#much to speculate about!

[awsok]

okay but shin going to the bandits is soo interesting to me. like of course (of course!!!) she had no interest in joining thrawn's new empire like baylan said. (honestly that was probably just an excuse on baylan's part to send shin away so she could be safe/he could focus on his mission). but it is interesting that she didn't want to join up with thrawn to the extent that she'd rather be stranded in a strange galaxy.

so what now? is she joining the bandits? leading them? is she going to seek out a rematch with sabine (or ahsoka?) or is she trying to avoid them? is she going to try and reunite with baylan despite him sending her away? is that why she stayed?

shin hati!! i want to dissect your brain!!

[egophiliac]

Final manifestations for Book 7?

I'm trying REALLY hard not to build up any solid expectations, because I wanna go in ~fresh~! they're already so far away from anything I thought would happen (not in a bad way, I'm just accepting that I'm on Miss Yana's Wild Ride at this point and we're seeing this thing through 'til the end, by gum). so it's nothing too major, but:

they've been handing new crying expressions out like candy lately, I want to see some delicious Malleus tears.

honestly I want everyone to cry buckets. their tears sustain me. the more Silver angst specifically I get the happier I am.

SILVER!!!! 👏 VANROUGE!!!! 👏

just let him have this. the poor boy's been through so much. let him have his big "I'm proud of you, son" moment with Lilia.

I'm 100% expecting Grim's arc (and probably whatever's going on with Crowley) to be its own episode, but a nice hook to leave us hanging on would be good!

a nice hook though, please, I don't think I can take another "Grim is attacking us! now wait eight months to find out what happens :)" cliffhanger...

some Meleanor? as a treat? just a little bit, a tiny quick flashback or something, please Twst I just, I just want to see her again. let her have a little ghost cameo like Dawnathan Knight got. Lilia and his kids are all having their big group hug or whatever and she can gently fade in to be all like

(turning asks off until I'm done playing, SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE Y'ALL)

[ambrosiagourmet]

I think one of the biggest tragedies of Laios & Falin and their relationship is how much his actions impact her life. But like. Specifically how much they WOULDN’T impact her life as much if they weren’t both stuck in such a shitty abusive situation.

This part of the Falin-tries-makeup daydream hour comic is what got me thinking about it again because truly it just... it seems like such a like an offhand comment that I'm sure Laios didn't mean to be cruel or anything. That's just like. A little kid not thinking about what they are saying. ESPECIALLY when the kid in question is Laios.

But man they depended on each other SO much as kids. Too much. It really feels like they didn't have any other source of positive reinforcement, or anyone else to share themselves with. So of course an offhand comment like that has a huge impact on Falin.

Or this little bit from one of the flashbacks:

This tears me apart. Do you think it tears him apart to think about? I think it does. I think Laios holds every small failure to care for Falin against himself.

And then there's the Bigger stuff. The way that him coping with his own trauma ended up impacting her.

Like his interest in monsters. Like him going to find a ghost, and accidentally revealing Falin's magic to the whole village in the process.

Like him needing to leave. And leaving her behind.

He shaped her life so much, and he carries so much guilt for it. And again, there should have been other people there to help. The same things that made Laios need to leave home are the things that made his leaving so hard on Falin. She ate alone after that. She shouldn't have had to eat alone just because Laios wasn't there.

She was 9 when he left for school, and he was 11.

Nine. And Laios feels like he failed her because he didn't stand by her through this better. As an eleven year old.

Both of these kids deserved so much better from the world.

[friedricebunny]

i'm really so curious how deeply tbhx is gonna go with its whole premise of "heroes are made and gain powers based on trust" because i really wasn't anticipating that

1) moon/xiao yueqing has teleportation-based powers but because everyone wants her and nice to stick together, her teleportation leads back to nice which was INSANE to me

and

2) lin ling is becoming increasingly more worried about being clean and perfect which is a side effect of nice's image of perfection which is indicating that this whole trust system can have mental effects??? and that's horrifying to me???

we are 2 episodes in, how deep is this gonna go

[filurig]

ive been pretty awfully artblocked as of late, as well as being busy with internship stuff, but this guy is the product of very vague thoughts and pondering about a fantasy world with a large pterosaur fauna presence... and some sophonts from there... idk if ill actually make anything crazy with it. But ill have some place to put worldbuilding ideas i cant really use in pareidolia because, well. it takes place in sweden... lol

[the-clock-of-the-time-dragon]

It will forever be hilarious to me that Disney wanted so fucking bad to make a Wicked movie — but couldn't get the rights from Universal — that they literally spent billions upon billions of dollars making SEVEN different films (and a whole season of television; not even including their sequels and spinoffs) more than one of which they even got Idina and Kristen to be in based on the stripped-down premise of "what if the Stock Female Antagonist™ was secretly the Misunderstood Angsty Girlboss Heroine™ all along?" (because Disney execs don't actually care about Wicked, they just saw Green, said "hey! if we can't get the real thing, why not use Our Own (and/or Public Domain) characters?" and simply followed the Marketing Department Road all the way to the bank).

Less funny is the fact they were so successful at it — regardless of the merits (or lack thereof) of any of those projects — that it ended up getting the production of the actual Wicked movie delayed by more than a decade (because it would ironically have looked like a copycat and probably faded into the background if it had come out back when Disney was pumping out knockoffs every fucking year).

[linkedin-offficial]

hymnheart birds, better known as "hymns", or "travel mount" birds, are a genus of bird derivative from todays common flocking birds of sky (doves), and the less common nightbirds.

during the days of prosperity, these birds were bred to be large and capable of carrying many passengers, as skypeople flight was not a common form of travel. similarly, it wasnt uncommon to find a smaller version of these birds (usually bred by hand, and not by known breeders), meant for single person travel, that was also often used in racing. these lesser travel mounts are known to have sparked the use of mantas for racing and speedy travel, as mantas were faster and smaller, and functionally better for the same uses.

in modern day, these birds are considered to be extinct. after great technological advantages like flying boats becoming mainstream, and soon after the modernization of 'caped' flight, hymns numbers had begun to dwindle due to simply no longer needing them for their main purpose. unlike hymn travel however, manta riding remained persistent as a practice, as the species was abundant, and did not need skypeople aid to continue to breed.

few individuals, like those of the nester families, continued to breed these birds, but eventually discontinued the practice as it became laborious and took too much time.

[magnuspanoptes]

the thing that really makes elias stand out among the rest of the cast, is that he's the only (or at least, one of the select few, but definitely the Only major recurring) character who's unquestionably having fun. everyone else spends copious amounts of time on feeling utterly miserable and it IS miserable around here what with the universe literally tending towards evil, but elias has a) figured out the inherent meaninglessness of it all (well. that's definitely not the podcast thesis but it was the Would Quite Willingly Doom That World brand of transgressive madness in the name of disobeying the divine order of things that motivated him. compels me. always rebel against the gods) and b) karmic justice is simply not a thing within the world of the magnus archives, there's no narrative comeuppance for being a bad (or reward for being good) person, so there's no just deserts to be had here, he died for entirely unrelated reasons and in the grand scheme of things his fate was not all that different from anyone else in the podcast, plus jon also dies mere minutes later. but did he not have fun? did he not ruin everyone else's lives and have fun the entire time?

[adhdevankinard]

Even if the writers bring in a new LI for Buck, no one is ever gonna beat Tommy Kinard. Sorry! But just look at this material:

Tommy personally knows and respects the life of a firefighter and why it’s so important to Buck, something that Buck’s previous love interests found difficult to understand

Tommy can be involved in calls and can help the 118 in a way others can’t (as we’ve seen)

Even before dating Buck, Tommy had strong connections to the main characters — the most important people in Buck’s life

Buck himself said Tommy is his most transformative relationship since Abby (whom Tommy is also connected to)

Speaking of Abby, Buck pined for her, but it was clear that Abby was ready to move on when she left him. With Buck and Tommy, both of them want each other back. Neither is ready to move on. They pine for each other.

Tommy is one of the very few people who call Buck “Evan” and the only one to do so regularly and with such affection. It was only during the breakup that Tommy called him Buck. The worst day of Buck’s life was the day Tommy called him by the name everyone else uses for him. Because Tommy isn’t everyone else. And no one else will ever be Tommy to Evan.

Tommy was a part of the call that ended with Bobby’s death. Tommy was the only one who saw Buck’s grief after losing the person he considered his father. Tommy was a pall bearer and walked with the main characters at Bobby’s funeral.

Speaking of Bobby, Tommy is the only LI of Buck’s that Bobby approved of. The only one Bobby will ever approve of. Bobby knew Tommy and Tommy knew Bobby. Tommy was part of the 118 when Bobby began again. Tommy saved Bobby’s life before Buck met him.

It was Tommy’s decision to transfer that opened the spot at the 118 that changed Buck’s life.

Literally, Buck is the happiest he has ever been when he is with Tommy. He can be giggly during sex and hold funerals for dead cowboys. Buck smiles and looks at Tommy with so much affection. And Tommy shows up for Buck – whether it’s attending the hospital wedding after an exhausting shift or making sure he’s resting after he’s injured or cooking him a literal feast or stealing a helicopter.

Any LI after Tommy would pale in comparison. The writers will do what they will but … why even attempt to outdo this ... You simply can’t!

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

tbhx episode 4 (slight) spoilers //

I love the way that Lin Ling and Nice contrast each other as foils.

As heroes, Nice's appeal was that he was the pinnacle of perfection while Lin Ling's is that he's a regular person, a commoner and an underdog, trying to be a hero.

One prevails while the other spirals because Lin Ling was able to do what Nice never could: maintain his humanity. In a way, it all goes back to the first episode. Anyone can be a hero because it's not just about how many loyal fans you got or how perfect you are, but rather if you're willing to risk it all to save people.

Sometimes it means rescuing civilians from a villain, and other times its being there for the sake of your loved ones.

Lin Ling ditched the trust of his fans to save Moon, the one he cared about most, and he reached the top 10. Nice got swallowed by the expectations of his fans to point where he killed himself and left behind Wreck alone, the one who cared about him most.

It's just tragic that in order for Lin Ling to truly embody what it means to be a hero, a failure had to precede it.

[whimzycle]

you wanna know the fun thing that I noticed about Jack when I was rewatching rotg?

On both instances that Pitch was about to attack him, he froze up.

[pezinvests]

clinical trial spoilers because there is somewhat of a following now here on tumblr and i want to make my mark. long opinion post. if you're reading through the tag and haven't played, please play the game to the end first i beg of you

so obsessed with how limited our true knowledge is of lee. for what we all know lee has done this kind of thing before and how he just might be more dangerous than he seems. a man in his 20s who got his nursing license during the bush administration (2007-2008ish), ex-mormon/ex-christian/ex-catholic with a slightly strange upbringing and carries himself so seriously and does things so meticulously.

in the bedroom scene he says he just moved out a year ago into a house full of hand-me-downs and old stuff he has kept forever, followed with him saying "a lot of stuff in my life doesn't make sense."

man. that is by far the most vague yet perhaps suspicious thing you could say if you were in his shoes. of course, some have speculated this is just him having some form of autism (in which i welcome this theory and would make sense), but i do think he has just done this type of thing before.

of course, he has fantasized about dying in those hidden walls and has dreamt of studying heavily on orthopedia and pursuing this as his career path, this is canon. maybe in general has studied these kinds of ideas of murder, torture, etc. that relates to it as well.

however he was covering up everything so well by driving brandon's car in a lake. (and hopefully covering whatever tracks he made after driving into the ditch like footprints and maybe tiretracks of his own car to leave the scene??? he seemed to have thought so far ahead to bury his body anyway in there because no one will come looking so. there's also that animation from the dev themselves on twitter that show how angel & lee disposed of brandon. my god. it's so meticulous and careful)

he was also quick thinking on his feet getting a signal jammer to block angel's cellphone from pinging nearby towers. he was only so lucky that their phone died on the way to his house and probably was able to set up the cell jammer before he brought in groceries.

or worse yet, he already had a signal jammer with him. like he just had one already and he set that up really fast before he could even get a charger for angel. lee never mentioned the full circumstances of him having it and when he set it up. he just said he was lucky that angel's phone died on the way there. him being so vague as well as the game not telling us much on that front really sells it.

i get that we don't really see angel's day-to-day life outside of the clinic either (minus the home scenes where you see their art posts and texts on their phone) + it's an RPGMAKER game, can't be that detailed, so we don't usually see what happens in between those times anyway (masterful story technique i must say). but it really leans into the idea that whatever lee says, we really just have to take his word for it now especially with the amount of things he tried to hide.

looking at the bigger picture, yes, lee's actions are inexcusable and disgusting, who would trust someone like this afterwards? and that really rings true throughout the entire game's story. angel giving lee a third chance really is an act of mercy from a god. hell, them walking away on ending 1 was also merciful, especially at their expense if the authorities don't believe angel as to what happened.

so uhh. main takeaway? i love the way lee was written. i'm so glad homie went full send on his character being a little bit of a pathetic creep (lmao the cum-stained jacket being fully written in, really sold it for me) and on purpose him being very vague about his true nature. it plays on the idea that "when someone says who they are, believe them". we have the same amount of info angel has as the player and through it all? we just have to take lee's word for everything.

[legendary-cookies]

I finally found clear images of their designs, so I had to draw them

I also made some extra doodles both to not leave Fire out and to practice my Chinese again lmao

Please correct my Chinese if it's wrong!

Reference images under the cut:

(Source)

(Source)

Thank you random person who posted a review on the event

You're a real one

[imadhatt3r]

We really don't talk about the fact that Koujaku was raised as the son of a fucking YAKUZA LEADER enough. You KNOW he was forced into doing the most insane shit, and you KNOW he's like that stereotypical dad that randomly drops some lore about the horrific thing that was done to him in childhood and never elaborates.

He plays shogi with Aoba for some reason, and he has a crazy winning streak, so Aoba obviously asks "Damn, how are you so good at this?" and Koujaku casually replies "I was forced to play shogi with my father's buisness partners for money and he'd hit me if I lost" in the most casual tone ever, like this is how everyone was taught.

And it never ends with him. He just randomly remembers insane things from his childhood when he talks to Aoba and says them. "When I was 15 I was goaded into snorting coke at my father's buisness party"; "My father took me to a brothel on my 18th birthday"; "I was forced to cut off the finger of one of our subordinates when I was 14". He never says anything more.

And Aoba is, of course, is mortified every time. He tells Koujaku that this is crazy and his father was evil and none of this should've happened, and that he's always there to talk about anything he wants, but Koujaku doesn't understand why Aoba is so worried for him- it's the past, it doesn't bother him at all now (so he thinks). To him, it's all small potatoes when it comes to what happened in that period of that life, which, after all, included him being branded and attacking/killing his mother.

So he downplays it all, because he thinks it shouldn't bother him anymore- and you know, it doesn't, it really doesn't. He gets paralyzed for a second when he remembers and feels dread festering in the pit of his stomach, like he's once again a kid with no way out for a second, but it's nothing. It's nothing.

[aq2003]

has anyone gotten the idea that odysseus' storyline in hades 2 is a depiction/exploration of trauma over his SA and how he's blaming himself for things that were out of his control? because that's the impression i'm getting from what i've seen. he talks about "goddesses" as his "greatest weakness" and that "he's not one to say no to them"...

when mel invites him to the bath, he brings up mortals having different standards for intimacy than gods and how it usually has a more romantic/sexual connotation. she then asks if he's uncomfortable and he has a startled reaction and brings up circe and calypso again (but never actually by name)

(this isn't ship/romance bait btw. odysseus knew mel as a kid and they're stated in-game to have a sibling/uncle-niece relationship)

also he grew apart from penelope after his return, but the game makes a point of showing that his love for penelope and telemachus is what drove him on at all so that element of his character isn't brought into question

[swordy-da-goat]

Lotta info down there 💡

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