Knight.

And Spamton, in turn, very directly connects The Knight to Gaster, as he says,

I USED TO BE NOTHING BUT THE E_MAIL GUY, NOW I'M THE [[It Burns! Ow! Stop! Help Me! It Burns!]] GUY! [[Amazed at thi5 amazing transformation? You too can]] HAVE A [[Communion]] WITH [[Unintelligible Laughter]]

SPEAKING OF [[Communion]] KRIS, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE KNIGHT... No! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean too --

"[[Communion]] WITH [[Unintelligible Laughter]]" is framed as Spamton-ese for "having contact with Gaster." And Spamton says that The Knight somehow has a connection to this form of [Communion.]

It makes the most sense to determine, therefore, that Gaster is controlling The Knight(/Soulless Kris) the same way he controlled Spamton, and that is what Spamton is referencing when he refers to Kris as a Heart on a chain.

The visual presentation of Soulless Kris in the epilogue segments even further supports this, as there's a clear emphasis placed on Soulless Kris's smile, a smile that seems to be directly reflected by the static that appears on the TV as the last thing we see in Chapter 2's epilogue. (Much like the smile on Kris's face was the last thing we saw in Chapter 1's.)

Gaster already has a strong association with both Smiles and Static. The Garbage noise is named "Smile.ogg" in Undertale's gamefiles, and is itself a form of computer static.

This theory also explains how a soulless entity is able to create fountains when they should be lacking in Determination, (Gaster is channeling his own through Kris's body via the control he has over it,) why Soulless Kris doesn't change their actions at all in Snowgrave, (Gaster's perfectly fine with it, He's just an evil bastard like that,) and why Spamton calls Kris a heart on a chain but doesn't acknowledge the player's presence in any fashion.

And Gaster being a major influence on Snowgrave makes a little bit more sense out of Soulless Kris drawing parallels between Gaster and Genocide Chara.

[goddamnwebcomics]

Lessee what we have for this batch...

- League of Super Redundant Heroes

Not sure if I suggested this one in the past about stupid superheroes (including a blind guy with bike handles on his head and laser eyes, an actual Mary Sue who's his girlfriend, a cowgirl who makes no sense, and a guy that levitate cats) but putting it up front just to cover that base

-Delta Dawn

A particularly infamous "superhero" comic that tries to be a social justice comic tackling racism and sexism while apparently unintentionally doing both those thing somehow? It's either that or intentionally being bad to prove it's point, but it doesnt have the self awareness to do it right? Apparently tries to have a protagonist and antagonist story run side by side too? You know it's bad when I see character names and I can't tell if it's being hyperbolic or if that's literally what the characters are called...

-Black Magic by SacredHyacinth

Magic teens in a future apocalyptic setting have magic jewelry to protect them as they live in a city that doesn't want them to have their jewelry for some reason? Things for the comics lore and worldbuilding just are half explained haphazardly as it goes on...

-My Alien Girlfriend (doesn't know I'm an alien)

Another webtoon comic. Comedy romance about two dating aliens in obvious disguise. Drawn rather poorly, lots of fanservice without going all the way to being porn, and very poor humor... literally the girlfriend looks like a clown character from another, and I believe actual porn, comic the author had a hand in.

-Parallax by m falke

Sort of a hybrid magical girl/superhero thing. A boy is given a little box that turns him into a ninja looking hero to fight monsters. Haven't read too much, but the art style is interesting looking at least.

- Bittersweet Candy Bowl by Veronica "taeshi" Vera

A furry teen drama comic about an angsty Mary Sue white cat named Lucy and love triangles upon triangles upon etc. So odd, cause some characters are fully dressed and some aren't, Lucy has like two bird pets, but they can talk? And oh so many perfect reaction images from the cat blobs.

- Black Jade by Steele Snover

Lesbian mad scientist villain makes a raygun that turns other women gay as well. She literally gets a girlfriend and from that point onward the comic has no idea what it wants to do with itself. The author notoriously asked for $1600 a month to keep this comic going I believe.

-Don't know if youd do written fanfic riffing at all, but One Piece: This Bites by Xomniac might be worth tearing into if you ever get around to doing that. It's basically a self insert fic involving a fan of One Piece who abuses his knowledge of the series like mad after a literal RNG God decides to matoon him in that world. It kinda tries to ground the anime in reality and to be more "hard core" by mauling the main character and torturing villains and such.

-...lets be honest here ANYTHING by Dave Cheung

Just. Wow. Dave Cheungs list of wretchedness is something frankly unbelievable from what I've heard there's sexism, snuff and a lack of holding back all wrapped up in a generic non-anime style... US Angel Core is the absolute worst in particular as it is just...disturbed, like seriously bottom of the barrel disgustingness as it kills characters and subjects them to heaps of abuse to the point i dont even reccomend you look into it, its that fucking disgusting. Literally anything else, this one isn't so much a recc as it is a warning...

Already on the rifflist

This sounds like an easy target so why not

The lady from Keeping Up Appearances made a webcomic? Oh this is trying to be ART and DEEP. I can tell it from the somewhat pretentious artstyle alone.

This thing is ridiciulously short, so I'm on the edge. Wait porn???

This might be too competent.

Ohhh no no no no no. Did you miss the submission page rules? The author's husband will kill anyone who criticises the comic

Oh, it's been a while since we've gotten some good old lesploitation.

I don't really riff written work unless it's done by one of our usual suspects or other webcomic makers

Ah, Cheung's work we're familiar with. U.S. Angel Corps is on the rifflist and I am very wary of riffing it, but I say Cheung deserves to be brutally riffed.

[the1trueanon]

Idea 1: Vanessa quits her job

This idea is based on my interpretation that the Vanessa we see in Security Breach isn't really her; it's Vanny controlling her. Vanessa's consciousness is there, but all that she can do is just watch, like viewing your own life through an old television.

So after the 3-star ending, Vanessa would be left with a job that requires skills that "she" technically never had. She can't just pull up Vannys memories (which i have her being able to do because extra pain :D) because there are no memories of how to do that job, a final "f*ck you :D" to Vanessa from Vanny before she left.

(I feel this needs a bit more of an explanation. Vanny had an instinctive knowledge of how to use any electronic device, courtesy of Glitchtrap/Afton. This meant that she never had to read any instructions for any of the surveilance equipment that she used on the job. She also never looked down at keyboards when she typed the passwords needed to access the security computers sinceVanny had all the passwords to herself. All this means is that when Vanessa looks back at these memories, they are effectively useless.)

So now all Vanessa has left are her own memories of watching herself push random buttons that do random things. It would be like trying to learn how to fly a plane solely by watching someone else do it.

Vanessa also realizes that she'd have to still assist lost children after hours, a thought that truly scares her. It's not because she doesn't like children, no. In fact, I believe Vanessa used to work really well with children due to her former position as a video game tester/coder. This might not make much sense, but is elaborated upon in idea 2.

It is also stated in the game in one of the logs that you can find that she was not recommended for a position as a security guard, so it just makes sense for her to leave afer being freed.

So she would put in her 2 weeks notice, but not before working out some special deal with the plex that allows her and Greg the gremlin of chaos to visit the pizzaplex whenever they want and for any length of time.

As for what job she would try to go back to? It would be her old job of beta testing and coding. She was evidently very good at it based on those cut AR emails. It might sound like tempting fate, but I think that Vanessa would be a heck of a lot more careful this time if she was put back on the VR project. That assumes that the project is still even active.

That way she can make sure that what happened to her, never happens to anyone again.

YES!!! THE RETURN OF GAMER GIRL NESSA!!!

I agree though, I don't think Vanessa would stay at the Plex for long after all of that. I think at this point, depending on how long she's been there under Afton's control, she might have some qualifications now, but definitely not enough to keep going as head of security.

I also just..... don't think it's a job she would actually like. I really feel like Vanessa was supposed to be a lot different, personality-wise. Especially when you think about how she is described (sort of) to act in the AR lore emails. A job as head security isn't just out of her work ability, it doesn't really fit her.

However, while I agree that Nessa would likely go back to game development/testing, I'm not so sure she'd be able to work on the VR project anymore. It's likely that it's out of beta -- Glitchtrap still stowed away, now in every copy -- and is out in the world. Both because it makes sense to me in the timelines between VR, AR, and Security Breach. I don't think Nessa quit testing on the VR game, I more feel that she completed it, either under Afton's control or of her own validation to keep Afton from taking over and doing anything worse (because we love that internal struggle of "do bad things or let the thing that could control you do worse" >:D), and then just never took on another game, instead being forced to take head security position at the Plex.

I do totally agree that she remembers what Vanny did :) Girl's gotta get her new dose of trauma from somewhere XD

[accirax]

Oh, and these too, from your two not my favourite people -

https://youtu.be/KSXz3tyfS6U?si=M8yFrYiTOPJMF8Yx

https://youtu.be/Hy9MF52hZSI?si=1YURLJ8TjxiVq2l9

https://youtu.be/fmqhl7LOd7g?si=fRfkF-69YPPRgzOX (Hopefully this one debunks certain people's theories of Fiore's parents putting her on the show themselves just to get the money with zero concern or knowledge of the dangers)

https://youtu.be/BY6LXdZXdis?si=gM1Brjr9ewN4Pavf (god not the skibidi toilet again)

so apparently you can only add 10 video links per post, which means i couldn't combine this ask with the other one. good to know for if i ever try to share, like, a playlist or something in the future.

(also, btw, Ellie isn't actually one of my personal favorite characters! i just have Chronic Forgiveness Disease and tend to let villains off the hook. my actual top 5 are probably Alec, Fiore, Grett, Aiden, and James-- not necessarily in that order-- although that was only the list i came up with after watching seasons 1 and 2. not that i disliked any of them in DCAS, but maybe some others could rise above with their additional content. Grett and Alec stock just rose even higher :D)

hey, this is Vi's greeting! idk if you sent me this realizing or not, but this is the same coworker who i said made that video about the history of greetings. they really popped off with the costume design on this one (same with that Gabby magician outfit that just came out). i'm quite familiar with the look, as Vi was using it as their discord pfp for a while ^_^

haha, another past pfp of Vi's. it would be cool if we could see some of Ellie's fashion designs someday, given that she doesn't have the typical super-expensive-and-stylish tastes that you would typically think of for a fashion designer. (or, maybe she just can't afford them... 😅) would her designs be more avant garde, or stick to her kinda emo-adjacent looks in canon? we need answers, people! (/j)

Hopefully this one debunks certain people's theories of Fiore's parents putting her on the show themselves just to get the money with zero concern or knowledge of the dangers

oh, dang, i didn't realize people were going that hard. i thought that Fiore's parents might've tried to sign her up for the show to get rid of her, but given what we know about Fiore's attitude, it makes sense that she would want to get rid of them just as much. speaking of, i want to believe that Fiore is either consciously playing down how much she cares about Alec or doesn't have a good enough read on her own emotions to realize that she does-- she's probably never trusted an adult figure before, so it makes sense that she would want to limit her emotional attachment to them, especially if there's no guarantee that she'd ever see them again-- but she also does keep reiterating that she doesn't really care about him, so at some point, you kinda have to believe her. just goes to show your/Raitix's point that they probably aren't best off as a true father/daughter duo :,)

(then again, there's also the fact(?) that, apparently, people can write things that they want the characters to "confirm" within the text of the greeting and pass it off as canon. again, this was brought up in the history video, although i can't find the timestamp of where. i don't know why so many people would try to write in that Fiore doesn't care about Alec, so i don't think that this idea is a victim of that, but it just makes me wary of trusting any lore given out in greetings in general.)

god not the skibidi toilet again

(like, see, in this one, she calls Alec her friend! what is the truth!!!)

not her saying that the other contestants would have a foot in the grave-- like, okay, Miriam, sure-- she'd be 82 by the time Fiore is 16. but, Fiore, the second oldest competitor is Connor, who would be 59 by the time you're 16. who's even the next oldest? Alec??? he'd be 40. maybe you need to go back to math class. or age class.

also, yeah, i guess people are really obsessed with the idea of Fiore knowing what skibidi toilet is. i don't really care, but the writers did sorta bring it upon themselves with her saying stuff like "bruh" or "boomer" in the canonical series.