#what's interesting though is the lore can actually be combined pretty well

[zetsubobu]

So what if I combined two mystery/angsty supernatural shows

So I handed lizzy a death note, let's see what she will do with it!

I honestly don't think she would use it unless it is to protect her loved ones and then after that it's mostly just her paranoid over getting potentially caught. Though I think it would lead to some good scenarios!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

OMG RAVEN YOU’RE INTO EVER AFTER HIGH? I love it but can’t talk about it bc none of my friends have seen it 😭 I wish it was talked about more, especially with how deep their lore runs. I love EAH’s dynamics with the complexities of destiny. If twst followed the same logic as eah’s world it would be so interesting. How would you feel if the worlds were to mesh together and how it would work? You can interpret that in any way you want; the characters meeting or twst being bound to the same rules and societal expectations of eah, or whatnot.

Also who’s your favorite eah character compared to your favorite twst character (Leona)?Jade, right?

And have you read the eah books? I haven’t, but I’m going to try to sometime!

Eah alt account when?

I'm still salty that the Monster High x Ever After High crossover movie never saw the light of day-- Part of the reason why I don't like Disney (I mean the faceless corpo, not all Disney products) is because they have such a strong association with fairy tales that it pushes other interpretations out of the market or it leads to people assuming Disney "owns" those fairy tales. Ever After High's lore and themes run so much deeper than most other fairy tale reimaginings I've seen (and I've seen a lot). It's such a shame it doesn't get the respect and recognition it deserves even though EAH is the one out here challenging the status quo whereas modern Disney is content with mediocrity that appeals to the masses.

I think EAH and TWST, at their cores, share similar ideas so combining them would work well. Friendship, self-identity, defining your own future, questioning what "good" and "evil" truly are... It's all there. I'd imagine that if Twisted Wonderland (or at least NRC) followed the same rules as EAH, then everyone would be descendants of their Disney counterparts. (This is actually a common misperception of what TWST was to new fans; people mistakenly believe the TWST characters are children of the classic Disney villains. This has never been canon.) Unfortunately, I'd have to take away the Disney villains being twisted to be "good" guys in Twisted Wonderland's world in order for this to work by EAH rules, so... There's that to consider. This, in turn, can result in the student body splitting into Royals (pro-following one's destiny) and Rebels (anti-following one's destiny). Perhaps RSA and NRC could be one school in this AU...? Just so we have a mix of "good" and "evil" descended children in the same vicinity as one another. A must-have are the constantly bickering Narrators!! It's only really when Yuu shows up that the majority opinion starts to shift. Maybe then Crowley becomes concerned with students rising up and fighting back against the system that relies on them being complacent to keep the cycle of stories going. I've seen some readings of EAH which theorize that Royals guaranteed a happy ending is a stand-in for privilege, and that interpretation leads into very interesting conflicts when we also consider that magic in Twisted Wonderland is a privilege afforded to few.

To cover just the dorm leaders (because covering all the TWST characters would make this post way longer), I definitely see Riddle, Kalim, Idia, and Malleus as Royals and Leona, Azul, and Vil as Rebels. Here's my thought process:

Riddle is pretty self-explanatory. He comes from a background where he's used to being told what to do by his mother and so he also heavily relies on her strict, unyielding teachings to play by the book when he goes out there in the real world. Riddle is inflexible and hesitant to go against the grain--and, more importantly, he fully believes that following the rules will lead to his happiness... that doing as his fairy tale ordains will lead to a happy ending. What happens to the Queen of Hearts is dubious in the end since it's framed as Alice's dream, so I think that vagueness gives Riddle hope that by behaving himself, he'll earn the happiness he desires.

Leona is a Rebel, and not just because that's the aesthetic of his dorm. Being that he is highly intelligent and demonstrates a lot of foresight, he'd be aware of what future is in store for him and aggressively fighting against that. It would make him more desperate than ever to prove his worth, because not only does everyone see his powers as terrifying, but they also see him as a future brother murderer and dictator that will bleed the land dry of resources. It'd make the situation with his family even more strained than it already is, not to mention the extra jealousy he must feel toward Cheka, who is still too young to understand what's going to happen later.

Azul is someone who acts like a Royal but is actually a Rebel. He acts polite and like he plays by the rules, but clearly he doesn't behind the scenes. I see Azul as the kind of Rebel akin to Duchess Swan... as in, he believes he can steal away someone else's destiny for himself. Azul would constantly be looking for loopholes to save himself. He's put way too much stock into becoming a better, stronger person and he'd want to defend this new life he has made for himself. His obsession with protecting his contracts could translate well here.

Kalim is a Royal because he's mega rich and has been sheltered from the concept of bad things that happen to normal people; he has nothing to worry about. It also helps that Kalim is twisted from a character that doesn't meet a bad ending. I think he'd be aware of Jami's doomed destiny, but Kalim is so ignorant that he thinks it'll just be fine and it'll work itself out. Part of his growth could be being forced to reckon with the reality that Jamil is suffering under the legacy assigned to him and accepting the role that he plays in that by not acting.

Idia is a Royal--or at least pre-book 6 Idia is. He's a very pessimistic guy and repeatedly expresses hopelessness about the future, bemoaning the curse he and his family have to bear. Idia doesn't want to try to fight his fate, he's already accepted that it will happen and so closes himself off from others to save himself that heartbreak. Post-book 6 Idia will have swapped over to the Rebel side thanks to Ortho reviving the hope in him.

Vil is a Rebel simply for the fact that he fights social conventions. He's already out here shattering gender roles, but finds it much harder to breach that expectation that villains are just villains and nothing more. Vil keeps getting rejected at every turn, told that it's impossible to rewrite his story, that his frustrations are the natural result of jealousy and an ugly heart that festers in side of him. He steels himself to prove that notion wrong, working himself to the bone to get up on that stage and stay on it, waiting to be lavished with praise that he truly is the fairest one of all. I feel this would be so fascinating for Vil's own arc about self acceptance; maybe he wears himself down emotionally because he HAS to basically be perfect due to his job but also denies himself normal feelings like anger and jealousy because confessing that you have such "ugly" feelings only validates that you're shallow just like the stories say you will be.

Malleus is a tough one, but I settled for Royal in the end. Maleficent is doomed to be slain by a sword, right? So am I saying that THE Malleus Draconia, who is infamously arrogant about his magical abilities, would lie down and take a stab like that? Of course not! However, I do think that Malleus is initially someone who values tradition and living up to noblesse oblige. As the future ruler of a nation, people's stories are relying on him to play his expected role out, which he'd be fully cognizant of. I also think Malleus would be afforded the luxury of not having to face his destiny as soon as his peers are due to his long life span. This is in part because the person destined to slay him doesn't come into his life for literally hundreds of years. Then when book 7 arrives, Malleus has to deal with his loved ones leaving and/or betraying him as well as the realization that this is his destiny: dying alone and unloved. That'd just break him.

ahdbiqwdbqwli I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS AU FOR FOREVER BUT I'LL CUT IT SHORT OR ELSE I'LL NEVER SHUT UP 😭

EAH has so many good characters and interesting storylines, it's hard for me to pick a favorite! I of course love Apple and Raven's dilemmas, but I feel like it's cheating to pick one of them as my favorite. The whole Wonderland gang is also fantastic... I'm a sucker for their aesthetic, but they're so fun and silly in general. Kitty, Lizzie, and especially Madeline are 👌

Mmm, when I think long and hard about it, I think my favorite EAH character has to be Briar Beauty, daughter of Sleeping Beauty. Firstly, I love all the pink, roses, and bramble in her design. Secondly, I love the layers to why she is the way she is. Briar's a party girl not because "lmao, wouldn't that be a funny haha subversion of Sleeping Beauty" but because she wants to live life up before she falls asleep for 100 years and literally loses all her friends and family to the natural passage of time. That's seriously so smart and such an inventive way to think about the trauma a descendant of Sleeping Beauty might have. Seeing Briar transition from one of Apple's besties and biggest supporters to an outright rebel is satisfying as heck. (Gotta take a moment to shout out this classic moment :3)

I don't know if I would compare Briar to Jade since they're entirely different characters. However, looking at the source material, I'm actually surprised I like Briar as much as I do since I have never cared for the story of Sleeping Beauty. A part of me finds this ironic since Malleus harbors a similar fear as Briar (losing loved ones) yet I see Malleus's desire as way more selfish and self-serving than Briar's. I believe that's because Briar doesn't have the same arrogance as Malleus, so I'm more forgiving with her. EAH's actual equivalent to Malleus is Faybelle, daughter of the Dark Fairy, but I don't like her as much as I do Briar (hence why I'm comparing Malleus and Briar, not Malleus and Faybelle).

I haven't read the EAH books but I want to one day! I'd prefer to borrow them since I don't have enough space in my room for more physical books, so as soon as I find copies at a library or something...

This blog has kind of become a place where I occasionally talk about my other interests, generally as it relates to TWST, my main interest. I'd like to keep it like this since managing multiple blogs can be so draining. It already takes quite a bit of time to regularly write responses to asks just on one blog!

[inhuman-obey-me]

I wonder…… would it be actually possible for an angel and a demon to have offspring? And even then what it would be like? I don’t remember if there’s anything like that mentioned in the game, and considering they’re like, mortal enemies maybe in the bible lore I doubt that realistically there would be any answer apart from “no” but like……… imagine an angel/devil child in om and what it could mean for the three realms👀

Interesting question, since theoretically angel/demon physiology should be some kind of similar/compatible, but our answer is pretty definitively no, they could not have offspring together.

We have talked a bit previously about where we think angels and demons respectively come from in our Three Realms Headcanons post many moons ago, but here's a quick recap of the relevant parts:

All angels are created by their "Father" aka God; there is no concept of pregnancy or fertility amongst angels because God personally creates each of them.

Unlike angels, who are each created by God, some demons -- especially minor/lower ones -- are born through the manifestation of humans’ sins and negative energy.

Mid-tier and high level demons can be created through various means, including but not limited to sex. However, sex and pregnancy do not work the same way for demons as they do for humans. All demons involved have to consciously imbue themselves with magic that will make them fertile and guarantee conception; otherwise they are sterile by default.

This process also isn’t limited to a pair of male/female demons - multiple demons of whatever gender can contribute to the conception of a demon baby, and the child will take traits from every parent involved.

Other mid- and high-tier demon births can come from ceremonies, rituals, magic, etc.

We know that, canonically, the angels all call each other Brother and Sister, and all of them refer to God as Father as it is implied he is the one who created each of them. We also know that, as Simeon himself describes, "Lucifer and his brothers" were always a more close-knit group than how other angels interacted and they as a unit were their own separate thing. Additionally, it has been implied that angels do not necessarily get created as babies; although there are many "when you're older" comments made towards Luke, Asmodeus talks about the first Asmo Night being something like 1 week after his creation. Together, this all implies that none of them otherwise have "biological" families that that gave birth to them, and none of them can be parents either, as only God can create angels. Though to be clear, this isn't an "angels can't have sex" statement, only "angels can't have babies"!

Now, arguably since our headcanons for the demon side of births do include magical ceremonies and angels do have magic, there could perhaps be angel magic contributed into the birth of a demon. However, we also know that Mammon has suggested that angel blessings could kill a demon like him. Therefore, it would seem like rather than helping to create a new demon, it would hurt the potential demon baby or cancel out the demon magic in that process.

As for what a demon/angel child would mean for the OM world if one could be born, well, that's basically answered by MC's existence! Season 2 basically revolves all around the idea that MC has both angel magic from Lilith and demon magic from the pacts. And, well, Season 2 treats it as a deeply unstable combination that in fact threatens the safety of all three realms. So, maybe it's a good thing if there can't be any children born between angels and demons!

[tenaciouschronicler]

June 14 2024 2009

This is some crazy interactivity we got. Im not gonna talk about everything since many arent plot/lore relevant. At the least getting to explore more of Johns house in detail has been great! I love his silly little walk animation.

We have two speakers, the first being the new disembodied voice. They type in all caps on a black background with orange borders and address John as Boy throughout the flash. Each of their texts are preceeded with the command '>' symbol, though not everything they type is a command. The other is, I assume, our narrator. They type in the way we've seen so far on a white background with lime green borders and, unless 'talking' with >VOICE, address John as 'you'. Its interesting to note >VOICE can see what Narrator says when its addressed to them. Its unclear if they can see Everything the narrator types however.

Now for the nity-gritty. (Which is all gonna be under the cut for lengths sake)

(Just so I dont have to type it out so much >VOICE will be V and Narrator will be N)

We start this flash on the roof landing where we get instructions on how to proceed. Vs text boxes are stated to be command menus.

When I was first clicking around I though each object only had 1 command. I found out the sprite and John actually have follow ups when I was trying to tap the sprite when I miss clicked with how closely it sticks to John.

For the Sprite, N rehashes what we saw in the previous update and also notes the transformation did not make the Sprite understandable, it still speaks in fleur de lis. In the next command from V, N reveals [The only thing you can theoretically do with it is TIER 2 PROTOTYPE IT, assuming that's still possible...]. V doesnt seem to have knowledge of SBURB trying to get John to <TIER PROTO TYPE THE SPRITE, OR THE THING YOU SAID.> According to N, [The SBURB SERVER USER is supposed to do that.] With the previous comment combined, it seems Rose may or may not be able to affect John wherever he is. That or N is just as clueless to the extent of SBURBs reach, even if they have more knowledge.

John has a lot more said about him. Here is where we get the interactions between V and N.

> BOY. LISTEN TO ME, BOY.

[His name is John, you nincompoop.]

Absolutely hilarious, N.

> BOY WHO IS JOHN. DO AS I SAY.

[What would you like 'BOY WHO IS JOHN' to do?]

> OBEY MY COMMANDS, JOHN BOY.

[And those commands would be...?]

> I WOULD LIKE THE BOY TO INTERACT WITH HIS ENVIRONMENT IN A CONSTRUCTIVE MANNER.

[Maybe you should be a little more specific?]

Vs use of Johns name doesnt last very long and quickly reverts to Boy. While they are issuing commands, it seems like broad statements dont work. Im wondering where V is even doing this from. Surely it has to be somewhere where they have a visual on John to be able to discern his gender. Its probably a computer of some sort but they probably havent replaced Rose as the Server player or else I feel like N would have said something when talking about sprite prototyping. If thats the case, is V some sort of interloper? Are they Supposed to be able to do this or have they somehow stumbled upon this feed? How would that even be possible and what are the implications of that?

> HAVE THE BOY ASSESS HIS CURRENT SITUATION.

[I'm afraid I can't 'HAVE THE BOY' do that. Tell him to do it yourself!]

> VERY WELL.

[... Ok.]

N is Not having it with V and seems pretty frustrated with the whole situation. Im also realizing the same questions kind of apply to N as I have for V. We kinda took the narration for granted but this is opening the idea that N Is their own character and is Also somewhere commenting on all of Johns actions. When did this happen? Has it been a constant for John that was never noticed? N is more likely Supposed to be able to do this but for what reason?

> ==>

[That instruction does not do anything at the moment!!!]

> ==>

[Sigh. Could you please turn the controls over to a more competent user?]

Interestingly, V is attempting to use a command that has shown up in the comic already, ==>. So they have some knowledge of how commands Should work but cannot entirely control the narrative.

The Cruxite and Alchemiter also rehash things we already saw such as the tree creation. N however does have this to say at the end of the Alchemiter text, [You wonder what happened to your DAD?]. I am now increasingly worried Dad might not be in the kitchen.

We leave the balcony and go to Johns room first. Upon entering it seems that whatever was under Johns bed is no longer there though it left traces of some sort of black substance. Whatever it was seems to have taken Johns gift according to N:

[THE BUNNY IS NOT IN THE BOX.

I SAID, THE BUNNY IS NOT IN THE BOX.

WHY COULDN'T THE BUNNY BE IN THE BOX?]

On examining the posters, V has no idea of the movie titles. Stangely V does seem to know something; <IS THAT JOHN CUSACK?>

Clicking the computer gives us good and bad news, [It seems you are still connected to the internet. Rose is trying to get in touch with you.]

BUT, in the bottom corner the time has been replaced with question marks. Wherever John is its not just frozen in time but Completely Removed From The Natural Flow.

<BOY, LOOK THROUGH THIS WINDOW.> On inspection it seems only the things mentioned in commands were saved as the green between the mailbox and tree is now void.

In a perversion of the original command N states:

A tree without a tire swing is like...

Like a house without a surrounding neighborhood, you guess.

Terrible. Dreadful. How dare you.

Its important to note V does not use any of the names given to the SBURB machines only approximations based on looks, <THIS HUGE SEWING MACHINE. OF WHAT USE IS IT.> Conversely N does have knowledge of the machines but not the extent of their uses, at least in so much as John is supposed to have, [You guess maybe other PUNCH CARDS will produce different shapes? It bears further exploration.] We might likely do more alchemy further on in the comic with this comment in mind.

We leave Johns room and head right.

[Your DAD'S room is still locked!!! ]

Thank you, N. Bathroom it is.

Looking out this window we see the cake covered pogoslime and a mangled swingset.

The only other clickable things, the tub and toilet have the same text with V being unintentionally hilarious, <YOUR PLUMBING APPEARS FAULTY.>

Back to the landing and going downstairs we find V does not share the same appreciation for Harlequins as Dad, at least when it comes to paintings.

<DETEST THIS!>

<VILE. PAY NO MIND TO THIS FILTH.>

<NO NO NO NO NO. KEEP MOVING.>

<UGH, NO.>

The Cruxtruder text from N implies moving it would require Grist which seems odd to me. Deploying it was free so it stands to reason moving it should also be free. But I guess you only get one shot at placement and Rose screwed that tremendously. N thinks themselves a really funnyman, [More than ever you feel... what's the word you're looking for? Of course. Housetrapped.]

Hilarious.

In the study we actually get a lot more insight into Dad. Clicking the mural of the <MERRY BAND OF PERFORMERS> reveals them to be the Cirque du Solei. [Cirque du Soleil once filed a restraining order against your father. You were never so embarrassed in your life. ]

...Im....sorry? Dad... what? I have more questions for this man than ever before and I Must get the Dad lore behind this Immediately.

The piano gives us a portion of the sheet music for Johns piano piece and plays the song again for us. I dont know how to play any instruments so I'll leave that to someone else to interpret.

Since we never looked out this window there is nothing to see. [It's dark out there. Can't see anything for miles.] Below it on the sill is more of that weird black stuff.

The picture to the left [can only [be] assume your DAD hung it crooked to make it look more 'whimsical'] which really speaks to how John views his Dad.

At the desk we <READ UNPLEASANT LITERATURE> titled [SERIOUS JESTER MAGAZINE. FOR THOSE FOR WHOM CLOWNING AROUND IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.] This only solidifies the theory @homestuckreplay had on the Serious Business chat being Dads clown troupe. *thrusting microphone in your face* Good sir, how does it feel to be right?!

My shenanigans aside, we head back <TO THE LARGE ROOM WITH THE GROSS PAINTINGS> and go to our next destination, the kitchen.

Immediately we have a lack of Dad and an increase of my concern tenfold.

The bowl of cake batter is on the floor and the black substance is Heavily smeared from Dads last known position to the door.

[You wonder what happened in here. Where's your DAD?]

You and me both John. You and me both.

Examining the bowl leads to a gut wrenching comment, [Wherever your DAD went, he seems to have left in a hurry. For all his absurdities you have to put up with, you sure wish he were here right now.]

Now I am full of concern for John! This is all probably really confusing for him and I wanna go back to the slapstick shenanigans please.

Clicking the artwork just further adds pain as N just Has to let us know [Your DAD was so proud when you drew this. He hung it up immediately and it's stayed there ever since. That was one week ago.]

You know... before this I was just glad John was alive and had nothing but curiosity for the house but now...

We follow the smear out the door to the laundry room John parkour-ed into. Theres nothing really of note except for the lack of more black goo.

The next door takes us outside where again we see no signs of goo or Dad. From here theres no way to the front of the house to explore further. I do wonder Where Dad was taken(?). Theres no visible way down from the cliffs so...

Theres a lot more that I didnt cover so I implore you to explore it yourself, its quite fun actually when you ignore the implications.

[anthurak]

9S is the final boss though? Like his whole arc after 2B dies is him going insane until you get to the final fight with A2 with her being the obviously better choice.

Alright, ‘cracks knuckles’ guess I’m finally talking about those Nier takes I’ve never gotten around to.

Yes, you are correct. Which is why I call 9S a ‘blemish’ and not something that outright ruined the game for me.

It’s still annoying when you get into later parts of Route B when 9S starts stumbling onto all the big lore and backstory reveals with even Commander White dropping into emphasize how important what he’s finding is. As if the story is saying ‘aren’t you a smart and special little boy, 9S, for discovering all these important things’. Which combined with 2B dying at the start of Route C, makes it feel like, as I said, 9S is getting the ‘he was the REAL main character all along!’ treatment. Particularly when we consider that 9S gets to be the PC of both Route B and half of Route C, whereas 2B only gets Route A and A2 only gets half of Route C, effectively meaning that 9S technically gets the most screen time, story-wise.

Add on the fact that, as I said in the original repost, 9S reads and acts like literally every generic, cardboard-cutout self-insert anime protag-guy, to the point where some of his dialogue with 2B that I think the game wants us to interpret as ‘flirting’ feels like it’s out of a goddamn visual novel, and you can see why I consider him pretty insufferable.

It also doesn’t help that every time I’ve revisited Nier: Automata, I’m always finding 2B more and more interesting and compelling as a character. Just as an example, has anyone noticed that despite being seemingly the most ‘professional’ and loyal to the YoRHA cause on the surface of the three PCs, 2B is actually the most merciful of the three to the machine lifeforms? Like how when you first encounter non-hostile machines, 2B doesn’t want to attack them, stating that there is no reason to attack those that aren’t attacking them. Or how 2B is actually the MOST open of the three to talking and working with Pascal, whereas A2 is at first extremely distrustful and 9S just wanted to attack him on sight.

And yes, I really like A2 as well. Unfortunately the way her route is constructed means that she feels just as much like a replacement for 2B as she does a separate character in her own right. Which combined with the shorter length of Route C, makes her character feel a bit truncated.

And yes, 9S rapidly revealing himself to be a crazed, murderous incel simping for 2B the moment she dies IS in and of itself a great, twisted and interesting character turn, and I wholly agree that A2 having to Old-Yeller him is absolutely the better choice for the final battle. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really change everything else I’ve been saying up to now. Or the fact that 2B absolutely got fridged to make it happen.

Personally, for a long time now I’ve felt a better way to do the post-‘everything’s gone to shit’ reveal that we see in Route C would have 2B not actually dying but instead taken by A2 and eventually purged of the logic virus, though with 9S still wholly BELIEVING that 2B is dead at A2’s hands. Say, A2 still stabs 2B, but it turns out to be non-fatal.

From there, Route C follows A2 and a weakened/regaining-her-strength 2B working together. Likely with some fun gameplay twists were-in you’re switching control between the two. All the while, 9S is deteriorating even further than what we saw originally, to the point where even when he learns that 2B is alive and sees her again, he just goes into an even more crazed ‘you abandoned me!’ and ‘you left me for her!’ mode.

Which actually ends up leading to 9S mirroring Eve’s own crazed obsession with Adam and the rampage he went on after the latter’s death. Which in turn at first leads 2B to believe that 9S has some lingering virus infection from Adam and Eve from when they were holding him captive and that is the source of his madness, meaning that 9S could still be saved.

Of course, in a tragic twist, it is revealed that it ISN’T something lingering from Eve, but rather that 9S is deliberately re-infecting himself with the virus. That the true source of 9S’s madness is simply his own twisted obsession with 2B.

Which in turn leads to a final boss fight of 2B and A2 fighting a now-monstrous 9S. A fight which culminates in 2B and A2, with the help of Pods 042 and 153, hacking 9S in an extended trippy hacking sequence.

A sequence which culminates in 2B/the player having to hack into 9S’s menu and actually forcibly uninstall his OS-chip in order to put him down for good. Complete with you/2B effectively having to fight the ‘Are you sure?’ confirmation box which becomes progressively more crazed and unhinged, until Pod 042 mentions that you can force-uninstall the chip through some seemingly simply method like holding the button. Or perhaps something equally zany like switching control to A2 to uninstall the chip while the confirmation box is ‘occupied’ with 2B.

Thus, we still get a tragic/bittersweet ending of 2B being forced to kill 9S, but this time for good with the sense that now she can finally move on. Also this version would absolutely have 2B and A2 becoming a couple.

So yeah, that's a... few of my takes on Nier. Heck, I didn't even go into the AU I've had percolating for a few years now wherein 9S is expunged from the story entirely, 2B is partnered with 60 and is a bit of a yuri-harem-protag and there is frankly WAY more world-building than is necessary.

[thewebcomicsreview]

A'ight a'ight, new Hamsteak tonight! This update, the cue ball update, apparently has a content warning for physical and mental abuse, so I'm putting the liveblog behind a ReadMore

It's still weird that GCATavros and Erisol (and Fefeta) are a thing, for all sorts of reasons, but I'm not going to question it I guess.

Sneaking suspicion we're getting a new Vriska look today. Also confirmation that sprites can't change their appearance. Which I guess is not new information, but...it's also not very interesting! Moving on!

Sollux has the hardest-to-read quirk of any of the main trolls, and adding Eridan doesn't help at all. "Class-swah Dichotomy" probably means class as in social class, and not as in Classpect, but keeping the phrase in mind regardless. Davepeta is the leader of the group, a combination Rogue/Knight of Time/Heart and they passively stole Vriska's time by trapping her in the hyperbolic character development chamber, which seems like something for the classpect chart people to want to focus on. @bladekindeyewear is back in the liveblogging scene, presumably taking all sorts of notes on this.

Why the fuck is GCATavros talking like Gamzee?

Kind of interesting reading this comically pathetic version of Tavros after reading the author's commentary on the first part of this hell tier where they focused on how there was actually a lot more to him than being the buttmonkey. Also after the last update I'm reading this whole conversation expecting that Vriska will meet Doc Scratch and this will somehow tie into that relationship, though I have no idea how.

Well, that's not at all an ominous thing to say in the "Hell Tier" arc. I'm also kind of curious how this can really be an escalation over Spidermom, unless they're going to make some reveals.

This entire arc is character-based, of course, but the lore nerd in me wants to know where Scratch's parlor comes from here. Vriska never saw it, nor did any sprite, so why is it accurate? Where is Hell Tier coming from? It's also worth remembering, along those lines, that Doc Scratch is partially Hal Strider, and thus a shard of Dirk, though this is presumably not the real thing.

Scratch's text also has a typewriter sound effect, which I like. None of the characters in the flash have "voices" in like a Banjo-Kazooie/Celeste-type way, so it's immediately notable when one does.

Getting kind of creepy pretty fast here.

Vriska's text has a black background suddenly. The implications of this I don't really remember off the top of my head, though. Actually on my other monitor it's a green background, which makes a bit more sense. I think one of my monitors has kind of fucked color settings but I don't know which one.

Oh wait, that's right, Vriska has seen Scratch. Scratch distracted Aradia and Terezi so that Vriska could throw Tavros off the cliff that one time. Maybe she has been here before, on the Green Moon.

I feel like Momfang has that title, but make your case.

Oh, what the shit. I'm starting to see where the content warning is maybe coming from.

Okay, seems we're going there. Scratch was certainly always, um, pedo-coded in the way he targeted and manipulated young girls, but it seems like we're about to get some confirmation.

Um.

UM.

Okay, getting de-aged back into Hivebent-era Vriska is honestly the best outcome of Scratch putting her in a "uniform".

As much as this is about Scratch, this is also about Vriska herself, in the end.

Man, I feel like every single Scratch line here is worth examining, but I don't really know what to add. As much as this is Scratch the cueball dude this is also the concept of Fate itself.

More classpect stuff about how Vriska's power is "borrowed". Really, that's true of all the kids, their god powers and even their Ultimate Powers all come from Skaia and can theoretically be revoked at any moment. Not sure when Light "abandoned" Vriska, though, unless it's referring to (Vriska) getting killed. This Vriska knowing that her own best friend tried to murder her and that it was divinely judged Just has have fucked her up a little.

Interesting. Generally the fandom considers classpect has being an extension of your true self and your title being Skaia simply describing who you already were. This (which is partially Vriska's opinion of things) frames it as the kids being Warlocks who were granted power by Skaia. This is mostly Worldbuilding (tm) but if that's the way Vriska's thought of it it kind of explains a lot about her. She doesn't feel like she's ever earned anything she's had, even her divinity.

Vriska doesn't get a revelation here, she just gets insulted and kicked out and-

Erisol, you dick, lol.

Well that was a lot to take in. I think I need to process it. Kind of wild that it's only the halfway point. Up next is the feather and the 8-ball. I think we're down with flashbacks, and the feather is Davepeta and the 8-ball is Vriska getting out of hell.

[pikmininaplane]

Fit lore!! I’d love to hear about your thoughts for Phil figuring out fits secret if you’d like to share, the same thought has been floating around in my head as well lol

OHOHOHOHO friend I love you /p I'm putting this under a read more because I. Ended up writing a lot more than intended–

So the thought came to me the day before Fit's lore, when Fit asked Phil if he'd be there the next day. Obviously it didn't mean anything else than "will you attend the event/will I see you tomorrow my friend ?", but my brain immediately went "what if Phil was involved in Fit's lore"

This, combined with the fact that I've been hoping someone would find out about qFit's secret or at least get sus of his behaviour, led me to believe that qPhil would be the best person that could find out about it, actually

'cause like– first of all, qPhil is probably the person qFit's closest to, without counting Ramón or any of the eggs. I mean, he's friendly towards most people, and gets along pretty well with qBad, qPac and qMike, but qPhil has literally given qFit access to his eggs' bunker, which, to my knowledge, he'd only given to qMissa and qWill, the fathers of said eggs, before. qPhil, who would probably have earned the #1 paranoid dad crown if qBBH hadn't been around, fully trusts qFit with his children.

And like I said, I really want someone to find out about qFit's secret, but like. Wouldn't it be more interesting if it were someone qFit is close to ? Someone qFit trusts, but also someone who trusts qFit ?

Also, as much as I want someone to know at least part of the truth, I don't want everything to be revealed to everyone yet, and I feel like most people, if they found out about qFit's secret, would reveal it to the others – some others, at least. Would qCellbit or qMaximus hide it from the Ordo Theoritas ? Would qBaghera, qForever or qBad hide it from each other ? Would the people actively investigating the island keep the existence of a third, unknown party to themselves ? Well... maybe. That is up to discussion. But they'd want to tell, at least, and that's not what I wish for.

Now qPhil ? qPhil is a lot less involved in the lore, or even in the RP itself (no shade, I love ccPhil, his character and the way he plays him) – he isn't even part of the Ordo Theoritas. He's not really interested in solving the island's mysteries – his priorities lie with the eggs and their safety.

I truly think qPhil would be a friend qFit could confide in. Because let's be real, qFit could probably use one – mans has been lying to everyone on the island for months, and the only one that knows part of his secret is Ramón, his 3 months old child, who he hasn't even told everything. Between that and the growing pressure (for real, what's with the cats appearing around him,,) qFit is under, he can't keep it all to himself forever.

I don't think qFit would tell him himself, though – and neither do I think qPhil would ask. I mean, even if he thinks qFit's chat messages are suspicious, he isn't the type to inquire about it.

... But accidents happen, y'know ?

[As he jumps down the elevator shaft, Phil can't quite shake off the feeling that something's wrong. That whatever Fit's doing down there, it isn't any of his business, and he should probably just go back up and tell Fit to meet him at his gym, or anywhere, really.

But, well. He's already there. Might as well go further.

The trail of torches leads him deeper and deeper, until it finally stops, in a tunnel like any other. But Phil isn't a fool. He can hear the faint tapping of keys.

It only takes him a few seconds to find the hidden entrance.

Fit stands up as he comes in.

The room is small, barely big enough to breathe, and dark. Its only light comes from the computer screen sitting on the wooden desk, in the middle of the room, between the two men.

Neither of them speak.

Phil can see the thoughts flashing behind Fit's eyes. He's certain of it now, he's found something he shouldn't have found, and Fit has yet to decide how to react. Unconsciously, his hand has moved closer to his trident; consciously, Phil prepares himself to grab his sword.

But Fit doesn't attack. He simply places his hand in front of himself and gives Phil an awkward yet friendly smile.

"Hey, Phil ! Didn't expect to see you there... !"

Phil wishes he could just return his smile and pretend like nothing’s wrong. Ignore what he’s seeing and go back to Chayanne and Tallulah.

... but it's a little too late for that, isn't it ?

"Oi, mate," he calls out as he crosses his arms. "What are you up to."]

... something about leitmotivs and Phil finding out people's secrets by walking into their secret underground rooms...

So yeah, TL;DR: I want someone to find out about qFit’s secret because it’s a shame such a huge share of the lore is kept, well, secret, and I think qPhil would be a perfect first confident because they’re really good friends and he wouldn’t just tell anyone :] Plus I love their relationship and I’d love to see it being explored more please I’m begging

(Also I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who's been thinking about it and I'd love to hear your own thoughts if you're willing to share them 👀)

[theproperweirdo]

Oh when I said the journey pantheon I meant the Dura-Dusk Lord-Misarte situation. Since they all seem to be of (maybe) equal level and all under the same religion, even though worshipped by different etho-geographical groups. It has interesting lore implications like the prior mentioned split-afterlifes possibility

It’s mostly just a shortcut way of acknowledging the difference in gods between games, since I believe arena only has Dura and Annih as true gods (and celestials are demigods now? Idrk I’m mostly going off the earlier post).

Actually now that I think about it I wonder where the celestials fall in the Journey lore

Also I wouldn’t be too surprised if Annih was supposed to be in Journey and is heavily related to the giant black hole in the lore. At the very least he hasn’t been proven to *not* be in the game so I’m holding out where I can.

I do think the combination of multiple afterlife’s for factions + the Arena lore for the origins of graveborns actually meshes pretty well.

Death god rules over specifically fallen lightbearers -> bye bye -> only lightbearers can get resurrected from lightbearer afterlife due to magic spells of That One Asshole™

At the very least that’s what I’m gonna tell myself so I can sleep tonight

P.s. there’s an interesting affinity line where Cecia’s summon is mentioned to “give off a vaguely wilder-like presence”. It would be interesting to see if graveborn magic can infected wilders in some way. We do see Eormir get turned into a crazy monster thing due to dark magic as well so very curious indeed.

Ouhhh okay! I like your theory, but I would be sad if they demoted Annih to just death god to light bearers 😢😢 not an elite employee

I hope if it’s true, we get so see the god of death for wilders/maulers. Their design would be killer 🫣🫣

[sautethehorrors]

What is funger << could easily Google but want friend to tell me about it instead

Funger is short for Fear and Hunger, the first installment in the Fear and Hunger video game series. Its an awesome game that combines a jrpg play style with roguelike elements where each room of the dungeon, and the items found inside, generate randomly with each play through.

It's a one person endeavour created by a Finnish dude called Miro/orange, and it's a love letter to the horror game genre. It feels like a mix of Soulsbourne, Binding of Isaac, Silent Hill, and Pokemon vibes to me.

Basically you start out as one of four characters/classes: D'acre, the knight, Cahara the mercenary, Enki the dark priest or Ragnvaldr the outlander, and your quest is to enter the terrifying and mythical dungeons of Fear and Hunger in search of the leader of a mercenary army named Legard, who has been captured and imprisoned there.

The kicker of the game is that you only have 30 minutes to find him from when you first start the game. After that even if you find his prison he'll be dead, but you can still keep exploring the fucked up dungeons. There is SO MUCH to explore in the dungeons and truthfully I think it would take at least a few days of play time to actually find Legarde in under 30 mins.

Oh right, the other kicker of the game is that everything kills you. Like everything everything. At the start of the game you're way too weak to fight anything on your own, so it's more a survival horror game of trying to hide and outrun enemies while rooting through barrels and crates for items that coukd potentially be helpful. You have to keep track of your hunger bar by eating and drinking water, your body bar takes a hit whenever you get hurt (even from stuff like stepping on a rusty nail that can cause an infection that slowly drains health), and your mind meter is constantly dropping and needs to be sustained with whatever substances you can find, from wine to opium.

It's also not shy about sex and violence. You can lose limbs, which affects your ability to wield weapons, you can chop them off to prevent infection, you can use found limbs as weapons. There are several gods and their cults in the game and receiving their blessings can help you tremendously, but their rituals involve things like orgies, human sacrifice, and cannibalism. The game has a wonderfully bleak and beautiful artsyle, where the environments are decorated with torture devices, corpses and skeletons in various stages of decay or mutation, strange plants, tons of other shit that I don't want to spoil.

Fear and Hunger also has this incredible/awful mechanic where your whole game can evaporate on a literal coin toss. Certain enemy moves or rituals, or even saving the fucking game, require a coin toss where you literally lose everything if you fail it, and the death scenes are... pretty graphic. My first death involved character being chained to a torture table and having my limbs and genitals cut off one by one by the torture master on the second floor. I picked the wrong conversation option.

Every choice you can make in the game could go in any way. You never know who to trust, which way to go, or if the floor is going to collapse under you. This game makes you fucking insane, it's bleak and horrible but somehow it's so charming and beautiful at the same time. It punishes you SO HARD for your fuck ups, but getting it right is SO REWARDING. The dungeons seem endless with so much to explore, so many interesting enemies and such intricate lore and world building. It's a LOT and it's definitely not for everyone, but if you're the kind of person who likes a challenge as well as a fair amount of horror and storytelling in your games, you will LOVE it.

I haven't played the sequal, Fear and Hunger: Termina because even though I've been playing the first game for months I'm still not finished haha. Apparently Termina is even BIGGER with more characters and backstory and laakhsgdhsjahgshddjd. I'm trying to pace myself hahaha.

I got it pretty cheap on steam and I'm pretty sure it's only available on PC. The controls are so simple you could play it on an old SNES controller, which I'm a big fan of cos I am not the kind of gamer who has the patience to learn complicated multi button moves and shit. 4 direction keys, yes and no, straight into the game. The combat is turn-based which I enjoyed a lot because once you have a few other party members you can strategise your way through most fights.

It's definitely the kind of game where I've found myself keeping the wiki page open in the background because the game explains NOTHING to you and you have to figure everything out step by step. It makes you work for every tiny morsel of progress or story it feeds you. It pavlovs you into having visceral reactions to small sounds. It's a horrifying masterpiece and one of the most beautiful pieces of art I've ever experienced. I might have already been driven insane by it though.

So yeah, that's my current obsession in a nutshell. Thanks for coming to my ted talk :3

[1358456]

Generation VIII Pokemon Nicknames, Part 2

Last one, and I will be all "caught up" in a sense, of all the Pokemon that I've missed. Maybe.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A shattered variant of Cofagrigus? It has the same stats, but with Atk and Sp. Atk swapped. Huh. That's neat. I will call this thing... "Mangled". Because it looks like a mangled heap of Cofagrigus. With runes.

... Why are so many food items turning up as Pokemon? So... is this thing a cake frosting, or just cream? Hmm... "Famine". You know, like "cream of the crop", but without the crop.

Hey, I know this thing! I've done a lot of research on this guy! ... A lot of wasted potential, I think. I will call this "Pursuit", after the Pursuit Formation that I absolutely love to use in <Redacted> 9.

This has got to be the slowest Electric type I've ever seen. Suitable, I guess. But this is just fodder.

I remember this thing. Someone once said that this might fit in Platinum's overhauled team. And I said no, because... I don't like bugs. Hehehe. Well, as a Bug type, it probably has access to Quiver Dance to get over its low Spd stat. Hmm... what to call this thing... I have a Venomoth named "I SEE YOU" given how its eyes are so big. So, as a frozen counterpart to Venomoth, I will call this... "ICY YOU".

Good HP, great Atk and Def, non-existing Sp. Def, eh? ... Why is this thing faster than most of the Generation VIII Dex? ... I got nothing.

... I remember this thing. I fired this thing from Shield's team for a reason.

... ? Psychic/Normal is actually pretty decent for a type combination. Doesn't resist much, but hey. It may still be just Moxie fodder, but I can see myself making one. I don't have a clue as to what to call this thing though.

Another Electric rodent. "Coffee Cream", if it fits. Because this thig is half & half, like the milk-cream used in coffee.

Another slow ass piece of- Has sh*t defenses, vulnerable to fire, and shaped like an elephant. ... I'll have to call it "Elephant", after the elephant troops in <Redacted> 10, that has really high offensive capabilities, not particularly mobile, but has really low defenses for its cost and go on rampages when on fire, attacking allies.

Interesting quartet. It's very rare for all of them to suck.

Hey, this is that thing that becomes the bridge Dragon in Generation IX. I still don't know what to call it.

Moon's overhaul! Nickname "Brood Lord". Looks nothing like it, but Zerg Brood Lords are flying units that shoot Broodlings to attack, and Broodlings are tiny Brood Lords that haven't grown up yet that claw haplessly at their opponents until they time-out and die, or just flat-out killed since they have the lowest HP in the game, even less than Larva nowadays. Dragapult shoots Dreepy projectiles, so... Brood Lord.

Hello, power creep! +1 Atk immediately? Sure. Why not. Nickname "Power Creep".

And the reverse. +1 Def immediately? Sure. "Peerc Rewop".

... Huh. That's interesting. Looks like a dragon skeleton in a way, and its... er... whatever-that-is form kind of looks like an End City in Minecraft. Or a UFO Catcher crane game. I think this one needs lore info for a suitable nickname.

... A hand-to-hand combatant that has a Brawler style and a Rush style. ... Yo, KIRYU-CHAN! ... But this isn't a Dragon type though. Boo. Hmm... it's built pretty well, so I need the name of a built fighter. But this thing has Brawler and Rush. Hmm... Kaito comes to mind, but he copies Kiryu's Brawler and Beast style, and not Rush. Yagami comes to mind with Tiger and Crane styles, but he's pretty skinny. Hmm... Maybe "Hijikata". Hijikata Toshizo, the Yakuza Ishin version of Mine Yoshitaka, the final boss of Yakuza 3. It's read mi-ne, and not "mine" like... "that's mine" or "Widow Mine drops are bullsh*t". But the full name probably won't fit as a nickname, and "Mine" by itself doesn't seem right, so... the Ishin variant it is. Mine is very fast and nimble, and hits like a beast. I absolutely hate his fighting style. And ever since Yakuza 3, his fighting style is in almost every single game on the hardest coliseum opponents. And the Dark typing actually fits him too. He's supposedly dead, but considering how 3 of the 5 characters who died in Yakuza 3 are alive in 7 and 8... who knows.

Hmm... A Grass monkey, but this one isn't a drummer. It kind of looks like a wendigo from Fallout 76. So... "Wendigo" it is for now.

Huh. When did this happen. Similar to normal Regi stat distribution, but no Clear Body. But free 50% STAB boost because why not. The Electric one has 200 Spd which is absurd (Deoxys Spd has 180), with decent offenses, so with a free 50% Electric boost, if it was to be used alongside Tapu Koko and Electric Terrain... ouch. I'd call that one "Flash Bolt" or something. I could just call it "Flash", but the Electric Regi doesn't resemble the greatest gamer ever to have lived. As for the Dragon Regi... hmm... Ah yes. "Tendo". The man with a blue dragon on his back in Yakuza 7. Easily the 4th most intimidating man with a dragon on his back... out of 4.

An apocalypse horse that... was apparently parked in the north pole or something. Now it can't move all that well. And a physical attacking Ice type? I don't know how much the situation improved, but there was a reason why Black Kyurem did not fare as well as White Kyurem. ... I assume the Japanese name is supposed to say "Freezer Horse" here. But at a glance at the small font, it kind of says "Freeza Force". Hahaha. I'd probably call it "Glacierhoof". Because it moves at the pace of a glacier.

A Ghost type apocalypse horse. Cool. Hmm... Well, if the first one was called "Glacierhoof" then this one must be called "Doomhoof". It's a horse-o-doom.

Huh. Now there's the rider of the horses. And the... er... spore king's presence adds +20 to every stat for the horses. Which puts the Knight of the Frozen Throne at a whopping 50 Spd. ... Did you know that the original Regis have 50 Spd? That's a slow ass horse. The Ghost one on the other hand... wow. Those are quite the stats. Nickname "Shadowform". Only use the Ghost horse.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a lot of fodder this time around, I feel. Oh well. It was like that in SM if I recall. A whole heap of garbage.

And I once again fail to find a suitable candidate for the nickname "Dark Archon", quite possibly my favorite unit in Starcraft. Maybe one day, if two Dark typed Atk focused Pokemon were to merge into a single Psychic/Dark typed Sp. Atk focused Pokemon. "The Void burns..." ... Though I don't think Mind Control can be a move in Pokemon games... Now that would be unfair.

Now I'm all caught up! ... Oh wait. Region specific variants. ... Another day, perhaps.

[kimwxler]

Actually, a ton of overall thoughts on OFMD 2x04 - 2x05 under the cut instead of me inevitably making 10 different posts

Anne and Mary were everything I could have dreamed of. I love their terrible marriage, and yes I do believe in their love

I like that we're not meant to think that they're right about Ed and Stede overall, but that yeah--Ed and Stede are like teenagers, not people in an adult relationship.

Love Ed's terrible "celebrity/influencer" type apology and that it was called out in the narrative for not actually including the words "I'm sorry".

Also, Stede is doing better with the crew but he still just went ahead and invited Ed back onto the ship after about 12 hours. Them all being on the same ship is necessary, but I think it's obvious this isn't really great behavior as a Captain. I definitely think Ed and Stede being self-centered and not really seeing the crew fully as people despite them being friends/family is going to be called out and improved some more.

I'm not sure how I feel about the tone switches and general rushed pace, but I'm trying to roll with it knowing they should've had 10+ episodes this season. I really like what they're doing in terms of actual themes/plots, though. The focus on healing, facing your trauma and the things you've done, making amends, changing to accept love and to love in return. Half the crew being severely traumatized, and then everyone coming together to help Izzy, who is (physically and emotionally) hurt more than anyone else--it's so good.

Izzy lore: he can read, whittle, has whip scars on his back, and taught Ed everything he knows. (I saw some people saying this was Stede manipulating Izzy, but I don't know, combined with some lines in the first two eps, I think we're meant to take this as pretty truthful. I'm sure Ed taught Izzy things too because he's a genius, but they've known each other so long that Ed really did learn a lot about fighting/piracy from Izzy.)

Pete really bothered me in ep 5. I appreciate that he also went through something traumatic, but it hasn't actually been long since this all happened, yet alone too long that Ed's been back on the ship. He could stand to be a little more patient and supportive before lecturing Lucius.

That said, I like this realistic approach to healing where sometimes you just... have unhealthy coping mechanisms. Not that Izzy saying a shark ate his leg is a good thing or the end of this arc, but sometimes it's about what keeps you alive. Izzy isn't doing well, but he's making it through each day and opening himself up to good experiences.

The fact that Ed is still a pirate but not Captain is really interesting. On the one hand, of course not? But even if piracy and the loneliness of being Captain made Ed miserable, I think he also loves and relies on the respect he gets. If 90% of the crew are still wary of him, he's now gone from isolated but respected/admired to just isolated. And if he's just sick of piracy in general, how does that work when Stede is starting to thrive?

It also makes me wonder about the first mate business. On the one hand, if Buttons isn't here, Izzy is and his relationship with Stede and the crew has already improved a lot. But again, Izzy as Ed's First Mate was such a point of pride to him and such a big part of his identity. I do wonder if they're gonna make this into an actual plot point, and if it'll tie into the Ed and Izzy confrontation that needs to happen.

Coming back to the idea of Ed and Stede being like teenagers, it feels like they addressed some of the issues--moving too fast--in a healthy and mature way, but they do need to think and talk about what would happen long-term. It's kind of like they're entering their senior year of college and not discussing what colleges they want to apply to.

They need to work on the lighting for Season 3. Beloveds I can't see anything 💖

[literalliterature]

I'm oblivious to DND so I'm very curious about Kenku's conceptually, but Yonder sounds like the Most Character ever. Corvids are so much fun/it tracks. Which of the asks did you want to get for them? Keet 🌂 Onyx ❤️✂️ Aisling: why does she feel trapped?

I love kenku and am so glad to finally play one. They are literally just little guys, to me. In the official lore, they are flightless and can only speak by parroting what other people say, but I found the second bit to be a bit too limiting for a player character. Instead, Yonder can speak more or less normally, but they are an uncanny mimic of others' voices and, when they're not paying attention, sometimes slip into the voices of others, including those who are no longer alive.

Anyway, in terms of the meme, the question of whether I would ever kill them off is interesting because uh. The short answer is yeah, maybe, lmao. They are actually quite afraid of dying and the associated rot and decay. However, they are currently trying to resurrect their dead family members (their older sister in particular), and since they are a character in a horror campaign, there's a good chance that will all end with them either dying (perhaps in order to take their sister's place) or becoming something that transcends life and death, in which case it's arguable whether they would be "Yonder" anymore.

🌂 What genre do they belong in?

I think Keet is pretty well suited to the adventure genre that she's in, but I have also said before that she kind of behaves as though she were a shounen anime protagonist lmao. Very power-of-friendship (and violence) kind of girl. Perhaps paradoxically, she also wouldn't be entirely out of place in some kind of horror/dark fiction, as we know now that her memory loss is due to her having died before and, long story short, she now sees dead people and has unlocked wacky psychopomp abilities that she doesn't know what to do with yet.

❤️ What is one of your OC’s best memories?

They have a lot of remaining good memories of the princess whom they loved and protected as a knight. While she had several lovers, including among her knights, she had various little ways of indicating in front of everyone that Onyx was particularly favored, and they remember all of those.

✂️ What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

In the first game that I played with them, there was a moment when an enemy hit them with a psychic attack of sorts that made them relive their single worst moment. As I told my GM at the time, what they saw was not discovering the princess dead, not being sentenced to death in the tar pits, but falsely confessing to the dead under torture.

I'm going to answer the question about Aisling under the cut due to spoilers. IRL people who play with me do not look please and thank you ckjdvbdvabg

When they were still a teenager, Aisling was imprisoned for killing a guard during a botched heist. Without going into detail, they spent a couple of years there (prior to breaking out and fleeing the city-state) being almost constantly dehumanized and abused in ways physical and psychological. Also, before all this happened, they had some pretty impressive fire powers, but as a prisoner, they underwent a ritual that prevented them from ever being able to channel that magic properly again. The magic still exists, though, and without a way to escape, it can do (and has done) a lot of internal damage to their body that is sort of reminiscent of certain autoimmune conditions. All of this combined means that, obviously, her life has been permanently changed in ways that she had no control over, and she simply cannot do a lot of things that used to come easily for her previously. (On top of the chronic pain, she struggles a lot with social phobia and borderline agoraphobia, for example.) Basically, no longer physically confined but constantly reminded of the limitations imposed on her by her experience, etc. etc.

[eldritchlittleblackdragon]

I've been playing Love and Deepspace for about two weeks now and while it's another Gacha otome (*deep, long suffering sigh*) there's a lot about it I like.

- Really impressive visuals for a mobile game, even at lower graphics settings

-Most of the side content is actually a lot of fun and doesn't feel like a chore to do like in similar games. (Three words: PLAY KITTY CARDS. it's so much cuter than it has any right to be.)

- Interesting combat system which feels like one of the newer final fantasy games.

- Focus on 3 love interests who are all interesting and well fleshed out, and while they have familiar tropes, they're presented differently and in different combinations than normal. (For example, the 'childhood friend love interest' ended up being the tall proper overworking high power job guy instead of the soft friendly looking guy who ended up falling into a 'mysterious stranger/possibly not from earth' type role.)

- It's a gacha which is a big downside to me, but so far it seems like at least as far as combat goes you can skate by with common pulls, although rarer pulls do have advantages.

-Overall main story is interesting (but the pacing is off in spots and certain concepts related to the lore/setting aren't introduced as smoothly as they could be).

-Side stories usually range from good to excellent.

- You can customize your character's face pretty extensively and choose their skin tone. (hair is limited to just the mc's bangs though which is disappointing.) You can customize what your character's voice sounds ala Dragon's Dogma.

- Variety of ways to acquaint yourself with and interact with your chosen love interest. (You can switch between all three.)

-ILLEGALLY CUTE. Tooth rottingly sweet.

- Has voiced content including a pretty decent english dub.

... yeah it's pretty good.

[foxgloveinspace]

wow those are really interesting! The smell one almost reminds me of synesthesia, or a olfactory hallucination. For the first one, like a signal in the brain getting tied to a different signal. a floral smell for them sounds so sweet. they feel comforting to me like floral.

the vessel figure is wild. the fact that you saw a hooded figure with his mouth exposed. I know there's kinda archetypal figures people tend to see in various brain things, like dreams, or drug trips, or I'd expect its the same with migraine auras. A general cloaked figure sounds universal enough, but one with a mouth exposed is so specific.

it's SO interesting that you mention ADHD though because almost every single Sleep Token fan I've talked to is neurodivergent or could plausibly be. Specifically autism or ADHD. Could just be that we all hyperfixate, and that makes us superfans of things we love. But idk it feels special, like we're drawn to it. I have ADHD myself.

another commonality is sleep problems, odly enough. and finding Sleep Token calming and helping one sleep.

For my opinion on witchy stuff, I'm not an expert or anything I know little bits. Like how their logo is a combination of Germanic runes that invoke certain things. There was an old since deleted post by then about it, so it's basically confirmed. Or I heard that the runes corresponding to the Sundowning songs could theoretically be invoked every time the song is played.

also the music just feels magical??

Every person seems to have a different interpretation of the lore and the overarching story, if there is any. Many of them seem to be about love or romance in some way.

My pet headcannon/theory is that Vessel is looking for his soulmate who he knew in a past life. and the runes and any magic is for that purpose.

(First Ask)!!!!!!! Yes!!

Ok I agree with like a lot of your points in this ask, just to say that off the bat, but it’s me so I’m gonna get into it lmao:

So the thing is, I Do Actually have synesthesia, But I Do Not Have Smell/Sound, I have texture/Taste!! So that’s the weird thing about it! It is actually pretty comforting?? I’m trying to figure out what scent it actually, cause it’s just really nice. It might be a perfume that I’ve smelled in the past and started associating it with them (in which cause I think it might be floral marshmallow which is a dupe for some high end perfume). But like I said if it’s ends up being forget-me-nots (which I don’t think so) I’m gonna freak out. But they have a very light scent and I can’t find them anywhere😵‍💫

That’s the weird thing about all of it tho, is that it very well could be all of the things that I have already (migraines, adhd, synesthesia) but it’s like it’s different symptoms that I’ve Never had before??

Like the hooded figure wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but I never see figures!! I only see green and purple flashing splotches, even in my Worst Migraine I’ve Ever had, where I completely Lost My Vision, I only say neon purple and green. So too see, specifically, Hooded Man With Mouth, while listening to The Summoning?? Weird.

And yeah, I have adhd, and honestly?? Yeah. I think it is all of us nero-spicy gals and bois finding a band that itches the static in our brains, lol. They really combine a lot of nerodivergent peoples favorite genres, metal, dark techno/house, lo-fi, piano, rap and sometimes even something that sounds jazzy. It’s legit like they took every music thing I love and shoved it into one, of course my/all of our adhd brains is gonna eat that shit up lmao. It feels really special tho.

Also, yeah I have hella sleeping issues, but I have yet to let myself listen to them while going to sleep (mostly cause I know once I start I won’t be able to go back) BUT!! I have never been a person who can meditate, and I was able to while listening to them!! So that’s a thing lol.

I’m not a big expert on ruins either, but I know most witchcraft is putting your intentions in something. So if he put heavy intentions into the ruins when he first drew them, then yeah it’s doing something. I did vaguely know something about the main logo/ruin, but not much. (I actually don’t know What it’s supposed to invoke?? Just thinking about Sleep/Sleep Token?? Lol) but I think it’s Really Cool that they use real runes sometimes, cause even if they aren’t for magic purposes, just aesthetics, they are still using an old language for something new and I always like stuff like that lmao.

And I love your little headcanon at the end that’s so sweet.

[dexadin]

hi! I'm setting up to dm curse of strahd with some pals - we're all pretty inexperienced (most of us have played before but only a little) which is kinda nice so we can figure things out together. I was wondering if you could share advice/changes you made for the vistani and for the dusk elves? I'm here to play a gothic horror game, racism has no place in that for me. Thanks for sharing so much amazingly useful resources already!

Hello! Sorry for taking so long to reply, but I'm here now :3c I actually just answered a question about how i ran the dusk elves (spoiler alert: i didn't lol) so I'll provide some advice if you're running a game anything closer to the module than I am, and go into what I did with the Vistani.

CW for talk of fictional genocide and fantasy racism and sexism, as well as spoilers for Curse of Strahd below!~

If you're trying to de-racist the dusk elves, your options are to either not make it a racial thing or cut the violence out together. Of course, I personally think the mass femicide and the vow of chastity the male dusk elves take as a result Super Mega Weird and I did not want it. Like I wrote in my other post, I chose to just make the dusk elves drow and make them part of the cultural landscape of my multi-racial Barovian Valley. Some of the people Strahd conquered were these drow, some were not. It was a regional military conflict, not a racialized one. I did this to tie in the pre-existing military conflict of my world though. In all honesty, I think this plotline is largely unnecessary. Plotwise, it's really just a vessel to show Rahadin is evil and traitorous while giving Strahd another notch on his belt to show the same. I think it is not remotely hard to show Strahd and Rahadin being evil without making them Do A Genocide, and showing them being evil in other ways makes them much more interesting anyway. I had Rahadin be in charge of the armies that stormed Argynvostholt instead of committing genocide, and the party is no less scared of his potential to betray him. That's all I have to say about that at the moment, but feel free to send another question if there's anything specific you'd like me to talk more about.

Now onto the Vistani. So the Vistani are really, really racist. Racist to the point that WotC had to release a whole errata removing the G-slur from several pages and changing Rudolph Van Richten's Racist Tiger TM. They did not do this well, though. Especially the tiger part. Good lord.

Anyway, I felt the need to keep a "mysterious" group of people in the campaign that could function as allies or enemies to the players depending on if they decided to listen to what people in Barovia said about them. I also wanted them to be able to pass through the mist the way the Vistani do, and I wanted them to do curses. I also have a character in the party who is a changeling, and it was important to the player that his character was immediately unsettling to people. I decided to combine these and create the Hexbloods (I did this before WotC released Van Richten's guide and made their own hexbloods. Yes, I am a little salty about it.) In my homebrew world lore, hexbloods are the distant descendants of the old gods of my world, who fraternized heavily with mortals and largely fucked off to live in the woods as nomads when people started building cities and worshipping the Faerun pantheon. They have innate magic, sorcerer style, and the more intense ones harness their innate magic to become bloodhunters. Their ties to the old gods allow them to pass through the mist unharmed, as their claim to magic is older than Strahd's mist. They're ostracized by Barovians for not being subject to Strahd's fickle ruling the way that they are, and fear that between their freedom and their magic, the only explanation is that they work for Strahd.

In reality... they're just Some Guys who live in the woods. Some of them are nomadic, and some aren't. There are a lot of aging elves who live amongst them, like Kasimir, survivors of Strahd's initial conquest of the Valley. They treat everyone as family, and culturally prefer to find reason to celebrate the small things in life, believing that joy is what will keep them safe from Strahd's misery. Unfortunately, without any real allies beyond themselves, they are very vulnerable to Strahd's manipulation. This is why Strahd can take advantage of characters like Arrigal. Strahd knows that Arrigal won't be able to say no if he threatens to harm his family, but Arrigal isn't about to go out of his way to help Strahd more than he has to.

This dynamic has made for some excellent conflict. The party found themselves loyally allied with the Hexblood encampment at Lake Zarovich, but felt betrayed upon finding out Strahd had information on them that only Arrigal could have known. Now they have to consider the risk of trusting people more seriously, and it also led to some A+ roleplaying between Arrigal and the party.

Most of the de-racist-ing of the Vistani comes by looking critically and honestly at the anti-Romani tropes it leans into. What traits do you think they need to have to keep their role in the plot the same for you? What parts are you going to be unable to play without falling into harmful stereotype? Which individual Vistani NPCs are you fond of, and how can you build a fantasy community that would have raised them? That's the starting place I came from when I reworked them, but full disclosure: I am a white trans guy with an ethnic studies degree, and I super highly recommend checking out Romani people taking about this. If you search "vistani cos" on TikTok, you'll find a ton of people expounding upon it in very accessible ways.

[protect-namine]

the latest narzissenkreuz ordo quest is so much... where do I even start...

I'm not even finished with it yet (plus, I think I need to do the book of esotoric revelations quest + collect the enigmatic pages + go through the looking glasses to fully uncover all the lore and finish caterpillar's backstory) but there's just so much. I think I'll just make a thread here of all the interesting lore bits that catch my eye for now

disclaimer that uh. my progress in the archon quest? yeah I'm still in act iv lmao so I have no idea what's going on there. it's not my priority to finish 'cause honestly I'm waaay more invested in caterpillar's whole thing atm. anyway.

I once said that maybe imagination is itself perhaps a legitimate power or substance in genshin. it might not be that far-fetched considering that experiential substances are an actual thing you can use in magic. perhaps I wasn't using the right terms but.. the idea was pretty close!

interestingly, caterpillar compares them to the elements. rene (in rene's investigation notes) does a similar thing where he compared the khvarena to the elements and I believe that's how he got the idea to do all of this anyway.

what is SUPER interesting to me though are these two things from the end of the search in the algae sea quest:

gold (the color) has a loaded meaning in genshin even if we can't really pinpoint yet what it signifies. it's also always associated with the twins. I think I remember someone (probably ashikai) theorize that it's when you combine all the elements together (like an "omni" element) — and that kinda makes sense if you think about how we're basically resonating with all seven elements by the end of the game, and then (presumably) regaining our original powers back afterwards.

but there are other attempts at creating gold. there's rhinedottir and albedo's alchemy, which is still incomplete since albedo is... well, in the albedo stage, and not citrinitas, except if you ascend him to the last ascension level (on that note: the writers really did flip the rubedo and citrinitas steps to make gold the last step huh).

then there's "reason" which is this quest's whole... thing. a golden sword! kinda makes me wonder, especially paired with the note on those who "descend" and how the traveler (tagged as the fourth descender) canonically has a "sword of descension" (PS4 sword item)...

is it that "reason" is equivalent (not necessarily the same) to the omni element? is the traveler's sword of descension like the holy blade of narzissenkreuz?

lastly, I wonder what the last divination technique mentioned here is. also, hey look, hydromancy! that's mona's thing!!