#to answer the obligatory questions:

[yeah-yeah-beebiss-1]

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highest-grossing multimedia juggernaut of all time

[epicfroggz]

I don’t think the Abyssal Serpent has any burnt out eyes! That’s just Messmer who’s transformed into “serpent form” (if that’s a precise enough term considering we also have the winged serpents and Abyssal Serpent to deal with). The Abyssal Serpent model looks healthier than Messmer and the winged serpents tbh. So it’s not having the Frenzied hallmark, but seems more like a call to Bloodbourne’s “eyes within”?

Hello, thanks for the ask!

Let’s get to the bottom of this today and analyze these models, shall we, with references from BonfireVN’s awesome videos. (I will say I am currently playing Bloodborne for the first time so I cannot fully comment on that bit, but I agree the eyes upon eyes within eyes is quite Bloodborne-esque and Messmer must have a lot of insight xD)

Logistics first: Messmer = the Abyssal Serpent, which is different from the winged serpents that are only attached to his humanoid form, which are different from the third class of serpents that we’ll get to. Okay, here we go.

I am surprised to hear you think the Abyssal Serpent is healthier than Messmer’s humanoid form or the winged serpents, since there is ample evidence that it is very unhealthy as a result of being suppressed by the seal for who knows how long:

First is the burn scar shared between forms. I agree it is not literally the mark of the Frenzied Flame, but it is a thematic similarity. In the cutscene, Messmer’s eye socket burns in a manner reminiscent of the Darksign, which I think is a purposeful reference to Dark Souls along with the “abyssal” moniker.

The Abyssal Serpent is not only wounded and scarred, but overgrown, both in fangs and eyes and sheer length (which may well be infinite). Overgrowth is a hallmark of the Dark Souls “Abyss” as well—particularly of Manus and his influence. Manus, who is characterized by glowing red eyes all over himself and the corrupted denizens of Oolacile, and whose direct corruption of poor Knight Artorias imparted upon him powers of Abyssal goop… Not unlike the Abyssal Serpent’s tumor-like red eyes and the goop it melds into and out of. Clearly, this means Messmer was born with one of those fragments of Manus’ soul that were flung out across the earth like in DS2, and that’s why he’s so messed up. (I’m JOKING… but like, imagine?)

Anyway, let’s get away from the internal Fromsoft references and talk more about speculative biology here. The Abyssal Serpent should be much wider than it is, period. This indicates it is severely malnourished, but emaciated snakes are hollow and skeletal, not lumpy. So what’s the deal with that? Well, I have a theory, if you would indulge me for a moment:

The Abyssal Serpent is female, and pregnant, and has been pregnant for a very long time. (This photo is of an egg-bearing Burmese python, I am aware that the Abyssal Serpent is most like a viper, but I am just using it as reference (article here)). Of course, it being lumpy-looking is not the only reason I believe it is pregnant. In phase 2, Messmer is able to summon up to six or seven additional serpents. I thought these may have been dark manifestations of the winged serpents at first, but there are too many of them for this to be the case and their features are more reminiscent of the Abyssal Serpent:

I think they are the Abyssal Serpent’s progeny that have been festering inside, another form of overgrowth, unable to be born because of the seal. After removing the seal, Messmer is able to summon forth his serpent children to assist him. They also appear on his humanoid form as the snake bodies within his thighs, upper arms, and chest—he doesn’t have a womb to hold them in, so they manifest all over the place instead (might need some help from Ymir with that). I imagine if the Abyssal Serpent was able to carry out its term normally, Messmer’s humanoid body wouldn’t be so painfully affected by them.

Since these serpent children are not clones, we cannot say they exist due to parthenogenesis. Instead, I propose:

Prior to the seal, Messmer had an affair with Eiglay. They snuck out here in the Land of Shadow, where the snake skin of a young Eiglay remains as proof. But, Marika caught wind of it and said “Hell no, you’re not going to have a bunch of god-devouring snake children, not in my Christian Minecraft server!” and sealed the Abyssal Serpent away before they could be born. This snake skin being near the “O, Mother” gesture makes me think she punished Messmer for this sin—Marika could handle two powerful serpents separately, but both of them together could surely overthrow her. So potentially, one of the reasons she left Messmer stranded in the LoS was to be certain he would stay as far away from Eiglay as possible.

But that’s just my crazy theory, based on a bunch of model and environmental cues that could mean something totally different or nothing at all. Considering the obsession with motherhood in this DLC though, hmm… Also, Messmer’s other half being female fits with the Marika/Radagon and Miquella/St. Trina dichotomies as well, so yeah!

- Froggo

P.S. If you want to get really crazy: considering her red scales and green eyes, Rya could be the other end of the Messmer/Eiglay exchange, with Daedicar as a surrogate mother. But that’s a LOT. She seems a bit too young for that, but who knows…

[ohnoitsjetster]

ok so I mentioned that I might do a tier list where I rank the likelihood of every Hatchetfieldian being transgender. And uh, I thought maybe I was joking but I wasn't. here's this. You’re welcome

[septembersung]

Why are there so many songs about rainbows?

Because

[astrid-beck]

Someone asked me forever ago whether I think dnd arcana is humanities or stem and I thought about it way too much but my answer now is that arcana isn't humanities OR stem, it's more like natural philosophy. It's science as humanities. It predates separating mathematics from metaphor. I think it's about the connections and patterns you create by theorizing the abstract layer that surrounds the material world, impossible to pin down but uniquely meaningful because humans have thought about it

[thinkinginscripts]

I saw on AO3 someone thanking their beta for "brit-picking" and I LOVE this phrase. I'll happily brit-pick any lines, scenes, even whole fics if there's a non-Brit author out there who's looking for an authentic British tone/London feel to their fics and needs to sense check something!

[thewormsdontstop]

damn is there global warming in the one piece world too???

oh nvm the island is sinking. why is it sinking though

[charliespringverse]

i think it should be possible to scream without making any noise or disturbing anyone or inviting any questions . just sometimes . as a treat .

[kaythefloppa]

Whenever I think about the topic of a fourth season of The Lion Guard (beyond the fact that there won't be one and that it was never planned), I don't often think about it as a continuation of where the show left off, but the main storyline (from Return of the Roar to Return to the Pride Lands) lasting for four seasons, (i.e. if 4 seasons were commissioned for the show from the beginning, instead of 3).

Here's how I'd imagine this hypothetical four-season version of TLG would go:

Season 1: Introduces The Lion Guard, their enemies, establishes and sets up ‘the norm’ for the series. Re-introduces characters from the movie.

Season 2: Introduces Scar and focuses on his revenge plot as well as Kion and the Guard gathering as many forces as they can to unite him. Ends with his defeat (essentiallly, the entire Scar arc lasts the whole season).

Season 3: Focuses on The Lion Guard following their battle with Scar. The conflict is how things have changed since the battle, and how it has affected the group. So there'd be some story in between the end of the final battle and the beginning of the journey. Would also set up Makucha as the main antagonist for the latter half of the series. The season finale ends with them leaving the Tree of Life to regain their strength with peace restored.

Season 4: Picks up at the Tree of Life and focuses on the Guard healing and defeating their new enemies. Ends with a one hour special involving their return in order to cap off everything in the show.

[straylaughs]

listen im sure its just me missing sk8 terribly but MAN arajin being introduced to the class the same way langa was, the fact that he only has his mom(?), the character designs and music, the colours red and blue showing up throughout the show,,,

[bassguitarinablackt-shirt]

Do you ever think about how thalia's gonna outlive them all?

eve. look at me. i am never not thinking about how thalias gonna outlive them all.

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, & 15 with lightning!!

SCREAMS!! EEEK SO MANY!!! /positive

I love answering so many fun questions thank you so much!!!!!!

--obligatory mention that I humanize them, so it's all written in the context of them as, well, humans--

Putting this under a read more because my ability to yammer and yap is like no other. I don't think it's truly THAT long but, it feels necessary 😅(future Kane here..ermm..definitely lengthy! Shamelessly lengthy..)

2. Whats their go-to order at a cafe? What's yours?

L.ighting would definitely get some complex, vibrant looking drink, particularly sweet ones. Fun coffee's that have a lot of syrup flavoring/sugar/creamer in them, or milkshakes that have so many toppings on them that you might as well get a spoon for it. KEY component is that it's always something cold. Don't think I've ever seen him with a hot drink ever, unless you count slurping a bowl of soup.

I stick to like the same coffee every time. Some dark roast coffee with a fair amount of sugar and hazelnut creamer in it. Maybe sometimes that vanilla syrup instead of hazelnut. I think I'm a bit particular when it comes to coffee cause I have to have very specific amounts so the flavor is the way I like it, so I don't stray far out of the same place with the same order. If it's a new place we're going to and they don't offer sugar/creamer packets for your coffee then I'll probably just grab some snack/food if they offer any so I don't gotta go through a whole hassel.

6. They gave you a gift!! What is it?

Definitely some or his merchandise that he goes out of his way to sign with a fun marker that's like glittery or some bold color like silver or gold or purple. Probably a sweater or such that has the same design as his racing suit. Though I'd probably get worried about damaging it and only ever wear it around the house! Haha

9. Do you have any AUs for your selfship? Tell me about them!!

Technically!! It's a whole story that I really should make a post about some day😅 but basically I kinda have a different story/AU for how I meet each character, and the role/job I play/have is just about always different. Technically, all of them could be tied together in one big chronological order, kinda like some elaborate G.ame Theory video, but I typicalllyyy think of them as separate, with occasional exceptions and things.

But! The whole(watered down version) story for how I met L.ightning is that because of my super strong love for racing, I ended up trying to(and succeeding) getting hired as a pit crew member, and got put on L.ightning's team and got to work with him. He was a pain in the ass rookie to have to work with(not that I was any less of a rookie myself), but I liked him, nonetheless, and I knew he had a soft side to him. I ended up getting lost with him during the whole R.adiator Springs shebang, and got stuck with him from then on.

10. What's one thing you like that you think your f/o would also enjoy?

Asides from the more outright choice of, well, racing related things, I definitely think L.ightning would be someone that is really into Legos. I only really care much for particular Lego sets like the flowers/botanical ones, or the ones that are different vehicles and things, but 100% we'd make a date night(s) out of picking out Lego sets we like together and then building them together.

13. Who is the most influential person on your f/o's life?

There's the very obvious choice of picking D.oc, but the more I thought about it, the more the answers got kinda complex for me! D.oc definitely played the main role is turning L.ightning around and changing his attitude, but I think everyone in R.adiator Springs kinda influenced him in different ways.

Then there's the more obscure answer that..not really anyone knows about! But, to make a long story short,(I don't even remember the darn name), but when L.ightning was racing the the training achedemy, before he even got to racing in the big leagues and things, one of his friends betrayed him and, to be quick about it, was the reason L.ightning even got the name L.ightning and also played a hand in helping L.ightning have his big break through in getting to race in bigger leagues! YES this is technically canonical(whether you want to include the books as canonical or not is to each their own, especially depending on some books you can very much tell who did help with the movie and who wasn't even filled in on the plot of the movie so it's almost a pick and choose thing), and YES, if you like to count the books as canonical, L.ightning on a camping trip reveals a personal private story to S.arge, F.illmore, and M.ater about how he got the name L.ightning, and his 'original'(if that's the right word for it?) Name was Montgomery. I have a digital copy of said book and can fetch screenshots if yall think I'm pulling your leg🫡

14. Do you and your f/o share any hobbies?

Certainly! I don't have a whole list off the top of my head, but we definitely have the same taste in playing games together, whether it be video games or board games, I mentioned the Legos earlier, going out and just exploring things...OH! OH!! And 100% the whole dinosaur thing. L.ightning(canonically, I say once more, as if I give a darn to canon and don't avidly preach about bending it to however you please and partake in such actions myself) lovesssss dinosaurs! Even goes to a museum with M.ater about one! And proceeds to have the most blatant display of neurodivergance-y if I've ever seen one. He also watches documentaries and stuff on them. And I love dinosaurs, and I love documentaries!! So there's definitely that.

15. Badly describe your selfship!!

"I love you regaurdless of your past trauma/experiences and you are safe to be vulnerable around me and to be your authentic self without any masking, and without any repercussions." Count 1/??? hundred

[baravaggio]

new jules gill-peterson interview just dropped…this is such a breath of fresh air

[thankyousirmayihaveanother]

I was feeling festive this year so just in time for october I picked up some stage II HER2 positive breast cancer #hotgirlshit

[its-fucking-tangerine]

need someone to wave a magic wand and just fuckin finally tell me if im gay (like a gay man. mlm. you get the scene) or if im bi with a preference for men. can someone… just assign me a sexuality/romantic orientation? i know that’s not how it works but im so tired of thinking about it. just give me one. ill accept anything. just assign one of them to me based on our interactions and how well you know me because APPARENTLY i don’t know myself at all

[wingsyliveblogs]

Well, that sure is some spoopy goop. 

The fear bringer, huh? That would explain the episode title... and why no one seems particularly enthusiastic about having to deal with it. 

And it just... lives under the school.........

wait a minute

Gus, I really hope you’re being careful with that tunnel. 

I know I haven’t gotten very far and Amity’s just getting to the good part of the explanation, but that second part is exactly why I’ll be pausing here for the night. I suspect this is something that I’ll want to be functioning at 100% for, so it’s time for me to recharge! 

And for now, goodnight!