#the isz

[sarahandjuliesroadtrip]

Another day in  the life of Maxx and friends Fanart by LimeGreenSquid

[skykiuwu]

Something something sun boy right

[loran-darkbeast]

the forsaken realm

[izpira-se-zlato]

I've been thinking about the Jance photoshoot and oof do I have Thoughts but -- okay, an attempt to explain why this photoshoot really speaks to me.

I've seen a bunch of different takes float across my dash, but to me the core of this photoshoot is the portrayal of a very deep bond between two men without fully specifying what kind of bond it is. The message I get from their pictures, from Jan looking into the camera (almost?) defiantly while Nace looks serious to the two of them looking at each other and only each other, is "This is us. This is our relationship. What kind? Well, none of your business, but we're not hiding it and we won't help you put us into a definitive drawer."

Since this got long, more thoughts under the cut

And, like -- there's so many layers to this shoot? So many ways to read this as an utter fucking power move, and I'm just. Really touched.

So. Layer one is kind of what I pulled from the art earlier, saying, "you may get to see us be intimate and close, barely hidden behind a glass door (= lack of privacy), but at the end of the day, we decide how much we share. And even if you get these intimate glimpses, you do not get all of me (= him half-hidden behind his hair and/or Nace)"

So what do we glimpse? Well, that's where it gets delicious imo. Because it could be read as non-sexual and non-romantic, so just platonic. Non-sexual intimacy is still pretty rarely portrayed, especially between men, and that goes double for non-romantic intimacy. And so as someone on the aroace-spectrum, that speaks to me so so much.

it's also such a fuck you against Toxic Masculinity -- that they can be this vulnerable together, that they don't mind showing -- that they're actually showing off to -- the world that they're this vulnerable with each other. Just. Intimacy and trust and closeness; laughing together and seeing each other and presenting a united front against the world (= the viewer).

I've long-since wondered if Nace is Jan's emotional support bassist -- if they're each other's comfort people, which would track with them doing this shoot together, presenting themselves in front of the camera together. "I'm doing this, putting myself out there, because with you by my side it feels doable."

And just. The fact that it can be read as queer and they clearly don't mind is also stunning regardless of if they are actually queer and/or actually in a relationship. They know what the fandom thinks. They know what this will look like. And yet -- no "no homo", no "bradders"; just unabashed joy in each other's presence and standing together -- and it's not escaped my notice that it's Jan having Nace's back, fixing the camera with a look of, if you touch him, I'll end you.

And if it is an affirmation that they're queer/together? Then holy shit, what a power move.

Just. I think this is a piece of art that's really resonating because I can see myself in so many of these layers and that's just so powerful. Damon is a pretty good photographer, from what I've picked up, and so I think this is not an accident; I think this series of photos confirms exactly as much and as little as he wants it to. And in the gaps in between, which I understand is something art does, we have space to see ourselves and engage with the artwork in our own ways.

Because at the end of the day, as raw and as candid as these shots look, this isn't an unfiltered version of them. It is them, at least in part, but it's art. It's a performance. It's something we can construct narratives out of (which, probably surprising no one, is something I really enjoy), but we're still engaging with the performance, not the real people underneath. But it still takes guts to give yourself over to that performance, and that is what might move me the most, gorgeous and stunning pictures and all.

The fact that they stepped forward and said, "This is us. Make of it what you will."

[theglitchything]

How bout apples instead of marshmallows? Yummy n sweet but dey can’t get mad at us!

hmmhmhmh... its not as sweet.... but i guess itll dooo -3-

[undefeatablesin]

Me and my one working braincell

[spockvarietyhour]

if Kim Wexler makes it to 2018 she's gonna love The Terror

[incorrectringsofpower]

Galadriel: in the club defeating evildoers Sauron: in the club evildoing

[fantomette22]

Ok so I was trying to look for the origin/ inspiration behind Simon's bowblade (who is probably Persian/indian so he's probably a neighbor to Eileen country help XD) and I realized something, maybe.

You see there is other blades that are in the form of wave/ zigzag. Logarius sword, the pthumerians daggers, queen Yharnam dagger, even a bit of the cainhurst widows so I thought of something

WHAT IF! What if, actually ALL the pthumerians came from Loran (who's next to a desert so Middle East/near east type of country), and a part escape/ went away from the scourge and create Pthumeru/Isz along the way more in the west?

But if Pthumeru is the tomb of the gods that mean they took them along the way 🤔 or maybe the "old lords" died because of what happened in Loran and they just did grave for them and that's why they crown themselves some leader in Pthumeru hm...

ok the undulated swords are called a kriss! it's Indonesian apparently

see next post!

[siriwesen]

Ich tue mich ja sehr schwer mit Alicia Joe. Ich mag dass sie versucht differenziert und sehr genau mit Quellen und Fakten umzugehen

Aber ich tue mich mit ihren Takes zu Gendersprache und Transpersonen in Sportwettkämpfen sehr schwer.

[cuntstable]

looking up at these tags with tears in my eyes so sad so devastated

[sarahandjuliesroadtrip]

The look of the Maxx just got darker, fanart by saadirfan

[skykiuwu]

Circe pwease? if the doodle requests are still open

You can even get a whole design sheet

[alberichfanpage]

Ebrietas? More like Eb... Ebrie... Ebriet-uh..... Ebrietotal loser

[izpira-se-zlato]

I've been listening a whole lot to Barve oceana recently and I just -- jfc I will write an essay at some point, about Barve being about running away to a safe place, about finding happiness and being yourself, and then the bass being so, so prominent in Barve. I feel like the bass is already more prominent in JO songs than in most pop music, but also it's just such a comforting friend to me in Barve oceana.

And something something seven year-old Bojan showing up at the Jurkovič doorstep, asking if they had a kid he could be friends with, and Martin sticking with him through the ups and downs, the successes and the failed attempt at a solo career, and something something the protagonist running away and the bass at her side, a trustworthy, sure ground to build upon, steady and strong and there and --

yeah, today is not the day for this essay with Jan dropping new pics and Jure utterly killing us, but I keep thinking about this, about the prominent bass and Bojan saying that Barve is a very personal song; so personal, in fact, that he had to add that extra layer of making the protagonist female; about running away and finding a place where you can be yourself and that damned reassuring bass that threads through the song, and 😭😭

And, like, small aside (bc I wouldn't be me if I didn't notice it) but the end of Barve features the bass and one of the guitars, and something about it being Nace and Jan also made me go :lovebojan: about it, but that's not the point I'm making here and so it's just this small aside

[katyspersonal]

Girl help I am having an existential crisis…am I insane or did SOMETHING happen to the Research Hall that caused it to flood?? Did it flood?? Please I need your analytical brainpower to help me out because I am certain the place flooded and that’s why Ebrietas’ arena is in water ruins and why it looks so messed up in the present day waking world. I just don’t know WHAT would have caused it to flood? HELP!!

Hey! I understand the confusion! My very first thought, likewise, was that the Research Hall (aka the Clocktower place) sorta collapsed and Ebrietas is just at the bottom of it.

In the Nightmare, this big altar of headless woman decorated with gold also doubles as secret Surgery Altar that leads to the clocktower laboratory, so yeah, connection is simple to make! The Clocktower lab just collapsed to where she is now, right? However, taking better look at Ebrietas' arena, I ended up with a couple of ideas.

So, yeah, the familiar fucked up 'person in distress' statues found all over Yharnam at some point, our old friends! The parts of some architecture I guess... Wait, what- [shuffled film sound effect]

The stalactites??? WHY??????

I remind you, the stalactites are mineral formations that take a while to form. I mean, Hunter's Dream is at least 30 years old, but... sure, the ones of this size needed to take muuuuuch longer. So this made me think - maybe rather than this place (sort of a cave) being the result of Clocktower research lab collapsing, this place, instead, was sort of underground ruins place from the very start? Some sort of secret archaeology (and general graves robbing- pardon, tomb prospecting works) source going on while Research Hall was doing their thing.

And, there is an evidence of sorts:

This shield you find IN Research Hall, which hints at the fact that first Healing Church was using it, and later they just grabbed it and mass dived with it in Isz dungeons.

I talked about it more elaborate in the 'Healing Church and Byrgenwerth used to be the one' post ( x ), but basically: Willem and his friends found a hint of Arcane in the dungeons, they started researching, Research Hall + Healing Church were born, when patients got a hunch of 'stars' the prospectors were sent in Isz dungeons to find more, 'stars' + the ' Abandoned Ebrietas' were discovered and served as birth of the Choir.

Basically, this leaves me with the thought that 'Altar of Lamentation' (or 'despair', or 'grief') is not a crumbled place beneath research labs, but, in fact, a messed up and sealed entrance to Isz dungeons - hence the formations typical for rather old caves, such as stalactites!

So, what is the water all over the place? I have two versions, I guess? First is simple - these are implied to be Ebrietas' tears... I mean, it was translated as 'Altar of Despair', but, more accurate translation is 'altar of grief' or 'altar of lamentation', and:

It is also interesting that at the 'altar' she weeps at, that is heavily implied to be Rom, there are candles placed:

Which implies that they knew darn well WHY Ebrietas was crying. So, maybe, it was the first time she cared? Or maybe Rom was very ancient, so they genuinely did NOT know why.

I featured screenshots from Altar of Despair and from Yahar'gul. You can also factor in 'pebbles' that are implied to be human eyes not cared for properly (unlike Bloodshot Eye item), petrified altar featuring Rom and blood gems and stones themselves, that the theme of petrification from large amount of Arcane is consistent in Bloodborne! Facturing this in, it is very possible that "statues" in Ebrietas' fighting arena actually used to be real people - who petrified from large Arcane outburst. Would not that explain their desperate, struggling poses?

Sizes matter very little too - as you remember, Pthumerians tend to have gigantic variants in their species. It could be a potential support for the theory that Rom was that very ancient Pthumerian who, apparently, got blessed by Kos; I remind you that literally NOTHING in canon states that Rom was one of the Byrgenwerth students. It is just a popular headcanon based on her placement as a boss!

So, for all we know, Rom was an ancient person who got blessed - and some scholars, especially Micolash, figured out approximate conditions, so Research Hall was devoted to 'listening to the ocean' to meet the same all-knowing fate as Rom. Her boss fights might be confusing but remember - Queen Yharnam is the second person who has both the astral 'friendly' body and dungeons 'hostile' body. Rom, whoever she was, might have undergone similar ritual - and for one reason or another, Ebrietas is upset about it, to the point of grief.

That makes the statues found in arena take an interesting turn. Perhaps, the fucked up 'desperate and pleading people' statues we see here and there in Yharnam, in fact, were taken from Isz. They are identical! Maybe earlier researchers decided they were cool decor element, never having realised they were people but petrified. Petrified by the ritual that got ancient person known as Rom ascended - a ritual Micolash tried to repeat but failed at.

On the other hand, Rom as a Great One is, probably, placed in the lake for a reason. I believe her control over what mortals can or cannot see is connected to controlling reflections! I explained my headcanons on how Rom used to be an important figure for the Choir the same way Micolash was for School of Mensis quite a few times, buuuut.

In this case, the water all over Ebby's arena could've been remains of the artificial 'body of water' created by Choir for Rom - so she could hide the horrible things from humans by controlling their reflections in the 'body of water'. If something has no reflection - it is as good as not existing, right? And, by effect, she could hide the cosmic horror esque things Choir was causing to happen - providing secrecy to the institution. All they needed to do is to poor Enough water in the area, that still hasn't dried out. Makes extra sense too, since Ebby's 'tears' appear to be bloody red ones - whereas the water underneath is blue (transparent)? Easily Willem was still with the Choir before the rift between him and Laurence - so maybe Rom was doing her job even back then!

As for the oddly 'emotional' statues in this version? Well, either they've been there long ago and had to do with things besides Rom, or it WAS the ritual that split Rom in two that got them petrified - they were just innocent bystanders!

So, in conclusion - I have about two versions, and both do not specify what REALLY happened with the Clocktower labs... But, it seems like Ebby's boss arena used to be entrance in Isz. A normie hunter would have had to perform a ritual right there, we need to use the Hunter's Dream instead.

Maybe the labs were simply shut down. I believe that did happen with Laurence's disconnect with the Arcane and falling for blood ministration completely. I only mentioned that Emilia's prayer features 'seek the old blood' part when the one white church hunter reads at surgery altar misses this line for like... 50 times lol, so make your conclusions!