#invoking words

[redzombie]

Mensis

[lucabyte]

Finally: The NoHats AU doodles. Plus some sprite edits.

Usually I'd let things speak for themselves and keep my chattering in the tags, but I'll ramble about my context thoughts...

So. First of all here's a link (x) to the Nohats Origin Post for those coming in and going ????.

Anyway. These doodles are not in any obvious chronological order, though Loop going from pilfered bandolier (my headcanon for how Siffrin has all those pockets) -> custom outfit made by Isabeau, is supposed to generally denote 'just after the ending' -> 'a few months down the line'.

And speaking of, Design & Characterisation notes:

Overall: NoHats is suppooooosed to have the range to not just be ULTIMATE MISERY ALL THE TIME (but if you're a major whump/angst fan. go fucking nuts.) so these are supposed to be. The steps toward overcoming and living with grief but. The Misery Is Kind Of The Punchiest Part.... Oops....

Mirabelle: Taking the lead, continuing to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. In the game proper she's already shown to, while yes, be emotionally fragile at times, be prone to trying to hold the team together. I feel she'd do the same here. It also would help that she'd presumably be medicated again? But I can't imagine her chosen-one anxieities would be super ailed by the death of her friend. I wanted to try and give her more differences? She follows the change belief after all and is thus liable to switch up her style in general... But I didn't have a strong vision for this, so. The ball is in anyone's court. Her design changes here are keeping one of Sif's safety pins a la qpr bonding earring, and has the bell pendant at Loop's (oddly pushy) suggestion.

Isabeau: Taking it. Badly. Depression mullet and beard in tow. However, you best believe he is trying real badly to hide it. Loop very much does not reveal their identity to him because What The Fuck Would That Even Do. That's Scary. but they do try to comfort him while mentally regarding him "off limits". Backs themselves into some very unfortunate corners by alluding to their unfulfilled relationship with their Fighter as a point of common ground. I don't imagine this would go super great when recontextualised later after Loop is inevitably found out. Just in general oh good god what the fuck. this is like a radioactive pit of survivor's guilt.

Bonnie: Taking it probably The Worst. This is a child. Who was already feeling guilt. This is who everyone else is trying to keep it together for. Mirabelle and Isabeau would likely be putting up far less of a front without Bonnie around. They take the hat and take on Pocket Duty. They also have slightly more sif-y hairstyle but... Don't worry about it. They'd have Nille to fall back on once she's picked back up, and Loop almost certainly attempts to redouble efforts on making them feel better but seeing as how closed-off Bonnie can already be, it'd likely be difficult. However they would probably take Loop's identity reveal best...?

Odile: Odile's design.... ! Does not seem to have changed? How odd! Well. I'm sure she's dealing with things in a regular and non-cloistered manner. I already think that a regular Postcanon Activity for Odile could be her finding out about the potential for sif/loop to translate books and thus Knowledge in their native tongue assuming that ability sticks around postgame. Something something culture can never truly be wiped out etc etc. But putting it in this context. Makes it more desperate, more of a deflection for something else.

Loop: Helpful Loop. Well. They win! I feel like the entirety of ISAT being about Siffrin's mental state means I don't need to spill much ink here? You get it I think. I can't outdo the source material man. Anyway I imagine Loop is given clothes by Isabeau before they know who they are, but after they've become genuine friends. The outfit is in genuineness, on both sides from Loop and Isa, in having the cloak be a nod in respect to Siffrin, since Loop's "shared culture" would have to come up vis a vis cultural funerary traditions. Hard to avoid divulging that one...

[pathetic-gamer]

local flame emperor considers lilies, but now in full color :D (because i realized doing it in this style means i don't have to learn how colors work, i can just throw down the flats and call it a day)

[lizzybeeee]

DATV explaining the 'Regret Prison'

A REGRET PRISON IS STUPID AND I'M TIRED OF PRETENDING THAT ITS NOT

TL;DR: a prison can serve as a metaphor but it shouldn't be entirely comprised of a metaphor.

From what I understood from what the game gave us: Solas has made a new prison to move the God's too - since bringing down the veil would free them from the Black City. This new prison is separate(?) from the fade or so far removed/contained that bringing down the veil would not compromise it...apparently. We interrupt his ritual, Solas gets sucked into the new prison he made, and the elven gods are free.

When Rook gets kicked into the fade they're physically there - which means it's a physical place in the fade, like how it was a mixture of physical/thought when we entered it in DAI. Which makes sense - the gods are real and living beings, they need to be in a place, there must be some aspect of physicality to it.

Alright, cool, it's a Black City 2.0 - I assume it's better defended to prevent people breaking in/out again?

NOPE.

We get there and it's a 'regret prison'?? It's tied to the regrets of those within it? Composed of regrets??? Solas had to wait for the right moment for Rook to be sufficiently 'full of regret' that they could switch places?

So is the prison tied to Solas's regrets? If so, how can Rook escape? The prison seems to work around the idea that it relies on the regrets of the person it's holding to work - which is how/why Rook was able to be trapped and later free themselves (along with whatever remains of the team apparently being able to do something on their end, not that we hear about it).

WHICH IS STUPID!

Are you telling me the prison intended to hold to megalomaniac elven gods was going to imprison them based on their own regrets? Is Solas assuming that Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are as self-pitying as he is? They'd break out quicker than Rook did! He made a time out corner for the elven gods to sit in and gave them an out if they reflected on their emotions/regrets or decided that they don't regret what they did. Elgar'nan, a spirit of tyranny, is not going to 'regret' his actions - he is going to justify them by telling himself and others that he knows what's best.

We can come across some of Solas's regrets in the prison if you run around a bit and explore:

Remnant of Failure - talking about the orb from Inquisition.

Remnant of Parting - talking about Mythal

Remnant of Reflection - more vague, talking about the Titans I believe.

So maybe he altered it - maybe he intended the prison to be 'locked' with his own regrets because after a millennia of having a pity party he still can't bring himself to self-reflect and look to the future. But what if Solas died? Or if his guilt lessened - would it diminish the strength of the regret prison?

We already have pre-established lore (though DATV has shown they don't really give a crap tbh) that once the being that has claimed/altered an area of the fade is slain, it's influence diminishes both in and outside of the fade. So if the prison was tied to his regrets then it would require Solas to basically live forever to keep it stable - especially if he brought down the veil and removed the one barrier that kept the world and the fade apart.

Rook and Solas needed some assistance to exit - but it doesn't seem like it was much! Solas used his dagger and Rook just...got out through a fade tear? This is Solas's 'more secure' second prison? It has a worse track record than the Black City! If Rook - who is not an elven god - managed to escape the regret prison what is to stop anyone else from breaking in and out of the prison?

And what did Solas intend to do with the blight - the bulk of which is apparently in the black city?? If bringing down the Veil would free the gods in the black city doesn't that mean that the blight would also be released?! Did he have a plan? Why does he go fully ahead with bringing down the veil at the end if the black city is still there and filled with blight?!

I get it: the 'regret prison' is a metaphor for how Solas holds onto the past and how Rook can move past their regrets and grow. He's trapped by the past - it's a prison. Cool. But this prison is supposed to by a physical place to contain the gods - not just to solely contain Solas. The mission is literally called 'A Cage for Gods'.

The Black City is an actual place that's so far out of reach of anywhere else in the fade that no mage can ever reach it while in dreams - let alone physically, which was only done once and took tremendous effort/blood sacrifices. It made sense - it was cool to see floating in the sky in DAO!

Though it's not said specifically, it's strongly implied that Arlathan is the Black City. You can see in the concept art that floating elven city is exactly the same as the black city in DAO! It's this foreboding thing just lurking in the sky - a constant reminder of the sin that led to the horrors of the blights and darkspawn. A real place with lore and history that also serves as a metaphor for the hubris and destruction of those who call themselves gods and act as tyrants -> for both the evanuris and the magisters.

I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS BIOWARE!

WHAT IS THIS KINGDOM HEARTS NONSENSE???!!

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Murderbot 1x06 spoilers

Some murderhelion musings

OKAY SO I know we're all freaking out over this moment

"didn't you know they used [human neural tissue] in transports?"

BUT CAN I ALSO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO:

"in reality, there's no way a Unit built to navigate starships would take a romantic interest in somebody."

....

.... Am I reading too much into this.

[meanderingstream]

The Gaothmai flesh dreadnoughts are so horrific and I love it. Abomination-type creatures, but which are also troop carriers containing sorcerers and soldiers and other flesh-craft creatures inside them, who can come out to attack you from the orifice in the middle of the tentacles extending from the dreadnought’s otherwise featureless face.

Like just a sublimely terrifying exploration of what horrors can we extrapolate from the existence of flesh-craft sorcerers and their participation in a forever-war fueled arms-race with wizards. Troop carriers made of conjured flesh the size of skyscrapers whose only facial features are the uncountable 50-foot tentacles surrounding an orifice from whence more flesh abominations emerge.

[thefallenangel2008]

I really love when people draw Mullet!Stan with earrings BUT HEAR ME OUT. Hear me out. Hear me the fuck out. Keep the earrings, BUT ALSO. Add snakebite piercings and a chipped tooth. Like, it's not a want, it's a need. I need Mullet!Stan with his snakebite piercings and his chipped tooth.

[heynhay]

i think i should be allowed to make up words

[child-of-hurin]

Eddis went to speak to the king, and Ion, on the king’s orders, had to turn her away. She went to Attolia with her concerns, and Attolia told her about Lader’s warning. “Lader was always poisonous,” said Eddis. “His words are still prophecy. The gods themselves say that what Sejanus knows will destroy the king,” said Attolia. “He must give up the names of those who have committed treason. It is an ugly business. I see your concerns, but the law is clear.” Eddis said, “Sejanus used every weaseling trick he knew to torment Gen. Even if Gen had his own reasons for allowing it, he came to hate Sejanus and those wounds still bleed. I am afraid emotion clouds his reason.” “Then it is good that he has the law to guide him.” Eddis frowned. “The law may not be enough.”

not Helen trying to stop Gen from torturing a prisoner and trying to enlist help from Miss Torture Is My Specialty

[taraxippos]

Worlds #1 complainer about "dog motif" fans accidentally makes story with extremely central, predominant even, dog motif

[phantomirage]

I don't know about you guys,but I want to make an AU or sanesabi yuri fic of them in high school,and that Sabito is a lover of the paranormal and witchcraft(maybe instilled by Urokodaki),and that in one of they dates,it is literally Sabito asks Sanemi for her help for a ritual,and they are like this picture

[radiojamming]

If I manage to get the Aristeia of Diomedes to be longer than the Iliad itself, Homer will appear as a ghost in my room and beat me to death with my four copies of the Iliad. ❤️ Yaaaaaay

[the-merry-otter]

You’ve all heard of open pin container in my bed, but have you considered: open pin container perched on a pile of luggage in a moving car

[soft-hardboy]

🎏05.05.2025 :: [???] Sword and Scale Kiya

Abnormality: Shōbu no Shōbu (菖蒲の尚武; Iris's Militarism) An abnormality invested in the well-being and protection of children, even if it must devote its inherently non-violent body to acts of atrocities. This abnormality is based off of the symbols associated with Children's Day/Boy's Day in the koinobori (symbols of courage and determination) and the Japanese iris flower (symbols of protection and the warding of evil spirits). The design of the abnormality being of the koinobori surrounded by iris' is meant to juxtapose the City, where things meant to be peaceful become violent for their goals. Children's/Boy's Day is also where Kiya gets his sinner number.

[tsunael]

(Count)down to Dawntrail. 6/27

You've ruined peaches for me.

- Circa after 'Endwalker' but before 6.1.

- cw: for (ahem) suggestive themes.

-> Forever inspired by this. <-

--

"If you could have anything at this very moment... what would it be?"

She paused, and he could sense her rifling through the many possibilities this life had to offer. Finally, she looked up from her bandaged hands. "... A peach tart."

He had to laugh. "You're not serious."

But she was-- though she wore a sheepish pout. She was a woman grown, still she loved her girlish treats. "Alisaie told me about the peaches in the market when last she was there. Beautiful, pink peaches... Yanxian imports, I imagine. They would be in season..."

Her voice trailed off as her mind wandered home-- far, far away from from her quaint hospital room and the bitter cold of The Northern Empty.

"I had hoped you would ask for something a bit more... substantial," he could not help but tease. "I’m afraid of the look your nursemaid might give me."

She tittered behind her hand. "You would simply come through the window again regardless."

"-- And you would do well to keep it locked, else a thief in the night may just steal you away."

He brought out her smile, though it fell rueful as her voice drew soft, marred by a cynical edge that did not suit her. "After all that has happened..." She drew out a deep sigh before craning up to look him, her eyes, searching. "... I would welcome it."

--

It was there at the apothecary where he espied the peaches Tsuna had spoke of. An imported bushel brought welcome color to the otherwise drab, frozen plaza. He took one in hand to turn it over, and caught himself admiring the soft, ripe weight of it.

He dropped coin for two of their best. Its twin sat alongside the boxed piece of tart he picked up at The Last Stand– two treats among the other foodstuffs in his satchel. Depending on who he asked, he either carried with him an odd lunch, or a meagre supper.

In his eagerness to move onto the next errand, he wasted little time in the partaking of his impromptu purchase. It barely fit in his hand, with blushed, taut skin that had been thoroughly loved by the Eastern sun. So ripe was it that its sweet scent availed him before he could even drag lips over the velvet cleft of it.

As soon as he felt the soft plunge of his teeth into flesh he understood why it was that she desired it so. The sweetness was immediate, overwhelming– the resulting tartness was a stimulating chase. There was nothing quite like it. How long had it been since he sought out such sweetness for the pleasure of it? Too long, he surmised. His jaw ached from the nectar.

Still, he savoured the bite. And the next, and the next.

His thoughts fell to her doing the same: her lips wrapping around the gentle curve of it. He imagined her mouth dripping, teeth skimming across skin, her tongue lapping at the excess…

Before he knew it, his heart began to race as if he were a thief at market. Before he knew it, he had hit stone.

His tongue still sang from the taste, but he found himself wanting more. Chasing the taste on his fingers wasn't enough, though he ended at the base of his thumb to thoughtfully chase the remnants that had dripped. Every drop was swallowed with a greed he hardly knew. 

He took a step back and thought of his poor, jogging heart, and of the treat purchased a bell ago. Why had he come here? Gone through this trouble? She was still on his mind– and more, he wanted her on his lips.

Ridiculous, he grimaced, inwardly chiding himself. Arousal was gripping the back of his neck in the middle of the Sharlayan markets.

At some point he would have to admit to himself that he wanted her; wanted her near him, beside him, beneath him. Eventually he would need to come to terms with the fact that he loved that woman in every conceivable way a man could.

[puffles]

"The Pink Opaque was a childish thought." Now replace The Pink Opaque with transgenderism.

Haha got you, repression jumpscare!