#(-- Johann at some point too probably)

[annabelle--cane]

so I don’t have the knowledge of details that you have (complimentary) but is there anything in the computer code Colin looking into being written in German and Jonah Magnus’ buddy living in the Black Forest and finding that crypt that one time? Or is that Too far a reach?

vibrating at the speed of sound. so there are a couple of floating details around from the podcasts, the arg, and some promotional materials that may point back to germany having particular relevance. some of this is absolutely me going full pepe silvia, but there are enough threads here that I feel like it has to amount to Something.

so. germany.

archives 'verse:

-> point 1: johann von württemberg. while staying with his nephew in the schwartzwald in 1816, albrecht von closen finds an old mausoleum with the inscription "johann von württemberg" over the door, and it is guarded by a man with no eyes who nonetheless seems to be able to see. in a deep chamber well beneath the ground is johann's coffin, and the room is completely lined with books so old that they'd all rotted through and fused together, the marble shelves they're placed on having little carvings of open eyes all along them. the only two objects in a good state are an illuminated manuscript in arabic that had been kept apart from the rest of the books, and a gold coin with an engraving of a young man with flowing hair, the initials "JW," the year 1279, and the words "für die stille" (google translate tells me that’s “for the silence”). albrecht asks around for any information about johann because the name is unfamiliar despite his quite good knowledge about local history and nobles, and someone says they remember him being called "ulrich's bastard," likely referring to ulrich the i or ii, two counts of württemberg from the 1200s. with that information, in the present day jon is able to find some historical records that point to ulrich i having a son out of wedlock in 1255 who was rumored to keep the company of witches.

-> point 2: the von closens. it seems that a servant nicked the coin albrecht found before he could go home with it, and that was probably for the best for albrecht, because that servant Died Badly from what was ruled to be an animal attack. albrecht did take the book with him, however, and presumably went on to show it to jonah magnus. he then must have gone back for the rest of the rotten books at some point, though, because when doctor jonathan fanshawe visits his estate in 1831, albrecht has a full library of recently re-bound books that he tells fanshawe he got from the tomb, and owning them has done terrible beholding-esque things to him. fanshawe, in his capacity as a doctor, says they should return the books for albrecht's health, and they do so, but just as the last book is returned, albrecht dies, and fanshawe realizes that all the books were blank and finds out that jonah arranged to have them all swapped out by the book binder. when fanshawe performs an autopsy on albrecht's body, all of his insides are covered in eyes.

in his statement from 1816, albrecht says he and his wife carla have been unable to conceive, though in 1831 fanshawe mentions that all of albrecht's sons were away at school when he came to visit. not something that's impossible, they could have managed to have children shortly after 1816, but it does make me raise an eyebrow. magically blessed fertility? dimension shenanigans? fanshawe does mention a tree being burned on the von closen estate that feels remarkably similar to the tree on hilltop road.

anyway, wilhelm, albrecht's nephew, has some children, and the family stays in germany for about another century, but one branch eventually moves to england, and their descendants include mary and gerard keay. according to gerry, mary was big into mythologizing about the von closens and really tried to get him to continue her idea of a legacy for the family, but he thought most of what she said was made up.

protocol 'verse:

-> point 3: colin's comment about source code being written in german. nothing much to explain here, just that it's Weird that source code for some Weird bespoke program for the british civil service is written in german, right? Bit Odd.

-> point 4: the usenet forum. okay so I'm an avatar of the idiot and only read up about the arg after it was already over and don't know anything about code and whatnot, but as best as I can understand: on the OIAR's official website, if you try to submit a form, you get an error message, and if you look into the source code for the error then you find Some piece of code with an IP address shaped hole in it, and there's an IP address hidden in an OIAR advertising video, so you put that IP address into the code, do something else (???), and then find yourself at an old defunct usenet forum from the 90s/00s for people who left east germany.

(it is from here that I got too verbose for my own good, so the rest is under a cut)

notable things about the forum: most of it is pretty normal, and, naturally, it was pretty much all in german, massive shoutout to everyone who helped to translate all 21k words of it. there are threads about finding work in various countries, weird cultural idiosyncrasies, resources, reminiscing about berlin, yknow, normal stuff. the mod “SandmannS” (translates to exactly what it looks like) ran the forum with a bit of an iron fist, which I guess makes sense, it’s the kind of forum that attracted people who wanted to say some heinous stuff and he was really serious about not letting anyone solicit personal information, but he was also kind of overzealous about keeping threads on topic and locking any discussions that he thought were “pointless.” he was eventually strongarmed into opening a thread for cat pictures, and that’s as good an opening as any to talk about some of the Weird things about the forum.

one of the cat photos was posted in february 1994 and shows a cat standing in front of the thames, with what looks like the completed o2 arena in full view (great choice of a red flag landmark to include @ whoever chose it. nice big landmark that was called “the millennium dome” when it first opened, a handy reminder that it was made to celebrate the turn of the millennium and construction wouldn't even have started in 1994). several comments across the threads are dated as earlier than the comments they’re replying to, one person references the content of the phantom menace a few months before its release, and several comments were somehow made after the mod locked the forum in dec 2001/jan 2002.

and okay. the forum locking. I’m going to condense this to all hell because this is already [redacted] words long but basically, “einsamernarr” (translation: lonely fool) was an active user of the forum with a big conspiratorial streak, real paranoid about “the government” spying on him, always getting warnings and just dodging getting banned just before going too far, yknow, a Type of Guy. in december 2001, he mentions in a book rec thread that he was trolling through some databases and found a bunch of old records and he can’t tell if they’re fictional or not, but he’d like to share them if he can. about five days later, he starts posting in several threads that he did something really dumb, people are after him, the meetup they were planning is not safe and this forum is being watched, people should look for him if he doesn’t come back within a week, and he’ll try to leave some info behind for them just in case. a few days later, a couple of people post worried messages asking if anyone’s heard from einsamernarr and that they’ve been getting weird cryptic emails about an “institute” from him, and sandmanns says that he did everything he could, but he can’t keep doing this, and he closes the forum.

marina “avatar of the idiot” annabelle--cane showing my face here again, I don’t know how this next part happened, but it’s possible to retrieve the email einsamernarr sent, open it with a password found in colin’s code repository (that’s a whole ‘nother thing), and find inside: 1. some pictures of bonzobucks, 2. a weird pdf of an old german book on alchemy with a lot of symbols and codes in it, and 3. a spreadsheet of the names, ages, and test results of the hundreds of children the protocol 'verse magnus institute was performing psych studies on. which finally brings us to our next, much shorter section.

-> point 5: “gerard kaey” (sic). gerry’s name is on that spreadsheet, which I think is relevant to this conversation given mary’s obsession with the von closen legacy. archives ‘verse mary keay resented the magnus institute for what she felt it stood for comparison to what she felt she stood for; she saw jonah magnus as a thief who stole away her family’s honor, so what might be different about the protocol ‘verse situation? why would mary keay in this universe send her only heir to go get scrutinized by a bunch of self-important academics?

-> point 6: the berlin dead drop. more arg stuff, we’re getting into things that I’m sure probably have more to be said about them than I’m capable of saying, but from some clues in a picture of cookbooks that einsamermarr posted in the cat pictures thread of the usenet forum to annoy the mod, and a voicemail on the OIAR’s telephone line, people found out the date and location of the first irl arg event, and it was for somewhere in berlin. a newspaper covered in alchemical symbols was found in a bookshop, and from that people somehow derived coordinates, and those coordinates lead to the last irl event where a battered old video tape with a video of a creepy ritual was found (note: the tape was too badly damaged, so another copy of the video came from an arg affiliated tumblr account).

-> point 7: klaus.xls. from a floppy disk found in the second irl arg event, klaus.xls is a spreadsheet originally written in german with about 100 dates and times of potentially paranormal sightings. a lot of it is corrupted and unreadable, but there are columns for category, rank, “TSHU,” and notes. translated into english, notes sections that aren’t corrupted say things like “mr. b,” “war people,” “avoid, “unhappy child,” “ink,” “lady m,” “cats lol,” and “I hate witches.”

-> point 8: albertus magnus and the philosopher’s stone. right, this is where I go a bit off the rails, and credit to this post by @misfitmagpie for discovering some of this. first, nearly every official visual we’ve had for tmagp has been covered in alchemy symbols. they’re all over the logo, they’re all over the in-universe OIAR and magnus institute websites, they highlighted hints in the arg, they’re everywhere, and the end goal of alchemy was the pursuit of the mythical philosopher’s stone, a substance that could turn base metals into gold and produce an elixir for eternal life. the tmagp logo/the coat of arms for the OIAR is centered around an upside down alchemical symbol for the philosopher’s stone, a circle in a square in a triangle in a larger circle. 

albertus magnus (aka saint albert the great) was a bavarian philosopher and scientist who did some writing on alchemy and has been widely rumored to secretly have been a master alchemist, mainly as a result of a lot of people attaching his name to writings about alchemy that he never touched. some have credited him as discovering the actual philosopher’s stone, and while he never made that claim in any way that survives, he did record that he’d witnessed seeing base metals be turned into gold. something of which to take note is that he didn’t go by the name “magnus” during his life, that was appended to him posthumously, it’s just another way of calling him “the great” with a fancy latin word, but it does kind of remind me of that edmond “reimer” halley -> maxwell rayner thing from mag 140. if you discovered the elixir of life and became immortal, you would probably need to nab a new identity at some point, and if people have already been nicknaming you “albert the great,” well…

anyway, the thing that’s really cemented his potential relevance in my mind is his birth and death dates: c. 1200-1280, lining up perfectly with the time period of johann von württemberg (thought we’d moved on from him, didn’t you?). I know magnus timelines are notoriously a bit unruly, especially the further back into the past we get, but it’s scratching at my brain. besides that, I think it would be a really cool move if the magnus this podcast is named for was a completely different person than the magnus the last podcast was named for.

if albertus magnus isn’t directly relevant then I’ve got another theory about the title that I’ll be posting in a hot minute, but it’s not germany related and this ask is already long enough. 

just, to sum up, a lot of protocol content so far has been germany-adjacent, and even if nothing more comes of it I think there are a lot of interesting threads here to speculate about.

#tmagp #answered #anons #tmagp spoilers

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: tardigrades

Last week on Wet Beast Wednesday I covered the largest animals to ever exist on our planet. This week I'm going to pull a full 180 and cover the smallest animals yet on this series. Meet the tardigrade, the internet's favorite micro-animal the is said to be basically immortal. How true is that? Let's see.

(Image: an electron microscope image of a tardigrade. It looks a lot like a potato with eight stubby legs tipped with long claws. At the front is a small, circular mouth. It has no other discernable features. In the background are bits of plant matter that look like seaweed at this scale. End ID)

The tardigrades are 1,300 known species (and probably a lot of unknown ones too) in the phylum Tardigrada. They are also part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa, which are animals that grow by molting their outer cuticles or exoskeletons. In particular, the tardigrades are believed to be a sister group of the arthropods, the group that contains crustaceans, insects, isopods, and a lot of other things. Tardigrades are truly tiny, the largest species reaching a whopping 1.5 millimeters in length, though most species reach no more than 0.5 mm. They have round, segmented bodies with four pairs of legs that end in either claws or suction discs. The body segments consist of a head, three body segments with a pair of legs each, and a caudal segment with the final pair of legs. The first three legs are used for movement while the final pair points backwards and is used for grabbing onto substrate. All of the body segments except for the final one correspond to segments found in the head section of insects. Tardigrades are missing many hox genes, genes that direct the body plan during development. Their ancestors may have had a body plan more similar to insects, but the loss of the hox genes has compressed them into walking heads with a bit of butt. The mouth is tubular and sucks in food. In the mouth are stylets, needle-like structures used to pierce food objects. Once food is drawn into the mouth, a structure called the buccopharyngeal apparatus activates. This is a combination of spines and muscle that acts like an inner jaw that pulls food into the digestive tract. The buccopharyngeal apparatus is distinct enough to be used as a major identifying feature between species. Tardigrades are translucent and many images you've seen of them have false color to show the details or are 3D models based on scanning electron microscope imagery of them. Tardigrades molt their exoskeletons multiple times (up to 12) during their lifecycle. Some species are unable to poop normally and instead all their waste is discarded during the molt. It was formerly believed that tardigrades could exchange genes with each other without mating, a process called horizontal gene transfer that is seen in bacteria, archaea, and other micro-organisms. It has since been discovered that while still capable of horizontal gene transfer, it is quite a bit rarer in tardigrades than we thought.

(Image: an electron microscope image of a tardigrade standing on a bit of plant matter. This one has a closed mouth with a ring of triangular tooth-like structures. It also has two simple eyes that look like black dots. End ID)

The name "tardigrade" means "slow walker", which is fitting as, despite their eight legs, tardigrades have a slow and awkward gait. This is the result of their legs being unjointed, only able to pivot at their connection to the body. Their gait has been compared to that of bears, hence why they are often called water bears and their discoverer, Johann August Ephraim Goeze, called them "kleiner wasserbär", meaning "little water bear". Tardigrades are found worldwide and have inhabited virtually every habitat, from the tops of mountains to the deep sea, from hot springs to the antarctic, from freshwater to saltwater. The one thing they have in common is a need to stay wet. Tardigrades can survive out of water as long as they can stay moist and are often found in mosses, hence another common name: moss piglets. The majority either eat plants or bacteria, but some will feed on smaller tardigrades or other micro-animals. Their famous survivability makes it easy for tardigrades or their eggs to be carried to new habitats by larger animals or other phenomena. Tardigrades are one of the first micro-animals to colonize a new habitat and they are a pioneer species, the first species to colonize a new environment and whose presence makes that environment fore suitable for other species to follow. Tardigrades are a major food source to other micro-animals and larger organisms. Most species have distinct males and females, though a few reproduce through parthenogenesis. In most cases, molting female will lay her eggs in her shed cuticle and males will them fertilize them. Other species have a form of internal reproduction. Males and females will court each other before mating and females will usually allow multiple males to fertilize her eggs. Female tardigrades are typically larger and more abundant than males. Eggs can take up to 14 days (species dependent) before hatching. All tardigrades of the same species have the exact same number of cells as each other. They are also born with the same number of cells they will have as an adult. Their growth is driven by enlargement of the existing cells rather than cellular reproduction making new cells. The lifespan ranges between a few months to a few years, depending on species.

(Image: a color photo of a tardigrade. It is a pale, translucent white, making it hard to make out details. Its body is curved, with the front end pointing at the camera. It has two simple eyes. End ID)

(Image: an electron microscope image of a tardigrade egg. It is round but covered in small pores and conical structures. End ID)

The most famous feature of tardigrades is their legendary durability. It is commonly said that tardigrades can survive just about anything (except for the things that are actually trying to kill them. They are prey to a lot of species after all). Among the things they can survive is extreme heat, extreme cold, dehydration, extremely high and low pressure, exposure to ionizing radiation (that's the scary kind), low oxygen environments, environmental toxins, heavy impacts, and the vacuum of fucking space. While the can survive in extreme conditions, tardigrades are not considered extremophiles. True extremophiles thrive in extreme environments and are negatively impacted by leaving them. Tardigrades can survive in extreme environments, but are negatively impacted and can't survive as well there as they can in less extreme places. The main trait that has allowed tardigrades to survive all five mass extinctions in history is cryptobiosis. Cryptobiosis is the rare ability for an animal to enter a state of dormancy where their metabolic processes come to an almost complete stop. While in cryptobiosis, metabolic activity drops to 0.01% normal and water content drops to 1% normal. In this state, the tardigrade is called a tun. Tardigrades usually enter cryptobiosis in response to arid conditions. One experiment showed that a species of tardigrade could last for at least 30 years in this state and return to normal lifestyle functions when exposed to water. Tardigrades will also enter cryptobiosis in response to low oxygen, toxic chemical exposure, increased or decreased temperature, and excessive salt content in the water. Tardigrades also show extreme resistance to both high and low pressure. They can live in 0 atmospheres of pressure and some species can survive up to 6,000 atmospheres, more than double the pressure at the bottom of the Marianas trench. More interesting is their ability to survive dangerous radiation. They can survive 1,000 times the dose of gamma radiation that humans can. Early tests focused on tardigrades in cryptobiosis and concluded that the extremely low water content of a cryptobiotic tardigrade doesn't leave much opportunity for the radiation to react with the animal. However it was later found that active and fully hydrated tardigrades are still considerably resistant to radiation. Studies into this resistance indicate that tardigrades can very efficiently repair damaged DNA and have unique proteins called Dsup that provides additional protection. Dsup introduced to human cells has provided additional protection against x-rays.

(Image: an electron microscope image of a tun - a tardigrade in cryptobiosis. It is smaller and very wrinkly, with the legs and mouth retracted into the body. End ID)

Tardigrades were the first animals to be exposed to the vacuum of space. They were exposed for 10 days, some in a state of cryptobiosis at the time of exposure and some still active. It was found that they were able to survive the vacuum when shielded from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, with those already in cryptobiosis doing better. Upon being rehydrated, many were able to resume normal life functions and successfully reproduce, though others died after being rehydrated. Those that were exposed to UV radiation fared much worse, with only a few hydrated individuals surviving. The individuals in cryptobiosis had a lower survival rate when exposed to UV than those not exposed to UV and were less successful at reproducing afterwards. Studies of tardigrade's space survival abilities and resistance to radiation could go a long way in helping human space travel. One of the largest dangers of space travel is that space is full of nasty radiation from the sun that Earth's magnetic field protects us from. Some scientists speculate about the possibility of accidentally seeding other planets or moons with tardigrades or other space-resistant organisms. This is a problem because introducing Earth life to other world has the potential to damage any native ecosystems and if we find life in space in the future we don't want to have to figure out if it's something we accidentally put there. While tardigrades could likely survive on other planets, they would eventually die without a food source. Some sources reported that tardigrades may have colonized the moon after an experiment with them crashed. Unfortunately, the moon is not crawling with tardigrades now. It's way too dry for them to exit cryptobiosis even if they survived the crash, which they probably didn't.

(Image: art of a tardigrade floating in the vacuum of space. End ID. Source: University of California - Santa Barbara)

#wet beast wednesday #tardigrade #water bear #moss piglet #micro animal #microbiology #marine biology #biology #zoology #ecology #animal facts #informative #science #space #astrobiology #radiation #cryptobiosis #tun #image described

[flyingcakeee]

Part 2 of cunty Williams Racing, a tired and shitty analysis by yours truly, Cake.

Today, we dive into our former Williams drivers.

And who better to start off with than Jenson Button himself? He's technically in the team as a Heritage Driver, and senior advisor regarding both the F1 race and Williams academy drivers, but we'll ignore that for the sake of this tumblr post ☺️

Jenson Button is just a cunty British man and this is not foreign knowledge. He coined the name Britney for Nico Rosberg due to his hyper sexual fixation on Britney Spears (or so I'm told 😀) and, let's be honest, there's not a lot of explanation needed here (I say after a whole paragraph).

Next, of course, Nico Rosberg himself.

My guy beat his teammate, albeit not in Williams, in equal machinery for the world championship and then dipped to be a girl dad. A Girl Dad. And he became a reporter. A F1 reporter. Cunty af in every picture too. Just can't deny this man.

You know who the other Nico to drive for Williams is? Nico Hülkenberg!

Also a girl dad, dyed his already blond hair to be platinum blond, HulKENberg, got one of the last pole positions for Williams after they hadn't had one in 5 years and then was dropped at the end of the year and he came back after a year. Sure, he is allergic to podiums but may I remind you that this man is a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner?

Next, everyone's favorite, George Russell. Should not be a surprise, really.

It's George Russell! What am I supposed to say? His doe eyes and now ungelled hair should be enough of a reason. And he's an absolute diva 🤍.

Now, what's more cunty than getting all the older men around your finger, Lance Stroll?

Lance Stroll has the hips to be the cunty princess he is, let's admit it. His first season he scores his first points in Canada and then gets third place in the race right after? And, as previously mentioned, he has all the middle aged men of the paddock in love with him. Fernando Alonso, Checo Pérez, Sebastian Vettel, the list goes on.

Ignoring team orders and getting a race win? That's some cunt level activities from Mark Webber!

Mark Webber will have a pilots license and manage to get 2 different cars to fly into the air 4 times. Yes 4 as twice was in a RedBull and twice in the Mercedes during the 1999 Le Mans. And then he looks absolutely hypnotized by his teammates and fellow drivers. It's the Australian in him.

A little break here to say, oh my fucking god there's so many drivers I can do. I can have Valtteri Bottas or Pastor Maldonaldo or Felipe Massa or Ralf Schumacher or Nicholas Latifi or like, anyone really. Anyways, let's continue ☺️

The man who sighed a picture of him after his team dropped him, Nyck de Vries.

Points your debut race and then getting pulled out the car like the princess you deserve to be, it's beautiful. And oh yeah, his name is Hendrik Johannes Nicasuis "Nyck" de Vries and I think that's very fitting. I hope he's enjoying Formula E because I'm going to buy into temptations and go to a race just to see my short princess 🤭.

Oh, you think I forgot the Queen herself, Susie Wolff? YOU ARE WRONG!!! 🥳🥳

I love Susie Wolff. Former Williams development driver and definitely could've been a great driver today if she was on the grid. And, she's president of the F1 Academy and defeated the FIA's little investigation probe which is funny because a lot of FIA executives have been quitting now soooo go Susie!!! Everyday I wonder how Toto Wolff got lucky to be her husband, the queen's husband ☺️

And let's end us off today with a picture of Lance's hips and one of the older men staring at it as if it's his property (probably is)

Beautiful.

At the end of the day, Williams fosters cunty drivers and team principal and it is my favorite thing ever. This isn't saying other teams don't possess any cunt energy, but Williams has a lot of it rooted in history and I am also sleep deprived and sick 🥳🥳🥳

#formula 1 #f1 #williams racing #jenson button #nico rosberg #nico hulkenberg #mark webber #lance stroll #george russell #nyck de vries #susie wolff

[reviewinghiccup]

RIDERS OF BERK | HTTYD SERIES | BREAKING DOWN HICCUP

Blog Post Series: Breaking Down Hiccup

Title: When Lightning Strikes

Ep/Season: Episode 13, Season 1 (Riders of Berk)

Premise:

A strange and fierce lightning storm besets the village, and angry suspicions rouse claims that Toothless is to blame.

WHAT TO ENJOY:

HICCUPS HYPER-FIXATIONS He's so fixated on the new perches that he nearly drinks dragon poop infested water. Love how Stoick stops him, knowing that his son is so obsessed over the new developments, he ain't thinking.

Hiccup is an ideas man. In todays age, he could be anything. Software designer, architect, engineer, pilot? I mean, the list of career opportunities is endless.

We know that in the final instalment of the franchise, they set out to find New Berk. I feel like that was indicative of the kind of forward trajectory having a chief like Hiccup would cause. Playing to his strengths is what allowed Berk to modernise and who knows, maybe his style of village / town planning is the kind we see in the old Scandinavian Countryside.

It's possible, all the ideas he intended to build on Berk for the dragons he ended up doing at Dragon's Edge like the landing areas and stables. And it's such a clever way to learn and improve designs in their "mock" village during the RTTE season before implementing the same in Berk as we see in the opening of HTTYD 2.

STOICK'S CHIEFLY ADVISE

Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but I think a lot about what Stoick tells Hiccup are probably lessons on chief-ing he picks up as he goes along. Learning mostly through observation and spending time w his dad.

We know that Hiccup's decision in HTTYD: The Hidden World, i.e., to leave Berk to find new pasture, is because Berk is no longer a safe place for its people. The threat from enemies is endless.

This eminent danger is heightened if you watch the TV programmes. Because apart from Drago Bludvist and Grimmel the Grisley, we have Alvin the Treacherous, Dagger the Deranged, Ryker & Viggo Grimborn, Krogan and Johann. The other more treacherous than the last.

At the end of The Hidden World, Hiccup knows that he must let go of Toothless and all the other dragons for everyones safety.

Hiccup becomes a good chief by virtue of all these little moments w his dad. I can even recall a moment in Episode 7, Season 1 (Riders of Berk) : How to Pick your Dragon where Stoick releases this inner monologue. Maybe that's what caused Hiccup to put the village first in the end.

No doubt Hiccup becomes one of the best chiefs because he has learned from the best. Pick and chosen which lessons to keep and which to improve.

FALSE ACCUSATIONS

When a society lacks understanding, it is guided by fear. The village, after incessant accusations by Mildew, goes on a witch hunt for Toothless. They believe that keeping a Night Fury has angered Thor.

They are in a sense, a deeply religious society. And because they don't understand the science of nature i.e., that metal attracts lightning, they believe any explanation pitted against a certain cause.

HTTYD series conflicts go beyond bad guy v good guy. Sometimes, it is your own people you need to deal with.

AMAZING SENSE OF HUMOUR

I've said it before, I'll say it again. ROB has some of the best comedic lines of the franchise.

A MOMENT OF APPRECIATION FOR THESE TWO NUTT-CASES

AND SNOTLOUT & TUFFNUT'S PAYBACK

I know we've discussed Snotlout previously. I know we all agree he's not all that bad. Just a damaged viking really, with a lousy father. His relationship w Hiccup is very up and down. But, I love how he took revenge along w Tuffnutt, who in a sense are pretty mellow in terms of defending Hiccup, until the series progresses.

AND!!! STOICK'S PROTECTIVENESS OVER TOOTHLESS.

A real point of growth here for Stoick to stand between the village and Toothless.

He's a pretty great dad. Don't you think so?

#httyd hiccup #breaking down hiccup #hiccup haddock #httyd #vikings #astrid hofferson #toothless the dragon #riders of berk #dreamworks dragons #hiccup x astrid #character breakdown #httyd fandom #httyd stoick #httyd rob #httyd episode breakdown #httyd father son relationship #httyd series #httyd franchise #hiccstrid #httyd snotlout #httyd tuffnutt #httyd ruffnutt #httyd astrid #httyd ryker #httyd viggo #httyd krogan #httyd drago #httyd grimmel #how to train your dragon

[theyoungraven]

VnC Death Possibilities

Vanitas: 100% going to die

Simple enough. It was stated at the beginning. There’s a very slim chance that he’s only thought to be dead or had a faked death. A fake death doesn’t really fit the theme unless specific events take place.

Jeanne: Highly possible

Jeanne is unstable and Vanitas made a promise to kill her. Honestly, there are just so many ways for her to die. Vanitas killing her, Ruthven killing her, a chasseur killing her. She also has a high chance of dying on her own. The fact Vanitas loves her can be a point of conflict to see if he can actually bring himself to kill her. She’s filled with death flags.

Misha: Highly possible

Misha is most likely a zombie and will probably go down near the end of the book when curse bearers are being eliminated. There’s a high possibility he’s only being kept alive with powers from the book and using it to destroy curse bearers, even if Vanitas is the one to do it, will possibly kill him. There’s also a chance of him sacrificing himself in order to help Vanitas near the end. Since he’s working with Teacher, Teacher could easily dispose of him.

Roland & Olivier: Most likely but only if together

Roland and Olivier are in a dangerous career where they could become an accidental casualty at any moment. A vampire could attack them or they could be caught in the crossfire. Roland will probably end up dying first in a fight, maybe when the chasseurs are fighting him. “How many chasseurs do you think I could take?” We’ll find out. If Roland is taken out by vampires or chasseurs, Olivier will most likely meet the same fate when trying to save, help, or avenge Roland.

Roland alone: Possibly

With Roland befriending Noe, there’s a possibility he will betray the church or be seen as betraying that church and have chasseurs go after him. He seems very sure of himself with even being able to take on Olivier. If he dies on his own, it’s very possible Olivier will be the one killing him. It could be willingly, accidentally, or for mercy. Not to mention Astolfo loves him and Astolfo is not allowed to be happy.

Johann: Possibly

Honestly, one of the dhams has to go. There are three of them and no way is a group of three like this allowed to survive. They aren’t the main trio, so they have to lose one. Johann is the most suspicious and seems to be the most evil. He will probably be dying in some Monsieur Spider scheme (if that is him) or will sacrifice himself to save his fellow dhams.

Loki: Possibly

Loki is a curse bearer and there’s a good possibility that on its own will kill him. Not to mention the “Curse bearing is his salvation” type line. There’s also a chance Loki’s death could give Luca a bigger spotlight. It doesn’t matter if he stays in the background or becomes more important, he has a good possibility of dying.

Marco: Possibly

Going with the theme of “Astolfo loses everyone he loves” Marco has his chance at death. Not as big as Roland would have but he is all Astolfo has left of his family. Marco really isn’t important enough on his own right now so it lessens his chance of dying. Astolfo is really the only thing bringing him close to death. If Astolfo somehow dies, Marco will live.

Olivier on his own: Doubtful

Olivier dying on his own wouldn’t have too much of an impact unless it forced Roland to leave. If Roland is leaving, there’s a good chance he will die which would make this impossible. Since Olivier is working with chasseurs, there’s a chance of death just with them. However, it is very small.

Astolfo: Doubtful

Poor kid has been through so much suffering that he’s going to be put through a lot more of it. This is Jun. Astolfo exists to suffer. He doesn’t get an end from his suffering, only more suffering. Also Roland has more death flags than Astolfo and we all know Astolfo loses everyone he loves. Except Marco. In addition to those things, he hates himself and wants to die. And the more you want to die the better chance you have at living.

Dante: Doubtful

Dante is more in the position of “Will be horribly maimed but make it out in the end” rather than marked for death. His injuries could be a possible trigger for Johann to go crazy. There’s a slight chance he might be a background casualty, but why? It would be fine for him to be presumed dead for a short amount of time.

Riche: Doubtful

Honestly, Riche isn’t in too important of a position right now to die. However, that could put her in the perfect position to die. But she’s more on the live while injured side with Dante rather than the death side with Johann. If her importance in the story changes, she may go from Doubtful to Possibly.

Domi: Doubtful

Domi has already been in a position for death and made it out. She does have a red flag or two on her but mostly injured flags. She was used once to show how Noe will snap and go crazy over her and it’s possible for it to happen again. Death is most likely out of reach for her unless it’s a temporary death.

Ruthven: Doubtful

Sure Ruthven could die but why kill him when he can suffer eternally for a punishment? Ruthven doesn’t scream death so much as he screams eternal exile. Surely something will happen to him but it doesn’t seem like it would be death. Maybe Jeanne goes to kill him for revenge but stops/is stopped right before murdering him. But then again, we all know what happened the last time there was an uncle in a Jun Mochizuki story.

Murr: No

Murr is too powerful of a cat to die. He gets to live out his normal cat life.

Teacher: No

Teacher is more of a character that will “die” or will vanish to another country and start a new life before he actually dies. If he reaches a situation where he may die, he will peace out and disappear.

Noe: No

He’s the one telling the story. He’s living to the end. Maybe it’s implied he dies after the story ends, but that’s as close as you get to his death.

#Vanitas no Carte #Vanitas #Noe Archiviste #posting this before the new chapter kills off multiple characters and proves me wrong

[blacksurvivalnostalgichanges]

black survival characters singing

Adela:it’d be funny if she put her entire soul into singing when she does. “oh my god you’re not going to get me to sing, i don’t want to sing, iIiiIII dOoooon’t-”

Adriana:she’d be so sick in a metal band. girl can scream

Aiden:i cannot imagine him singing if it’s not the most monotonous singing in existence i’m sorry

Alex:secretly amazing at singing

Arda:i have no strong opinions on him singing for some reason. his voice actor has a nice voice ig? i’d assume that guy would have a good singing voice. so i guess arda would have a nice singing voice

Aya:she sings terribly. you cannot convince me otherwise. high pitched mess

Barbara:wouldn’t be caught dead singing. partially because i don’t think her singing would be any good. not horrible but not good

Bernice: you ever listened to the music that plays in the country bad boy tiktok shit? that’s how he sings. Vibes

Bianca:loves singing. isn’t very good at it. you’re not gonna say shit though, why make her feel insecure about something she enjoys doing

Camilo:smooth sexy singing voice that he definitely cultivated like his dancing. this man puts too much effort into looking effortless to not have a good singing voice

Cathy:likes singing nonsense in her free time. it’s not bad but it probably gets grating

Celine:considering she only cares about explosions i cannot imagine her in karaoke, man

Chiara:i think she might’ve been in the church choir and sings damn well. probably stopped for a long time but i think she can get back into it

Chloe:sweet soft singing voice. she sings to kids sometimes for sure

Daniel:another one that refuses to sing in front of people i think. if he sang it’d be sad emo shit though

Echion: i think he’d slay in a metal band. he loves yelling. probably would do well with covering those bad boy tiktok songs considering he emanates fuckboy energy

Elena:mirror mirror rwby cover, i tell you

Eleven:not an amazing singer but she’d sound so happy singing. you can’t get sick of it

Eva:she would definitely be good at singing and sing to herself in her free time. that’s literally the most common habit to grow if you’re alone a lot

Emma:okay singing voice. she’d LOVE karaoke

Felix:probably just hums music in his free time and isn’t particularly passionate enough about singing for anyone to know if he’s good or even think much about it

Fiora:i can’t imagine her being a very good singer. arguably that could tie into her spider web of trauma and she wouldn’t want to sing, tbh

Hart:moving on

Hyejin:she definitely has a nice sweet singing voice. she could definitely sing someone to sleep or calm someone down by singing

Hyunwoo:bad at singing but doesn’t really sing with anyone around

Isol:i had an answer before that was like “adamantly refuses to sing but then at one point he’s doing smth while he thinks no one’s there and he starts humming and hyunwoo is actually there”. and. he was a choir boy according to erbs. so this take makes me go INSANE now. i feel galaxy brained. the one issue is that he does subconsciously hum choir music when he’s killing people. but that just adds a layer, i still see my past vision

Jackie:hmhmhmhmhmhm hmhmhmhmhm hmhmhm-

Jan:you know he loves singing. and you know his singing’s not quite in tune but you still kinda love it. jan as a person is someone who is theoretically obnoxious but so utterly charming you can’t help but to love it

Jenny: i think itd be funny if her singing was mediocre

Johann: bianca tries to make him sing evanescence but he’s too used to the bread of god is bread so it’s bizarre

JP: sort of guy to make fun of people for being off-tune and being off-tune himself

Laura: she can sing. i know it

Lenox:sings poorly but she’s so charismatic you don’t mind

Leon:repressed man. you know he doesn’t sing but likes it secretly

Li Dailin:feel like she’s the sort to seem like she’d be bad and then she sings so well you want to cry

Luke:he has such a tv announcer voice that his singing would just sound like those ad jingles

Magnus:picturing the one kiryu meme song cover thing rn

Mai:perfectly fine at singing but not special i think. not off-tune but not angelic

Nadine:i don’t think she’s ever even tried to sing beyond like. mimicking a bird

Nathapon:yeah no clue. maybe he does maybe he doesn’t. i guess he wouldn’t remember anyway

Nicky: very off-tune singing i KNOW IT

Rio:she sounds really monotonous and i bet that’s her singing too

Rosalio:sings like shit and gets mad when someone else sings. his life is a damn metaphor

Rozzi:choir girl, she can sing. next

Shoichi:he’d have the sweetest singing voice because he’d sing lullabies to his kid. don’t at me

Silvia:sings like shit and sings loud

Sissela:i can only imagine her singing the most heartbreaking songs. i think her singing would be nice though

Sua:sings well for sure. calms your soul cleanses your sins

Tia:i don’t think she dabbles in singing tbh

William:doesn’t sing. i say you can not a chance nooo if i can do t

Xiukai:jolly nice singing i think

Yuki:instantly coming to mind, an image of him not singing ever since his best friend died

Zahir:he sings just fine i think

#banging this one out too #black survival #eternal return #eternal return black survival #immortal soul black survival

[fideidefenswhore]

What are your thoughts on Jane Boleyn, and the role she supposedly played in the fall of 3 Queens (Anne Boleyn, Anna of Cleves, Katheryn Howard)? Do you think she has been too maligned by historians for centuries, especially when it comes to the relationship with the Boleyns (it seems she got along with Anne)?

Now that I've read both works and compared them side by side, I suppose I would say my stance on Jane Boleyn falls somewhere in between that of Julia Fox and James Taffe ('Somewhere in between' is not, btw, Alison Weir); although closer to the former than the latter. Offering critique of both biographies, I would say that of JF is too apologetic (smoothing out wrinkles that exist in her arguments rather than acknowledging them) and JT is too severe.

Especially when it comes to the relationship with the Boleyns? Yes and no. Obviously she was married to George, she sent him a message of comfort while he was in the Tower, and wore only black the rest of her life, which was quite the potent statement. However, I would allow for the possibility that she potentially, inadvertently implicated him or AB (ie, testimony of hers was twisted to suit the crown's case). This is where I think there are flaws in the arguments of some of her defenders-- they cannot allow for even that possibility and so make claims that disallow it; some of which are untrue. 'Jane was only blamed as a means of absolving Henry in the whitewash of Elizabethan propagandists' is not true. Johannes Sleidan in 1545 claimed that Anne and George died by her 'false accusation'. Sleidan was a Reformer, so he would have been more sympathetic towards the plights of these two than the average person, and would have spoken to others that were as well, but the motivation to vindicate Elizabeth did not yet exist; she was at this point the very unlikely third in line to the throne.

I do appreciate that you said 'got along' with Anne, not 'besties', because...it's possible they were very close, certainly, but we must also allow for the possibility of animosity. The linchpin for the argument of closeness is the report from Chapuys that they 'conspired together' to banish Henry's mistress from court. Was this the precise truth? Considering the source I'm doubtful. Probably there was a lady Henry was serving at this time (although that we never have a name makes the story somewhat suppositious), but did they need to have 'conspired together' against her for Jane to be banished from court (which is what happened instead)? Jane might have merely made Anne aware of her, and Henry finding out that she'd been the source would have been enough for banishment. Or, as was presented plausibly in Adrienne Dillard's fictional rendition, Jane might have dropped hints to Cromwell that this mistress was a supporter of the two exiled and contumacious royal women that were Anne's adversaries, Cromwell might have passed this along to Henry, and Henry might have banished Jane for shattering the illusion that this woman had no independent ambitions or ulterior motives and merely let him hit for the sheer pleasure of his company.

If this was evidence of closeness, and it might be, then we also have to remember that the end result was Jane's banishment from court, and that there is, as JT fairly pointed out, no evidence that any of the Boleyns spoke in her defense, favor, or for her return. It would take an extremely magnanimous person to accept all that with equanimity and not feel any resentment whatsoever. So, if there was intimacy, there might have also been rift.

That leaves the question: enough 'rift' for her to seek vengeance? I doubt that much for all the reasons Fox outlines in her biography, but at the same time I wish there was not this relentless push to only defend women that we assert 'deserve' defense, on the premise they were entirely selfless, accepted every insult with grace, never kept any grudges, never had personal ambitions (the actions she took during the queenships of those you mentioned would suggest otherwise), mixed emotions, or conflicting loyalties; that we could acknowledge that acknowledging the agency of historic women also means acknowledging they were capable of making mistakes.

#anon #it feels like an 'overcorrection' to some degree. if that makes sense? #altho that's generally what ppl say about AB too and i generally think they're wrong lol #'waaah AB apologism waaaaahhh joanna denny wahhhhhhhhhhhh h/ayley nolan' #bitch. no one serious is taking those seriously. if joanna denny was the definitive AB bio that would be one thing #the definitive is eric ives who oh no said in his personal opinion that his favorite was more attractive in personality and appearance #than the other...oh my god that is the worst thing anyone has every said in the HISTORY OF TIME #are y'all this sensitive in real life bcus fr. #how do you bitches SURVIVE.................. #anyway what i was initially going to say after coming back to this: #*ever #like the way this figure is used to have it both ways really bothers...me? #i think there's some ambiguity here but like #i read someone claim that JS must have been 'so sweet' bcus otherwise JB would not have been her lady in waiting.... #which is like. be fr? if JB loved george and anne she would have hated her lol #or at the very least have been uneasy in her presence (there's a great scene with this in adrienne's sequel btw) #but like...idk man. ppl just don't seem to get how humans worked? or have any sort of emotional; media; literal; literacy? #this was my thing with BSR too 'how dare THEY say henry NEVER loved coa how dare THEY say jane was to blame for anne's miscarriage' #like right...were 'they' saying that or was anne? or was that what anne believed? was the show perhaps from her (gasp) POV and so #these things were portrayed? i mean ffs.... by our literal primary sources those were the things she said. #someone's emotions and beliefs /= infallible unassailable entire truths #nor are they necessarily 'fair' and the same with our judgements. welcome to being a human being #so yeah like re: JB.... #*that she felt like that? was it entirely fair to blame and resent the seymours? #is that necessarily fair? no. how much she did or didn't was probably dependent on how accurate chapuys report was about JS #the extent to which she had disparaged anne #as for the why as JF theorized ; the need of income and the possibility that since cromwell had helped her with income #this was the favor he wanted in return (so her as a spy in the household) #and re: conflicting loyalties ; i mean ...goddamn; people are complex #i think it's entirely possible that JB loved anne but also had this innate sympathy for coa and mary too.

[masterofdemise]

Rank the girls. Who are ur top 5 girlies in mfb? Pit the women against each other!

WOMEN IN BEYBLADE! I love them very much I honestly wish I could have more brain worms for them. Unfortunately, Pluto and Johannes trumps all. (Although to be fair to me, all my women attention will always be prioritized to OCs because they're my precious little things). Despite that, I think MFB girls are great and while they are quite flawed in how they were written, I think they're amazing.

Motti

I mean this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone considering how often I draw her out of all the Beyblade characters (excluding the obvious two). She is just such an adorable and charming character. No I do not care if she is a minor side character who doesn't get much screen time, she's Motti! I have such a soft spot for her and I absolutely love seeing content of her in my timeline :)

2. Sophie

Oh Sophie beloved, she's a close spot for number one honestly. I haven't worked on her much for quite some time but I still love her lots. One of my all-time favourite designs in all of MFB. She's a bit silly for choosing Julian of all people to dedicate her loyalty too, but I still love her regardless. One day I'll work more on my ideas for her post Fury.

3. Madoka

Madoka has been carrying the protagonists since the beginning how could I not put her on this list. She's the voice of reason and without her, the whole of Gingka's gang would probably be dead. Asides from how much I like her in the show, her design is just so cute in general. I love giving her other outfits she's very fun to draw.

4. Hikaru

Through my Fusion rewatch, I've grown to love Hikaru more and more. I like how much spirit she has in Fusion and it really sucks to see how they barely did anything with Hikaru in Masters and Fury. I think having her quit Beyblade out of trauma is an interesting idea, but they didn't do very much with it. Overall, I really like her and I'm sure with time, I'll continue to like her even more.

5. Mei Mei

Mei Mei is a member of Team Wang Hu Zhong so she already gets many plus points. She's so precious to me like Motti is. I want to eventually write some more interactions with her and my OC He Li Hua eventually. I wish there was more people who were normal about her but other than that, Mei Mei is great!

#metal fight beyblade #beyblade #demise rambles #i love all the other girls in mfb but these five are the favs that i feel most connected to #honorable mentions to lera and selen #lera for pink and selen for being a menace <3

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Arting ask on this round because I love hearing about the nuts and bolts behind your work. What styles and/or real world elements do you take inspiration from when you make fantasy art, and how do you put them in dialogue (this is totally where I'm fishing for an excuse to ask you about the Central Asian inspo for your Dunmer character design, but anything else you want to bring up too!) Is there a specific feeling you hope the viewer to get from your paintings? And finally, are your writing and your art in dialogue in some way, or are they totally separate processes?

Bonus: What do you not enjoy drawing/painting (if anything)?

Yes, an excuse for me to waffle on about process! Under a cut because this is long and full of pictures!

Stylistically I'm heavily influenced by Baroque, Roccoco, Pre-Raphaelite, and Romanticism. I rely quite heavily on chiaroscuro, I really love that luminous look that high-contrast darks and lights give to a work.

Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer

Throwing in a well-known Vermeer because the contrast in this painting is what I want to achieve in my own.

Luminous, I really feel that coming through in this particular piece. I really love the contrast between dark and light. Plus it means I don't have to detail that damn back wall.

I also really love the movement in this painting.

The Swing, Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

Probably one of my favourite artworks!

Emma Hart as Circe, George Romney

I take a lot of portrait inspo from Rococo and classical court painters as well as a lot of influence from John Singer Sargent.

Portrait of Madame X and Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, John Singer Sargent.

I just like to play with light a lot! I ran into a problem when I was designing Sydari, I didn't want her wearing half the clothes that you find in vanilla. She's from Skyrim but doesn't feel like she belongs there. I wanted to give her a more dunmer-influenced style (this was like a year ago now when I got back into TES, also pre-including Teldryn in like everything).

Playing around in Morrowind and modding the heck out of Solstheim so that it looks like it's actually a part of Morrowind made me think about clothes...yep, I do that.

I noticed a lot of influences from Central Asia, East Asia, Sumer, Neo-Assyria and Akkad in the visual language of the game, as well as influencing a lot of the language, names etc. I decided to go with a general mix of these but most of my focus went towards a more Central Asian/Eurasian Steppe feel. The reason was these.

And this outfit

I loved those shoes, they were perfect in every way. The outfit was a good starting point too. Though this is costuming from a movie so I wanted to look for more traditional versions.

Fantastic!

And congratulations, I have a colour scheme!

More costuming but I fell in love with this one and have used it a few times.

I fully plan on utilising this style for Sydari's Skyrim arts.

I just sorta fish around for influences when I'm not working or painting. I use a lot of Bronze Age Levantine and Mesopotamian influences too, Vivec's jewellery is ripped from the Royal Cemetery of Ur.

Beads are murder! XD

So, my art is influenced by what I'm writing, or what I plan to write.

This one should take place towards the end of Part 1 of the fic. I made this way before I decided to bite the bullet and actually write anything.

And this should occur right before Diplomatic Immunity. Which is in Part 2.

I also create art for an upcoming tabletop game which is influenced by Bronze Age Mediterranean history (can't show it) but a lot of it is influenced by both historical dress and mythology from that time period.

As for feelings, I like to put a lot of small character-specific details in my art. I get a kick out of people commenting about what they notice. For example, I intend the Moon and Star ring to not actually fit Teldryn's finger (it's stuck) and I love that people have picked up on his vein attitude. I'm waiting on people to notice that the eyes move if you move your head. I do like that my art makes people happy. That makes me happy as well.

Bonus! I have a love/hate relationship with painting metal and jewellery in general. I get impatient with it and always leave it to last.

#Stuff about arts #pic heavy #asks

[hrodvitnon]

Writing prompt! While Vivienne probably lived as a peasant scholar most of her life, who’s to say she somehow found herself in a situation somewhat similar to this at some point?

…(also, Ling probably finds the idea of being “kidnapped by a dragon and added to its gold hoard” really hot)

Well, this got away from me! Also I spent way too long trying to figure out what dragon!Vivi could've been doing in the 1530's and what was happening around then and what kind of armor she'd have...

---

Turns out even dragons like to veg out in front of the TV now and then; Vivienne reclines back on the sofa to channel surf while Ling settles herself in to cuddle on top of her like an overgrown cat, settling on the History Channel because it's always a riot watching Vivienne angrily spit fire at brain-rotting garbage like Ancient Aliens because "I WAS THERE, DAMN IT!" Fortunately the show currently playing is Forged in Fire, which is good for Vivienne's blood pressure.

Suddenly Ling recalls a particular detail from when she first learned her girlfriend is a dragon. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask. What was that suit of armor in your treasure hoard?"

"The Maximilian plate with the beaked visor, 1536," Vivienne rattles off without blinking. "I got it for my knight job."

"I'm sorry... did you say night, as in after sundown, or knight, as in shining armor?"

"The latter," Vivienne replies, but then purses her lips. "Although, I wasn't officially knighted or anything, I just ran around pretending to be a knight errant for a time. It was all very Don Quixote. I still have my sword, a Zweihänder from Germany! Did you see it?"

"I actually don't remember. You'll have to take me on a proper museum tour next time we go to the hoard." Ling rests her chin on Vivienne's chest and bats her eyelashes. "Did you have a fair maiden to rescue as well?"

"Funny story, that. Do you recall I was apprenticed under Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa until he died? Johann Weyer was my first human friend? 1535, thereabouts?"

"I wasn't alive at the time, but sure."

Vivienne puffs the bangs out of Ling's face with a huff. "Wise-ass. Well, after Master Agrippa passed, Johann left to study medicine in Paris and I wandered around France, heard about all the chivalric romances going on and thought I'd have a go at it. Suppose I was trying to cope with depression over my teacher's death. Anyway, I commissioned an armorer..."

"I was gonna say, did you just happen to snatch up a suit while some poor sir was taking a bath or something?"

"Give me some credit, dear -- I'm a dragon, not a thief. Besides, stealing from a fellow knight wouldn't be at all chivalrous, would it?"

"So how did you end up with a damsel in distress, anyway?" Ling asks, now trying to picture how Vivienne would look in that armor.

"As it happens, my human shape shared just enough resemblance with one of the ladies of the French nobility. There was some confusion and before I knew it people thought Duchess Je Ne Sais Pas was kidnapped or something, which led to her actually getting kidnapped during all the nonsense and led to me donning the armor and chasing after the criminals to save her."

"And you still didn't get properly knighted?" Ling says.

"I was depressed and going through a rather expensive coping mechanism. Besides, I was a scholar -- and turns out horses can smell dragons and don't like being saddled by them. Now, there was this one time I wound up kidnapping a princess during..."

"You kidnapped a princess?!"

"Again, depressed teen dragon. Now, I want to say it was during the Italian War of 1536, '38...? In any case, I wasn't taking my loss well at all, there was a war going on, everything just built up until some nimrod set fire to my hut and I just..."

Vivienne clenches a fist, the skin around her knuckles hardening into reddish scales. Ling is always so fascinated when her lover's draconic nature begins to peek through the glamor, the mixture of familiarity and extraordinary. Vivienne cranes her head back and puffs out a small stream of fire into the air.

"...I rampaged. I'm not proud of it, no matter how young and dumb I was. Johann would've boxed my ears till they bled, said I was too choleric for my own good. In the moment, it just felt good to cut loose and let my wings stretch for a while. Didn't care where I went. I crawled up a tower, found a woman inside. Her name was Margaret. Next thing the poor girl knew, she was stuck in my old treasure hoard while a dragon bawled her eyes out."

Vivienne's eyes don't indicate if she's still bothered by her youthful mistakes (understandable on account of having literal centuries to get over things like that). She doesn't often go into dragon form to take Ling flying, due to not wanting anything to go wrong and their hectic schedules at Monarch, and now there's a particular itch growing in the back of Ling's mind.

"So, how'd Princess Margaret handle it?" Ling breaks the silence. "Because that must've been quite the whiplash."

Vivienne's mouth breaks into a smile. "She actually cheered me up, said that getting grabbed by a dragon like that was the most fun she'd ever had. It turned into a game. Knights started coming in trying to rescue her only for me to scare them off, which was her idea. Eventually the time came for Margaret to return, so I put on my armor and carried her home. I actually felt better after all that."

"...and?"

"And what?"

"What else did you guys do?" Ling quirks up her eyebrows. "Just the two of you, a dragon and a royal captive, all alone in your lair for an extended period of time..."

"Ling, I wasn't in the best place mentally or emotionally, and she was already engaged to marry. I'm pretty sure half the men who tried saving Margaret were hired by her betrothed. Nothing happened."

Ling blows a raspberry through her lips in disappointment and turns to face the TV. Unexpectedly, she feels claws combing through her hair and Vivienne's breath turns hot.

"What would you expect to happen...?" Vivienne husks, her voice turning low and growling, sending shivers down Ling's spine.

She tries to wave it off as just passing curiosity and is about to turn on the news, when the TV is shut off and the remote tossed across the room. Ling valiantly keeps her eyes averted, knowing what will happen once her gaze locks onto Vivienne's while she's letting her inner monster come out to play... not that her resolve hold on for long once the dragon jackknifes and sits up, leaving Ling curled up in her lap, and a thick tail wraps around her in a makeshift cage.

Ling swallows hard.

The dragon purrs, "Where you thinking I might... eat my pretty captive...?"

Ling's fingers dig into Vivienne shoulders; otherwise she'd be gripping those horns growing out from her dark hair. Grabbing those horns and holding on for dear life has become a regular occurrence now that Vivienne's become comfortable enough to bring out the dragon during intimacy.

Those claws run down the small of Ling's back, teasing at her hip, and slide up her thigh. The vibrations from Vivienne's purrs cause Ling to squirm in her lap and she bites her lip to hold back a needy sound when a long, hot tongue flicks at her throat.

"Answer me, Princess," the dragon growls. "Did you think I'd take you to my hoard... tear these bothersome clothes to shreds..." There's a telltale scrape of claws scratching into the fabric of Ling's pants. "...and feast upon you like ambrosia...?"

Ling whimpers and her eyes lock onto Vivienne's glowing green stare, pupils turned into vertical slits that widen once the scent of her arousal hits the beast's nostrils. That tongue slides out to lick pink her chops.

Now the dragon snarls. "Be a good girl and answer me, and I might do just that."

"Yes," Ling gasps.

#tardisspacemug #dragon au #dr. vivienne graham #ling chen

[hoghtastic]

„….until they find hints enough that they might be together.“

Normally I would agree with you. Not here.

Johanne didn't need stalking. She posted the relationship very obviously. I remember some fans calling it „fake hiding“. She has also seen very clearly that Alex fans follow her, as well as his fan accounts. She posted her relationship with Alex quite clearly in my opinion. The "Kattegat zu Paris" CC pouch bag was posted several times by Johanne and put in focus on her account. But there were enough other examples 😵‍💫. I never had the feeling that she wanted to be private, she wanted everyone to know AND much much earlier than Alex. I remember the week when an interview with him came out where he said how important his privacy is to him and that he might make a relationship public at some point, then she posted his apartment 😄. There are so many celebs that were really private, when you think about it was Alex who was private, apart from all his likes for her many posts you didn't notice anything, that's why many who didn't follow Johanne were shocked when he suddenly stood with her on a red carpet. And Johanne knew and still knows what she's doing, she also knows what she's doing with the sticker when she doesn't post Alex on her profile. Honestly, I've never seen anyone who behaves like this on social media (celebrity or normal person), private is different for me and honest behavior is different for me. And about her private account: She used her real name and selfie portrait 😅 Now after changing it seven or eight? times it’s the short version of her name and her birthday. Nobody had to stalk her to find her private account. Her pinterest account was also not private, she had used her real name for it and a professional portrait of herself. She only deleted it because it had a lot of art and other things on there she copied and she probably panicked when the fan pulled out receipts. Now her every move is being watched because of all those planted hints and post&deletes etc. Sometimes anons are reading too much into things, sometimes they aren’t.

Anon to anon, in response to this ask. 😊

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Personally, I absolutely agree.

#anon asks #anon to anon

[o-craven-canto]

Ea, Our Second Chance (9)

9. The Descent

(Index) (< 8. Fuscophyta: Ea’s black plants) (> 10a. Eucytobionta, cell structure)

« There will certainly be no lack of human pioneers when we have mastered the art of flight. Who would have thought that navigation across the vast ocean is less dangerous and quieter than in the narrow, threatening gulfs of the Adriatic, or the Baltic, or the British straits? Let us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes. In the meantime, we shall prepare, for the brave sky-travellers, maps of the celestial bodies—I shall do it for the moon, you, Galileo, for Jupiter. » – Johannes Kepler, letter to Galileo Galilei, 1610

« During our descent I realized that we were riding a meteorite. If the first bacteria have truly come to Earth from space, now I know how they'd felt. » – Masami Kato, interview in Small Steps for Men: Earthborn Accounts of Ea's Early Years, Nisaba Press, 79 AL

« If I live a thousand years more, I don't think I will ever feel as much fear as in those minutes. We had already made a few orbits around Ea, in the highest levels of the atmosphere. The blue curve of Ea on our linkscreens became broader, flatter... You could see the clouds, the desert dunes, the foam on the Dagon Sea. The red patches of woodland. We'd already seen the maps, the photos taken by the drones already on the surface. Each three of us had a little screen showing the ground right below us, a smoky yellow rectangle, with our own shadows becoming darker and neater. I found out, years later, that if you enter the atmosphere at too flat an angle, you can bounce off it like a stone on water, straight back into space. We were luckier than that. We hadn't felt the jolt as the Ark left the Solar System, or as it braked near Utu: at those points we were all sleeping in the cryopods, save a few staff. They say the push of a fusion drive is beyond words, that nothing on a planet's surface can equal it. We did feel the lesser jolt when our pods broke off the Ark, a force reaching through our bodies and tugging on our bones. I thought that would prepare us for the descent; but it really didn't, nothing could have. We felt pressed on our sides, first on the left, then on the right, left and right again. They'd told us that we would move in an S-shaped path to burn away our speed. For a while the screens flickered, the radio crackled. We did not feel, in that pod, as brave explorers. We felt like shipwrecking sailors, on a lifeboat tossed by the waves. The vibrations made our teeth clatter, each path correction like a punch in the ribs. We shut our eyes, clutched the seat handles, prayed and screamed. Out of the window, the air was burning. We could actually see the yellow glow of the heat shield; and smoke, plenty of dark smoke rushing up; I didn't expect to see it, but they assured us it was normal. [ED: this was the ceramic foam on the heat shield's surface vaporizing to shed excess heat.] The pods were like a shower of meteors; we weren't flying, we were falling, falling to the ground from space. We were racing against one at our left, right out of the window next to me – it was probably a kilometer away, but it seemed right out of the window – it disappeared below us, then above, then below again. Even with the shielded glass it was painfully bright to look at directly, but it was so distracting... So... I saw it. Like us, it did its own little path corrections. Tiny white flames, barely visible against the clear sky. Then its navigation computer got something wrong. It miscalculated some movement or some turn... it smashed into the air, flipped on its back, where it had no shielding... and it was gone. A flash of light, and I don't think I heard any noise from inside. I saw debris shot like bullets in all directions; thank God no one else was hit. I felt our own pod tremble in the shockwave a few seconds later, and I truly thought we were going to lose our orientation and blow up as well. We didn't; our computer worked well. [EN: The explosion described by Perez is certainly that of Pod 35. While it has been recorded from the outer cameras of other pods, Perez is the only known direct eyewitness.] As the pod slowed down under us, we were crushed in our seats, like when the shuttles left Earth. I tasted blood in my mouth, though I may have just bit myself. The Commander spoke to us over the linkscreens. Nobody I've met has heard all of it, over the static and the creaking and the screams and the muttered prayers, but I think she told us, Be strong, be brave, today you are saving your world, today you are saving your species. I don't know if she actually believed that. Her face was like cut stone, I'd swear she didn't flinch once; but she was gripping the handholds as hard as we. So we had shed most of our speed; we went back to our regular weight, and it felt like floating in water. I even let the handholds go for a moment. I think the lady next to me had passed out. I looked out of the window again, and we were passing through clouds, we were still falling from the sky. The linkscreen had gone back to showing the ground, and now you could see the little clumps of red on the sand. One last jolt, one last punch to the gut, as the propulsors under us fired. This time we were pressed in our seats for several minutes on. My sight blurred and darkened at the edges, my limbs cramped and tingled, and breathing in was like having to suck air through a straw. I had broken a rib once, when I was a kid; it felt much like that, or rather it felt as if I'd had a cast on my whole chest. It went on like that until I heard a terrifying booming sound and felt the whole pod recoil up – we had just touched the ground. We bounced on the sand and jumped forward, just like that stone skipping on water, hit the ground again and again, more and more frequently, every time a softer noise... Then sand hid everything out of the windows, and we were sliding forward, faster than a magrail, [ED: clear exaggeration] punching through sand dunes, tearing down red trees. What was left of the heat shield was scrubbed away. The last propulsor in front of us turned off, and we finished slowing down. We were still. We were on the planet's surface, resting on the solid ground, glowing, smoking. I left the handholds again, and discovered I had lost all sensation in my hands. The Commander appeared again. The same expression as before, though now she was breathing heavily, and there was blood on her visor, and the image was crooked and blurry, or maybe it was just my eyes. She said, "Excellently done, every one of you. Remind me to give you all a medal when we're done. Now stay in your seats until I tell you to leave". First we counted the pods. 94 out of 100, a fantastic outcome; three more had made it but couldn't contact us yet. Then we counted the people in each pod, we made a list of the wounded, the unconscious, the dead. Pod 37 actually got out pretty well, a broken arm, a few cracked ribs, many cuts and bruises; a girl lost sight in on eye, probably a broken blood vessel, they said. The pod's doctors patched everyone up as well as they could and sent a report to Pod One. We secured and checked three times our exosuits. Then the officers received Samirowa's order and unlocked the doors on the outside. We all crawled out on the sand. Nobody knows who was the first to touch the ground, and I don't think anybody ever will. I suppose the Commander was meant to be the first, but I'm sure she wasn't. For that matter, I'm sure a hand touched the ground before any foot. We saw the first living things on Ea up close, a clump of red trees and bushes that our pod had just stopped short of crushing. They swayed softly in the wind, some of them charred and smoking. A deep purplish red like red wine, and muddy brownish red like red clay, on these strange spongy growths that came out of cracks in the bark. The same they planted with the pines at the Samirowa Memorial in Landing Point. We fell down in sheer exhaustion, on our knees, on hour hands, on our backs. Some people laughed, some cried, some prayed – the suit muffled all sounds, but I could hear some of it through my own breath. I tried to stand up and fell back down; I remained curled up for a while, trying not to vomit; when that feeling passed I rolled up, with my back on the cold sand, at looked up at the sky. I watched that deep blue dome, a blue deeper than the sky of Earth, with the moons right in the center, right above me. I'd like to say I thought of home, of my parents, of Hector. But I didn't really think of anything, I just looked up. I might have passed out for a while, or maybe I was so absorbed into that sky. Two grey eyes, almost identical, like space looking down at us. As if to say, this is it, you are all that matters now, forget about everything else. A little puff of smoke was there too, such a small and distant one, where that pod had blown up. It took a very long time for the wind to wipe it away. Then I heard the rumble of a straggler pod landing somewhere away. A cloud of sand fell over us, and someone must have kicked me. I struggled to my feet, brushed the sand off my suit's visor, and then, well, that was it. I was on Ea now. Earth was gone. Earth had never been a thing, it was like one of those dreams where you live a whole lifetime, and then it's all gone at dawn, you dream of people you'd die for, and in the morning you realize they'd never even had names. The evening with two moons, the yellow sand, the hundred bright orange figures that staggered around and bumped into each other, that was all that had ever been real. It took me years to remember home. [EN: Besides Perez, several eyewitnesses of the early days remember the sight of Ea's moons. A powerful symbol of the transition from Terra to Ea, they figure in virtually every historical and fictional reconstruction of the Landing. This is all the more puzzling because astronomical calculations show that, in that time and place, only Ereshkigal would have been visible. A collective false memory?] » – Luis Perez, interview in Small Steps for Men: Earthborn Accounts of Ea's Early Years, Nisaba Press, 79 AL (with Editor Notes)

« While the original mission plans took into account the loss of up to fifteen of the original landing pods, in fact only three were lost: Pod 35 was destroyed by atmospheric entry, and Pods 86 and 90 by impact with the surface. [...] According to the conclusions of the DeVries Report of 15 AL, a failure of Pod 35's magnetohydrodynamic envelope of the heat shield caused excessive stress on its solid components; this in turn caused asymmetrical erosion of the heat shield, and thus prevented the pod from keeping its correct orientation. [...] The largest recovered fragment was found in 41 AL, embedded in sand 12 km west of Landing Point: an 80 cm wide section of the pod's heat shield, composed of hexagonal refractory tiles of zirconium oxide. Part of an engine had been found six years earlier near the Dagonian shoreline, bearing a partial serial number compatible with the pod's anterior propulsors. A number of small (<2 cm) metal, plastic, and ceramic fragments have been attributed to Pod 35 but cannot be identified conclusively. » – Summa Planetaria, "The Landing#The Lost Pods", revision 315/b89hYq8Cq0

#worldbuilding #alien planet #my work #ea our second chance

[tendebill]

[oc]

decided to make a list of silly oc facts for my and hopefully your enjoyment :3

David is missing a chunk of his left ear, as a cat bit it off when he was a kid. since then he's been terrified of cats (but wont admit it)

Sephoras didnt know his hair was wavy for YEARS because he grew up in really bad conditions (financially, emotinally, etc.) and never learned good hygene habits + never had the money to buy good hair products

Lucy is part shapeshifter, her father being an animal-shifter who could change into goats, deer and other similar creatures. while shes unable to shapeshift herself, she does have goat ears and horns, and a deer's tail (this also means she has a lotta bodyhair, including chest hair and sometimes facial hair). also this kind of shapeshifter hybrid (one that has a shapeshifter parent but doesnt have the ability to shift themselves) in Drakenterra is called a caminist :3

Angelica's parents, Johann and Hecate Emperor, have about 14 (?) kids in total, 7 biological and 6 adopted. Angelica is the oldest.

Huen has no surname. When she became a senator and was asked for her full name, she kept saying "just Huen :)" and staring menacingly at them, until they lost their nerve and decided she would be, in fact, just Senator Huen (no last name given).

Angelica Emperor's full name is Angelica Ordolia Celeste Eudora Barbara Emperor, as her parents had so many names they liked and couldn't just pick one (they later stuggled to come up with names for their other 6 biological children, Angelica's youngest sister being named Angelica II).

Angelica's has a munchkin cat named Fluffy Baron Cecil Vanilla Cosmo Tabby I, Tabby for short.

Maffi has a jackdaw named espresso, but her youngest brother Bernard INSISTS on calling it Muffin (David finds it funny).

Bernard almost always accidentaly camouflages wherever he is. He will stand next to a blue walpaper dressed in a shirt and vest of the exact same color. He will blend into the curtains. People often forget he's even there.

Angele knows how to sew and always makes amazing costumes for halloween (once Ellie introduces her to cosplaying, the game is on).

Ellie often makes references to Nullterra's popculture, which confuse the characters from Drakenterra (and a few other dimenstions) immensily. ("And who is this.... General Kenobi???" "Who tf is Bob Ross??" "What the fuck is a thor?" "No, I dont wanna have a bad time??" "I guess I am filled with determination?" "who is rick and why does he roll?" etc.)

Ellie was a fandom kid and probably wears FNAF and Undertale merch around the others (causing further confusion).

Sephoras has a thing for dumb brand names and slogans. He will point them out and complain about how nonesensical they are frequently.

Cyan's music taste changes all the time, one time they'll be making trap remixes of any song they get their hands on, next they're blasting classical music during a car ride, then they're listening to old rock bands the next time you see them. no one knows how many instruments they can play

Lucy can play ukulele and guitar

James collects flowers and Lucy always takes them and puts them into a herbarium. They often try to make teas out of stuff they find too, or use them as herbs. they also make flowercrowns together

Dots and Angele are the rich kids in the friend group, while Cyan and Seph have both experienced poverty at some point in their lives.

Ellie is a child of divorce.

thats it for now :3

#tendebill ocs #long post #oc facts #oc rant #oc lore

[legendofzacian]

If you can, can you talk about old Galarian art? I think the style and stories they use for it are very interesting

I think my abilities to talk about style, methods and specific influences are limited but I'll gladly analyze it from a historical perspective! I'll just pull up some of the pictures I have on my phone rn and ramble for a bit.

So this is a reconstruction of a carpet from about 1600 years ago, meaning it was actually not made by the people that would eventually found Galar as we know it. Before the Galarians came to this territorry several nordic tribes lived in the area. This carpet was made by the Scutu-Saxons but we actually don't know a lot about it for sure but it is remarkable for being the earliest depiction of Pokémon without humans.

One theory I read about is that this was part of an ensemble of carpets, all depicting different seasons, this one depicting spring, symbolised by the tree in the middle, a rookidee on top and herds of Mudsdale and Dubwool with their young travelling through the wild area. Now on to actual Galarian artists.

This was on a canvas in a shrine dedicated to Calyvax. It's around 1000 years old and meant to retell the story on how Calyvax first saved a human farm town from a fierce dragon pokémon.

In most iterations the story goes, that a dragon threatened to destroy the town if they didn't sacrifice three humans every year to it to devour. The townsfolk would follow this grim tradition for 333 years until one child decided to pray to Calyrex. But because only one child prayed Calyrex was too weak to finish the dragon off. In the end the entire town prayed and with that power Calyrex freed the town and banished the dragon forever.

Why is this Impdimp here? I don't actually know, it's probably just symbolic. It looks really off putting too because at this point the people who were working in scriptoriums and drawing for chapels are most likely spending their entire lives inside of the city walls and therefore might never see a pokémon up close and have to rely on second or third hand accounts and thus… human nose Impdimp.

This is also why it's hard to classify the dragon type as anything more specific. The language old Galarian stories use is not really one to one translateable to modern languages. They'd also call most dragon types "dragon", "wyvern", or "wyrm". So the dragon type might be an early form of Duraludon, this might be an ancestor of Duraludon or this might be a completely different dragon altogether, could be Charizard for all we know.

The next one is from a ~700 year old scripture cataloguing 100 species of pokemon, including the here depicted Rapidash. So kind of like a very old Pokédex (though more based on legend and hearsay than actual scientific findings).

This one's interesting to me because the actual text tells the supposedly real account of King Alfred IV forming a bond with a Rapidash. It was then tragically killed by his own soldiers who thought he was being ambushed. This one is interesting because of two things:

1) Even though worship of pokémon was already widespread, taking on pokémon as companions wasn't. Only certain pokémon were considered trustworthy and then only under certain circumstances. 2) Rulers would often depict themselves with or even as Rapidash because they were said to only show themselves to the most righteous and true of heart. So this story is probably completely fictional.

You'll probably see a print or replica of this one in any pub in Ballonlea, this is Johann Henry's 'Grimsnarl' (~550 years old). My friends at uni have told me that this painting is kind of notorious for spawning countless rumors at school. (Á la 'if you stare at this picture for 5 minutes straight a Grimsnarl will kill you in three days').

It's actually based on a story that paints the Grimsnarl as the good guy. A woman's home being haunted by ghost types, supposedly the ghosts of people who she lost or wronged. But then she decides to be kind to a little Impdimp, who grows to be a Grimsnarl who then could defend her when she was asleep.

This might be kind of a true story. The first recorded person with a true pokémon companion (meaning not just a pokémon to help with labor) in Ballonlea was actually a woman with a Grimsnarl. Her real name is sadly lost to time but I have heard her being called Adelaide, Adriana and Arianna. The rest of the tale of course, not really verifyable.

#Pokémon actually living with humans as their partners and equals has been a relatively recent thing in Galar if you couldn't tell haha #hope you like my ramblings! #Pokéhistory #art #pokeblogging #rotumblr #pokemon irl #((I'll link the actual artworks eventually too tired rn))

[institute-of-planar-shitposts]

Characters Out of Context

➥ Include one character quote — of your choosing ⁠— from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you’d like).

➥ Give absolutely no context, save for what’s between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it.

Tagged by @liltaz-asatreat because I know for a fact he's fishing for more Sunshine lore jdjdbfmdbkcnfkf he is in luck as its really the only WIP I have to pull from at the moment, though I'll throw in my favorite TMZ lines too :>

The Misadventure Zone

Chapter 1 - Lup: "Look, if the guy’s afraid of the dark to the point of not remembering torches exist, I can’t be blamed for the shenanigans I pull."

Chapter 2 - Lup: "Who is? I mean, one second you're just having a good time, feeling great, and the next, some asshole catches you with your pants down and whoops, there goes the momentum."

Chapter 3 - Lup (listen she has all the good lines okay -): I" feel like I just got run over by a goddamn semi."

Chapter 4 - Killian: "Oh, so sorry, Brian, I thought, you know, your entire betrayal thing kinda took precedence over the idle conversation."

And now Sunshine! I'll do the finished planned chapters first and then stuff from snippets after that. There's so many gab happy candlenights dhjbdnsbfkf -

Chapter 1 - Sunshine: "Don't suppose you've got any fantasy aspirin on you?"

Chapter 2 - Sunshine: "I just - I mean, me, people have heard me perform, but it's - you're like, the best. I guess I just... I don't know, I just kinda assumed that one day, you'd be out there surpassing Beyoncé, or something."

Chapter 3 (which will probably be split to hell fjjdjf) - Merle: "We're on a mission, Susan.”

She gives him a withering look. “It's Sunshine.”

“Not very sunny to me,” he snickers.

“I will Frostbite you, old man,” she warns.

“Why are you always picking on me?” he whines.

“Cause you're the one who stomps on the buttons!”

“I'm just joking around!”

“I know that, but you could at least try to remember my goddamn name!"

Chapter 4 - (these are Sunshine's roommates) Lillian: "Think of the children, Nora!”

“What children?”

“The very real children that definitely work with the Bureau!”

Chapter 5 - Lucretia: "You’re not going to let me say no to this, are you?"

Sunshine: “Respectfully, Ma’am, no, I am not."

From here on its just snippets :>

Interlude 2

Sunshine: "Lucas Miller, if you don't shut your ass up right -"

Candlenights party

"Come on in!” Magnus says, moving so she can do so. As she passes, he leans down to add in a whisper, “Maybe you can get Johann to play something more upbeat?”

Meeting Istus

Sunshine: "I'm gonna walk into that fucking explosion." (Still makes me laugh ngl hdjdjkfnd)

The Chalice talk

Sunshine: "Don't. Fucking - just don't. If you try to make me relive that again, I - I'll - I'll fucking - blast you into the stratosphere. Don't fucking test me. I don't care if it hurts June, if you try to -”

“I'm not gonna do that, Sunshine, promise,” it interrupts. “It's okay. You can look; it's stopped.”

Magnus and Sunshine hanging out

"Go for it. Just uh, remember I've kinda got swiss-cheese for a brain right now.”

Wonderland

"Yeah, yeah, you’re a great wizard."

Returning from Wonderland

"We'll see you later, Annie,” Merle says.

“Still Avi."

More reunion tour

“I could go for like, a good tea right now.”

And finally! The beginning of stolen century

"Don't try to think ahead, Sunny, okay? I need you to follow me on this.”

I don't really have anyone to tag so... If you see this and wanna do it yourself, tag me so I can see it? :0

#Sunshine #the misadventure zone #liltaz-asatreat #thanks gab :> #also I probably would've had this done like. an hour ago if tumblr hadn't decided to eat the post in the middle of me finding quotes >:C #reblog game #writing game

[pusheenhat]

Backlog Review: Procession to Cavalry

The Procession to Cavalry is another game which is made almost entirely to facilitate a joke or a bit. Thats sorta a theme among the games I've been reviewing here, but that will not last I promise. Say NO! More was built on a bit, Later Alligator was built on a bit, and The Procession to Cavalry is the finale of our joke game trilogy. Not that the games themselves are a "joke" or not worthy of respect or analysis, just that when I think of the game, I think of the joke that the game is telling. Unfortunately, TPtC has my least favorite bit so far. It's a game that sort of tries to exaggerate an idea of a Renaissance era Crusades-y vibe? The games environments and characters are constructed from what I'm going to call "Renaissance paintings" (even if thats not exactly accurate, thats the idea). At one point you can actually view an in world gallery of all of the paintings used to construct the game. The joke isn't necessarily bad, or not funny. The truth is that at about an hour and a half in the bit had kinda run its course with me. This isn't exactly a problem though. I had played Say NO! More through the point that the joke had completed. The main issue I had with this game is that it's closer to the point n click game that I thought Later Alligator would be, and not too long into the game I had hit a puzzle wall. Honestly I could've probably figured it out, but if I'm not playing the game for the joke, and I'm not playing it because the gameplay is fun, then why am I playing? So really what I'm saying here is that I dropped TPtC after I hit that waist high wall. That isn't necessarily a knock on the game or anything, its just a testament to how quickly the joke wore thin with me. Your mileage may vary on that front. If you like the joke enough I could imagine someone playing through whatever kind of puzzle that would be placed in front of them. Same for if you just like the Point n Click style game play. On a positive note though, the visuals of the game are unique and have a lot of character. The way the player character flings their limbs about as they traverse these painted screens is full of whimsy. As someone who has a passing knowledge of some of the paintings they used in the game it was neat to find one and recognize it. My favorite was "Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer. It was actually when I realized that the game was constructed from real paintings rather than original pieces created in the style of the time. The music is also perfectly picked for the environment and vibe of the game. At the start of the game there's a band playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa and juxtaposing that with the image of a war hungry protagonist begging for someone to become a target for their sword while standing in front of a town ravaged by the war was a lovely way to start the game. With that as well, as you progress you can always click on the bands playing on screen to see what songs the creator has decided to put on the moment, which is a feature that I quite like. All in all while I ended up not finishing TPtC I would still recommend it to anyone who enjoys an eccentric or exaggerated sense of humor. I only stopped playing because my brain was too tiny in the moment that I was playing and looking up a solution isn't exactly my style. Thanks for reading :)

#backlog #game review #pusheenhat