#scenario 1: they just... survive somehow

[snowysaur]

an oc named/cursed 'odysseus', whenever someone offhand mentions 'nobody' in conversation, they're compelled to perform the action. this causes a lot of problems support me on: patreon | kofi | redbubble

[domokunrainbowkinz]

shipping yhk not in a romantic or platonic way but a secret third way (⬛️⬛️)

[lokigodofaces]

May I suggest a third potential?

The formally brainwashed party specifically breaks rules/laws. Even things they don't really want to do. Could be wearing atrocious color combinations. Could be being needlessly rude to someone. Could be speeding. Running red lights. Stealing random crap. Breaking random crap. Getting into fights.

From this you get two options for the motive: are they refusing to follow rules again and trying to prove to themselves and others that they're free? Or are they desperate for order and for someone to control them that they start breaking rules and laws to try to get someone to tell them what to do/arrest them?

I think characters who have been brainwashed should have absolutely bat shit insane trauma responses about it. Because you can do so much with it, y'know? It's so versatile.

On one extreme end of the brainwashing trauma response spectrum, you have someone who has the worst impulse control you've ever seen, like this person is prone to spontaneous behavior like no one has ever been before. They would drive into oncoming traffic just to prove that they're in control of themselves.

On the complete opposite extreme end, you have someone who needs to micromanaged, down to the minute details. It doesn't matter that they're in control of themselves again, they need someone telling them what to do, borderline at all times. They can't function without it. You could think the word jump and this person would already be in the air.

Please is anyone picking up what I'm putting down. There's potential here I think. Like. In general.

[quarterlifekitty]

In honor of Lunar New Year, I decided to get freaky!

Please enjoy this celebration of the each animal zodiac with some Hybrid!AU scenarios. Lots of size kink, breeding kink, feral behavior, and more. I'm really on my nerd shit here. Really playing with my dolls rn. This is so utterly distant from the source material it's unreal. You've been warned. [part 1 of 2]

Barn Cat!Nikto x Rat!Reader

Nikto is a dutiful, prideful creature. A stray who domesticated himself to a farm, hunting their vermin in exchange for a place to call his own when he pleased. He’s caught a thousand little krysy like you, but you give him pause when he bears down on you. Something about the quiver to your tail, the nervous clench of your legs… It’s not how rats ought to act when under the paw of a cat. He’s inclined to keep you– curious about what else fear might make you do.

Chianina!Ghost x Vechur!Reader

You’re in adjacent pens, having travelled a long way– you’re show animals, the most exemplary in your breed. True to form, he’s gigantic and has a brilliant white coloring to his fur, and you’re, well… little. Constantly crowded around for onlookers to take pictures, the ox beside you flaring his nostrils when he sees you being overwhelmed and anxious, stamping to scare off the spectators. You’re almost infuriatingly diminutive to him. He doesn’t know how it’s possible, and if the abundance of ribbons on your gate is anything to go by– you’ll probably be paired up to somehow make an even smaller little calf. Maybe he’ll just have to take some steps to make sure he can see it for himself.

Flemish Giant!König x Netherlands Dwarf!Reader

You’re unceremoniously pushed onto the back lawn of the house. Your owner and his are good friends– and have recently become obsessed with the idea of having little baby bunnies to cuddle. Boy meets girl– can I make it any more obvious? You can, because they neglect to take into account your difference in breed. You’re terrified when you encounter him, and he doesn’t help matters when he catches you by the ankle as you try to dive under the porch to hide. But he doesn’t do anything bad when he’s caught you. Just holds you a little too tight, nuzzling, like you’re little more than a toy to him. Unfortunately for you, your owners consider it a successful playdate, keen to set more up regularly until the right season rolls around.

Tiger!Horangi x Housecat!Reader

You live on a plantation bordering forest, climbing in and out of the window by your favorite basking spot to explore. Being raised among humans, your survival instincts are a bit dull– you can’t tell that you’re being watched by a tiger. He’s never seen a little creature like you. You’re like him, but small. But you still very much smell like a female, so he’s more than content to stalk after you. He doesn’t really understand why your back bristles up when he roars. He’s used to females growling and swiping at him when they’re not interested, but you run off back to your window, shaking as you watch him from the walls of your little palace. He’ll try again tomorrow.

Dragon!Price x Fish Scale Gecko!Reader

There aren’t many dragons left in the world. Price, for one, hasn’t seen another since he was very young. He hasn’t seen much of anything in the past hundred years or so– hasn’t come down from on high. No reason to. The forest begins to return to the mountainside– having been leveled by his flame decades ago. With the trees come more creatures, including you. Scales and tail not unlike a dragon– though your size and tree-dwelling habits are decidedly un-dragonlike. With his mating season on the horizon, beggars can’t be choosers, but when he tries to grab you by the tail, he’s left holding a fistful of scales. It gets his blood running hot– he’s forgotten what a thrill it is to hunt. He might just be in love.

Reticulated Python Naga!Nikolai x Brahminy Blind Snake Naga!Reader

You have no idea as to the extent of Nikolai’s tail, as you can’t see it. All you know are the shadows he makes against the sunlight. You know that he eats strange things, things that don’t sound like eggs or larvae (what he’s eating are your predators, hoping to take advantage of a tiny, blind, defenseless thing out in the open). When he ponders about how he’s going to stretch you to fit his cock, to take his eggs– you can’t even begin to imagine what he’s talking about. Your mother made all of her eggs on her own, and so did your sisters– what does he need you for?

[quinny19]

Title: Sleeping my way to victory

Bakugo had never met anyone as infuriating as you.

You were quiet. You were lazy. You slept through class, slept through fights, and somehow, somehow still managed to be one of the strongest people in Class 1-A.

It didn’t make sense.

It wasn’t fair.

And worst of all? You never took him seriously.

Every time he challenged you, you yawned, stretched, and beat him without even trying. It was humiliating, and he swore on his future as the number one hero that one day, he’d wipe that smug, half-asleep look off your face.

Until then, he’d keep challenging you. Over and over.

Scenario 1: A Typical School Day (ft. Bakugo Losing His Mind)

Class 1-A’s morning routine was always chaotic.

Iida was lecturing someone about being on time. Uraraka and Mina were chatting about their favorite snacks. Midoriya was furiously scribbling in his notebook.

And you?

You were fast asleep at your desk.

Like always.

Head resting on your folded arms, steady breathing, completely unfazed by the noise around you.

Bakugo, sitting one seat away, twitched violently. "HOW the hell do you sleep through this shit?! It’s morning, dumbass, wake up!"

You made a vague noise of protest, cracking one eye open to look at him. "Mmm… too early."

"IT’S NOT TOO EARLY!"

Kirishima chuckled from behind Bakugo, nudging his shoulder. "Dude, you should be used to this by now."

Denki leaned over, grinning. "Yeah, man, it’s kinda cute how much you care."

Bakugo froze. "I DON’T CARE!"

"Ohhh, sure," Denki teased, wiggling his eyebrows. "That’s why you always try to wake them up, right?"

Kirishima smirked. "Yeah, what’s up with that, huh? You like watching them sleep or something?"

Bakugo turned bright red. "I—WHAT—SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Meanwhile, you had already dozed off again, completely missing the chaos you had caused.

Scenario 2: Another Challenge, Another Loss

"Oi, lazy-ass. Get up."

You groaned, rolling onto your side on the training field’s grass. "No."

"GET UP AND FIGHT ME!"

You sighed heavily, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. "Again?"

Bakugo growled, cracking his knuckles. "I swear, I’ll win this time."

You gave him a slow, amused blink. "Mmm. Didn’t you say that last time? And the time before that? And before that?"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!"

You yawned, stretching. "Fine. But if I win, you have to buy me lunch."

"LIKE HELL I—"

"You’re the one challenging me, Kacchan. It’s only fair."

He clenched his fists, then snarled, "Tch. Whatever."

The second Aizawa gave the signal, Bakugo launched himself forward, explosions propelling him toward you. His palm sparked, ready to finally land a hit���

And then—

You dodged.

Not just dodged—sidestepped without even looking, like you already knew where he was going to attack.

He gritted his teeth. "You—!"

Another explosion. Another effortless dodge.

And then, as if to mock him, you let out another yawn.

During the fight.

"Are you—ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SLEEPY RIGHT NOW?!"

"Mmm," you hummed, blinking lazily. "You move too much, Kacchan. You should try relaxing."

"RELAXING?!"

And then—before he could react—your quirk activated.

A sudden wave of pressure rippled across the battlefield, and before Bakugo knew it, he was airborne, sent flying backward by a controlled burst of your power.

He crashed into the dirt, groaning.

You rubbed your eyes, sighing. "Told you so."

Aizawa called the match. "Winner: (L/N)."

Bakugo sat up, seething. "You… lazy… bastard…"

You walked over and crouched beside him, offering a hand. "Guess you’re buying me lunch, huh?"

He slapped your hand away. "LIKE HELL I AM!"

From the sidelines, Denki and Kirishima snickered.

"Man, Bakugo, you get your ass kicked by (Y/N) a lot, huh?"

"Shut up!"

"Are you sure you’re not just doing this to spend time with them?" Denki smirked.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Scenario 3: The Simulation Training (Or, How You Slept Your Way to Victory)

U.A.’s latest training exercise was a massive simulation—designed to test endurance, battle strategy, and survival skills.

It was an all-out free-for-all.

Students had to eliminate robots, avoid hazards, and outlast each other in a controlled battlefield.

Bakugo was ready. He was determined to finally, finally beat you.

Except—

Twenty minutes in—

You were asleep.

Like, actually asleep.

Sitting on a rooftop, arms crossed, napping.

And somehow? Some-fucking-how—

You were still in first place.

Bakugo nearly had a stroke watching you take down an entire fleet of enemy bots while half-asleep. You barely moved, just flicked your fingers and redirected energy waves that erased everything in your path.

He was losing to someone who wasn’t even awake.

"OH, COME ON!"

At the end of the match, the rankings appeared on the screen:

1st Place – (L/N) (Y/N)

Bakugo stared at the scoreboard, trembling.

Denki patted his back. "Damn, dude. You lost to a sleeping person."

Kirishima grinned. "That’s gotta hurt."

Bakugo turned to you, absolutely fuming. "HOW THE HELL DID YOU EVEN WIN?!"

You blinked sleepily at him, rubbing your eyes. "Mmm… dunno. Maybe I dreamed of me winning?"

He twitched. "DREAMED?! "

You yawned again, giving him a lazy grin. "Guess you’re just not strong enough yet, Kacchan."

Bakugo’s face turned scarlet. "I SWEAR TO GOD—!"

Denki snickered. "Damn, (Y/N), you’re really good at making Bakugo mad."

Kirishima smirked. "Or flustered."

Bakugo choked. "I’M NOT FLUSTERED!"

You just shrugged, shoving your hands in your pockets. "Wake me up when you’re strong enough to win, Kacchan."

And with that, you walked off—completely ignoring the way Bakugo stood there, fists clenched, steam practically coming out of his ears.

Denki grinned. "Man… he’s so down bad for them."

Kirishima nodded. "Yup. Definitely."

Bakugo whirled around, furious. "*I AM NOT!"

Part 2:

part 3:

Part 4

[zecroswe]

Self replicating and self annihilating, Mage Viktor, his goals, and Jayvik.

I have a lot of thoughts when It comes to Arcane as a show and I love season 2 a lot. One thing the show that I have been thinking about is Mage!Viktor and his true goal. You may wonder what I mean with this, after all his goal seems quite clear, 'prevent the Glorious Evolution/the end of the world and in the process break the timeloop/cycle Viktor and Jayce are trapped within'. And yes that is true, It is his goal! But if It was the only purpose of his actions, wouldn't the AU timeline Ekko ends up in be enough?

After all, that timeline has no Hextech and no Hexcore. The Glorious Evolution cannot take place in this timeline, so why did that timeline not break the cycle? Well let's first establish the nature of the timeloop/cycle.

Jayce and Viktor seems to be within a unstable multidimensional bootstrap paradox loop/cycle. I say unstable because the butterfly effect is very prominent in the show, so a small variable can change things significantly.

We don't know if there is a 'Original' timeline that started the cycle, so It seems safe to assume that the cycle is a bootstrap paradox with no clear origin point, something that in turn causes Jayce and Viktors partnership and the invention of Hextech to also be a Paradox. In this cycle there also seems to exist certain events that will more or less always happen, but not necessarily in the same way, or in other words, constants and variables within the timelines.

One of those constants seem to be that Jayce will always attempt to invent Hextech.

So if the goal was just to prevent the Glorious Evolution, the simple way to achieve It would just be to stop Jayce from inventing Hextech, but Mage!Viktor doesn't do this, because he can't do It, It would go against the true purpose of actions.

After a lot of thought and discussions with my older sister sense the show ended (also being insane about Jayvik), we came to a conclusion. Mage!Viktors goal is not just to prevent the Glorious Evolution or save Runeterra.

His goal is to save Jayce

To find a timeline were Jayce survives, with or without Viktor.

The reason to stop the Glorious Evolution is not only because It is the end of humanity and a world of dreamless solitude, but because It is a world without Jayce in It.

Suddenly a lot of the hoops Mage!Viktor goes through makes a lot more sense and also why the AU timeline Ekko ends up in doesn't achieve Mage!Viktors goal.

Jayce is most likely not alive in that timeline. According to Amanda, Jayce was exiled due to Vi dying in the explosion.

And well, we know what Jayce was about to do in the Main timeline when he *Only* got expelled and his research was ordered to be disposed of. It is very likely that Jayce in the AU timeline went through with taking his own life and AU Viktor most likely wouldn't be there to interrupt the attempt.

With this in mind and other key events in the show, finding a timeline were Jayce survives is actually really difficult! It is literally more likely that Jayce dies somehow than him living a full life time, I am not kidding. The amount of fail states that exist for this is honestly insane, so let's go through them shall we?

I will go through a few key events as examples and use certain scenarios to explain the potential chain reactions. Think of It like a flowchart, but without the chart. I can't take all variables into account, but I will show of some key examples to hopefully make sense of my point.

Exhibit A: The Blizzard

This is were the timeline spaghetti starts and were there is already multiple ways Mage!Viktors plan can go wrong.

Scenario 1: Mage!Viktor doesn't interfere

In this scenario two things could most likely happen. Either A: Jayce and Ximena die in the blizzard, or B: Jayce somehow survives the blizzard but Ximena still dies.

version A: Jayce is dead, Fail-state 1

Version B: Jayce is alive, but this will most likely lead to Jayce being exiled from Piltover due to Ximena not being around to speak up during the trial, and I am concred for Jayces mental state without a support network, the butterfly effect will most likely result in Jayce being dead somehow. Fail-state 2

Scenario 2: Mage!Viktor saves Jayce and Ximena but gives Jayce a Non-Acceleration rune or no rune at all

There is only one result of this. Jayce and Ximena both survive the blizzard.

Jayce is alive, but without the Acceleration rune, Ekko won't be able to invent the Z-drive and might be trapped in a AU timeline and as a result Arcane Herald Viktor will succeed with the Glorious Evolution, killing Jayce, Fail-state 3

Exhibit B: The Robbery

There is a lot of variance here and a few fail-states, but most of the fail-states are linked to the trial.

Scenario 1: Jayce doesn't get robbed

In this scenario Jayce would still keep his research a secret and most likely would not meet Viktor because his room is no longer a crime scene. This could would either lead to A: Jayces experiments with the crystals goes wrong and he blows himself up, B: Jayce doesn't succeed and is still stuck in his research or C: Jayce still gets put on trial somehow for having illegal contraband.

Version A: Jayce is dead, Fail-state 4

Version B: Jayce has no one to ask for help with his research and according to what Jayce wrote in his journal, his grades at the academy are dropping and might be at risk of expulsion.

Considering what Jayce almost did when he got expelled....Yea i think It is safe to call this a fail-state. Fail-state 5

Version C: Jayce would be put on trial and the nature of his research would come into question. He would still probably be expelled from the academy due to the illegal nature of his research. The main diffrence is that Viktor might not be at the trial this time and not be inspired by Jayce. Meaning that Viktor would probably not seek Jayce out, meaning that Jayce probably would go through with his attempt uninterrupted. Fail-state 6

Scenario 2: Jayce gets robbed

Well we got a example of a fail-state in the show for this but it is still worth mentioning. A: One of the kids dies in the explosion or B: Jayce dies in the explosion.

Version A: As mentioned earlier, Vi or any of the other kids dying in the explosion leads to Jayce getting exiled. Fail-state 7

Version B: Jayce is dead. Fail-state 8

Exhibit C: The Hexcore

Won't go into too much detail here because It would take waaaay to long, but the Hexcore is basically a exponential fail-state here. Considering what the Hexcore can do and what Jayce does with It in the show, the Hexcore basically means that any scenario Viktor dies a potential fail-state. Because one could argue that if Viktor dies at any point when the Hexcore is invented, Jayce will likely use It to do necromancy on Viktor, putting everything on track for the Glorious Evolution, or fail to do necromancy instead do something else insane that may or may not get him killed. The Hexcore is a temporal mine of fail-states, one that cannot really be prevented fully because Hextech + Viktor = Hexcore gets invented, and as established, No Hextech = No Jayce and No Viktor = No Jayce. Fail-state 99+

It is impossible for Mage!Viktor to stop the cycle before the Hexcore due to all the fail-states mentioned above. The only chance he has is if Jayce someone stops Arcane Herald Viktor before the Glorious Evolution starts. The Hexcore needs to be properly disarmed, or else It metaphorically explodes and Jayce dies.

Conclusion:

Mage!Viktor and Viktor in general is just as codependent for Jayce as Jayce is for Viktor. Both of them are fully willing to bend all of reality for each other. They both doom and save each other over and over and over again, just to stay together. The only way this cycle breaks is if they both make It out alive or both of them die together (I think they live but I digress). Mage!Viktor probably would not predict Jayce to stay with Viktor, It was not a requirement for his goals after all, but Jayce would never abandon Viktor and Viktor would never abandon Jayce.

In a way, Jayce and Viktors bond is the anomaly, self replicating and self annihilating, the beautiful intersection between order and chaos. Viktor replicates the cycle by trying to save Jayce and Jayce keeps self annihilating through his attempts to reach Viktor, knowingly or not, by inventing Hextech. They are soulmates by choice, the universe is trying to separate them any chance It gets and yet they keep fighting just to be together, and I think that is beautiful!

TL;DR: Mage!Viktors primary motivation is to save Jayce and find a timeline where he doesn't die before or during the Glorious Evolution. This process is extremely complicated because the universe does not like Jayce Talis existing because according to the timloop/cycle paradox, his existence is a time-space anomaly. Jayce and Viktor are both insane and willing to break all laws of time and space to be with each other. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[postmoe]

Wise x

ok hear me out-

yandere, smutty, sharing, reader degradation

Scenario 1:

You're a solo agent who has relied on Phatheon - relied on Wise - for years. Being in such crippling debt is not ideal, the only way you can really pay off anything is through the hollows. You're just lucky to have such a doting Proxy.

It's scary fighting all those monsters, but, with such a handy companion, you know you're safe. Even so, it can get very embarrassing.

"Didn't you wear that underwear yesterday?"

"You really don't leave much to the imagination, do ya, (Y/n)?"

"I'll jump first, just make sure to land on my face, 'kay?"

You can try and retaliate, but, if you don't show up wearing a skirt or change inside the hollow, then he's just going to sit there and not lead you. Complaining and pushing him does nothing, he may as well just be disconnected.

At least, if you're ever being chased on the 'safe' side by other gangs or some criminal or public secs, you can hide safely in his bedroom. In his bed. Him in you.

Well, you have to thank him for being so kind, don't you? It's only polite.

Don't even think about asking other Proxys for help, he'll easily overshadow them or spread misinformation. Honestly, no one wants to get on Phatheon's bad side anyway.

Whether it's him or his Bangboo, you can bet he's going to be one annoying, clingy pervert.

Scenario 2

You're part of the Cunning Hares. You join thinking you're going to help make some cash to survive on the streets, only for Nicole to throw you to Wise as "Interest on their outstanding payment with Phatheon."

Cue you sitting between his legs while he's at his computer, soft cock just warming up in your mouth. Docile you is too meek to do anything about it, especially when your wrists are cuffed to the legs or arms of his chair.

If you want to talk you have to get his attention somehow, don't remove your mouth unless he explicitly says you can. Otherwise, a good spanking is in order.

Nicole ain't gonna bust you out, either. She'll be telling you to up the performance in hopes of getting even more shaved off the bill.

If you're lucky (not), Wise will invite Billy in for some fun. "How about it, let her grind on your face while she sucks my cock?"

All the eager to comply, you're soon letting the robot explore you while you actively please your employer's proxy with your mouth. The three of you sure make a cute trio.

It's rare you go on hunts with them, though if you do, you're usually stuck on supply duty. Can't risk you unable to 'work', yanno? Leave the fighting to the professionals, and you can stick with what you're good at!

It also makes for some fun moments between you, Billy and the Bangboo.

You just exist to be bullied, it seems.

... ... ...

Wise will make sure you're completely dependent on him. If you need money, food, a roof over your head then you better believe it's him you go to. In a world with Hollows, gangs, corrupted law, it's not that hard to 'fake' an accident if you went elsewhere.

He's not worried about you running around and leaving the store, as long as you know you to come back when you've got it out of your system. He's not above punishment and chaining you up.

Don't believe his calm and collected responses, just pay attention to his eyes and you're bound to notice what kind of emotion he's emitting.

[gachagon]

Do you suppose that the students' hypocrisies will become their downfall in later chapters? Like, if it would straight-up kill them somehow?

I wrote earlier that I believe their dishonesty is the thing tied to their Hypocrisy and that if they're not honest about the very simple fact that they don't trust one another, more deaths will occur.

I definitely believe that the veil of Hypocrisy mentioned in the chapter 1 title is the thing obscuring the characters common sense and reasoning, it's stopping them from being able to actually work together and figure out a way to escape.

Someone earlier pointed out to me how the motive that Tozu introduced never even factored into the murder, outside of Desmond's blackmail letter letting Eva know there might be something in his room she could use for her plan. The real reason Wolfgang died was because he had helped manufacture this false sense of peace and familiarity between the whole class when there is no trust or honesty between them. Wolfgang and the others were already participating in groupthink and ostracizing those who didn't fall in line by day 2 of being in Eden's Garden, which is a little wild when you compare them to the other Killing Game crews.

I do think that now that Wolfgang is gone that soon we will start to see more, and more of the students become more open about how they actually feel. Namely, I think Wenona will be the first to just outright say she didn't trust the others and that she was wrong to just follow behind whatever Wolfgang asked.

Wenona was the only one at the end of the trial who questioned Wolfgang bringing the knife with him for "protection".

I also think their survival depends entirely on whether or not they're honest about how they feel to end the rampant hypocrisy. It's obviously okay to be a hypocrite sometimes, but in this ONE extreme scenario, it is the thing that's holding them all back.

So the more hypocritical a character is, the more likely they are to end up dead in my opinion. The first step to getting out of a killing game is trust, and if there's no honesty there's no trust at all, and if they're all just pretending to trust one another that's just a heavy layer of hypocrisy that makes it even more difficult to trust anyone.

Hypocrisy also makes it harder for people to forgive transgressions, which was the case with Eva. She couldn't look past Diana's hypocrisy earlier so she framed her, she hated Wolfgang for being hypocritical purposefully and casting her out so she killed him. (granted there were definitely other factors to this incident but the hypocrisy and dishonesty played a large part anyways)

[naazaif327]

I love the little hints of Silver’s zeal and desire for glory. I feel like people are considering these grand evil conspiracy things when saying they get a bad vibe from him, but I think Brennan’s been very straightforward about his actual flaws, in large part his desire to capital-W Win even when it might get everyone killed.

Back at Abassin his troops are literally starving around him and the only reason he and his soldiers weren’t squished is because they seemed weak enough that the big guns of the opposing army decided they weren���t a big threat and left the grunts to wait them out. And yet when Suvi shows up it takes an actual persuasion check from her to convince him that the plan is to escape with their lives, because he wants to somehow take the whole town back even though they’re surrounded on all sides and would immediately get crushed in the highly unlikely scenario that they somehow win a direct fight.

And now with the horses scene, Suvi brings up a very great point that this supposed farmhouse the squirrels are talking about could be guarded by enemy soldiers, could get their cover blown, could be the last provisions of innocent townspeople that desperately need it for survival. And Silver’s immediate response is that if it Was the provisions of an enemy encampment they should still go despite the risk, not just to sneakily steal food but also to somehow liberate an entire town behind enemy lines in a fight with 30 starving soldiers who have no supplies.

He wants the guts and glory, and has to be talked down from unlikely to succeed plans, and it’s fascinating to see him and Suvi together and see why they attract each other. His behaviour reminds me of Suvi’s breakdown near the end of arc 1, and how despite the fact that she is clearly the way she is because of her upbringing in the Citadel, Steel still says that she’s not acting in a way that would be expected of her. Similarly, Silver’s official orders from the Citadel are to tactically retreat and regroup elsewhere for a large war effort, yet his Citadel upbringing is what’s instilled this desire to stay and fight without the manpower to do so.

[boxturret]

Voya-Nui: An Overview

Hello,

This will be somewhat similar to my 1/10th scale Mata Nui posts, discussing the floating island of Voya-Nui based upon recently revealed information, mainly dealing with its size and role in the initial story.

Warning, this post is embarrassingly long.

Any who have the misfortune of knowing me know I have a rather selective view of what constitutes Bionicle. Essentially I consider Bionicle to have run from 1998 to mid 2002. As a kid I was a die hard fan until 06, where a combination of the marketing and the sets just not being very good caused me to gradually lose interest until I just got one set in 07 and never again bought a Bionicle.

All this preamble is to say that for the longest time I never really knew all that much about Voya-Nui, apart from it being the namesake of a terrible game. Later on, as I got back in to the hobby I heard rumors, dark, twisted rumors. They spoke of a stick making the island fly underwater through a hole, that the island itself was ejected from the body of the robot and left a Voya-Nui sized hole in a continent. Just the ravings of a mad man, so I threw it in the bin along with everything in Bionicle after the Toa go in to the Bohrok hives in 02 and moved on with my life.

Fast forward to now, and Christian Faber starts releasing some development materials through a humanoid water fowl, and this very interesting image is among what's released

This image made everything click for me and I fell in love with Voya-Nui as a concept.

But I think before revealing the original intent, its important to explain the "canon" sequence of events surrounding the so called "Island of Doom"

ISLAND OF DOOM, A PRIMER

Okay so there's a big robot sleeping in an ocean, one day its heart pops and a chunk of land that was on top of the heart breaks out of its chest and starts floating in the ocean. The island, I must add, survived this event, as the hole it left is the same shape and size as the final island.

Now the island floats around for a bit, the volcanic crater on it eventually builds up a large land mass in the middle of the bay, the people on it (yes there were people on the island when it got ejected, and they survived the event) decide that this is the best place to build a city.

It turns out that wasn't the best place to build a city as the new land mass breaks off and somehow anchors it to the sea floor.

Eventually some guys show up and break the anchor cord and the island, inexplicably, sinks down under the water, and manages to go right back in to the hole it made and everything returns to normal.

In some blog post it was explained that there was a magic wand that fixed everything that was used at the same moment.

This is the canonical sequence of events.

More like island of dumb¹.

THE ORIGINAL CONCEPTS

Okay now that all that unpleasantness is out of the way, we can start with the actually interesting things.

There are so many details to cover here, I think the best way to organise them would be to present everything roughly chronologically.

The scenario is the same, a massive robot crash lands in a large ocean, its completely under the water outside of its face, upon which the larger island of Mata Nui forms.

From the beginning its very different, there's no large landmass over the heart (in fact the very idea of the robot itself being full of various domes with islands in them is very suspect but this post is already long enough). The heart is a reactor, and consists of a massive spherical cavity in the chest. Something occurs and the heart pops open, a small panel or valve on the perimeter of the reactor core's wall bursts out of the chest of the robot. Through this hole sea water begins to flood in-this is important!

The ejected panel floats, and some sort of system within it cools it down, causing the sea water to freeze, essentially turning it in to a massive iceberg. There's also mentions of it being magnetic, the final island is described as looking somewhat like a magnet run over a factory floor. It probably also attracted debris from the sea bed as it floated through the seas. As you can see in that diagram the core is filled with massive long cables and the island eventually gets anchored by a long cable, so that's possibly where that came from!

Over years the island grows and grows as it floats around the oceans, being buffeted around by the currents. Eventually part of it becomes unstable and breaks off, sinking to the ocean floor, and since a large cable was attached to both pieces, it anchors the island in place.

Now we get to the crucial part. In the canon depiction of events the most baffling thing is why does breaking the anchor rope make it sink? Now we come back to this image:

When the panel popped out it left a hole. Water is pouring back in to the hole, forming a giant whirlpool. The robot is so massive that even after all these years of constant flooding the cavity on the inside is still not even half full. Voya-Nui was caught in the whirlpool's strong currents when the island broke up. This impromptu anchor stopped it just as it was about be pulled in! Then the super strong currents from the whirlpool gave it the distinctive curved shape.

So now we know why destroying the cable holding it in place causes the floating island to sink: once untethered its free to be pulled in to the whirlpool! The island that formed around the panel would break off and the panel would basically be a giant plug and stop the flow of water flooding in to the reactor.

Figuring this all out was such a revelation, taking one of the most nonsensical sequences of events in the series and transforming it in to this completely logical scenario which, from the point of view of the characters involved, is still quite mysterious and oblique, but when looked at from the perspective of repairing this giant robot it makes perfect sense.

And we were robbed. Imagine the Mata Nui rising sequence of animations starting off with a whole island being pulled in to a whirlpool.

THE CORE

This is getting a bit beyond the main focus of the island, but I just want to talk about the core itself because there were a few interesting tidbits there as well. Its a very evocative setting which I feel suffered greatly and few of the interesting parts were conveyed well in the story.

The water streaming through the hole is described as having some sort of light emitting reaction to the part of the reactor its hitting, lighting the whole chamber. Steam from the reaction swirls upwards and vaporised materials from the heat of the reaction collect on the roof, forming massive stalactites that eventually fall, creating this jagged forest of stone needles within the massive pool of water, water which's temperature varies depending on how close it is to the reaction.

Really seems a shame that in the final story it was simplified down to "sky" and "swamp". Just imagine, this forest of stone, shrouded in fog, lit by this flickering unearthly light emanating from the centre. You have the added aspect of once Voya-Nui has returned to its rightful place the water fall would cease, leading to the light dwindling until the whole area is pitch black.

MISCELLANEOUS OTHER NOTES

One major feature of the island that was missing from the earlier ice and rock version is the massive lava crater, supposedly from the mask of life². I had been toying with the idea that the volcano formed the rest of the island around the panel, but with how much larger the island was it just didn't make sense, so the ice and magnetism really helped out there!

Its said that the ice formed as some sort of self defence mechanism, like an organ freezing itself to preserve itself in an emergency. Personally though I have this little idea that the panel was actually something like the cooling system for the reactor, and without it the reactor was going to over heat, but luckily it was kept just cool enough by the falling water. The cooling system, being linked somehow to the main robot, detects that the reactor was over heating and starts working over time to cool it, leading to it freezing the surrounding ocean and making itself in to a massive iceberg, but as it wasn't connected to the robot's core and nothing it did had any effect, it ends up overheating itself, causing the pool of lava on the top. But that's just a little fan idea.

Another one I have is that the island, when it was floating freely, may have passed next to Mata Nui, close enough to be sailed too, at some point far in the past. Explaining how there would be inhabitants on it despite it getting shot out of the robot like a bullet.

Also it would be remiss of me to not mention that even though the canon depiction of events makes no sense, the whirlpool is briefly seen in the 100% ending of the torture device Bionicle Heroes.

But this is much smaller, and seems to only have just opened up in the bay. Rather than being something to do with the hole it made it seems this is more about how the mask they were seeking went underwater.

SCALE!

Time to talk sizes!³

This drawing is especially useful here, as it shows all 3 major objects in question all relative to each other. Yes Voya-Nui is there, its the tiny little dot on the bottom right. So I simply took the height maps for Voya-Nui, used them to make a quick little model in the same fashion as my Mata Nui, and brought in my old GSR model. I scaled them all to the Mata Nui from my last posts, and guess what! It all lines up perfectly.

The Voya-Nui Model is the exact right size it should be, according to this map:

And what was more impressive, was that the GSR turned out to be pretty much bang on with this even older concept art:

Scaling the GSR was a more bit awkward, as the final design is more gangly compared to this drawing, but lining up the torsos worked really well!

And now let us visit the 1/10th scale Mata Nui and meet Geroge. A new island has floated up off Ta-Wahi beach and he want's to explore a bit!

Excuse the monochrome island, the height maps I'm using are actually quite different from the final island.

There is a height map more accurate to the final island, but that one didn't have an underside. The little islets in the bay were also neat.

The large lava lake in the centre is roughly 250 metres across. Its nothing compared to Mata Nui's caldera, but its still very huge when you get down to the ground level.

The panel that forms the centre of the island is massive as well.

Approximately 550m wide, and 900m tall. Just think of the massive reactor core this thing popped out of!

Seeing it separate from the island really puts it in perspective.

Imagine this thing shooting out of the robot's chest like a bullet.

I'll just quickly mention, earlier on I posted that map of all the internal islands. If you use the size of metru nui on there you can scale Voya-Nui appropriately, and you end up with this.

Its less a small panel popping out of the heart and more the scene from Alien at this point.

CONCLUSION

This has been quite a rambly post, but there was just so much information to cover. I left out a lot of details. This whole thing just makes me very excited, sorry.

I just think its such a beautifully elegant scenario that really adds a lot to the setting and story, rather than just having yet another new island, but this time the island is mean. I find it quite interesting how everything would have sorted itself out, if not for the island breaking in half. There's no Machiavellian plots, no scheming, no betrayal, just an unfortunate occurrence that makes a bad situation worse, and everyone has to work to fix it. It was utterly butchered in the final story. It makes me quite sad for what could have been. Just picture it, this floating island getting pulled towards a massive whirlpool, the outer island breaking off as it spirals deep down underwater until this long, tarnished metal plug is revealed to have been at the centre. With a huge impact it closes up the hole, fitting back perfectly where it came from, managing to avert the disaster of the flood waters growing ever higher inside the core of this robot.

But in any case, really the important take away is, Voya-Nui is just a rip off of Noah's Island when you get down to it.

I'll leave you with a photograph of George waving hello to his large friend.

Have a nice day/night[delete whichever is inappropriate]!

¹-You know its true. ²-Not to be confused with the Mask o' Flight, the film staring a swarm of Tahnok. ³-Please note, I am using 1 kio = .1 km as per my previous posts, if this offends you simply multiply every number in this post by 43.75966487787¾⁴ ⁴-Yes even this one.

While I was working on this I made some more revelations about the core which will probably need its own post. ;_; This thing already took 3 days to make....

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 9/1

Anonymous asked: has sally been introduced to cursed tavros yet?

[ cursed tavros jumpscare :D ]

Cursed indeed - but mind you, I don't think I could do much better. My handcraft skills are nonexistent!

Anonymous asked: ol tavvy is down with the clown ;o) Anonymous asked: Please, if you will, imagine if when Vriska kissed Tavros, he told her that he was already dating Gamzee.

Heh. I really do think Gamzee x Tavros could have worked out, at least until Gamzee lost his shit. Hell, even if Gamzee did lose his shit, he'd probably still be less of a threat to Tavros than Vriska was.

Anonymous asked: Did you notice Gamzee referenced Earth in his rap? ("6 trillion hemos all up on one rock bleeding as equals") How do you think he learned about it? Some weird pre-game precognition or just his stoned mind being accidentally right?

This isn't necessarily a reference to Earth - but it wouldn't surprise me if it was, because Gamzee's cult seems fully aware of the existence of Earth.

The 'paradise planet' referenced in Gamzee's intro is stated to not exist yet, which is exactly how the narration refereed to Earth in Hivebent's intro. I believe that the 'rowdy minstrels' he's talking about are literally ICP, although he clearly isn't aware of that fact.

@wizardlyghost asked:

A sentiment shared by Eggman, every Space Player, and the villain of Muppets Most Wanted.

Anonymous asked: Now that you've passed where fedorafreak's gray, serviceable hand-held computing device's battery has died, you might appreciate the following short piece of fan art: www tumblr com/vastderp-placeholder/7741061457/savior-of-the-texting-world-rise-up

The fucking implication that the phone is the Player in this scenario is obliterating me.

Also, its God Tier form has wings. Was it a troll all along, or are wings a symbol of divine apotheosis in phone culture, too?

@clueless-rarito asked: Heeey paranatural reference! Hell yeah!

Is anyone else totally stoked to see Eightfold again? I know I am!

Anonymous asked: bilious sick 😭

English's trick made our Bilious sick. :(

Anonymous asked: One of, if not my absolute favorite, quotes/moments in Homestuck is Karkat’s speech to Jade about his failed frog breeding here. Just such a wonderfully tragic moment that stuck with me since the first time I read it.

In a comic chock-full of great lines, that last one might just be the best so far. This was one of the last scenes before Act 5's true finale, and it was an excellent pick.

@drakethedeep asked: One theory I've heard about the Denizen's Choice that tend to headcanon, Is that the choice is to be happy/free or to matter. That much as how God-tiers only grants survival by never having an impact, the denizens have thier playes coose between seeking their happiness and survival, or to struggle to achieve things that while objevtivly monumental, might not be worth the sacrifices needed to achieve it. I like this theory because of how it themes to fit the themes of Sburb.

I really like the space you're playing in, but I'm not so sure if all the Choices we've seen would necessarily fit this interpretation. After all, Davesprite implicitly chose the 'survival' option when he first met Hephaestus, and he's not exactly a happy camper. He didn't end up particularly free, either, since he was almost immediately bound to a Sprite, and later to the Battlefield.

I guess you could say he 'mattered', because he is he reason the Alpha Timeline exists the way it does - but, technically, everyone's actions contribute to the Alpha Timeline being the way it is. I definitely think there's something to this theory.

Anonymous asked: Without the Door to actually enter the universe, all you've done is make a really big frog.

I guess, when you think about it, there's not really anything they can do with their universe without that door. I suppose they could just fly towards their frog and hope for the best, but somehow, I don't think that'll achieve much.

@morganwick asked: Of course, even though he wasn't fooled by Gamzee using Terezi's "voice", Karkat still showed up on the roof anyway. Perhaps he decided he couldn't take the risk that Terezi was actually there and Gamzee might catch her unawares.

Gamzee's been having a lot of fun 'impersonating' Terezi lately. Just like before, I don't think he ever intended to fool Karkat with his transparent ruse - he just wanted to unsettle the guy. It worked.

@morganwick asked: If Typheus is the mailman, does that make him PM's favorite Denizen?

Maybe it makes him the head of her mail service!

We never saw any other mail Carapacians, and I kind of love the idea that they were operating out of a Denizen's Palace the whole time.

@bladekindeyewear asked: You said: "Mind you, I don’t know if it’s necessarily always a good or heroic thing to allow a Sburb Player full agency over their actions, nor is it necessarily a bad thing to restrict them, in certain cases." Oh I'm completely with you there. In fact, you might DEFINE Heroism as denying agency to those who would do ill, in part. This would make both "Heroic" and "Just" deaths result from trying to stamp your own intentions upon reality, halted by others. Neutrality would be ineffectual.

That's certainly part of heroism - but to me, it's not even close to all of it. A firefighter, for example, is heroic in ways which don't involve another person, as their only real 'opponent' is nature itself.

I personally define heroism as the will to do good, in situations where doing good requires bravery. 'Good', of course, is a fairly slippery concept, though, so that definition is just as ambiguous as any other.

Anonymous asked: Doctor Who anon here. Doctor Who has no canon for purely practical reasons. It's so massive - there's the show, but there's also the Big Finish audio dramas, the DW magazine comics, the Radio Times comics, the IDW comics, the Titan comics, the Virgin novels and short stories, the BBC novels and short stories. And no one owns all of it. The BBC don't even own the daleks or K9. And each piece of media will freely contradict others. No one has the right to decide what's canon, so they just don't. It's also because the people running Doctor Who the show have a deep respect for the extended media. In the 90s, it was the non-BBC licensed, fan-led projects which kept DW alive. Russell T. Davies, first showrunner of the modern era, wrote Virgin novels, so did Mark Gatiss. Nick Briggs, modern voice of the daleks, is the head of Big Finish. So they didn't want to decanonise that stuff, but they also don't want to be beholden to it when writing their own stories. So the fanbase tends to operate on tiers of canon. Basically something can be assumed to still be part of the show's continiuity until the show contradicts it. Big Finish would generally be considered the next highest "tier" of canon. The Doctor Who magazine comics probably wouldn't contradict the show, but the show could contradict them any time. The old books and comics are dubious. But that's all just fan categorisation. Officially, nothing has been deemed canon or not. In fact, rather amusingly, the only thing that has been explicitly deemed "canon" by the BBC is the Doctor Who: Battles in Time card game. That's officially canon. Nothing else. Not even the show.

I think I've heard of 'canon tiers' before, in the context of the Star Wars fandom. I think it's a good way to delineate how 'true' a given event is considered to be, especially in a large, complex shared universe - but at the same time, being consciously aware of these tiers might hurt your investment a little.

You'll never be able to escape the fact that your favourite stories or characters are effectively fanfiction, at least from the perspective of higher tiers. They have no influence whatsoever over the more ''real'' part of the story, unless they're promoted its tier some day.

I do like the idea that all the other Doctor Who stories are fanfiction of the card game, though. That's definitely going to be my canon, from now on.

@morganwick asked: Well, back in Act 4 you said that John and Dave would make S-Tier if and when "John [threw] aside his passivity to do something heroic, and…Dave [would] finally drop that poker face and do something sincere", which is why I pegged the suicide mission conversation as when Dave might make the jump.

I think, on reflection, it's almost always a heartwarming event that catapults a character into S-Tier.

In my opinion, that's one of the most impressive feelings that a work of fiction can inspire in you, mostly because it's really hard to get you invested enough for it to hit properly. Homestuck's pulled it off an extremely impressive number of times already, and we're only halfway finished!

Anonymous asked: It is so fucking awesome to see a new reader in the year of our lord 2024 2025 who's actually like. Engaging with the themes of the story. Lotta people just see it for the memes or the "totally random" plot but some of the shit you're reading into what's happening is like. Eerily similar to actual Hussie commentary. Gold star for reading comprehension, you do not piss on the poor Anonymous asked: Your homestuck liveblogs are lovely and insightful and make me remember a lot of details of the comic that have been lost to time. You will comment on something and I'll go "oh huh homestuck was better than I remember it being." Thank you <3 @honestlyvan asked: Truly your liveblog is the best kind of re-experiencing the experience. I'm surprised at how much your thoughts and reads parallel mine, it's kind of fun to see someone else's deductions go along the same routes. I can't wait for you to get to the Truly Horseshit portions of the plot (and I say this lovingly, I think you're in a great position to give us a real raw read on them without having to deal with the various Mega and Gigapauses) Also -- you keep pointing out a shitton of foreshadowing I didn't catch until my second readthrough. I can't wait for you to get to the bits where it applies and be like "son of a bitch", I think where I'm in the reading of your backlog and where you're in the reading of the comic you've passed at least one of those bits already :D @worldweary-walker asked: The liveblog is so cool. It's a lot of fun seeing you put things together, and the posts where you come up with three completely right conclusions and two wrong ones always amaze me. Impressive work!

Thank you so much! I know I say this a lot, but a lot of these sentiments are exactly why I like reading liveblogs myself. I'm just really glad I can do that for others.

I can totally understand why someone would just read Homestuck for the memes. I wouldn't have been nearly as analytical if I'd read it as a schoolgirl, and a lot of the 2010s fandom were even younger than that!

@divineerdrick asked: Now we have multiple explanations for what is wrong with the kid's session. Vriska has made herself responsible for Jack's rise to power, Karkat believes he gave Bilious Slick cancer, and Gamzee created the harlequin doll that would torment John and prompt Jack's rage-fueled act of rebellion. You've already suspected that Doc Scratch probably has multiple plans in play at once, and we can see that here. It seems he insured, through multiple causes, the kid's universe has always been doomed. Gamzee, as usual, seems to be the wild card. But he's acting out during a crisis of faith, a faith tied to Alternia's twisted social structure, which Scratch seems to have had a hand in. So despite how random Gamzee's actions appear to be, it's possible Scratch managed to seed even this seemingly unpredictable action.

I think Scratch probably did 90% of the work in making Gamzee go ballistic, from multiple directions at once. Looking back, it's shocking just how much of the comic was Scratch's doing.

'Caused' is a loaded phrase in Paradox Space, but what's happening is definitely what he planned.

Anonymous asked: It kind of seems like Rage as an aspect is evil, no? Do you think an aspect can carry an inherent moral weight? If not, what are the neutral meanings of aspects that seem to, and if so, how do you feel about it?

Personally, I doubt that any of the Aspects have a moral alignment - not even the scary-sounding ones. After all, you can Rage against tyranny, or bring Doom to a corrupt institution. Yeah, Gamzee is using Rage for evil, but his perception-shielding could just as easily be used to hide an innocent bystander from an aggressive Underling.

I think that more or less any ability can be used for both good or evil. The only real exception would be a power that's deliberately designed to be irreparably, comically evil. 'The ability to torture everyone for all eternity' would be one of those powers, but Homestuck's Aspect abilities would not.

@worldweary-walker asked: have you read Kill Six Billion Demons?

I have not! It's on my long and constantly growing list, which means I'll get to it between now and, uh, 2096.

Anonymous asked: re: the ancestors' story. WHAT IF WE ALL JUST CRIED like. the sheer transition from inane antics to the. that @corporalotherbear asked: There's a very popular fanmade version of the sufferer's final sermon and following vast expletive, voiced by a man that would go on to be the english voice actor of Izuku Midoriya. I can't add links to asks but if it's spoiler-friendly then your vetter can probably send you "The sufferer's last sermon"

Oh, I kind of love this interpretation. It really sells just how unwinnable the Sufferer's rebellion truly was.

@wolygan asked: I forgot how she is so happy when she is running away. This Girl is still able to believe that good is coming. Except Lord English won't let that happen, no matter what. @wickedsick asked:

That was possibly the fastest you have ever been proven wrong about something

That poor girl. She suffered just as much as the Signless did, but she'll only be known to Alternia as a monster - and unlike Troll Jesus, no one will ever mourn the Handmaid.

Anonymous asked: the sufferer cult is definitely independent of the juggalos! the use of the word sectarian to describe the war waged against the signless's beliefs is not a coincidence, imo. (we also see that highblood is most often used to specifically describe purplebloods). they're just two different religious organizations. given that the grand highblood was a juggalo man/subjuggulator and occupied significant power it seems to suggest that clown religion was a Big Thing among the purplebloods, which would not truck with the signless' cult being so small and secretive. there's one theory that part of the reason the neophyte was sent on mindfang's case was bc the GHB (given that mindfang mentions the neophyte was sent by subjuggulators specifically) knew she was a secret sufferite and wanted to get rid of her. mindfang does talk about how it seemed like they were giving up on her case entirely by sending just one neophyte (granted this is partially bc she underestimated her). it would track that while they definitely wanted to get rid of mindfang, they also were fine with the neophyte dying. this also follows with the fact that after mindfang gets out of that trial, she manages to persist without being caught right up until her death at the hands of the summoner. were they happy that the neophyte got killed, enough to stop putting much effort into mindfang's capture?

I think the Highbloods probably did set Redglare up. I speculated that it was possible when we first heard about her death, and that was before we knew she was a Signless cultist.

Also: lmao, do you remember when Hussie told us that the Juggalo Cult was 'obscure'? That's starting to feel like something that was quietly retconned offscreen.

@clueless-rarito asked: In case you like to know, "Dolorosa" is meant to evoke the spanish word "Doloroso" meaning painful but changing the O for an A turn it feminine.

Dolorosa; in other words, the woman in pain.

Fucking hell, she deserved so much better. It's amazing how much bleaker the Ancestors' lives were, compared to their descendants. Modern Alternia is bad enough as it is!

@lon-kasi asked: Fanwork recommendation: The same guy who did the EoA5 reanimation just did Intermission 2 as well. Like, less than six hours before I sent this ask. It's incredible.

Yessss! These are amazing.

My favorite parts are all the extra touches that weren't in the original animation, such as Rose beginning to realizing how badly she was tricked - or Jade, unused to her own powers, almost knocking John on his ass while she teleports him.

Anonymous asked: Now that you've seen what a Reckoning on Skaia looks like, you can see why Karkat was rushing Kanaya to get their frog done. Despite jumping the gun, skipping the lore elements and just killing their way to the end, the troll kids never had enough time. Especially since, now that I'm thinking about it, if it wasn't the Reckoning then it probably would have been Jack as the "time's up, now turn in your work" event. @marinerofthestars asked: With the revelation that Alternia was built to and ended up speedrunning an Sgrub/Sburb session to catastrophic effect (great job reading this far, btw), how long would you expect a “standard” session to take?

We've got two different asks here - one saying that normal sessions are meant to be shorter than Hivebent's, and the other saying they're meant to be longer.

I honestly don't know which I believe. It feels unrealistic for a Sburb session to take months, but Scratch really did seem to be saying that the trolls were extremely effective Players, implying most sessions take longer to beat. Maybe the reboot session will clue us in a little?

Anonymous asked: “How do you expect to out run me, When I Am Already Here.” Is such a hard line, and it’s completely missable in the alt text for the site banner. I know a lot of people missed it when these panels dropped. I remember HS being considered super unique because of how much the comic messes with formatting things like that.

I was super close to missing some of that scene, even though I'd already been warned about the alt text. There was just so much going on at the time, I almost didn't think to look at the banners.

@royalvorpal asked: "I thought words would be exchanged" How do you expect them to talk when they are in person?

pffffffffffffffffffft

Alright, that one fucking got me.

@bladekindeyewear asked: "But no, apparently not, because it took Karkat zero words and sixty seconds to completely shut Gamzee down. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s incredibly impressive - but what did he actually do?" If you look back IN RETROSPECT at some of what Gamzee has been telling Karkat, it almost looks like pale flirting, like he was actually WANTING him to do this behind his threats. p3361: "FTC: i wonder if you can all be at with me in time and make me get my reconsider on?" Anonymous asked: You may not like it, but this is what peak moirallegience looks like.

Yeah, this really does make that exchange read as a little flirtatious.

Still, is this really how a moirallegiance is meant to work? Are moirails really expected to risk their lives to halt their prospective partner's rampage? This is starting to sound more dangerous than a kismesissitude!

@bladekindeyewear asked: I'm not sure how well it applies to the revised Homestuck website and it's probably impossible in the collection, but you could view any past/future page in any CSS format the site gave you with a keyword, like the black-on-green Doc Scratch format. So when Andrew did the "SNOP" to SBAHJ-mode, he was intentionally giving us a tool to view the ENTIRE SITE in SBAHJ mode.

There's a 'theme override' button, but I need to finish Homestuck to unlock it. I guess the comic's theme will change in more spoilery ways, later on.

Anonymous asked: Dolorosa/Mindfang is the true kicker of the “vriska keeps ending up in mirror relationships to her ancestor” belief, bc its the one where there is NO way vriska could know that shes in a mirror relationship. Eridan- orphaner dualscar and mindfangs romance was in the journal. Tavros- she knew about the summoner. But while there are hints to the dolorosas identity- sharp teeth, lower blood color, and a very vague if you stretch it hint about horn shape- no way vriska could have put those pieces together!!!

Man, it's still so fucked up that the Dolorosa went out like that. I still think it's at least remotely possible that she revived as a vampire, but I'm not gonna kid myself - her story is over. We're not gonna see her.

Anonymous asked: You've mentioned "ratfic" and something called "the Methods" before, is that something you've read?

If I could write an essay about Steven Moffat, I could write an entire thesis about Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - but it'd be radioactively critical, and it feels mean-spirited to just post a rant about something unprompted.

If people want my thoughts in detail, I might stick them on the sideblog later - but for now, I'll just tell you that if it wasn't for that fic, XAE A-12 Musk would never have been born. Not a joke.

Anonymous asked: i love the complete about face on gamzee lol. "clearly the fact that he's gone nuts is something wrong with the timeline" gamzee is revealed to be responsible for lil cal "actually fuck this guy"

If we do ever recover the original Gamzee, it's going to really suck for him to face his friends. After everything he's done, will anyone ever really trust him again?

@elkian asked: Love the Exiles. So glad nothing bad happens to them, ever, (I assume the pause before the third s175 post is bc you, like me, took a break to cry over AR hesitating to kill his friend :,(

I was so bummed, guys. Carapacians don't have ghosts, I assume - so the Exiles, sans PM and maybe WV, are gone forever.

The Red Miles will probably have obliterated their corpses, so we can't even prototype most of them - but I'm holding out hope for Waywardsprite.

Anonymous asked: heh, you aren't alone in preferring god tier dave without his hood. i was around for when cascade dropped and wasnt able to watch it straight away due to the various troubles, but one of the first things i heard about it was people talking about how stupid they thought dave's hood looked.

I know, right? Like, yeah, it definitely says 'knight', but Dave's got great hair, and it feels like a shame to cover it.

@bladekindeyewear asked: "PCG: SHE WAS CONSTANTLY FIXING MY FUCKUPS. PCG: ROBOTS FROM THE FUTURE ALWAYS COMING BACK TO TELL ME HOW SOME HASTY SHIT I DID WITH FROG BREEDING OR WHATEVER WOULD MAKE IT BE IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN. PCG: MY OWN PERSONAL MISTAKES PROBABLY ACCOUNTED FOR MORE DOOMED ARADIABOTS THAN ANYTHING ELSE." Now that the Tumor's revealed for the precision device it was, it's also clear that Aradia, likely following the Horrorterrors' instructions, FORCED them to breed the frog JUST RIGHT to create the Sun.

Yeah, the existence of that precision device really fucking threw me. Whatever it did, the frog cancer probably was deliberately engineered to cause it - and I think it was engineered by Scratch, rather than the Horrorterrors. He was also talking to Aradia during the session, and this event was key to his plan.

Anonymous asked: (And one more ask from the person without a tumblr. -DJ) The thing is, Scratch could have just said "you must create the Green Sun, it is essential for the existence of the multiverse, not doing so will create a paradox". But either he chose to trick them, by only but saying "true words", just for fun…or there is some reason telling them about their true mission wouldn't work - RM

Either is possible, and it's pretty much impossible to say. That said, the Vast Glub is proof that he does just like messing with people, so I'm going with the former answer.

Anonymous asked: (forwarding another ask from the person without a Tumblr account -DJ) Do you think there are interesting parallels between Scratch and Tarquin from OOTS? - RM

Well, they are both meta-aware villains with extremely wide-reaching plans, and they're both pretty weird about women. Hopefully this means that Scratch's much cooler son will kick his ass in a later Act.

@bladekindeyewear asked: One tiny cute detail in Cascade I love is how when the Green Sun lights up in the distance for the trolls, Terezi tries to point at it, and Karkat gently takes her arm and re-points it in the right direction. XD

Shoulda brought the Smelloscope, Terezi!

Anonymous asked: The first time i read homestuck my shit bugged out and I literally just missed the entire scrapbook section and cascade. The SECOND time I read homestuck cascade gave me such a neuron firing high that only harrow the ninth has ever gotten close to

That's exactly how to describe it. Cascade blasted my neurons, in exactly the same way that part of Harrow the Ninth did.

@rwbypro asked: Ngl one of my favorite parts about homestuck is the fact that Doc Scratch Won, like he got Exactly what he wanted, and he played everyone like fiddles, one of my all time favorite villains in anything!

He did, the bastard! Scratch managed to pull it off without a hitch.

These are the exact kind of convoluted masterstrokes you want to see in a time-travel story, and I think English's machinations will only grow more intricate, going forward.

@sanctferum asked: The juggalo cult believes in a pair of mirthful messiahs rather than just the one, so if English is one of the messiahs, that's only half the equation. Presumably, the other messiah would be Scratch.

That works! I originally thought that the Messiahs were the two members of ICP, but let's be honest, they still could be. I absolutely would not put it past this comic to reveal that Lord English was Shaggy 2 Dope the whole time.

@sanctferum asked: So now that you've seen Lord English's true appearance: he's got a peg leg, and that peg leg is a golden cuestick, filling in the last missing piece of the Felt analogy - the one that moves the billiards around in the first place. For good measure, English's peg leg, single golden tooth and his garish coat give him a stereotypical pimp appearance, which is fitting given his treatment of his female servants so far (not to mention Scratch's own treatment of both the Handmaid and whichever female player he is manipulating at any given moment. He even explicitly uses the word grooming to describe raising Handmaid!). If there was ever a pimp for Dave to lock in his own crib while dropping it like it was hot, this would be him.

Ayy, you're right! I've been waiting for the Felt's cuestick since the Intermission days!

You're also right about the comic's villains. Scratch and English aren't just screwing over female Players - they've also been fucking with Mindfang, the Handmaid, the Condesce, and even Snowman. It's absolutely a pattern.

These guys aren't just cosmic villains, they're misogynist cosmic villains. Mundane evil and supernatural evil, all together in one convenient package of shit.

Anonymous asked: Now that we've gotten past this point in the comic- I just wanted to say I forgot Expatri8 was ever a name used to refer to Darkleer- mainly because all I ever see people refering to him as is Darkleer. And at first it kinda threw me for a loop when you called him that even though it's the only name you knew for him- Anyhows- You probably noted this at some point but only upper middle class to high blood colors seem to have name names, with some exceptions. Like, they're weird, but Mindfang, Redglare, and Dualscar are all fesable names. Meanwhile the lower bloods just have titles.

It is absolutely in character of Alternia not to allow lowbloods to have names.

Anonymous asked: Just read your liveblog over the last two days. I adore your analysis! I second that one person’s reccomendation of In Stars And Time. Also I reccomend the Blue Lips homestuck video, it’s lived in my head for ages. I’m 99% sure it’s safe to watch now? It’s about the events of murderstuck and I don’t THINK it references anything you don’t know. Anyhoot! I know you mentioned vriska being like Azula when you first started getting to know her. Now that you’re as far as you are, I’d like to argue… Vriska is more like Zuko, in a way? Like. The way she wants to wipe things clean, the way he wants to restore his honor. The way they both have a “parent” that leads them to how things are, and for a while they cling to that as “right” and how things should be… One time I saw a post that Vriska is girl Zuko and Eridan is boy Azula and all the comments were arguing that no, vriska is Azula, but lowkey that post changed my brain chemistry and idk why people were SO vehemently against changing the genders of the characters in the comparison

I think Vriska works well as girl Zuko. You're right - they both started off under the thumb of an abusive parent, and they both try to 'fix' their past mistakes without understanding the wider context behind why they made them. Now, does this mean Vriska will also be getting a kickass redemption arc, which turns her into one of the comic's most straightforwardly heroic characters? Possibly, but I ain't holding my breath.

It's a little harder for me to see the second comparison, though. Like her brother, Azula was made into what she is by her horrible father, whereas Eridan became what he is on his own, with some assistance from Alternian culture.

Perhaps there are layers here that I'm just not seeing. I haven't read the Avatar sequel comics yet, so they might do more with Azula's character that I don't know about.

@mrjocrafter asked: I was trying to think about what the characters' moon alignment means in terms of their characterization, thought "Prospit dreamers are relatively passive while Derse dreamers are relatively active", then realized that's only true for the humans, the Post-Scratch Trolls' 6 Prospit dreamers (excluding Sollux, as his 'official' alignment, according to the Extended Zodiac, is Derse) are the more active characters. Then I realized that on Earth darkness and dark-associated characters are edgy and countercultural, while on Alternia light and light-associated characters are countercultural instead! Goddamn this comic just keeps coming back for more themes Also, I know you've compared Taylor to Vriska in the past, but she really strikes me as more of a Terezi. Beyond the surface level stuff (like going blind and then relying on a supernatural sense), Taylor, like Terezi has a strong moral compass but will twist it into pretzels to do the most horrific shit and there's a 50/50 chance she even regrets it afterwards. Meanwhile, Amy, who I think makes a much better Vriska, does her atrocities either under manipulation (like Vriska) or just does it without thinking about it and feels bad about it later (hey, also like Vriska). Also, Taylor Hebert and Amelia Dallon are coincidentally both valid troll names.

Yup! Which means Kanaya is a troll goth, which is still amazing.

And... hmm, I'm not sure whether I'd call Dave active or passive. He certainly acts more on his own initiative than John, but he also spends a lot of time getting bossed around by Terezi. He's kind of in the middle, really.

I do think Terezi's reframing of her violence as 'justice' is very Taylor-coded - and Amy is absolutely a Vriska, if we're working off the 'female, controversial, and morally ambiguous' definition given by a previous asker. Plus, well...

...yeah. And let's not even talk about Ward. (Because I haven't read it.)

Really, all these characters are multifaceted, and you can draw many different parallels in many different directions. If I had the time, I could probably draw lines from each of the trolls to a different cape in the Wormverse - but for now, we must continue!

@morganwick asked: Bec's influence on Jack is so strong that not only is he reduced to following Jade around like a puppy, he kills CD for completing the mission he gave him and leaves Jade, one of the players he's supposed to be killing, on her quest bed, the nature of which he didn't seem to know about when it came to John. Bec = absolute king.

Bec is a king.

It really does seem like his influence over Jack is increasing as time passes. Is Davesprite going to get more birdlike, as well? Or is Bec just a special case because he's a First Guardian?

Anonymous asked: oh my god you really just cleaned the board with the last minute Dave+Rose quest slab guess??? Like. You were going on about other things and then you just casually mention "oh I guess this could happen too" like okay!!! Seer!!!!

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that one. I was just thinking about how Aradia might help the Derse kids, once she'd met them at the Sun, and then it hit me: she's been in exactly the same situation, in exactly the same place, because of exactly the same sun!

Anonymous asked: dogtier IS in fact what the entire fandom calls her, if you came up with that yourself congrats on the authentic 2011 homestuck experience, move over carcinisation this is the new big thing in convergent evolution

I did, but come on. That pun makes itself.

Anonymous asked: Fun fact: the music used in [S] Begin Intermission 2, "English", is the same when reversed. It is an EXTREMELY excellent detail. And another example of Toby Fox being a brilliant composer. @sanctferum asked: English by Toby Fox is a really cool song in that its a musical palindrome, playing the same both forwards and backwards, as befits the titular entity. The whole Felt album it's from is based around creating songs with time gimmicks in them, so it serves as a very good semifinal track to almost close the album out. @emotionallyglued asked: You finally got to the part where our big bad man appears! Simple question to ask but I'm looking forward towards the answer: what do you think of Lord English's theme? Grandiose enough to fit a villain of his caliber or did you expect something more/else?

Oh, shit, that's cool!

I liked the song a lot. Sure, it's not as bombastic as the boss theme I went with myself, but it is much, much scarier. It was the perfect way to remind us that this wasn't really a victory - that English's plan went off without a hitch. Our heroes are still in terrible, terrible danger.

@morganwick asked: post/756751870755733504 Still think of Doc Scratch as "Big Cal"? @sanctferum asked: You've heard of Lil' Cal and Big Cal, now get ready for the deadliest and dastardliest villain of all: Biggest Cal. Anonymous asked: you've seen lil cal, now get ready for BIG CAL @lon-kasi asked: finally, Big Ca- well. actually. Scratch was Big Cal, wasn't he? so finally, Bigger Cal

This is the real reason Scratch wouldn't tell Rose his boss's name - because if she'd known her manipulator worked for Bigger Cal, she'd have been too god damn scared to go grimdark.

Anonymous asked: T1ck T0ck goes the God Tier Clock. Its chime signals the Br8k of Scratch's H34D. And with the arrival of Lord English, he lets loose two great, Vast honk HONKS. Anonymous asked: Did you notice something about the English sequence? First, we see Scratch's clock. t1ck, t0ck. Then, his head breaks. 8r8k H34DS. He releases the Vast Honk. honk HONK.

This motherfucker died to the very words that birthed him.

I guarantee you that this was deliberate on Scratch's part. He didn't need to foreshadow his plan so blatantly - but this horrible little troll knew that nobody would get the joke until it was too late.

bladekindeyewear asked: "S u c k e r s ." The bioorganic-looking Tumor opening up to reveal a precision device. Twice the mass of a universe. Doc Scratch fucking played EVERYONE SO HARD. We couldn't believe THEY CREATED THE GREEN SUN, so hard many of us watched without REALIZING IT. If you reread the talk Doc and Rose had from p3627 onward, the amount of TRANSPARENT DODGES AND WEASELING he did in that conversation to mislead Rose and the entire readership is so blatant and shameless, oh my fucking god!!! Anonymous asked: Not only did Scratch never said the tumor would destroy the green sun, he also specifically said they would travel to the green sun LOCATION, not to the green sun itself.

God damn it!

Scratch may have been stoic on the outside, but you mark my words: he was absolutely roaring with laughter on the inside.

@sunbluethinking asked: Regarding 'a dozen or two sweeps,' you do have to remember that it seems like one sweep is roughly equivalent to two human years? (See Terezi's and Dave's 'I'm six' conversation, or whatever it was.) So my impression is that a dozen sweeps would be equivalent to 24 years and two dozen sweeps would be equivalent to 48 years. Still really short, but not quite as absurdly short. (Which actually reminds me of the question of the problem of rate of maturation in fictional races with different lifespans. (Dungeon Meshi touches on this, but) in the case of Homestuck, I think it seems like the trolls mature to adulthood at about the same rate. It's just their adult lifespans that are different.) @bellcarved asked: If my math is correct, "a dozen or two sweeps" is a range of 26 to 52 years. Still not great, but 26 would be the low end of the life expectancy, while they tend to live around half as long as a human.

So either Aradia was about to die, or she wasn't - but either way, she was always going to die young.

We still don't know whether God Tier stops you aging, do we? I have to assume so, because death by old age isn't really Heroic or Just, but I'd feel a lot better if it was 100% confirmed.

Anonymous asked: And here we learn the story of Jesus and the second coming- @bellcarved asked: Now you know the truth: Karkat Vantas is the second coming of Troll Jegus Christ. Anonymous asked: I doubt I'm the first to say this but, the story of the Signless is undeniably based off the story of Jesus Christ. @skelekingfeddy asked: you do realise that the sufferer is Troll Jegus right. the irons/cancer symbol is the crucifix. his method of execution turned into the main symbol of a religion. the dolorosa is mary. karkat is the second coming. hes literally just Troll Jegus lmao @sanctferum asked: turns out, Terezi was right all along. troll jegus was real after all, and he was indeed the best jegus. shame on you for not believing, Dave

God damn it, Karkat. You hate yourself so much, even though you're literally the second coming of Christ.

And really does add weight to Terezi's claim that Alternia had the 'best' Jesus. Sure, says she's joking here, but... well, her Ancestor was a follower of the Signless, wasn't she? Could Terezi have inherited more of Redglare's legacy than we thought?

Anonymous asked: now that you know about the signless i recommend you take another read of karkat's long password on page 3972

...huh.

It almost makes it seem like Karkat's vaguely cognizant of the Sufferer's life, the same way the Sufferer was cognizant of his pre-Scratch incarnation. Funny, that.

@morganwick asked: "For a bisexual alien, his shipping is awfully straight, isn't it?" Well, consider that when he drew that he was trying to adhere to the human model of reproduction with its explicit requirement of one person of each sex, as best he could from his alien perspective. Note that in the same conversation he's struggling to understand the "human taboo of incest". @manorinthewoods asked: Karkat's humanshipping is straight because John told him he wasn't gay, and presumably, he extrapolated. ~LOSS (28/12/24) Anonymous asked: Karkat's very straight shipping chart is the way it is because John's Not A Homosexual:tm:

I totally forgot I came to the same conclusion, back in that legendary group chat.

Man, Rose x Kanaya is really going to throw Karkat for a loop. He'll probably think that John was just bullshitting him.

@skelekingfeddy asked: steven moffat is a valid troll name Anonymous asked: You've brought it up too much not to ask, what did Moffat do that pissed you off so badly?

Once more, I am very tempted to make this a full essay, but I'll save time by just pointing to Hbomberguy's famous Sherlock video, which I agree with, like, 80% of - particularly the Doctor Who segment that I've timestamped.

In a nutshell, Moffat was always really good at generating intrigue, and building hype for future events - but as a showrunner, he never really delivered on his promises, and was very fond of handwaving established canon to the side. Pet peeve of mine, as you can imagine.

@rwbypro asked: We warned you bro, we warned you about the most important character @skelekingfeddy asked: carcinoGeneticist may have engineered the cancer…but terminallyCapricious was the one who made it terminal. ;o) @capribornio asked: Honk, honk :0) Heyyyy you reached the part where Gamzee became my favorite enemy. Forget Vriska, Jack and Doc Scratch - Gamzee may have his buttons pushed by the good ol' Doc, but he managed to make things worse than even Vriska got to (and killed more main characters, too!). Anonymous asked:Congratulations on reaching this point. So, Gamzee chucklefucked the universe. Crazy, right? @bellcarved asked: Gamzee's "Bard of Rage" title is looking more accurate than ever, now. His own rage lead him to put the clowns in John's dreams, which ended up inspiring the rage that made Jack Noir go to the lengths he did. Bardic inspiration, if you will. …also, this makes Perfect Jack a collaborative effort between Vriska and Gamzee. @capribornio asked: I feel like you get Gamzee much better than most livebloggers (and a part of the fandom, too). Gamzee is an orchestrator, on a much bigger level than any could have predicted. The silly little troll dissappeared once he got off the slime, got his religion destroyed, and got Lil Cal.

I told you, guys! I told you Bards were overpowered!

Yeah, he's already getting pretty crafty, isn't he? Maybe, instead of manipulating Gamzee like he did the girls, Scratch has actually been coaching him. After all, his own manipulating days are over, so maybe he saw fit to train a successor...

Anonymous asked: if vriska was presented with a choice about the creation of bec noir, it would have had to be before the veil because the trolls only flee into the veil AFTER bec shows up and wrecks their reward- and that's their first introduction to him. any choice she could have made about bec/jack after that would result in a doomed timeline, because it would break the loop. that's why it has to be before the veil. @manorinthewoods asked: What I mean is that the Choice that would have prevented Bec Noir is something that would have made Vriska change who she was, in such a way that she wouldn't later make Bec. Vriska's Choice that made Bec can't have occurred in the Veil, because there wasn't a Denizen to give it, so whatever it was, it must have been something to do with character growth that she failed to do. ~LOSS (28/12/24)

Oh, right, that makes sense!

Yeah, poor Vriska simply wasn't self-aware enough to make such a Choice before the Veil. It's interesting what-if, though.

@flambeaufelid asked: ICP albums liveblog maybe??? (Do people liveblog music reactions? They should.) Anonymous asked: Since you mentioned the possibility of having to listen to ICP albums to understand Gamzee better, I figured I’d better let you know that while reading a bit about juggalos, ICP, and ICP’s music does help with understanding Gamzee better if you’re unfamiliar with them (though I wouldn’t say it’s crucial), I don’t recommend listening to their music unless you’re comfortable with graphic depictions of gore, murder, and other forms of violence. (Speaking from personal experience here; I tried listening to them because Gamzee’s my favorite character and quickly realized I didn’t enjoy that.) Anonymous asked: I would say listening to icp is not necessary… I tried myself and failed not even half way through one album so I admittedly could be wrong but… I think it was never intended to be THAT serious

I checked out Miracles, back when ICP was first brought up, but I haven't seen any of their other music. It's probably not actually necessary to listen to the band to understand Gamzee, but I might still do it for fun, since the graphic content wouldn't bother me much.

@skelekingfeddy asked: according to hussie the fifth wall is what divides two narrators/authors @sanctferum asked: According to Hussie's comments, if the fourth wall is the wall between the character and the author/their audience, then the fifth wall is specifically the wall dividing omniscient narrators from each other. or something like that

I, uh, guess that makes sense. Presumably Scratch would be our second 'author' in this scenario, even though he's not literally another author of Homestuck.

[cheshitora]

what sort of scenarios do u think the bllk boys would die from final destination style 🫣!!!!

ALICE HOLY SHIT I NEEDED THIS

WARNING : CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FINAL DESTINATION SERIES/DEPICTIONS OF DEATH

FINAL CALL : obviously this might not be the most accurate list but this was fun. i fkn love final destination and finally saw bloodlines this past week. if you havent seen the final destination movies, you should (only if youre okay with violence and gore ofc)

♕ isagi ─ isagi survives until the end as he should. in a way, i can see him either being alex (fd1) or kim (fd2). kim was the ONLY one able to survive and beat death and i feel like isagi can cheat death too somehow

† rin ─ has a great chance of surviving til the end too with isagi but somehow ends up dying anyway like carter from fd1. makes it to the end but is hinted that he dies from a falling sign post the secknd the credits roll lol

† bachira ─ bachira. probably dies like hunt in tfd. getting his ass stuck in the pool's drain pipe and getting disemboweled. shit traumatized me pt.1

† nagi ─ this is so vivid in my head but the boy in fd2 that gets squished by the glass panel falling on him. that boy made no attempts to move and neither would nagi

† chigiri ─ this one might also make sense if done right but in fd5 when candice dies from falling off the bar during gymanstics practice. shit traumatized me pt.2

† reo ─ this one was tricky until i thought of fd3 when ian spirals after watching erin die. bcuz obviously reo does spiral when nagi chooses isagi over him so i can see him going rampant like ian and dying by being sliced in half

† kunigami ─ pre wildcard kunigami dies from saving someone obvi, like darlene in fd:bl and then gets bisected from a lamp post. post wildcard kunigami would die the same way just without saving someone

† sae ─ idk why this one was funny to think abt since sae is so nonchalant but he dies like julia in bloodlines. going for a jog just to get hit in the face with a soccer ball and fall into a garbage bin. and then proceeds to be crushed by the garbage truck compactor

† shidou ─ i have two specific deaths in mind that fit so well but i think i'll go with ashley and ashlyn's death in fd3. he says it's a natural tan. but then he probably decides to do a tanning bed session only for him to burn to death

† otoya ─ okay, i have to give otoya and karasu bobby and erik's death in bloodlines. otoya trying to save karasu from his fate only for the mri machine's magnetism to go up and extract any and all piercings from otoya's body. which then leads him to get folded into the mri machine when a wheelchair impales him

† karasu ─ he has bobby's death. getting his head busted in with a loose coil from a vending machine that is being extracted by the same mri machine. at least they die together

† oliver ─ also very vivid in my head but it's what he deserves. being an asshole at a massage parlor and as he's left alone, he gets his head crushed by a budai statue

† yukimiya ─ alice, i'm sorry. but yk this one works too well. olivia's death in fd5. getting laser surgery on his eye only for the laser to mutilate his right eye and then he proceeds to fall out of the building and land on a car. and then his eye pops out of his head (which then gets run over)

† barou ─ it's hard for me to imagine barou dying or getting killed but i'd have to say maybe lewis's death in fd3. gets his head crushed by a weight machine in the gym.

† hiori ─ i don't think hiori has an impactful death but it's still scary nonetheless. billy's death in fd1. shrapnel flies from train tracks as a train passes by and decapitates him (this is funny tho if you think of isagi as alex)

† kaiser ─ i have to include his bitchass in here somehow. lowkey thinking abt peter from fd5, who tried to kill molly and sam to take their lifespan but ends up getting killed with a meat spit. yeah, sounds abt right (and i bet you he'd try to take isagi's lifespan too)

† ness ─ if kaiser's here, ness will be here too. but this plays out so well in my head. erin's death. getting shot in the face with a nail gun, multiple times. shit looks like it hurts

[fannedandflawless]

Part III – The Rise of Severus Snape

The Years Unspoken; Finances & Survival

By the end of Hogwarts, Severus Snape had already transformed. The quiet, sharp-edged boy had vanished—replaced by someone colder, calculated, and undeniably capable.

But what happened next?

He disappears from the public story for a time. There’s no grand announcement. No headlines. Just the eventual fact: at twenty-one, he returns to Hogwarts, not as a student—but as a professor.

And not just any professor. The youngest in the school’s modern history.

We know from canon that he returned under Voldemort’s orders, placed there to spy on Dumbledore. But this post isn’t about why he returned. It’s about how.

Because when someone disappears for a year and returns with control, position, and a personal storeroom stocked with rare ingredients—it leaves you wondering.

How did Severus Snape survive? And what, exactly, did he have?

💰 What Was Severus Snape’s Financial Reality?

There’s no vault entry in the story. No Gringotts ledger. No monologue about mortgages or inheritance. But if you look closely, the clues are there.

Let’s explore the three most plausible scenarios—because if there’s one thing Severus Snape would never allow, it’s being vulnerable again.

1.) Still Not Wealthy—but Controlled and Strategic

The most grounded theory? He wasn’t rich—but he planned for survival.

Slughorn once scoffed at the “meagre salary” of a Potions Master. So no, Hogwarts wasn’t lucrative. And if you need proof—remember when Harry caught him clipping a leaf off the Venomous Tentacula in the greenhouse? Ten Galleons per leaf, Slughorn said. With a wink, of course. But he didn’t put it back—as seen in the book.

That’s the financial climate. Even a former Head of Slytherin, with Ministry connections and a cushy retirement, was casually supplementing his income with magical botany.

But Severus?

He’s not the type to steal—or flatter—or rely on anyone. He wouldn’t be flashy. He wouldn’t need comfort—he’d need control.

He could have lived modestly. Quiet lodgings. Rare indulgences, if any. But the more intimately you know poverty, the less you romanticise it. And Severus? He would never let himself be poor again. And as for that narrow brick house on Spinner’s End? We’ll break down the cost of keeping it—taxes, maintenance, and whether a Hogwarts salary could truly cover it—all in the next post. Still, even with careful planning, it’s hard to believe he lived off his teaching salary alone.

This is Severus Snape, after all. Why tether that kind of brilliance to a classroom timetable?

It’s entirely plausible he brewed on contract—quietly, discreetly—for apothecaries or private clients. Perhaps even under another name.

And that leads us to our next possibility.

2.) Comfortable, Upper-Middle Class Status via Career and Craft

This one holds weight—perhaps the most.

By the time he returns as Potions Master, he clearly has access to rare and expensive ingredients—and guards them like a dragon with a sealed inventory list (see: Book Four, when Harry’s mere presence sparks suspicion).

Because Potions? They’re not just art. They’re business.

Severus could very well have brewed on the side—quiet commissions, private clients, discreet apothecaries. Think Wolfsbane. Veritaserum. Rare antidotes. Custom elixirs for Ministry types who preferred not to ask questions.

His mind alone was capital. His precision? A luxury most couldn’t afford.

Even without the Death Eater entanglement, he would’ve had to survive somehow. And with his skillset? He could’ve set up privately—Knockturn Alley, perhaps. Where ingredients are rare, questions are rarer, and prices are whispered, not posted.

But instead, he returned to Hogwarts. Perhaps for espionage. Perhaps for redemption. Perhaps because Dumbledore offered him the only path forward—and the one place where he could be both watched and weaponised.

3.) Actually Inherited the Prince Family Fortune

Now this one? Entirely plausible—and rarely discussed.

Yes, his mother Eileen Prince was disowned. But the real question is: what happens when there’s no one left to claim the vaults?

If the Prince line ended with Severus—as it appears to have—inheritance law might have defaulted to him by blood alone. Especially in a world ruled by old magic, ancient names, and silent agreements no longer written down.

Consider Sirius Black. Disowned and exiled—and yet, everything reverted to him when the rest of the family tree fell away. And after his death? It all passed to Harry.

So what if the same quiet rule applied to Severus?

No celebration. No estate. Just funds that appeared. Vaults that opened when the bloodline sealed itself shut.

And what did he do with it?

He hid it.

He lived plainly, because he wasn’t trying to impress anyone. But it would explain how he maintained such precision, control, and resources without ever looking… needy.

— Whether by inheritance, side-work, or sheer survivalism, one thing is clear:

Severus Snape did not stumble back to Hogwarts. He arrived prepared—financially, emotionally, strategically.

He didn’t chase status. He became someone essential. Not liked. Not trusted. But necessary.

And in a world like his? That’s worth more than gold.

—

As explored in Part III of ‘The Rise of Severus Snape,’ his return to Hogwarts was no accident. But if you want to understand the quiet control he maintained outside its walls… you have to look at Spinner’s End.

—

Next: Spinner’s End Wasn’t Poverty—It Was Privacy.And yes, we’re talking taxes—A Breakdown of Severus Snape’s Finances, Property, and Survival Strategy.

Related posts: Part I: Resentment Was the Flame, Not Rage Part II: The Door Wasn’t Opened—It Was Unlocked Quietly

[quinny19]

Sleeping my way to victory-part 2

Scenario 1: A Day in the Life of (Y/N) (or, How Are They Even Functioning?)

Outside of U.A., your daily routine was… questionable at best.

You woke up late. Always. If there wasn’t school, you might not wake up at all. Your alarm clock? Useless. You had trained yourself to sleep through it.

Your room? A mess of blankets and pillows, because why sleep in just one spot when you could rotate like a cat?

Breakfast? If you remembered. Or if you weren’t still half-asleep while grabbing whatever was closest (once, you almost ate a packet of sugar thinking it was rice).

Going outside? Only if necessary. Grocery store trips were a chaotic mix of you getting lost in the aisles, standing in front of the snack section for way too long, and once, somehow ending up in a pet store without realizing it.

Your life at home was pure chaos, but somehow, you survived.

And then, when school came around, you’d drag yourself there, still half-asleep, only to dominate in training without even trying.

Your classmates had questions.

Scenario 2: Bakugo Tries to Wake You Up (Again)

"Oi, wake up."

You grumbled something incoherent, turning your head away from the voice disturbing your peace.

"Wake the hell up, dumbass!"

A pillow smacked into your face.

Your eyes cracked open slightly. Bakugo was looming over you, arms crossed, glaring like he was about to explode.

You blinked. "Mmm?"

"It’s lunchtime!" he barked. "You seriously slept through the whole damn morning! How the hell do you function?!"

You sat up, stretching, still looking half-dead. "Mmm… brain off, instincts on."

Denki, who had been watching the interaction, snickered. "Man, Bakugo, you really love waking (Y/N) up, huh?"

Bakugo twitched. "I DON’T LOVE—!"

Kirishima patted his back. "Bro, it’s okay. You can admit it."

"SHUT UP!"

Meanwhile, you had already laid back down, completely unfazed. "Too much noise…"

Bakugo clenched his fists. "YOU'RE NOT GOING BACK TO SLEEP!"

You ignored him.

He grabbed your wrist and dragged you out of the classroom.

"Oi—"

"You’re eating lunch today, dumbass. No excuses."

Denki gasped dramatically. "Kacchan, you care about their well-being! How cute!"

Bakugo almost threw you at him.

Scenario 3: Beach Chaos (or, How (Y/N) Almost Died But Didn’t Even Notice)

The class trip to the beach was supposed to be relaxing.

It was relaxing.

Until you almost drowned.

Correction: you didn’t drown—you were just… floating away.

You had fallen asleep on a floaty, peacefully drifting further and further from shore, completely unaware that the waves had carried you away.

The class? Losing their minds.

"OH MY GOD, (Y/N)!" Mina shrieked. "THEY’RE—THEY’RE DRIFTING AWAY!"

Uraraka gasped. "Do they even know?!"

"OF COURSE NOT, THEY’RE SLEEPING!" Denki yelled.

Kirishima was already stripping off his shirt. "I’ll go get them!"

Todoroki calmly made an ice path across the water. "I’ll retrieve them."

Meanwhile, Bakugo stood on the shore, looking beyond pissed.

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SLEEPING THROUGH THIS?!" he roared.

You? Still asleep. Peaceful. Unbothered. No thoughts, only floaty.

Todoroki skated across the water, grabbed your floaty, and dragged you back to shore.

You woke up slightly as the floaty touched the sand. "Mmm…?"

"You almost drifted out to sea," Iida lectured, waving his arms. "That was extremely irresponsible!"

You yawned. "…Felt nice, though."

Bakugo twitched. "YOU ALMOST DROWNED, YOU IDIOT!"

"Mmm… but I didn’t."

The class collectively lost it.

Scenario 4: Girls’ Hangout (or, They Treat You Like a Sleepy Baby)

You weren’t sure how you ended up here.

Mina had kidnapped you (dragged you from class while you were half-asleep), and now you were at the mall with the girls.

Uraraka clapped her hands. "Okay! Shopping time!"

Momo smiled. "We should get snacks later."

Jiro glanced at you, who had been leaning on her shoulder for the last ten minutes. "Uh… is (Y/N) gonna wake up?"

Mina waved a hand. "Nah, this is normal."

Toru giggled. "They’re like a sleepy little pet."

"…I can hear you," you muttered.

Mina hugged you dramatically. "Awww, you’re so cute when you’re sleepy!"

You sighed, letting them drag you around while you dozed in and out.

You didn’t fight it. They weren’t letting you go anyway.

Scenario 5: At Home (or, How Are You Even Alive?!)

Bakugo didn’t know what to expect when he visited your apartment.

He definitely didn’t expect chaos.

Blankets everywhere.

Half-empty cups of tea on random surfaces.

Your fridge? Full of energy drinks, snacks, and exactly one actual meal.

Your laundry? A mix of clean and dirty because you forgot which was which.

Bakugo stood in your doorway, horrified. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

You sat on your couch, wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. "Home?"

"HOW DO YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?!"

You shrugged. "Mmm… survival instincts?"

He was going to combust. "YOU HAVE NO INSTINCTS, DUMBASS!"

You blinked slowly at him. "Mmm. Still alive, though."

"BARELY!"

Bakugo swore, swore that from now on, he’d check on you.

Not because he cared or anything.

…Definitely not.

Scenario 6: Bakugo vs. The Sleeping Menace (Again)

"You’re fighting me today!"

"…Mmm."

Bakugo twitched. "That’s not an answer!"

You yawned, rubbing your eyes. "…Why?"

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!"

The entire class watched, amused.

Denki leaned over to Kirishima. "Five bucks says they win in three moves."

Kirishima smirked. "Two moves."

Sero chuckled. "One move."

Bakugo exploded forward.

You sighed, dodged without even looking, and accidentally knocked him out of bounds.

One move.

You yawned. "Mmm… nap time."

Denki cheered. "HA! Sero wins!"

Bakugo, lying in the dirt, screamed into the void.

The End (For Now)

Bakugo had one goal: Beat you at least once.

Your goal? Sleep.

And, maybe, tease him a little while you were at it.

Because no matter how hard he tried…

You always won.

Part 1:

Part 3:

Part 4

[rons-hypnotic-eyes]

Over reliance on pure luck in the Time Island Serial Murders

I’ve noticed theres so much luck involved with the entire case and the way things play out. But Alice and the m family and Ron, they don’t like to leave things to luck. They plan meticulously so that the possibility of losing is slim.

So what is this heavy reliance on luck??

1. The mystery of Toto. Toto has shown over and over and over again, his ability to save people from being killed by Ron’s culprit killing illness. What stopped him from saving Cesar/Elliot? And ankle injury that happened earlier in that day, completely on accident, while trying to reach gorgeous.

Alice wanted Ron to kill his father with his culprit killing illness. She didnt want Elliot to be saved or survive. And she let Toto stand on the sidelines with no attempt to tie him down or prevent him from running to Cesar? She was willing to let the possibility of Toto rescuing Elliot happen by not stopping Toto in some way?? It would make more sense if she tried to do something to physically prevent Toto from doing his job as Ron’s partner.

I thought his ankle twisting was somehow potentially connived from Alice making plans and maybe killing gorgeous or something something. But knowing that Ron set all that up himself? That Toto was only following Ron’s footsteps and finding the scenarios that Ron prepared for him? It wasn’t Alice’s intentions at all, nor was it something she really anticipated.

Letting Toto free to protect Elliot was a mistake and a huge reliance on pure luck, on Alice’s part.

2. All the deaths of H, and Hamib, and Maller were heavily reliant on luck.

H happened to fall in his own trap and die. Sure the circumstances were made more difficult with Elliot’s meddling but STILL. If I set up a pitfall trap and then woke up at night without my glasses, I’m not gonna traipse around the jungle without worrying imma step somewhere I shouldn’t. H is kinda dumb bc if he’s out there doing stuff and he was knocked out then clearly there are other players doing things and it’s dangerous to walk around so brazenly.

Hamib died because he misunderstood the markings on the clock? And he set himself in a place where if the clock turned the wrong direction, he would die?!? Like?!? Put either no one or someone else in that chair?? Why put yourself in danger and leave your life in the hands of others who could mess up and kill you?!?!?!?

Maller is honestly just funny. I’m sorry, but falling asleep perfectly under the fire clock in a place where he would die is just.. it’s so silly.

3. Ron’s survival was based on luck. Yeah it ties closely with point 2, but for real if hamib hadn’t messed up, Ron would be dead. I mean if Elliot could have saved him and stuff, but still lol.

4. Toto didn’t realize Zapata was alive. She was crushed under the fire clock. She had to keep her eyes open and slow her breathing enough to fake that. Toto used her hand to check pulse instead of the one in her neck. He also didn’t realize that Zapata’s hand was not hers, but instead that of a bigger man’s?

Ron is relying on luck and the possibility that Toto won’t observe certain things. Like yeah I know Toto isnt the best with deductions, but hes good at observation. He notices things that Ron overlooks. He is also a police officer who handles murders. He wouldn’t be able to tell that Zapata’s isnt a true corpse?!?

5. Alice is heavily relying on luck this entire damn time. Yes Elliot probably won’t let Ron be killed but there are many times Ron could have died, and not necessarily with impossible crimes.

Alice’s goal was to have Ron kill his father and ruin his life. That’s what she wanted out of this entire thing. So what if Ron had died? Was she doing things to protect him or was she accepting of the possibility that Ron did die? She’s been planning this for years and years. Wouldn’t she be disappointed if Ron had died and her plan didnt come to full fruition?

[joe-spookyy]

all saw traps in order and whether i would survive them or not

part one: saw (2004)

razor wire trap - yes i would get out because i would be real gentle and careful getting through there but very very quick. i feel like where this guy went wrong was that he just slammed through it with no thought. i wouldn’t do this. he had some time. he didn’t need to do all that. just my opinion though. 7/10 survivability.

flammable jelly trap - no, that is too many numbers and too few details. with more information maybe but that’s just so much to comb through and i would fuck it up somehow. i don’t think i would catch on fire though i’m not that stupid. i just wouldn’t get the antidote in time. 2/10 survivability.

reverse bear trap 1.0 - yes but only if he didn’t wake up. i think i could get out of the chair just fine but i wouldn’t dick around wasting time trying to get it off. straight to the guy. again, if this means he would stay unconscious while i went in with the knife then i think i would be fine. however, if he woke up i would just die because i would feel bad and not cut him open! and if i was the key holder i’d definitely die. nothing to be done there imo. 6/10 survivability.

drill chair - yes. the person in the chair is presumably powerless but i feel good about saying i would be able to wiggle out at least a little. however, it is not up to me but to the outsider. so, if officer sing was there to glock down the machine i’d be fine. and if i was him, i also probably would have thought to break the machine to save the other guy. so regardless i’m living. 9/10 survivability.

quadruple shotgun hallway trap - yes. i’m not a fucking idiot. are you fucking kidding me. how did he not notice the trip wire. ohhh here i am in the house of the notorious trapper i’m sure i won’t encounter any booby traps while i’m on my way to kill him! fucking idiot. pay attention. 10/10 survivability.

zep’s test - no. i would not have kidnapped them in the first place for two reasons. one, i would not elect to do that. it’s not nice. two, i am physically not very strong and would not successfully kidnap alison without being overtaken. hell, i probably couldn’t even successfully kidnap diana. again, though, i wouldn’t. so the poison would kill me or jigsaw would get pissed and kill me immediately for disobeying. i mean i’d probably also go to a hospital about this but i don’t know that they would be able to help me so again. probably dead. 1/10 survivability.

bathroom trap - two parts to this. either way i would say yes, probably. first, if i was lawrence, i wouldn’t kill adam, which would result in my wife and kid being killed i guess. but i mean obviously that didn’t really work out. so that leaves all three of us alive. i would however have started sawing off my foot a lot earlier and thus i think i would have been a-okay. however, i would have stayed to try and help adam which may have led to my death but it’s hard to say. similarly, if i was adam, i would not have had any issues. all he had to do was survive and if lawrence was kind enough not to glock me down, i would, again, have sawed off my foot and gotten the fuck out of there when the time came. if, like the movie, he did try and glock me down, i would still have been loose from my chains because i would have sawed my foot off. and i mean the foot part, not the ankle. and i would have dodged. and if he did shoot me in the shoulder i would have been fine. i’m not a pussy. either way me and whoever else i was in the trap with would have hobbled our footless way out of there. alive. edit: my roommate says if i sawed my foot off so early, i would have bled out. so i must amend - i mean i would saw my shit off around 6:00 when i came to the conclusion that it was the last case scenario. also i would have done it cleanly and wrapped it real nice and then rolled right out of there when jigsaw popped up off the floor to let me out on good behavior or when zep bopped in to fuck someone's shit up. still. 7/10 survivability.

overall film survivability: 6/10 average when considering 7 traps. i like my odds. suck my fat one jigsaw i’m gonna live.

other parts can eventually be found under the hashtag saw trap survival tips.