#VERY long ramble

[ratcandy]

A Very Rough Analysis of Bug Beauty Standards in Hallownest

thank you @arty-cakes u've enabled me to have thought processes and now we're in a hell of our own making

Bear with me. Ok. This started because of discussion over Zote's horns. I'm gonna be combining both in-game dialogue and some irl bug things to come up with some vague understanding for how, potentially, bug beauty may be perceived in Hallownest. Because there is quite a FEW possibilities here, and I wanna dissect what I can.

And of course in my humble opinion there are no real, true Standards. Bugs are only full of love and there is no real concept of "ugliness." Because I said so. ...And, I mean, this would actually have some ground, because Hallownest is a conglomerate of a LOT of different bug species!! Truly, for there to be any one consensus wouldn't make a lot of sense, because everyone's going to have different standards Per Species.

(I implore everyone here to look up stalk-eyed flies (<LINK GOES TO PICTURE OF A BUG). To some bugs out there, that is, in fact, the pinnacle of sexy. So the idea of true beauty could REALLY, REALLY VARY.)

But hey. I'm having fun. So take my hand. Let's analyze nothing for no reason. this is a very long post. THERE IS ALSO ONE (1) PICTURE OF IRL BUG IN HERE; ITSE BEETLES. Be aware!

So, first of all.

These are sexy. This is considered sexy by bug standards. Or at the very least by Bretta and Godseeker's standards respectively. The words used to describe GPZ are "gorgeous" and "beautiful" while, as everyone knows, Flukemarm is "alluring."

So what this tells me right off the bat is that bugs seem to value Big and Round. The larger the body mass, the more attractive that bug is. Godseeker even refers to her real-world form, which looks like this,

with this dialogue:

"...And this? Our form swells? Large? Nay. Immense. Majestic. Hibernation, so long forced upon Us, yet the shell that results is strong... So strong! Thine gaze is adoring. Ye must think Us Godly. Amusing, foolish. But thou art faced with enormity and beauty, true..."

"Linger and gaze. Linger and gaze on Our magnificent shell. Our overpowering beauty!"

So like. I've at least a little reason to believe that Big and Large = Conventionally Attractive in some manner when it comes to these bugs.

To be fair, the Godseeker isn't from Hallownest. So her opinions on this matter might not align with everyone else's. But Bretta, who we have no reason to believe isn't a Hallownest native, does envision a sexyman Zote to be just as Big and Large.

Oh, and, of course:

This big guy is literally Called a "gorgeous husk." We could assume it's the golden shine that allows this one to be Gorgeous, OR we could assume it's the roundness. I, for one, think it's the Roundness.

HOWEVER, there is some possible contradictions to his idea. For one, the Gluttonous husk,

Is referred to as having a "grotesque shape" by the Hunter. Now, the grotesque-ness may be due to overconsumption (as is mentioned in the same entry), thus causing a bloated, unnatural shape that we can't totally see due to the artstyle/lack of reference. But it is worth Mentioning.

Also, of course, Salubra seems to think Ghost is quite a Fine Specimen, despite Ghost being far from Large or as Round:

"You're even more the attractive bug, clad in all those wonderful, sparkling things. I may have nothing more to give, but you must come back and visit from time to time. Such a dashing figure frequenting my store. I bet the whole village is jealous. Mmm hmm!"

"...Dear dear, I really must hold it together, must appear calm, but this creature... is just divine..."

"It's rare enough that someone enters my store, but even rarer to meet one so striking! Those impressive horns! That fierce weapon. The air of mystery! Ooooh. It's enough to make me swoon."

It's VERY possible a lot of Salubra's thoughts on this matter are due to charms, though shdgKJSDHG. A lot of her thoughts are specifically connected to the charms, thinking Ghost looks dashing with those charms on, etc.

But interestingly, she does mention Ghost's horns as "impressive," which brings up a whole other slew of questions on what "average" would be for horns. And since this whole thing initially started as a discussion on Zote's horns, well. Now I'm just wondering!!

Because in Bretta's sexyman version of Zote, she doesn't give him symmetrical horns. Sure, in a meta way, you could argue that's just a way to make sure GPZ is recognizable as a version of Zote. BUT!!!! When I was talkin earlier, I was speculating an idea where symmetry could be conventionally attractive in some way, and asymmetry could be generally unappealing. So it's interesting that a potentially unattractive quality would be kept on the Sexyman version. I suppose if Zote told Bretta he lost his horn in some grand battle, or whatever, of COURSE she wouldn't get rid of his epic battle scar. But at the same time, if he DIDN'T say that, then she just chose to keep it..... perhaps assuming it was a scar herself, or perhaps Bretta just doesn't take symmetry into account as a Beauty Thing. I dunno! Many possibilities there.

And if Ghost's little baby horns are impressive, then... Good lird, what do we make of the Hollow Knight then, right? Or hell, even Hornet!

I'm not sure if we wanna use that as a True scale for Horn standard. Especially especially seeing as Ghost isn't even physically mature, as far as we're aware (the Hollow Knight is specifically mentioned as "fully grown Vessel" in the Hunter's Journal, so). After all, it is ALSO very possible that Salubra was just Saying things as a means to convince you to buy stuff.

So for now let's abandon Salubra's thoughts. Let's go elsewhere.

In IRL bug talk, horns are generally a means for mate selection and/or competition with rivals. Usually these two things go hand-in-hand (competition is For Mates, I mean. or other resources).

after all, how are you gonna toss a guy off a tree if you don't got horn.

So it's not out of the question to think that horns on the Hallownest bugs would have some sort of Meaning. Especially since we see a LOT of bugs with varying horn sizes/shapes. And if we want to say every face we see is actually a mask, then that's even more telling! Because then horns are specifically being added to masks for one reason or another.

So that makes me Really wonder.

like this is obnoxious. what do you need all that horn for. Those don't even look practical for battling with. Granted, the shape of the Pale King's "crown" looks VERY similar to the mouth of the Wyrm corpse, so it's possible he just Kept that shape as his crown rather than intend for it to be horns.

But STILL. How do you think the bugs of Hallownest felt about this thing? Like that's so many horns. If he's meant to look like a "common bug," how to those Common Bugs feel about all those horns. Like sir that's excessive. We don't have all those. The most any one common bug has is three, iirc. So like. Huh.

Or would More Horn = more attractive? I'm uncertain. PK might not be all that conventionally attractive anyway. Given the lack of Large and Round going on. He is, in fact, small and pointy. So who's to say.

Anyway. Drop the horn talk for now. I want to go back to Bretta.

Bretta forms crushes on Ghost and Zote. But I don't think she's attracted their actual honest-to-Wyrm appearances. She creates idealized versions of her crushes and seems to only tangentially connect them to the real person, given... well. GPZ looks like that, and Zote does NOT look like that.

In her thoughts, she considers Zote "beautiful." In the first diary entry, she calls Ghost "beautiful." But she also writes Ghost as "standing tall," while Ghost is anything but tall, and. Yes. Again. GPZ. And in her last set of thoughts about Zote, she seems to only then see him as "smaller, tattered and stained." At some point, she seems to stop seeing a real Figure, and only sees an idolized, fake version of that Figure.

So I don't think she sees either Ghost or Zote as physically attractive on their own. More the idea of what they "could" be.

Does that all make sense? God I sure hope so. I have another Bretta thing to mention, though.

In one of the Zoteling Hunter's Journal entries, aka a snippet from Bretta's zote fanfiction, we've got this:

""That lowly map-maker's wife? Hah! My Queen, how could you compare yourself to her? In the face of your intoxicating beauty, all other females are merely dust!" The Grey Prince trembled with anger and indignation... and love."

So. That tells us Bretta sees Iselda as conventionally attractive in some way. Or, at the very least, feels a need to compare herself to Iselda to the point of writing about it in her fanfiction. So let's look at Iselda.

The only thing we can say for certain about Iselda that follows with anything we've spat out so far is that Iselda, while not Large in a GPZ way, is very TALL. To the point where Elderbug has a whole thing of dialogue talking about how tall Iselda is:

"She's a tall bug, the wife. I told them to take a larger house, especially given they're all empty, but they liked the look of that one. The way she has to bend just to get through the door...I wouldn't put up with it myself."

So we do have the Large-in-a-Way thing going. And for all we know, since she used to be a warrior, she could also have SICK muscles. She could pick me up and throw me, I think. And round... I mean. Her, um. Well her abdomen, I suppose, is . Rather round. But she's otherwise not Round in the sense that Flukemarm is round, or the Gorgeous Husk is Round.

So who knows!!! Perhaps it's just the Largeness/Height that contributes to attractiveness as opposed to fat. But I choose to believe fat is a positive factor anyway. Because I can, so there.

IT'S TIME TO TALK ABOUT SMELLS.

ok, technically, I could end that there. Because I can't find TOO Much more dialogue talking about the Beauty of Bugkind. I've checked around, but... MMm. Not too much, really!

BUT. While not, perhaps, part of a bug's seen appearance... There does seem to also be a little variation on Smell opinions. Which could definitely add to conventional attractiveness, especially since irl bugs are CHOCK FULL of sexy smelly pheromones. looking at you bombykol ....

And by that I mean. Responses to the Defender's Crest.

Leg Eater thinks it's a "tasty" smell and will give you a discount for it. Tuk recognizes the smell as that of a "friend," and well also give you a discount for it (in that case, it's more likely she just recognizes it as Ogrim's smell as opposed to anything Attractive about it, lmao, but STILL). Of course, Ogrim thinks it's a "just" smell.

Elderbug and Lemm are the only ones I can think of that have blatantly negative responses (Elderbug says something about the air smelling horrid while Lemm. Um: "Urgh! What do you think you're doing, coming into my nice little shop stinking like that?! These relics have been through enough. They don't need you spreading your stench all over them! Crawl back to the Waterways or wherever you came from!").

The White Lady obviously also associates it with Ogrim, saying it brings "joyous memories."

SO you're probably thinking. Hey Clam, this is a strange side-tangent to go on. There's not too much about the Defender's Crest smell that really works with your theory. Two characters dislike it, and two others only like it because they associate it with Ogrim. So, what gives?

divine's dialogue:

"Ahhhh, that smell! So strong, so virile..."

do you know. What virile means?

i'm sorry . I do not think Team Cherry meant it this way. But GOD HELP ME if it isn't REALLY FUNNy,

OKAY. Okay. I think... I think I'm done for now. There isn't a hell of a lot more I can find within game to go off of. and when it comes to irl bugs, well. Again, it varies pretty heavily by species!! So much is possible here. Refer to stalk eyed flies again. Sometimes, to a bug, having super long eye stalks is what's hot. Other times, all it's about is if you can throw a guy off a tree.

Or you're a giant water bug and being a good dad is sexy. I'm not joking. It's called sexy dad hypothesis. And well. I'm not here to shame the dads of Hallownest, but...

So. Yes!!!! OKay. I said words. I wrote this all in one very quick sitting and now I'm wandering away. I have things to do that I am presently not doing because I'm analyzing bug beauty standards.

#clamtalk #hollow knight #analysis #I don't know what all to tag this with. #it is what it is! #VERY long ramble #<-haven't used that tag in ages #ask to tag #<- in case something should go here that I'm forgetting. #ok. wanders away into the aether

[albycnyu]

Baby, I Swear It's Déjà Vu

TW: bullying, harassment, mentions of suicide attempt(s), racism, LGBTQIA+phobia, sexual harassment, ableism, abuse

Didn’t think I’d be making a post like this, but as the title states, I’m having a case of déjà vu that I wanna share. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this post, I wanted to give a rundown about what I’ve personally seen within the year I’ve actively been apart of the Sims community (joining servers, following n engaging with other simmers, commenting on posts, etc.).

One of the biggest controversies that recently blew up at the end of July (and moved into August) in the Sims community and caused people to rethink (or double down on) their position on alotta things was EA “changing” their policy about modders paywalling their content; long story short, EA made a statement that CC and mods were no longer allowed to be paywalled and that the only means for creators to be compensated for the work that they’ve done was through donations. This included Early Access, which was clear to many but not to others.

Lemme explain to the best of my ability this Early Access thing and also add where some of the problems came in. Here goes.

NOTE: To skip this entire section, CTRL+F and type "unwashed".

EA’s early access policy stated that mods must be released to the public after two weeks (three weeks max) because while the assets used to create said mods belonged to EA, the company (who could’ve flatout pulled a Disney on everyone) acknowledged that modders deserved a form of compensation for the time and work they put in to contribute in making the Sims franchise (in this case, The Sims 4) a better and pleasant experience for everyone. That being said, EA still about they money and copyright, so they didn’t want mofos to completely profit off they assets which is why the policy was put in place (a policy, mind you, they NEVER bothered overseeing).

Although there were plenty (I’d like to think the majority) of modders who followed the ToS EA made to the letter, others (most of them who create Alpha CC and convert meshes n whatnot from other games) took it upon themselves to do the complete opposite.

From what I’ve seen, some would start out doing Early Access content then began to make Exclusive content for their supporters and one of two things would occur: eventually the majority of their content would become exclusive or Early Access would be used as a loophole to keep their items behind a paywall by claiming in their tiers that items’d be released in 2-3wks but then when you check it’s been months. Even years.

When they do release the content to the public, in order for people to get it, they’d have to go through sites like Adfly (a site which is known for causing viruses but compensates the individual who uses it) The Sims Resource, Simsfinds (formerly known as Simsdom), and Bootsy. Others would even go as far as to tell people who already paid for their content to go through the extra steps to obtain the content PAID for (ie emailing the creator directly to get a DL link)

And recently, making Sims content that’s Blender Only (yes, this is a thing).

I’ve also seen cases in which people would come out of nowhere and join spaces for the sole purpose of advertising paywalled content (early access and exclusives). Some of these advertisements were directed towards minorities (specifically Black n Brown Simmers) who had very little to no representation in the Sims franchise and would seek out content to represent them because if EA ain’t finna do it (and let’s be real, they haven’t) simmers that know how to mod will (and if they didn't know, they were gonna learn how that day).

Between the time EA announced the new paywall policy then changed it to an even vaguer one, specifically the duration in which modders’re allowed to keep their stuff behind a paywall, the Sims community was met with an entire wave of emotions ranging from devastation, confusion, rage, glee, disgust, disappointment, and relief.

There were Creators who-- along with going out of their way to call people who supported EA’s decision “broke” “whiny” and “entitled”— announced that they were done with making content for the Sims (mainly Sims 4) and either mass deleted their content or said they were moving to other platforms such as SecondLife or IMVU (despite rarely if ever showing interest in any of the two before).

They’d even block and/or be flat out disrespectful towards people who didn’t fully agree with them (regardless of whether or not they were a supporter).

Then when EA updated the policy they announced being “back in business”.

Arguments made by both modders and non-modders The Sims (specifically TS4) would’ve been absolutely nothing without mods and CC came about as well which completely disregarded the existence of both PC and console gamers who play The Sims without them.

Creators who followed the rules to the letter but also relied heavily on the income the Early Access policy provided them also voiced their concerns and devastation.

Some even lost their entire ever-loving minds and began to rage at the community itself. (lookin’ at you magic-bot and your r*pe comparison!)

Some Early Access creators announced they’d abide by the new policy (others said they wouldn’t) then when it changed, they immediately put their content back behind a paywall with an updated ToS of their own.

For the ones who were unsure about whether or not Early Access was allowed, there was a mixture of some releasing their stuff and others not doing it, while also expressing concern that if Early Access was no longer a thing, they’d be severely impacted.

There were modders who even went as far as to create FAKE legal documents that magically disappeared the minute EA said, “Oh Early Access is fine, but it’s gotta be released within a reasonable amount of time.”

On top of faking legal documents, they made this weird loophole by creating a Blender Only File that can be converted into a Sims .package file… even tho the Blender Only File still belongs to the EA bc it was made to work specifically for the Sims… yeahhhh

But there was also a huge wave of relief from modders who found themselves treating their hobby as a job and felt pressured to constantly put out content due to having a Patreon too. Even MoonChildLovestheNight falls into this category; despite literally comparing being put on a list to the Holocaust in her rage induced rant (which she denies), she let everyone know in more ways than one that something she chose to do became something she felt like she had to do (and that’s … really sad).

In short, alotta people were showing their entire unwashed bootyholes and it became very apparent that a particular group of modders— who very well may’ve started off making content for the Sims out of genuine love for the franchise itself and desire to make a broken game (yes TS4 is fkn broken) better experience for everyone (especially BIPOC)— saw the community as their cashcow much like EA itself (granted EA is 1000x worse). And while they didn’t wanna be treated like a business because that would require them to acknowledge the fact their supporters are also their customers who have every right to critique and inquire about products modders make (as well as call them out on their severe lack of professionalism), they certainly made money and paywalled their items like one. (You gotta be one of the most off the chains unethical greedy SoBs to paywall LGBTQIA+ content on PRIDE MONTH! And youse tellin’ me not to treat youse like a business?! REALLY?!)

So now that I got that part out of the way, here’re my thoughts about EA’s policy on paywalls and the situation as a whole. As a concept, I’m for it and, prior to shit hitting the fan, I’ve had no problem with the idea of showing financial support to modders that I like (ie SavageSims, Ebonix, etc.). This might be a TMI, but I’ve given modders $210 in the two years I’ve been playing/creating stories on TS4 and for me, that’s not alot compared to what I’ve could’ve spent had I constantly remained subscribed to these modders. However, the execution— correction, the severe LACK in execution— of the paywall policy is the reason why the Sims community is in such of state of disarray now. I’ve stated multiple times that people should be compensated for the amount of time and work they put into creating what is basically fanwork. I’ve also said that where EA could’ve pulled a Disney (or even a Nintendo) and flat out said, “Yeah, no.” they took upon themselves to acknowledge modders in the community and allowed modders to paywall their content provided they release it to the public after a certain amount of time (2-3 weeks). The problem comes in with the fact that many modders decided to break these rules (while simultaneously requesting theirs not to be broken) and created their own marketplace and EA just... let it happened.

And because EA did absolutely NOTHING to oversee that modders were adhering to their paywall policy (opting to just focus on releasing broken packs after broken packs), a lot of ish that should’ve never happened happened. Yes, I’m basically copy-pasting an old tweet of mine that has a few repeat but I feel these things must be stressed because I don’t think people understand how wild this is (and it’s in no particular order):

Modders claiming to have made items from scratch when it’s been shown that at best the items were bought and converted from 3d asset sites or at worst stolen from creators who don't even make Sims content (ie SecondLife).

Modders saying join their Patreon to get item(s) 2-3wks in advance and the item(s) remain locked behind a paywall.

Modders who take other modders’ items to make a build or recolor and lock it behind a paywall (even when told NOT to).

Modders who go out of their way to make alt accounts and basically scam simmers outta even more money.

Modders releasing their items for "free" then when you click to DL it leads you to Adfly or some other site that's capable of fkn your PC up.

Modders being straight up disrespectful when questioned about why they didn't release an item they claimed would be released after a certain date.

Modders who went out of their way to put trackers in their items and would either dox and/or harass people and make viruses to break your game; then tell their Patrons to EMAIL them to get the items they locked behind their Patreon. Even though Patrons already PAID to unlock the content (why the extra step, my guy???)

Do I even need to mention modders who’d leave for MONTHS at a time (or in Curbs case, they’ve been inactive for years) and still have the unmitigated gall to charge their Patrons? Or how some price their shit waaaaaay too high (and/or make almost six figures) and their stuff is low quality? Cuz guess what? That happens!

The list goes on, yall.

And again, EA didn’t do anything about it. They put all of the responsibility of reporting/documenting ToS violations, harassment and bullying, exploitation, etc. onto regular people (you n lil ol me) some whom decided, “If EA not gonna do it, I will.” to be the voice for anti-paywalls due to how problematic paywalling has become. However, even when this ish was repeatedly brought to their attention, EA kept going about their day leaving the ever mounting issues completely unresolved and the weight of this burden on those constantly reminding folks that, “HEY! Your fave is problematic!” until something happened in HQ which led to EA making their vague updated paywall policy. I dunno what happened, but it’s been theorized that it was either a doxxing situation that EA opted to ignore then caught heat for or that EA decided to cause the community to verbally tussle with one another to get heat off of them for once again releasing a broken pack (from what I’ve heard this broken pack was worst than Wedding Stories). Or yanno… Cowbuild charging FIVE FKN DOLLARS on Ko-Fi for a bed she didn’t even fkn make.

Either way, for the briefest amount of time, EA’s paywall policy caused a disruption which showed quite a number of modders’ true colors. People also started to educate themselves on the matter since what they was once thought to be a black and white issue was clearly not the case. (Oh yeah, love, there’s LAYERS). For a moment, it seemed like everything was going in the right direction, especially for Anti-Paywallers because as more and more people became aware of how increasingly audacious paywalls has become, people’s stances about paywalls changed as a whole. Even Early Access was now getting side-eyes which is crazy cuz literally everybody (even Anti-Paywallers) supported that. Finally, after all these years, people’re listening and these permapaywallers would finally be held accountable for their actions! And I betcha they were all thinkin, “It only took my ass getting doxxed, harassed, receiving death threats, attempting suicide— oh wait… no? It wasn’t that? It was yall seeing yalls faves act a whole fool cuz they bags were at risk of getting fckd up by EA? Oh okay.”

But then a few hiccups of some sort occurred in the Anti-Permapaywall community. Alotta allegations, alotta fighting, alotta screenshots, alotta shade, and alotta links.

And you wanna know what’s fascinating to me about this whole situation? I’ve seen this before. In a totally different community: The MLM v. Anti-MLM community.

For those who don’t know what an MLM (aka Multi Level Marketing, aka Pyramid Scheme) is I’ll tell you: It’s a SCAM! It’s A SHAM! IT’S A CULT! IT’S ALL LIES!! IT’S THE BAD. FKN. PLACE!!!

But, wait? Aren’t I comparing apples to oranges here? MLMs’re far more problematic than what’s happening in the Sims community. They manipulate people outta they money, the top 1% of MLMs abuse their downline, and said downline believes the bullswanky that their “mentors” tell them. So how can I possibly compare that community to this one? Because of the actions and reactions that I’ve seen. Lemme count the ways starting with the “Boss Babes”, the Modders who paywall content, and the companies that allow this ish to happen. And when I say modders, I’m not talking about all of them, I’m talking about the ones that fkd it up for other modders and continue to do so.

Okay so boom:

MLM companies make policies prohibiting their reps from making false statements about products and their compensation plans. Much like EA, these companies never oversee their policies and all their reps to spread false statements as means to recruit and sell products anyway.

It’s only when these companies receive notices from people capable of investigating and potentially shutting ish down did they actually start to do ish like give out warnings and fire reps.

I’m not gonna repeat EA’s policy being broken by perma-paywalling modders, so I’ll move on from that.

MLM reps claim that they own their own businesses when it in fact, they’re independent contractors working for an MLM, they’re also said MLMs’ customers because the reps’re are constantly buying and stocking ish.

Said it before, but I’ll say it again, modders in the Sims community don’t want to be treated like a business, but they operate their Patreon like one and much like how MLMs treat their reps and the reps treat their downline, modders treat their supporters like customers.

This’ll probably be deemed a snide remark but I don’t really care: in addition to this, modders claim that the items they create are 100% theirs when the truth is that it belongs to EA because without the assets EA provides (big and small) modders’ ish wouldn’t work in the Sims.

Both MLM reps and modders’re mad disrespectful towards their consumers/downline/supporters. In the Reps cases, they would curse, belittle, degrade, and even gaslight their downline. If you’re not making money the way you were told you’d be, it’s because you “didn’t work hard enough”, “you were lazy”, “you’re not doing enough to promote your business”, etc. Etc. Etc. It’s not the fact you’re in an MLM where the majority of people lose all their money— oh no, can’t be that whatsoever— it’s all your fault.

As it pertains to modders, if you even breathe out a question about their content (specifically a release date), you’ll be met with hostility and immediately be silenced.

Case in point, alotta modders who create Alpha CC and/or convert content from other games believe that EA’s policy doesn’t apply to them or the way they operate their shop (I dunno why that’s just something a few of ‘em say), so they’re very quick to shut down any and ALL inquiries about when something’ll be released. If it’ll EVER be released.

If You’re Anti-MLM, You’re a Jealous Hater and a Misogynist:

Due to the majority of MLM reps being women (and/or femmes) if someone’s apart of the Anti-MLM group, they’re against the empowerment of women and’re jealous of the Boss Babes.

It’s not the gaslighting.

It’s not the lies.

It’s not the female MLMers abusing their downline.

It’s not the fact MLMers keep sayin’ ish like, “If you can spend money on this and that, you can totally invest in your own business.”

Not the fact that the majority of MLMers lose their money.

Totally not the fact that MLMs’re a predatory cult and MLMers prey on the most vulnerable people to recruit and manipulate (majority of said MLMers being women).

Oh no, it’s none of that. It’s you, Dear Anti-MLMer. You hate seeing people succeed. You hate your 9-5 and’re seething at these women being successful.

Maybe YOU yourself were in an MLM and never made any money because you didn’t “work hard enough” and now you’re a bitter individual with waaaay too much time on their hands, screaming into the virtual void to not be “scammed”. And you’re jealous. Angry. Bitter. And Broke.

If You’re Anti-Permapaywall, You’re an Entitled Hater who Doesn’t Respect Artists:

Why’re you mad over pixels, sis (or bro)?

No one forced you to buy my ish. Yall chose to support me. Not the other way around.

Without me and modders like me, TS4 would’ve been DoA.

You don’t know all the time and effort I, the Modder, put into my craft so for you to complain about paywalls and Exclusive Content means you’re entitled.

It’s not the fact that People constantly break ToS.

Not the fact people constantly create loopholes and alt accounts to drain and/or scam more money outta unsuspecting simmers.

Not the fact that Modders charge RIDICULOUS amount of money on ish they claimed to have made from scratch but converted from a 3d site and/or stolen from elsewhere. *Bonus Point if they already charged ya for that ish in their previous Patreon tiers.*

Not the fact that modders put trackers and viruses in their items.

Not the fact that people have been doxxed by Modders.

Not the fact that people have been stalked n harassed on and offline by Modders (and they fans).

Not the fact that people outside of the Sims community have had to deal with modders stealing their work.

Not the fact that an individuals make 10x more than actual EA employees but still want MORE of people’s money cuz Greed.

Nah, it’s definitely none of that. It’s 100% you.

You mean to tell me that you can spent money on NetFlix, Amazon, Spotify subscriptions etc., but can’t afford to spend “$2-$5” on content made from scratch?

You just want everything I make for free? That’s Broke Bitch Behavior.

Then we have the Anti-MLM and Anti-Permapaywall communities.

Much like the Anti-MLM movement, the Anti-Permapaywall movement came about when people started voicing their concerns about not only the amount modders in the Sims community charged for their content, but the lack of transparency on modders’ parts about when (if ever) they’d release items they’ve had locked behind a paywall for a very long time.

I personally don’t know when modders like Cowbuild, Pixelvibes, Bergdorf, and Busra-tr (just to name a few) began their create a doxxing list crusade of some sort, but information about that (and more) can be read here and here.

While the Anti-MLM movement began to increase so did the number of people (alot of them being former MLM reps of all ranks) sharing their stories about what it was like being apart of an MLM. The Anti-Permapaywall movement imho is slowly growing and gaining more traction not only due to what happened these past few weeks, but also because it’s still a new-ish thing alotta people aren’t privy to. To be frank, you really have to look for the Anti-Permapaywall content at times.

From what I’ve seen, the goal of this particular movement is to

spread awareness of modders who’re milking people out they money (like EA does) and actively go out of their way to silence people through intimidation

basically demand that EA creates a stricter, blunter paywall policy and see to it that it’s followed so that permapaywalls (and the folks who make ‘em) come to an official end so that modders who actually follow EA’s ToS to the letter can be rewarded for their hard work (either through donations, Early Access and general support).

Both Anti communities literally do the same thing (albeit different subjects) in terms of seeking to make the world a better place. And, as I’ve stated before, a huge shift recently occurred in people’s attitudes towards paywalls so, there’s really only one way a movement can go like this can go: up.

However, as I’ve also stated, hiccups occur in which a community with a common goal begin to fight amongst each other and majority of the time, it’s due to the actions of people within the community and the sudden inability to understand the concept of what accountability is.

It’s here I’d like to tell yall the story of Mallory, formerly known as idontwantnohuns (I don’t want no huns).

Mallory entered the Anti-MLM community, I wanna say almost a year ago. Her Anti-MLM content consisted of skits, a variety of characters (one being a hilarious elderly woman, the other being a “Boss Babe”, and more), songs, and when it was serious (ie racism, ableism, homophobia, abuse, etc.) she’d get serious.

Due to all of this, her platform grew pretty quickly. I mean… how could it not? She was rather unique. She was met with alotta support from the Anti-MLM community, especially those who contributed in spearheading the movement.

Because I wasn’t always in the mood to get my fill on Anti-MLM content and wasn’t on social media as much— come to think of it, I may’ve went on a small break at the time— I didn’t see everything, but when I returned I noticed that alotta cryptic shit was going around about how “everyone oughta go their separate ways”, “the Anti-MLM community isn’t a place for drama”, so on and so forth.

I’ve also noticed Mallory beginning to talk about how the Anti-MLM community was as catty and bad as the MLM community and not only had she lost followers, a number of Anti-MLMers distanced themselves from her.

So, lil ol me, bein’ outta the loop and wanting to know wtf happened decided to a lil digging, and here’s what I managed to gather to the best of my ability:

According to some Anti-MLMers, Mallory went from being a woman contributing to the conversation of MLMs topics to wanting to be first in starting the conversations.

An example of this would be the incident in which a former MONAT rep was sharing her story about getting bullied out of the company by her upline. I’ll get discuss this more in a minute.

Some found it a lil annoying how Mallory would always seem to focus on one topic when the majority have moved on from it. I’m not sure which topics— I’d like to think it was something like the MONAT convention or somethin’ and not the times when she called out racist bigots— but it was something that made some folks go, “Let it go, sis.”

There were allegations of Mallory bullying and harassing individuals as well as using an MLM tactic known as love-bombing.

I’m not too familiar with the term but from what I heard, it’s a method in which an individual gives somebody (who might be vulnerable) attention and affection as means to influence them into doing something.

Allegedly, Mallory love-bombed the former MONAT rep into doing an interview with her. According to the former rep, she said that Mallory would shower her with praise, telling her how brave she was in speaking up against MONAT and their practices, giving her compliments here and there, and other stuff that I don’t recall. The former rep also discussed how an incident occurred in which a friend of hers allegedly said something transphobic on a podcast and Mallory repeatedly contacted her about it to the point she (the rep) felt she was being harassed.

Other Anti-MLMers began to share their stories about Mallory’s behavior towards them which they deemed being toxic and practically harassment. And then at some point, people (Mallory included) started sharing DMs and voicechats about private conversations.

Of course this was met with people saying, “Why couldn’t yall handle this private?”, “What does this have to do with the Anti-MLM movement?”, “Why the drama?” Details. Details.

To be honest, there’ve many cases in which Anti-MLMers have engaged in harmful behavior towards other Anti-MLMers. But I guess none of that matters to some folks because the common goal is end MLMs— everything else is drama.

During this time, Mallory was relatively quiet and mainly focused on putting out Anti-MLM content; whenever she was asked to respond to said allegations, her responses were usually, “I apologize and I’m reflecting on my actions and if I’ve wronged you please let me know. My DMs’re always opened.” However when people (who were from marginalized communities) did come to her about things the harmful things she’s done, she’d reply with a thank you and, perhaps my favorite, “I’ve received your messaged.” (whatever the fuck that means).

Small Note: I received a message just like that one before. I told a white Anti-MLM that using Tupac’s love song to Black Women as a Roe v Wade anthem to all women was extremely inappropriate; I didn’t request for her to remove the video just told her next time to pick a different song. Her response? “I received your message. Thank you.” Then she deleted my comment and blocked me when I got into an argument with a white woman who accused me of being a “segregating gatekeeper”. (That was truly a fun experience).

While I don’t know what went on through Mallory’s head at the time, it appeared to me that she figured if she ignored it, it’d go away. But it didn’t. Instead it increased, especially when she talked about how MLMs needed to be held accountable for their actions.

Because these allegations mounted and she was being faced with more criticism, she finally had no choice but to address the allegations.

She denied all of it and said, “Look at all the allegations and ask yourselves if you really think that’s who I am? If you do, I can’t argue it but I’m not that kind of person. I’m reflective in my actions and I do my best to make things right. I pride myself in helping people and that’s all I wanna do.”

She also mentioned her ADHD and whenever something happens to somebody or community she cares about, she spirals and wants to resolve the issue otherwise she can’t rest; as a result the situation with the former MLM rep occurred where she repeatedly sent voice messages asking to have a conversation. But she wouldn’t necessarily call that harassment, but she apologized if the former rep (and anybody else) felt harassed by her.

I didn’t know where to put this, so I’ll put this here too. At one point in time, I can’t recall, she doxxed a former friend’s number while sharing messages between them, due to not scratching out the woman’s number completely. But by the time she came back to correct that mistake, the damage was done. Did she do it on purpose because she was angry? I truly do not know, but it definitely wasn’t a good look for her.

Another incident occurred in which Mallory announced her departure from the Anti-MLM community on Instagram and moved her entire platform over to YouTube. In her farewell message she talked about being bullied and betrayed by people she trusted. While she would continue the fight in helping bring down MLMs, she couldn’t see herself being associated with the toxic Anti-MLM community on Instagram anymore. Then she dipped.

Now let me tell you the story of Sunny, aka Mack3030. Just need to repeat that this is only from my point of view.

Sunny started off reblogging posts from other bloggers about their frustration with paywalled content being low quality and locked behind even more paywalls. Then she herself began to make posts of her own about this topic. In addition to this, she took part in exposing permapaywallers and their shitty practices.

She made a directory that contained quite a number of paywall modders and their problematic behaviors (mild and extreme) which is very helpful considering it saves the hassle of having to look everything up yourself (the available links’re right there).

She also made a list of modders who followed EA’s ToS to support and where to get permapaywalled content for free. Cuz let’s be real, if these permapaywallers’re happily breaking the rules (cuz suck it EA), why should simmers care about abiding by their rules? Equal playin’ field imho.

At some point in time, Sunny ended up becoming another one of Cowbuild’s victims and she proceeded to get doxxed and harassed. Because of this, Sunny’s mission to end scummy permapaywalled content became very personal. It’s one thing to steal and convert items then overcharge unsuspecting people, but to try and intimidate people into silence over pixels (many of which you didn’t even make)?! You really got people fucked up.

Sunny’s blog started to gain more traction and with the way shit blew up on Twitter, I’d reckon quite a number of people (myself included) shared her directory so that people can be informed.

It was during this time, a memory of allegations I saw in passing about Sunny potentially being a racist was circulating, so I decided to do some digging on good ol Tumblr.

According to a variety of what seems to be throwaway accounts, Sunny went by the username SolarPirate on DollHouseMafia. In a no longer private conversation, SolarPirate engaged in a political conversation in which she said revealed she had voted for Trump twice, but after the terroristic attack on the Capitol January 6th, 2021, she expressed deep regret in her voting decisions.

In addition to this, there were allegations of SolarPirate engaging in bullying and harassing multiple Black members into leaving the DHM. which was operated by Pescado, whom’s been shown to have made quite a number of racist remarks about Asians.

(Update: I made a mistake about Pescado's involvement with DHM. Here's the info I copy-pasted:

Pescado **DID NOT RUN DHM**. I was a part of the Dollhouse Mafia mod team for a time as 13Ravens. 

Pescado was never involved in it. The only relation he had to any of that was, or so I heard, sort of helping in hosting links and shit on his domain Paysitesmustbedestroyed (which was the OG years before downwithpatreon), also similar to TS4Rebels.

Sorry about that. I know this lengthy post is based solely from my POV, but I still wanna make sure I give yall as much accurate information as possible, so please lemme know if there're any mistakes and I'll fix and/or link the correct info in a timely fashion. Thanks!)

There was also a time where Sunny on her Mack3030 account laughed at an anti-Black comment made about Harrie, a Black Woman. In response to the allegations, Sunny confirmed being SolarPirate and the fact she voted for Trump, however she denied being a racist and alleged that alotta the screenshots circulating about her were doctored by the permapaywallers themselves to discredit her and the entire Anti-Permapaywall movement as a whole.

(I also wanna add she made several attempts to defend herself against the racist allegations (along with her voting decision at the time) and as a result, people who used to be friends and/or cordial with her cut ties with Sunny as well as voiced their disgust and disappointment in her. Yeah even Bucky-- who's no longer in the community (iirc)-- and that speaks volumes.)

There were also comments here and there about the relevance in who Sunny voted for. Talking about it was distracting from actual problems in the community, the permapaywalling doxxing thieving scumbags. This was unnecessary drama and people just needed to go their separate ways. (y’know… ain’t it funny how politics just neeeeever seem to have a place anywhere even when it’s present everywhere (even in things that serve as forms of escapism)? Very interesting).

After much back and forth, along with several deleted posts, Sunny eventually issued a public apology which can be read here. To sum it up, she apologized for her political affiliations and those hurt by her decision to for Trump and other harmful actions she's caused and she’d do better. However, it's important to note that it was heavily implied that this conversation about her was a “distraction” from the Anti-Permapaywall movement. Based on the comment section, it’s also important to add that Sunny had edited her apology at one point because of this. And this happened in April. Three (soon to be four) months ago.

Okay, so Sunny owned up to the fact she a not shit person and wants to do better, right? We love somebody actively calling for accountability holding herself accountable! Well… uhm... no. It didn’t end there. In fact, the topic of Sunny being a racist (among other things) returned. Along with that, the same “What does that have to do with anything?”, “Unnecessary drama” arguments returned as well.

Since this post is already rather long, and I don’t wanna make the mistake of repeating myself, I’m gonna pick up the pace here and link a few posts by people who’ve documented their interactions and experiences with Sunny (from there I highly recommend going through their Mack3030 tag to get the full picture). That being said, I’m going to summarize to the of my ability the rest of this interesting lil saga.

On Tumblr, Sunny proceeded to get called out for not holding herself accountable for her actions (and lack thereof) and people voiced their concerns that Sunny was trying to make the Anti-Paywall movement all about herself due to being the target of harassment, bullying and doxxing. Even when someone else was targeted by a paywaller n friends, it appeared as though she'd make those situations about her too. In addition to making things all about her, there were allegations that alotta her attention was focused on non-white paywallers. (Very sus if y'ask me.)

A few also expressed annoyance at how paywalls seemed to be the ONLY thing Sunny talked about nowadays. Sunny admitted this and said it was a result of her ADHD.

In addition to this, she was associated with an individual by the name of texasthegreatdestroyer (TGD), who was allegedly bullying and harassing gyaru, a disabled transindividual of color and Yoonie, who's biracial (as seen in their links and posts). There were even allegations made that Sunny and TGD were the same people (which they both vehemently deny).

Yoonie and Sunny had a private conversation with one another and at some point, Yoonie requested that Sunny denounce TGD’s actions and holding them accountable for their actions. Given that Sunny is all about accountability, this should’ve been something done immediately, especially given the fact gyaru is a trans minority and Sunny is all about supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.

Sunny didn’t do this right away, opting instead to continue posting and reblogging Anti-Permapaywall content rather than addressing a problem within the Anti-Paywall community. About a week or so later, Sunny made a post showing that she blocked TGD and didn’t condone their behavior, but also added that if anybody else had problems with TGD to go to them and not her.

However, somehow someway, TGD was able to find out about said conversations about them and still continued their abusive behavior towards gyaru and Yoonie. They even found out about the recent conversation between gyaru and Sunny and made remarks about that. This meant one of two things: Sunny was still in contact with TGD and pretended to block them or TGD is Sunny’s alt account. (Now, I would've said that it was possible TGD found out about this stuff well after the fact, however, based on what I read, TGD was already aware and talking about information from these convos loooong before they were ever posted for everyone to see)

It's also interesting to note that TGD was able to reblog (and respond) to Sunny’s final post and I was curious to see if it was possible for a blocked account to do that. So I blocked my alt-account and with my alt-account, I looked up this account. I did this give or take a few times because sometimes technology won’t let me be great (and I’m rarely active on Tumblr so I’m not familiar with the new features). Couldn’t find the unwashed bootyhole tweet I posted. In fact, I couldn’t find my account at all. Just a lil somethin’ to think about.

The situation on Tumblr moved over to Twitter and whenever Sunny was met with criticism and questions over there, she’d either ignore it and/or block the people questioning her (most of 'em from what I've seen being Black n Brown Simmers).

Not only did Sunny express her frustration at being allegedly bullied and attacked for her past behaviors that she already addressed and was striving to do (and be) better, Sunny vague tweeted about Yoonie (who iirc doesn't have a Twitter) being a manipulative clout chaser, which led to Yoonie releasing the conversation between them basically asking, “Bitch where?”

People went to those associated with Sunny and requested that they address the situation as well because silence is compliance, babe, and we can’t have that regardless of having a common goal.

During this time, quite a few things happened on both Twitter and Tumblr. Unfortunately, I can’t remember all of the orders in which it happened, but I'll do my best to sum up everything I saw. An unknown pervert made a Tumblr account called MacksDirtySecret (or something like that). The account contained Sunny’s simself having sex with the Sims townie, Bob Pancakes. They also went outta they way to add Sunny's Mack3030 tag in these posts; although the account’s existence was extremely brief and it’s looong gone now (I hope so, because I don’t see it on my block list anymore) the damage was done.

Lemme digress for a minute because I saw this and practically howled with laughter because I was perplexed. In one of Sunny’s recent posts about the sexual harassment, someone added these screenshots (it looks like it came from either LiveJournal or DreamWidth but I really don’t know) and when I saw the last comment, all I could say was, “What?” Did this guy compare some creep sexually harassing Sunny via her simself to Simbelene making fanfic of Marvel Characters and posting it to OnlyFans?!

One’s completely harmless and the other’s fkn disturbing. Yeah it’s in quotes and heavily implied to be sarcastic, but c’mon dude. Don’t bring somebody into a conversation that got nothing to do with Sunny. I don’t know Simbelene’s relationship with Sunny; all I’ve seen them do is reblog each other. I wouldn't constitute that as a friendship. (but go off I guess...)

Sunny continued to make anti-paywall content and ignore criticisms against her, choosing to reblog those who supported her (and sorta kinda maybe definitely shaded people for not speaking up like she supposedly was) instead.

On August 21st, Sunny made what appeared to be her final post (with some questionable screenshots) on both Twitter and Tumblr about what she was working behind the scenes while being harassed and bullied. Then she dipped.

Didja see it? Yall saw it right? The similarities in both stories? Quite fascinating don’t you think?

Here’re some things that fascinated me the most:

Mallory and Sunny allowed allegations against them to fester by constantly avoiding the issues and/or ignoring it until they couldn’t anymore.

When when it blew up in their faces they found themselves being questioned and criticized at every angle and couldn’t handle the pressure anymore which led to them removing themselves from certain platforms altogether. While I absolutely believe (especially in Sunny’s case) harassment and bullying contributed in both women leaving their respective platform(s), I also believe that they couldn’t handle being called out for their actions.

In wanting to basically do the right thing, they hurt people in the process, majority of these people being-- you guessed it-- BIPOC. (I also feel that more often than not both Mallory and Sunny used their autism as a shield to avoid accountability.)

In Mallory’s case, she didn’t respect the boundaries of the WoC she interacted with because she wanted to resolve issues on her time and legit harassed them. Sunny, on the other hand, contributed in silencing of BIPOC people by blocking them and constantly saying things like, “Can we stop focusing on me and my faults and focus on more important issues, like scummy permapaywallers in the Sims community?”

And contrary to what Sunny (and even Mallory) may believe, if you as white person contribute in silencing, tone-policing, and violating the boundaries of BIPOC, that’s racist.

[CUE THE RANT]

Do I think Sunny did the damn thing when it came to the permapaywall situation? Yes. She just happened to get more attention because of it, which isn’t a big deal to me because, as far as I know, everyone just wants to spread awareness and put an end to this particular mess that’s been plaguing the Sims community for years. I just don’t appreciate people acting like Sunny was the ONLY one talking about this ish and doing all the work when "nobody else would". (Just take a look at the links she's provided in her own directory and you'll see that she weren't made by her)

Do I also think Sunny’s a racist who failed miserably at convincing alotta people she’s been doing her best to change her ways? Short Answer: Yes. Mid Answer: Yes! Long Answer: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssss!!!

And it’s absolutely a relevant topic to discuss because, much like permapaywallers, it's about character. Just like I wanna know who a modder is before deciding whether or not to give my money and/or support to ‘em, I wanna know who people in the Sims community are before I make the conscious decision to associate myself with them.

If they’re an insensitive greedy SoB, I wanna know.

If they’re toxic AF, I wanna know.

If they’re a cultural-appropriating bigot, I wanna know.

If they’re a racist, homophobic, transphobic ableist bastard. I. WANNA. KNOW.

And that ish does NOT solely apply to modders.

Sunny spent a lot of her time demanding the Sims community hold shitty people accountable for their actions and made it her mission for that ish to happened to the point of she became extremely aggressive and rather unpleasant. But when it came time for her to do the same thing, crickets. Crickets! Add a few cicadas and grasshoppers in there too if you want. It’s totally fine if she constantly reminds everyone about Anto being apart of the doxxing squad (even though he apologized for it), but don’t bring up the fact she voted for Trump twice. Don’t remind everyone that she tried to defend and minimize that shit on more than one occasion which resulted in her losing friendships. Don’t talk about how she laughed at racist jokes and remarks. Don’t talk about how she's associated with other problematic and racist people and rarely if ever addresses that ish. Don't talk about the allegations of her taking a page outta scummy paywallers' handbook (ie sharing private conversations w/o consent, allegedly making alt-accounts, etc.) Don’t talk about any of that, because issa "distraction" from "real issues", she’s "changed" for the better and apologized for all of it THREE. MONTHS. AGO. So just drop it, okay?

(and please look at the timestamps that show the time between when she tried to once again defend (and minimize) her political affiliations on a deleted reblogged post she made and the time she posted her apology. I wanna clarify that the timestamp is when somebody responded to Sunny's post, not when Sunny made the post cuz again, she deleted it).

Is it possible that some screenshots may’ve been doctored up by trolls to discredit her? Oh yeah, most definitely. I won’t deny that. But is it more probable than not that Sunny's a racist and (to be a lil blunt here) a fuck up? Yes. That doesn't mean she's beyond redemption. That doesn't mean she's incapable of changing. It just means she can't go around saying she's changed because saying it ain’t enough. This isn't some minute situation in which somebody says your least favorite food is their fave and you agree to disagree on that ish. This is about Sunny participating in putting the lives of BIPOC (especially those whom're disabled, apart of the LGBTQIA+ community, etc. cuz Intersectionality exists, sis) at risk-- (and it must be stressed) not once but twice and continues to cause harm through various actions and inactions-- and wanting to get over (as well as minimize) it because she already "apologized" and "addressed" the situation. But I (a Black Woman) am supposed to take into account that Sunny's mad, and frustrated, and tired that people keep talking about how she's a racist and continues to be problematic???? Newsflash, your road to redemption doesn't end when you want it to. It doesn't end with some apology that can be easily edited and move on from. It begins with you putting in the work to change and accepting the fact you're not owed forgiveness from those you hurt nor are you owed a second chance.

Just like she put in the work to bring attention to the paywall issues, she's gotta put in the work and show that she's taking the proper steps to change and not only does she gotta do that, she gotta put her hurt feelings aside in order to do it; it doesn’t matter how exhausting and frustrating it is to constantly have your character called into question -- especially when it's been shown multiple times that you not only come from a place where you have multiple layers of privilege, you confessed to using that privilege to further the oppression of people who're already oppressed. And need I remind everybody she apologized for this ish three months ago (soon to be four) but was still doing and getting called out for problematic ish she did after making that apology up until she left??? This isn't a walk in the park. It's NOT an easy task. She really gotta own that shit and do better, but she hasn't; that's why she's received alotta backlash and she ain't like it, that's one of the main reasons why she left.

If, for whatever reason, some of yall still don't see how and why Sunny's voting record and other actions're relevant to this "pixel drama", then so be it. Do you, boo.

In conclusion to this very long ass post (haha I feel like I’m writing a term paper again), in both the Anti-MLM and Anti-Paywall communities, I believe Sunny and Mallory’re like broken clocks: right twice a day. They did good work, but they’ve harmed people and were wrong and ended up discrediting themselves to the point they felt the need to leave when met with alotta backlash. Mallory’s still doing her thing on YouTube, and Sunny’s probably moved on to something else or is actually taking a break. Will she come back? Dunno. Don’t care. But her leaving isn't this giant blow and mega loss to the Anti-Paywall movement some people out here're tryna make it out to be and again, I don’t like (nor do I appreciate) seeing that kind of narrative being pushed out like that. It’s very inconsiderate to the people who contributed just as much (hell maybe even more) to this whole anti-permapaywall thing as Sunny has and erases them and their hard work.

Thanks for takin' time to read this in its entirety. Or if y'skimmed it, that's fine too. Still appreciate it. I'mma head out now.

See ya next time.

#long post #very long post #very long ramble #bulletpoints for the win tho! #sims 4 #black simmer #cc creator #early access #patreon #paywalls suck #sims 4 cc #permapaywall #sims 4 creators #sims 4 mods #pyramid scheme #multi level marketing #anti-mlm movement #toxicity #sims drama #mack3030 #simblr #apologies for some of the repeats #I would've loved to've added gifs but Tumblrs gif navigation aint my fave #i'll get used to it #or not idk #my rants #rant #personal rant #venting #im tired

[sparrovv]

Ok as much as I love feudal Japan, we already got Sekiro Shadows Die Twice and Ghost of Tsushima. I'm not saying they're AC games but like...can we pls get a game set in China??? or South East Asia??? Sure I'm biased but there's so much untapped potential there.

Okok so hear me out.

From 1271-1368 China was ruled by the 元 (yuan) dynasty, who were originally part of the Mongol Empire. It fell in 1368 due to class conflict caused by heavy taxation and a corrupt government which resulted in a bunch of peasant uprisings. But even before that there was a bunch of political unrest, especially between the years 1308-1333 during which there were 8 different emperors. Land power and money gets concentrated in the hands of the aristocracy most of which weren't Han Chinese but were Mongolian. During the reign of 元惠宗 (Yuan Huizong or Toghon Temür) there was a series of natural disasters and soon afterwards an uprising known as the Red Turban Rebellion sprang up and overthrew the emperor to establish the Ming dynasty. What to do about the corrupt officials? Assassinate them.

However if the 1300s isn't your thing, the fall of the Qing Dynasty that started in 1799 is also pretty cool. So basically after the death of the Qianlong Emperor in 1799, China dealt with getting invaded by literally everyone, internal revolts, population growth, economic disruption, official corruption, etc you know the drill. Generally this time period was just filled with a bunch of death, war, famine you name it, it was probably there. Again, pretty standard setting for Assassin's Creed

But here's the one I'm most excited about. The Pirate Queen of China, Shi Xianggu (石香菇) later known as Zheng Yi Sao was born into the lower class but married Zheng Yi, who was a pretty well known pirate at the time and his family had been pirates since like the Ming dynasty. After the death of his cousin he took his fleet and united the infighting pirates into one confederation with the help of Zheng Yi Sao. After her husband died by... falling off the ship which sidenote, that is a pretty sad way to die, she took control of the entire confederation and managed to not only be a pain in the ass of the Qing Dynasty but also of the Portuguese, the East India Company and pretty much anyone who decided to sail through the South China Sea. They were so good at what they did that in 1810 they managed to negotiate a surrender with the Qing Dynasty in which she got to keep most of her fleet and avoid prosecution. What a badass lol. But yeah imagine a game that's kinda like Black Flag but nearly 100 ish years later, set in Qing Dynasty China and centered around the Pirate confederation led by Zheng Yi Sao. Sure there's a couple issues with this idea but if they manage to write a more character centered story that can make me cry as much as Black Flag did, I think it could work really well

#assassin's creed #assassin's creed project red #game idea #text post #very long ramble #pirates #china #assassin's creed iv black flag #assassin's creed black flag #ubisoft #make this happen #i spent too much time on this lmao

[vellichorsdesire]

f/o who doesn’t know they’re touchstarved until they meet you.

the heavy want grows in their chest and is absolutely undeniably there whenever you two even just briefly touch. when you’re so close that they’re so desperate have you closer, wanting to feel their body pressed against yours in a tight embrace, that the thought of your hand in theirs is barely enough. when you two finally hug, or whenever you do, they sink into your embrace almost immediately, a deep sigh of content heard as they wrap their arms around you to return the tender hug. it’s a little hard to get their arms off you afterward, with those small mumbles of “just a little longer” and “i don’t want to let go yet.”

maybe they’re super embarrassed about feeling so at first and are so glad whenever you indulge in their desire to have you, to feel your warmth. or they’re incredibly stubborn about it but their actions always say otherwise, finding every little chance to have their skin touch yours, to quietly tug on your sleeve or any other sign that you immediately know what they want with it.

eitherway they’re forever thankful that you’re so understanding. with the little touches you guys end up doing like from simply pushing a strand of hair behind an ear or running fingers through each other’s hair, they’re absolutely addicted. smitten, even, so incredibly much that they can’t put their love for this, for you into words.

#they’re forever thankful for you too by the way. that you’re in their life #that you love them super duper much. they feel the same btw #oh man this is kind of long…. sorry. i can be normal i promise. #just fixing up the drafts i have saved right now #so very blue hydrangeas coded btw :((/pos #❥ vels ramblings #self ship #self shipping #f/o imagines

[wasyago]

the brainrot won

#GUY S i know i haven't posted anything in a while and thats because im working on a big cool project that i really want to finish without- #distractions. but uh. as you can see. ive been distracted 😔. still working on it tho!!!! and im very happy with it turns out its just- #super time and energy consuming so ive tried to limit my intake of other media to not make myself want to draw other stuff #i also haven't read the last two (two already?????) chapters of RnS and im very sad about it and i want to read it but you know that if i- #read it ill want to make fanart and then ill never finish my project :( #SO. sorrey for the lack of art itll be coming when im free to draw!!!!!!! #but also. yes ive watched new life because i dont want to go insane with nothing but this project on my mind and umm. had to take a little- #break to do a couple designs for fun... and to switch it up a bit because for real im going insane i think #ALSO. friend got me into zelda botw and i haven't played a whole lot yet (because project) but ive tried to take some inspiration for- #designs from there. at least for joel and scott. everyone else not so much... #WELL ANYWAYS this is getting long. i should really stop rambling in the tags and just make separate posts for all this but i dont want to #umm. tags. #new life smp #smallishbeans #mythical sausage #geminitay #pearlescentmoon #smajor1995 #inthelittlewood #my art #sketch

[violent138]

I imagine that Batman banned puns over the comms because they were once in the middle of sneaking into a gang hideout and every single thing Dick had said was some kind of mushroom/fungus pun, which was the last thing that Bruce heard before Duke burst into laughter and got pinned by gunfire.

#very long rambly hc #sorry #batbros #batfamily #bruce wayne #batman #dick grayson #dc comics #duke thomas

[queerofthedagger]

the thing i feel people don't really take enough into account when it comes to arthur's supposed obliviousness regarding merlin's magic is that merlin is the absolute opposite of what arthur has been raised to believe sorcerers to be. merlin is clumsy and kind and - in the earlier seasons - like walking sunshine. he so obviously has negative desire for actual power, nor any respect for it, and while arthur absolutely knows that merlin isn't stupid, he 100% is an idiot.

and it's not stupid or ignorant on his part! people just do this, whenever they are taught someone who does or believes a certain thing is inherently evil! it's never the friendly guy next door who snacks half of your breakfast and then just grins when you complain, obviously not! arthur trusts merlin even early on, and beyond belief later on. of course merlin can basically do magic in front of him, because there is no part of arthur that actually thinks someone like merlin could have magic. you don't see what you're 100% convinced can't be there. if he ever got there, his already brittle construct of indoctrination and supposed repeated confirmation of said construct would crumble immediately! as it does in dotd after like, a day. it only doesn't in regards to morgana because as far as arthur is concerned, the moment she started using magic she became the cold and ruthless enemy he still couldn't bring himself to actually pursue! like.

it's very easy to think it's startingly oblivious, but one thing i really wish people would keep in mind a little more is that the viewer watches from a different point of view, and operates with a whole other set of information. that arthur operates under a certain worldview in an environment that does not teach to question it at all, and gives little opportunity to do so. it's actually wild arthur questions uther's teachings as often as he does, and considering that every time he does, they, to his knowledge, just get confirmed again (nimueh, morgause, morgana, uther's death, and so on and so forth), it's even wilder that he keeps doing it

#*mine #mona's rambling #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #bbcm #yea yea once again in the arthur trenches but i've been meaning to say this for SO long so yk #merlin meta #like. it's not as if he can go google 'are sorcerers actually evil' #he only has people's words and people's actions for it and his overall experience on that front is. uhm. not good #to put it mildly #it's frankly a lil infuriating but also very on the zeitgeist how this just rarely gets taken into account #but like. let's not go there i've managed to be so nice imma shut up while i'm ahead and all that <3

[bluerosefox]

Daughter of Phantom, Lady Gotham.

I love Lady Gotham stuff in the DCxDP stories, like a lot, so what if, hear me out (Long post is long, I rambled again)

Lady Gotham is Danny's daughter.

How? How about Danny is hurt (his parents? GIW? Vlad?), like badly, to the point even his core is damaged and the time needed to heal would take years, like a lot of years. Like it was bad that even his Rogues were shocked and shaken. They eventually get him to the Realms but are unsure what to do next. So they're scrambling trying to figure out how to save him.

So when CW appeared he asked to handed the Core because he knows what to do, where to hide him so he can heal they don't question it, everyone in the Realms know CW, the Ancient of Time itself, has a soft spot for Phantom. He opens a portal to a different world, not Danny's he can't run the risk of GIW finding him, to a just beginning world, the new world will help speed up his healing, and with Frostbite's help they set up a healing chamber deep, deep in the ground. Once they made sure everything is set up and safe, they place his core inside the healing pod and return every so often to check on him.

Over time though, above on the surface of that world it's timeline starts. Animals, creatures, humans, aliens, magic users, etc etc begin and with it, because even as a half healing core, Danny's power and ectoplasm starts effecting the area he's resting in (Ghost King Danny? Young/New Ancient/Eldritch Being? Or just an OP Danny?) (Clockwork and even Frostbite showing up every so often doesn't help either, it explains why Gotham is so cold sometimes or why time seems... off)

Anyways due to Danny's power (along with bits of Clockwork and Frostbite), magic of this world, and people beginning to build a small town on top of the land it gives birth to the namesake of the town.

GOTHAM.

CW foresaw her 'birth' and finds her sitting in front of Danny's healing pod. He always knew Gotham would eventually form, the belief/love her people have in her would had given her a form eventually he just wasn't expecting her to form so soon (this is why Danny remains his favorite person, he always did something CW never really see's to often) nor was he expecting her to become Danny's daughter. Gotham looks a bit like Danny, dark hair, blue eyes, pointed ears, sharp teeth, glowing star like freckles, but she also reflects her people, the ones that call Gotham home so her image shifts sometimes. But he can see small hints of maybe himself and Frostbite in the shifts.

She is 100% Danny's daughter via spirit/ectoplasm. If anything CW and Frostbite are like many times removed family members when it comes down to ectoplasm.

She's silent for a moment before she asks if "You and the other come here often to see him... The one sleeping is he my father?" Which CW does confirm, he explains why Danny is healing and who he and Frostbite are and why they show up to make sure he is doing better. How his healing will take many, many years. She goes silent again before saying "Teach me how to protect him. I am new and young compared to others... and yet I already know if anyone desires him for the power he gives, they will stop at nothing. He is my father and I am his daughter, I need to keep him safe just how I know he would keep me safe. This much I know."

CW agrees.

She learns, from her father's allies (CW, Frostbite, Pandora, etc etc) how to defend and fight. How to protect what she loves. She watches over her father and fights off demon's, monsters, sometimes an alien that senses the slumbering power, evil magic users. Etc. She watches over the town and people who named her as well, falls in love with the humans who call her home as well and defends them as well.

She even gets the blunt force of a curse a powerful old entity that tired to place it on her father after she had just banished it from her lands. It's an old powerful curse that CW or Frostbite can't rid of because it would weaken her far to much that they run the risk of her fading, the only way to get rid of it is if she had a family member feeding her ectoplasim to help sustain her. (Her aunts can't because Jazz isn't ghostly enough and Danielle can't because hers is limited due to being a clone (like she has enough for herself but does need to visit the Infinite Realms during her travels to get more ectoplasim to filter in and out). Danny is their only chance because he's constantly filtering ectoplasim in and out and even creating it because of how he died with a portal opening up at the same time)

The curse slowly starts eating away at Gotham, makes it hard for her to have a solid corporeal form because pain (when she has to use this form to fight off others she has to bare through the pain), her appearance starts changing (eyes turn from sharp ice blue to glowing yellow, skin turns deathly sickly pale, her star freckles slowly blinking in and out, hands become inked claws, her dark hair is unkempt and spills like an oil sludge down her body and face) and because Danny is still healing himself he can't help her and she can't see him all too often anymore because she doesn't want to run the risk of the curse effecting his healing core, she does get updates from the other ghosts that visit him and then her. She still defends him though, outside of his healing chambers should on the rare chance something finds it way down to him.

Eventually due to Danny's and Gotham's natural ectoplasim filtering on the lands, visiting and powerful ghosts, Gotham fighting off powerful beings trying to use her father for power, and the curse on Gotham herself, the town that had been built on the ground above by humans becomes the very city we all know.

Its a whole mixed bag do to so many factors, that's why Gotham is the way it is.

Gotham does her best to keep her people safe from well... everything but due to the curse and the fighting off another person/entity/demon/magic user/etc coming for her father's power, she can't always do much by the time one crisis is over and a new one pops up, she's slowly breaking down the longer it takes.

That's why she has a soft spot for her Dark Knight and his family and allies, they help her from the pain from the curse by trying as both the Wayne's and as the Batclan to fix up her city self, its not enough to really fix her fully but it helps with the pain that eats at her.

She does her best to give them tiny blessings though, but due to her duty of protecting her father she can't always do much (she wept when news of Jason, her second Robin, her rough around the edges bookworm, had died came to her. She couldn't protect him because he was out of her reach. Its why when Joker returned she made it very hard for him to really gain his foothold in her again but had to stop because CW told her if she kept making it too hard for the clown he'd go running off to 'play' with a different hero and that... that timeline would lead the world to ruin. She begrudgingly stopped but when Joker had taken her third Robin, her tiny Tim the one she loved watching shadow her knights, she did everything she could to keep him sane from the pain he had been put in, and lead Batman to the warehouse to save him. Also it turns out her heartbreak over Jason's death, her curse acting up, and her ectoplasim sparking off at the same time it helped bring him back from his grave not fully but somewhat, she was so shocked that she didn't have time to send hints to Bruce to get him when he was taken by Talia and once again out of her reach. She tried hinting it to Bruce that Talia had taken him but by the time he would check on the League, Talia would had moved him)

Gotham, depsite being young in the eyes of many other powerful beings and entities has held her own and kept those that wanted to use her father for power packing. Despite being cursed that is slowly eating her alive she still holds onto the hope her father will awaken and she will finally get to meet him. (She hopes she made him proud, he is a protector spirit core after all and she had been steadfast with keeping him safe all these years).

Things however take a turn for the worse when Gotham awakens from some sort of powerful slumber (she doesn't know what happened?! Did something knock her out?! When did she fall asleep?! Was it magic? Did the curse do it? Did someone or something-) And discovers someone or something had managed to steal her father slumbering core. (So close to healing, so close to awakening according to Frostbite, just a few more days he says. Just. A. Few. More. Days)

She tries to go find him but is suddenly hurting more, her curse has progressed even worse, she can barely stand, let alone fight whoever had her father. And she knows her father's friends won't be back to see her until far later.

And then all of Gotham shakes and shudders when her rage, panic, and terror are felt that early morning.

-×-×-

Deep in the Batcave, Batman and the others are searching for whatever caused that strange almost magical but not (ectoplasm) shudder that morning.

They were expecting a full scale attack. Magical, alien, maybe even all the Rogues in Gotham working together. An all scaled war. They were looking for any signs of it, maybe to by some miracle stop it before it becomes to late.

They however weren't expecting a strange sick looking woman with yellow glowing eyes, oil ink like hair covering her face and body, clawed hands like they had dipped in ink as well, star like freckles blinking in and out on her body and face, sharp ears, breathing heavily and coughing every so often to appear in the cave. Like she had sunk out from the shadows in pure silence. (Even Cass did not hear her)

Nor were they expecting her not to even flinch when they trained their weapons onto her. Instead all she did was laugh, a raspy low laugh, but it held warmth and mirth.

"Now, now my knights... No need for that. I come needing help and you are the only ones I will ever trust with this mission..." her voice was soft but harsh, talking seemed to hurt her though for she had to take deep breaths and suppress a cough. Her eyes trailed across them all, despite her sickly look her eyes gleamed with a motherly warmth in a strange sense, something all of them could feel "I can not hold this corporal form for long. Long story short I am cursed, have been for a very long time and whatever happened to me earlier this morning has aggravated it even more and thus I can not stay in the world of the 'living' to do much. My father, the one I have been protecting since my creation from all sorts of terrible and dangerous things, for should they get a hold of him it could spell the end of life itself for he is that powerful, has been taken from his healing chamber. I do not know who or where but I know he still remains in the city, that much I can sense."

She coughed and took a shuddering breath "But alas I can not go to his aid as I once has been able to, this is where you all come in. I need you to find my father, find his core. Bring him to safety. I had fought so many to keep him safe, to make sure he heals in peace for so long, and he... So close. Just a few more days he needed... then I could had finally had met him."

She lightly muttered those last few words, eyes looking lost for a moment before coughing hard.

"Who are you." Batman, Bruce Wayne, stonely demanded but for some reason he couldn't help but feel like he knows her, like from a foggy memory, and by the looks of his family they all could sense the same thing.

The woman, or whatever she was, merely smiled, sharp teeth bared in it as she looked him right in the eyes and said.

"Gotham, my dear Dark Knight. I am Lady Gotham herself. Its wonderful to finally meet you despite the circumstances."

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #blue rambles #crossover #writing ideas #random idea #batman #danny phantom dc #Lady Gotham #Lady Gotham is Danny's daughter #his ectoplasm her towns people belief and love in her and the natural magic of the world gave 'birth' to her #danny is sleeping for a very long time #CW made him rest on a different world so he didnt have to run the risk of the GIW finding him or 'sleeping' well past his love ones time #this got long but its my brain being weird and coming up with a new AU #none of the bats was expecting Lady Gotham #she needs their help though #she has always wanted to speak with them but her duty in protecting Danny and her curse made it hard #Bruce has questions #like so many #Lady Gotham feels like 'mom' to her favorites #who has Danny? #idk someone #this... this got long #this is what happens when I'm fully allowed to ramble I've been let loose and been allowed gremlin hours #Lady Gotham takes after his human half when she was 'born'

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

Nimona headcanons I wrote instead of sleeping

Sometimes the boys forget that Nimona isn’t human 

Like they’re used to the shifting into animals aspect of Nimona because she does it as often as she breathes

But sometimes she’ll do some really creepy shit like make her arms longer to reach something when she’s too lazy to get up

One time they shifted just their neck to be like an owl so they could turn their head 180 degrees instead of just turning around cause that was “too boring” 

Or he’ll mimic people’s voices without realizing it 

Sometimes he’ll tell a story and suddenly he’s using Bal’s voice 

The first time she did this Bal searched the whole house cause he was convinced that Todd has snuck in

Or she’ll grow an extra arm to hold more shit and they take a moment to realize “oh yeah we adopted a little weirdo” 

They get used to it after a while and the arguments surrounding it are always funny because both the boys will complain and say “I don’t sound like that” and they have to be told “No love you do you really do” 

You know those videos of babies reacting to their parents shaving their facial hair or putting on glasses 

That’s Nimona's reaction every single time the boys change their appearance even the smallest bit they cant shave or wear their reading glasses because if they do he freaks out 

Talking some “help me Nemesis I heard bosses voice but I can’t find him” while Bal was standing right in front of them 

It was the first time he shaved his face in years and he’s never doing it again 

Mostly cause Ambrosius kept telling him he looked like a teenager and it was freaking him out 

I feel like Bal and Ambrosius are those kinds of people who will tell people about the little injuries but neglect the big ones 

Like Bal mentioned that he thinks he sprained his ankle during the fight at the institute but he won’t mention that he’s pretty sure he got a concussion 

(BECAUSE THIS MAN HEAD-BUTTED TWO PEOPLE WHEN HE HAS A METAL ARM) 

(I’m bout to wrap this man in bubble wrap and give him a helmet because wtf) 

Ambrosius will complain the whole day about the fact that he has a paper cut

But will completely neglect to inform his doctors “Oh yeah I can’t move my left arm higher than my waist without pain and I can’t see that well out of my left eye or hear that well out of my left ear do you think that’ll be a problem?” 

It isn’t until Nimona makes an off handed comment about how this super weird that the laser did basically nothing to him that he told both of them

They literally dragged him to the ER because “Who thinks those symptoms are normal Nemesis what is wrong in that pretty little head of yours!!” 

When Bal tells Nimona she’s being a bit of a hypocrite (cause who refers to an arrow as a splinter?) she turns to him and says “I know you’re not saying something Mr. Human battering ram” 

It took literally everything in Ambrosius not to break down laughing

After that she forces them to have frequent checkups with the doctor because these dorks wouldn’t go otherwise

Honestly I'm fully convinced that some people in the kingdom don't know who Nimona is and are constantly confused why they let this little weirdo follow them around 

And finally the curiosity will eat away at them and they’ll finally ask 

Sometimes the boys will give some “normal” answers like “Oh that’s Nimona” and they won’t elaborate at all

Sometimes they’ll give funnier answers like “Oh that’s a raccoon we found in the garage who turned into a person one day” “I don’t know they just showed up in our living room” and their personal best “You see her too?” 

And their favorite that they only started using a couple of years down the line “Oh that’s our kid”

#nimona 2023 #nimona movie #nimona headcanon #nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #I just know these accident-prone dorks don't go to the doctor #which i respect because neither do I #Ambrosius would rather memorize the eye chart than admit he needs glasses #and that is a hill I will die on #I feel like NImona freaks out at changes in appearance because it reminds her that things don't stay the same forever #she's immortal the boys arent #she forces them into frequent checkups because she doesn’t want to find out too late that something is wrong #she wants to know that they did everything in their power as soon as they could of something does come up #and best case scenario they live very long happy lives #but I like to believe that they get reincarnated and find each other in every life #because I'm sappy like that #excuse my sleep deprived rambling #I’ve found so many issues with this post

[a2zillustration]

We lived.

| First | | Previous | | Next |

[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

#FELT THAT GOOD GOOD VINDICATION HOARDING SCROLLS THE ENTIRE TIME FOR ONE (1) TO FINALLY COME IN HANDY HAHAHAHAHAHFHGD #This fight was absolutely bananas - I was so close to restarting it when everything looked bleak but I didn't and I'm so glad #because it made for a very dramatic story lol #Rambling incoming: #I split the party really bad bc I wasn't super clear on the AOE lightning attack so when the second one rolled around Gale was the only- #-one able to take cover in the building...but I don't think it even worked?? #Lae'zel was down long before then but Wyll and Croissant were in death saves #Used all of Gale's movement AND misty step to get to Croissant but he still couldn't get close enough & had to throw a potion #I think I used a potion of speed then so Croissant could cast globe of invuln right away #(and it took 10min of looking through my inventory to even see I had something to do bc otherwise we would've died right there don't @ me) #But then we were STILL too far away from Ansur for 60' spells so I had to keep running them out of the globe - using a spell - and then- #-mISTY STEPPING BACK INTO IT BC WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH MOVEMENT SPEED #it was rough but we made it #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #act III spoilers #ansur quest #croissant adventures #tav #ansur #gale #gale dekarios #breadweave #gale x tav #YEAH WE'RE PUTTING IT IN THAT TAG #comics

[phoenixkaptain]

My favourite part of Dick Grayson as a character is that he is never afraid of Bruce.

Like, Jason has his fear of disappointing him, Tim is a bit intimidated and has his hero worship, Damian fears that Bruce’ll kick him out the way he thinks Talia did, but Dick?

Dick is so unconcerned about Bruce at every possible moment. Even the earliest comics had Dick calling Bruce lame to his face. Dick works with Bruce and his partner for years and they understand each other on a deep level and Dick multiple times calls Bruce a fucking square.

Dick does not tell Bruce anything. He does not write home. If Bruce wasn’t in the room with him when Dick got called to go somewhere, I’m pretty sure Dick would not have informed Bruce that he was even leaving, let alone where he was going. The Teen Titans joined the Peace Corps, they were in Washington for at least a few days being trained, and Bruce finds out that Robin joined the Peace Corps from a newspaper. Dick does not tell him anything.

Dick and Bruce have such a fascinating relationship to me because Dick really doesn’t treat Bruce as his dad so much as he treats him like a particularly obnoxious older brother. Bruce treats Dick like his little baby bird who he cares about and doesn’t want to get hurt, but Dick is over there like “ugh, Bruce is so overdramatic” while he nearly drowns for the fifth time.

In early Teen Titans, there’s no question that Robin is physically the weakest member. Aqualad and Wonder Girl both have super strength, Kid Flash’s speed means that he doesn’t need super strength, but Robin is by far the easiest to capture. He gets caught very consistently through the early issues, albeit people can only catch him if they take him off guard, but it’s a lot easier to catch him off guard in early comics. Robin is the brains of the group, the others look to him for direction and depend on him to make plans that will work and panic when Robin gets nabbed because what will they do without Robin??

Robin gets captured a lot in early Batman comics too. Robin is the ultimate damsel, but he’s never really in very much distress? Like, Bruce and the Teen Titans are distressed, but Robin just looks maybe a bit surprised and bored. Robin never seems to take his own mortality into account when he does things, meanwhile literally everyone else does.

Dick only ever really gets annoyed with Bruce. He bever gets mad at his teammates, even when they question his ability. For the most part, Dick doesn’t even respond when they underestimate him to his face. I have no idea what’s going on in Dick’s head, but he isn’t a part of Aqualad and Kid Flash finding each other and him annoying in their first team ups and he never gets upset when they don’t believe in him.

Then, on the other hand, Bruce calls the music Dick is listening to noise, and Dick immediately is annoyed. Dick and Bruce having a turbulent relationship is more apparent later on in the comics, but Bruce is truly the only one in all the galaxies who gets under Dick’s skin as much as he does.

And it’s funny because fandom likes to paint Dick as bitter that Bruce didn’t adopt him, while I think Dick would have blown his top if Bruce even tried to adopt him. Dick had parents, he never views Bruce as a parental figure. Don’t get me wrong, Dick loves Bruce. Bruce does so much for Dick and Bruce is protective of him and Bruce is open about his affection, but Dick just doesn’t view him as his father.

I really think Dick views Bruce as more like a guard dog than a father. He talks so casually to Bruce, but he’s more formal to other adults. He complains about Bruce not trusting him, but doesn’t care when his teammates don’t trust him either. He views the rich billionaire vigilante who can take down a god in a fight as fucking lame.

Their relationship is amazing. They get along great. They’re a perfect duo, they work in tandem, they’re absolutely unstoppable together. If Bruce talks too much Dick will roll his eyes. They trust each other with their life. Dick is never telling Bruce anything. Bruce says “I guess I can spare Robin for a minute” and Dick is like “I would be perfectly content to never return home for the rest of my days.”

Of all the Robins, Dick is absolutely the one who respects Bruce the least. He loves the guy, but he just canNOT take him seriously.

(Do you think it was the time Bruce sent a box of bats to someone? Or the times Bruce gets captured and has to be rescued by his damsel side-kick? Or the way Bruce is like an overprotective mother, coming this close to reminding Robin to wash behind his ears? Or the way Bruce lets Robin say whatever he wants and never gets upset or offended or even hurt?

Or, maybe, Batman tripped on his cape once, and Dick just can never forget.)

#the inane ramblings of a madman #dc #dc comics #batman #teen titans #dick grayson #robin #batman and robin #bruce wayne #dick is the very picture of a saint when with his friends #he is patient and understanding and he listens to them and he cares about them #he worries about his friends before worrying about the criminals #but the moment he is in any proximity to bruce #it all comes crumbling down #he is so done #the dynamic duo is truly just #so dynamic #and i’m aware that their relationship is portrayed differently throughout the years #this is just my favourite portrayal #dick is so calm and patient but if bruce looks at hom for too long he will mcfucking lose it #long post #character analysis

[ratcandy]

why i think zote is a nosk and yes I'm (mostly) serious

and No, I'm not just going to gesture vaguely in the direction of CoGR. Like yes writing that accursed thing had IRREVERSIBLE effects on my brain, and it is 100% the reason I started thinking this way to begin with, BUT.

I think, to some extent. If pressed. I could argue a little. So what if you all entertained me for a minute. You all entertained me very readily when it came to bug sexyness. So what if you entertained me on this one. Take my hand. Follow me. This is self-indulgence at its finest.

and if I don't post it now I'm going to be editing it endlessly and forever.

This is a RIDICULOUSLY long post, and I get VERY derailed as it continues. It's also only like. Half serious. In that the first half is serious, but then I start losing my mind. If you're willing to entertain me and read all this, well. More power to you!

Okay, to start with, I'm gonna explain how this thought process even initially occurred to me (prior to the writing of CoGR). And it mostly has to do with the fact that Zote looks so much like a vessel, but certainly cannot be for various reasons (not void, mouth, wrong color... I could be here all day but I will not do that. Go eat this other post I made about it if u really want that argument).

It also never occurred to me that he'd be the same species as Elderbug, despite this clearly being a popular theory on here hdgkjSDG. (I could go on a whole separate argument about that, but to not make this post 1million extra words long, just know it boils down to Elderbug Has Too Many Legs and Honestly If You Remove the Mouth they've got Nothing Else Going For Them.)

But, really, what are we left with, then?

Sure, he could just be some other random bug. Maybe there are some bugs that just look like that - outside of the vessels - that we have not seen. But, since we are decidedly NOT shown any bugs that look like vessels but are not vessels OUTSIDE of Zote himself, it leaves me with question.

Why does this guy look so much like a vessel when he cannot be. I mean, yeah, in meta terms, he looks like that because he's Ghost's foil. He is MEANT to be a "worse" version of the player character. Off-color (termed "grey" but that man is PINK!!!!), asymmetrical, hunched over, and sucks ass at fighting.

But. We are not talking meta. We are talking story. We are talking World.

Could he still be a child of the Pale King/White Lady? Maybe. But I really, really do not think so. I also touch on this in my "why I don't think this loser is a vessel" post that I linked earlier, so I won't go too crazy here, but. I mean. Two pale beings made a pink baby? With a mouth that neither of them have? And mans inherited None of that godliness (that we can see)?

I jus don't see it.

So. Again. WHAT are we left with??

He looks a LOT like a vessel. Enough that a lot of people THINK he is at first. But he cannot be a vessel. He is also not likely a child of PK/WL (entertain me, entertain me). And he does not resemble any other bug we've seen in Hallownest.

So, I mean. Imagine, if you will, something that can mimic appearances, right. AND not only that. But something that has definitely seen vessels before and would know how to mimic one.

(I'm just saying, that's quite a lot of em strung up in the den here).

And imagine he sucks. Really, really bad. So of COURSE he would make an imperfect disguise, right?

Okay. That's the BASIS of my theory. Now you're gonna have to bear with me. I'm going to start ...Analyzing. If you could call it that. And arguing. Very heavily.

Zote as a Nosk: Why He Do That?

This section of my ramble is going to mostly be speculation, or explanations for parts of this theory that I could potentially be questioned on. For instance:

Why would a nosk want to disguise itself as a vessel?

In my own personal theory, Zote wanted to blend in with society and tout himself as a brave, unbeatable knight of great renown! Such titles are not often given to beastly creatures such as Nosks. So, he fled his ghastly, dark home, put his past behind him, and took on a new name. After all, names have power, don't they?

As for why a vessel specifically... The vessels are (supposed to be) stolid, emotionless beings that do not think or feel fear, and have no method of crying out in suffering. Sure, a Nosk would have no way of knowing that whole mantra, but if they'd faced multiple of these enemies, staring down blank stares that don't portray whatever horror they feel in their circumstance...

They'd have no reason to believe vessels are typically brave, fearless creatures.

Especially since our vessel, Ghost, is often referred as "The Knight." It tells us that vessels (or at the very least, Ghost) are knightly-sorts in some capacity. Which would make sense, given their purpose.

And, of course, if stories of the Hollow Knight made it down to Deepnest, and if THK being a vessel was wider known (which I doubt, but still), then that'd obviously be the perfect disguise to fit a knightly part.

Even more so that Nosk has clearly seen a bunch of these things, even if they're rarely spotted elsewhere outside of the Abyss.

Would a nosk even think to do this at all?

I mean, we've little reason to believe Nosks were not intelligent creatures prior to infection. They're smart enough to use the appearances of other bugs to lure them deeper into its den.

And more than mimicking the bug itself, the thoughts of Nosk's prior victims definitely suggest it would mimic loved ones of its prey. Or someone that prey would WANT to see. That at least implies some amount of intelligence, unless it's straight-up mind reading.

But again, even if it doesn't, Nosk just acts like an infected creature in-game. So we don't know what they could've been like prior to Orange Fanta.

What makes you think Nosks were a species? Couldn't there just have been one of them?

Sure, there could've just been the one. But I think that's boring. Nothing in particular really points me toward them being a species. For all I know, Nosk is just some weird, solitary cryptid. But that's not fun. So I'm just ignoring it.

How else is this dude getting around, if not somehow at least a LITTLE stronger than he seems on the surface?

Right? I mean, yes, there are two instances where Zote gets stuck, one of which he can die in. But outside of those two, he takes a WEIRD path throughout Hallownest, and after that single Vengefly King encounter...

Well, he's totally fine. He can't die again. Dude is resilient, somehow.

But with what we've seen of Zote (a nail that does no damage, extremely clumsy movement, Being Small and Bite-Sized), there is no possible way he should have survived down there. Hallownest is damn brutal. And I don't think infected creatures would pity Zote and choose to spare him.

The only think he does have going for him is tankyness, since he can take a lot of hits and be relatively fine. But even then, if something were to start attacking him, little idiot certainly wouldn't run away if he thought it could kill him. He's stupid. He wants to prove himself. In the Coliseum, he doesn't even hesitate to throw himself at Ghost.

So how in the world did he survive down there if he WASN'T somehow secretly something else?

Hey, speaking of that clumsyness...

It makes a lot of sense that a guy who's used to being much taller, with far spindlier legs, would have a hard time adjusting to a smaller stature, right? He's gotta figure out a whole new sense of balance. And I doubt a nosk is meant to stay in disguise that long, anyway.

-

The Two Entire Pieces of Evidence In-Game That Could Denounce This Theory:

Two pieces of dialogue from Zote himself could totally explode this into millions of pieces and have you all laugh very meanly at me for being so adamant about something that is very obviously not at all substantiated by canon. But hey. Hey. Before you start pointing and jeering. Listen to me.

Dialogue One:

"I came to this kingdom to fulfill a promise..." (Technically he says this twice at different times, one being spoken and one being thought, but I'm counting it as One for our purposes)

People love to point at this dialogue and tell me this means Zote couldn't have possibly originated from Hallownest because it says he CAME here. Specifically.

Ok 1: Saying he came here to fulfill a promise does not mean he could not have been from here. Perhaps he IS from here, took off, and came back. Sure, he doesn't expressly say "i came BACK to this kingdom" but STILL. Possibility is not eliminated.

and 2: I'm... I mean... listen. This guy is not too great at being truthful. He could easily just be running on a fake story about his life to cover up what he he Actually is. 'Cause, I mean... If he's already hypothetically disguising himself, Why then would he tell the truth about where he came from.

And please, making up a grand story about how he came from some distant land beyond the wastes, where he had to struggle through the horrors of the powerful winds and dastardly beasts, sounds Very in-character.

(And honestly, tangent: Do we think he would survive the wastes? I mean, yes, granted, he survives a lot in the game. But he can easily be killed by the Vengefly King if you just leave him there. And surely there are worst creatures in the Wastes. On top of that, Ghost can't even walk into the wastes without being blasted back by wind. Do we think Zote could get out there? The guy who gets hit by a nail and goes flying across the colosseum? And On Top of THAT, if we choose to believe the Pale King, which I do not but yknow Still, bugs supposedly lose their sapience while outside of his/a kingdom. If that's true, then... erm?)

Sure, he could totally be a totally irrelevant bug from a totally separate irrelevant kingdom in the middle of nowhere. But to look so much like a vessel... that'd just be coincidence then? That's not NEARLY as fun. And I LIKE fun. So THERE.

Dialogue Two:

(thought while in Deepnest) "So, the kingdom was hiding this dark nest full of deadly predators. Well, now the deadliest predator of all is here... ...Zote the Mighty!"

Ok, so, yeah. That one is pretty damning. That pretty obviously suggests he's never been there before, which wouldn't make a lot of sense given he's a nosk. Unless there are nosks in other kingdoms, I guess, but. Refer to the tangent I just made hSDKGJH.

And really. I'll be honest. I only have one potential argument for this, and it's bullshitty. But it's bullshitty enough that I still allow myself to have my fun thoughts.

So. You see. Zote likes to say things. If you haven't noticed. Making himself out to be a big strong valiant knight is his whole shtick. That is what this man is. And saying stuff that is blatantly untrue to make himself seem Cooler is kinda what he's all about. So... and bear with me, yes, I know how flimsy this sounds.

This could be him mentally rehearsing what he WOULD say. In the circumstance where he was very epically relaying this story to someone else.

and. AND. Of course. Since he's disguised. He obviously wouldn't give away that he's FROM here. That would be silly. That ruins the whole point of the disguise. Might as well just be a nosk wandering around then.

So, clearly, obviously, evidently, this thought process reflects what he WOULD say to someone who does not know he's a nosk, and who he does not want to know he's a nosk. While he's stoically regaling the tale of his adventures in the Horrible Death Pit that is Deepnest.

Yknow. Just thinking ahead for how he could make this situation sound as brave and epic as possible. WITHOUT mentioning his connections to this place. Because, I mean, really... Why would he want to attach himself, a courageous, heroic knight, to a dark pit full of deadly beasts?

He is no Beast. He is a Knight. Etc.

...yeah, I know, not my best or most sound argument in the world. But I'm having fun. If everything has already fallen apart for you because of this one (1) dialogue, that is so valid. Go live ur life.

I'm gonna keep going though.

-

Things That Make Me Point at the Screen and Go "AHA! SEE! I'M SO RIGHT!"

Number ONE:

Hey. Remember when you saw Nosk's mask on the floor up there in that screenshot? So, if you didn't know this, after you defeat Nosk, it drops its mask on the floor. And you can smack it around as much as you like. Pretty fun, right?

Well. If you let Zote die, in order to get the neglect achievement, you have to smack the mask he left behind. Because he ALSO drops his mask. Hey that's weird. The only two masks in game that you can freely smack around are Nosk's and Zote's.

Huh. Strange.

Number TWO:

Zote has a STUPID amount of health. Like, it's obnoxious how many hits this man takes. And not only that, he doesn't even DIE when you defeat him in the Coliseum, so he probably has even MORE health than that (ignoring the Eternal Ordeal for a second, since... I highly doubt that's meant to be canon LMAO). The listed health Zote has on the wiki (200) is nowhere near Nosk's amount of health (680), sure. But I'm assuming that health total is based on how many hits it takes to get him down in Coli (which I'm also assuming is the same amount of hits it takes to get him down in the Eternal Ordeal). In which, again, he does not die after that. He just gets stuck and cannot get back up.

But ALSO, that Nosk is infected, and we've been told infection gives strength - hence why the Traitor Lord is like that. So it's possible the nosk we fight in Deepnest just has a strength boost due to orange juice consumption.

...Or, Zote just sucks for a nosk. His stupid amount of health might actually be just really low for that species. For all we know.

Number THREE:

Speaking of the Coliseum, have you seen the JUMPS on this man?

Zote sure can Leap pretty far. He's clumsy as all hell, sure, but those jumps sure are something. Even in the GPZ version, he jumps all the way up off screen before crashing down. Which, yes, I know GPZ is not actually Zote, but this tells me Bretta is at least somewhat aware of Zote's jumping expertise enough to include it in her sexyman version of him.

Do you know who Else jumps all the way up off screen before crashing down? That's right baby. Nosk ...Ok first nosk does a little infection drop attack but HEY you know what I mean. Both Zote and Nosk got big jumps.

Number FOUR:

Precept Twenty-Six: 'Don't Trust Your Reflection'. When peering at certain shining surfaces, you may see a copy of your own face. The face will mimic your movements and seems similar to your own, but I don't think it can be trusted.

Ok that's the obvious precept. I don't think I need to explain why this one makes me go AHA!! SEE!! SEE! HE SAID THE THING!

So I'm going to move on to precepts that I can STRETCH to fit my AGENDA. This is where I start getting derailed and incomprehensible, as a warning.

Number FIVE:

Precept Six: 'Choose Your Own Fate'. Our elders teach that our fate is chosen for us before we are even born. I disagree.

Just like he CHOSE a NEW IDENTITY when he DISGUISED HIMSELF AS A VESSEL? HUH? HUH?

Precept Eighteen: 'Seek Truth in the Darkness'. This precept also explains itself.

So you're telling me the truth is in the darkness? The darkness? Dark like Deepnest? Like a place so dark you can't traverse it without a lantern? You're telling me the TRUTH is in THE DARKNESS? Why wouldn't you want to explain that further, nosky boy? Don't want to explain HOW the TRUTH is in the DARKNESS, HUH?

Precept Twenty-Eight: 'Don't Peer Into the Darkness'. If you peer into the darkness and can't see anything for too long, your mind will start to linger over old memories. Memories are to be avoided, as per Precept Four.

Oh now you DON'T want us to look in the darkness? Why? Huh? There's MEMORIES in that darkness? You've got MEMORIES in there? And the truth is in there too? And you DON'T want us to look at it? Is it because you're a NOSK

Precept Forty-Five: 'One Thing Is Not Another'. This one should be obvious, but I've had others try to argue that one thing, which is clearly what it is and not something else, is actually some other thing, which it isn't. Stay on your guard!

Oh yeah? Yeah? One thing is not another? And you've had to have this argument multiple times? Did you have to argue that YOU are not a NOSK, little man? Little man who isn't being totally Real with me. Little. BASTARD

Precept Fifty: 'Don't Linger on Mysteries'. Some things in this world appear to us as puzzles. Or enigmas. If the meaning behind something is not immediately evident though, don't waste any time thinking about it. Just move on.

YOU WON'T PULL THE WOOL OVER MY EYES, FUCKER!!!

Number SIX:

Hey. HEY. Why do we first meet Zote inside the kingdom (Greenpath) and then he immediately goes up to Dirtmouth before going back down? Why don't we just meet him in Dirtmouth like we do Tiso? Why does he go straight up to Dirtmouth after our first encounter with him, only to go back down again?

Why does he already start in the kingdom and make his way out first. What's up with that.

Why doesn't Elderbug mention that he saw a guy pass him by to go down the well, likely before Ghost even showed up? With how Elderbug talks, it seems like no one has been through Dirtmouth in a LONG time. And if Zote got in through the well, he clearly didn't get very far if he only ended up in Greenpath. So he couldn't have been in there very long.

Surely Elderbug would've seen him walk by and go down... if Zote walked by him at all.

Elderbug will mention Literally Every Other Bug that comes through Dirtmouth EXCEPT for Zote. and tiso. but ignore Tiso, because we first meet Tiso before his descent into the kingdom. He talks about Cornifer and Iselda, he talks about Sly, he talks about Bretta, he talks about Jiji. If you banish the troupe, he talks about Nymm being around.

Why doesn't he mention Zote? what's different about that Zote guy. Did he never pass by Elderbug to go into the well at all? Was his first time in Dirtmouth the first time we saw him there? After he ascended out of the kingdom?

Sure, we meet Quirrel in the kingdom, too. And Hornet. But they never go back UP to Dirtmouth, and certainly don't do so after your first encounter with them.

Bretta and Sly are originally FROM Dirtmouth. And they don't go back down after you save them. So them coming back up after being infected makes perfect sense.

The only other exception is Cloth, if you manage to save her. But she only comes up after she's unable to complete her mission, and there's nothing left for her down there.

So why............................does Zote come out of the well first? Why is that the first thing we see him do after Greenpath?

Unless he's.... FROM down there. And he made his way... UP.

...before going right back down, because this town SUCKS and I want to battle in the coliseum. To fulfill the promise of glory to myself. Or whatever.

Number SEVEN:

Speaking of the town Sucking to him: "This dreary place... it reminds me of home. How ghastly..."

Dreary? GHASTLY? Like. LIKE DEEPN-----

Number EIGHT:

(said in Deepnest) "Hmm? Are you lost in these dark tunnels? I don't care. No, I won't lead you out. I know the way, due to my powerful memory, but I only travel alone. Begone."

Due to "powerful memory"? You've got powerful memory of these dark tunnels that, surely, you shouldn't be able to see shit in? Because, surely, you're not from here or anything, right?

Oh but that's WEIRD, right? Because after you get him out of that web, he DOES manage to escape Deepnest. Hmm. How WEIRD, right? For someone so very weak? For someone who CERTAINTLY shouldn't be able to see down there?

It's almost like he. DOES know these tunnels.......

-

OK, I'm done.

This is pretty much all I have for genuinely arguing for Zote being a nosk.

Is it not much? Yep. Not much at all. But more evidence than there is for him being a vessel, at any rate.

Is it also heavily due to my brain connecting dots that do not exist and seeming more and more insane as I go? Literally stretching at seams that aren't real as I go off into a rabbithole I dug with my own shovel? Yes.

But i'm. HAVING. FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok yes that's all. Go read the fanfiction I wrote about all this. I said my piece. goodby

#clamtalk #VERY long ramble #this is INCOHERENT starting at a certain point. but I don't care. I'm insane. I'm crazy. etc. #zote #hollow knight #cogr #nosk zote #long post #<- extremely. #absolutely no one in their right mind will read through all of this but I do NOT care. I'm THROWING IT OUT THERE!!!

[eyes-of-nine]

truly what a guy

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #arthur lester #arthur malevolent #john doe #john malevolent #my art #ahfdgfghsdd i have so many important things to do but these two have overtaken all of my waking thoughts so i'm fucked to say the least #adgfd i just wanna talk about them with someone but no one i know has the energy for that 12h long infodump #straight up today was my first truly no work day in a few weeks and what did i do? spent half the day figuring out how i want to draw arthur #still not sure if this the direction i wanna take his design in but somehow along the process he ended up as like my ideal look on masc days #tbh i don't have the time to unpack whatever that says about me ywy #john's design is very much still a first draft but i can't think about it too much or i might just actually go insane #this podcast makes me unwell(affectionate) #the universe is so evil for not letting me just draw them all day long ywy #in an ideal world it would be no diploma no uni applications only malevolent #.....i'm gonna stop with the rambling now #so yeah go listen to malevolent

[vspin]

Cazador could have been a much more interesting villain.

It's very obvious a lot of Act 3 content was cut just based on lose threads you find throughout the city that kinda lead to nothing.

I think Cazador was one of the biggest disappointments of Act 3. Don't get me wrong, killing him and completing Astarion's arc was an incredibly satisfying and emotional experience. But I think it could have been even better.

If you read the books and notes around his estate, it's obvious they were setting up Cazador as this big-time political player in Baldur's Gate. Astarion even alludes to this earlier in the game (this could have just been Astarion speaking out of fear). Cazador's been in Baldur's Gate a long time and hasn't had the cavalry coming down on him for being a vampire so the man is obviously cunning and has some type of influence.

Some things I would have liked to see concerning Cazador:

Cazador's letter to the other vampire in his sanctum says he was planning a political takeover of the city after his ascension. This wouldn't be possible with Gortash in power.

I think that Cazador should have been a potential ally against Gortsah. Hear me out, yes most likely we as the player could choose to refuse him or betray him later on, but I think it would have been interesting if Cazador approached the player looking to help take out Gortash.

More elaboration on Astarion's background as a Magistrate. More information on the other spawn. Maybe you learn that all of them were people of some type of power and influence and Cazador specifically chose them based on this.

There should have been a proper coronation for Gortash. Not this nonsense above a prison. Have the characters dress up. Meet and greet with the powers of Baldur's Gate. This is where we see Cazador for the first time. (Also, this could have been a cool opportunity to influence and build Wyll as the next potential Grand Duke but that's a whole other topic!)

Give an option to betray Astarion to Cazador in reward for some type of power (I know :( but come on, we can slaughter innocent children, you can't tell me an evil power-hungry character wouldn't rather hedge their bets on a Vampire Lord vs. a spawn)

Make the ascension tied to a specific date/environment event to justify Cazador not immediately taking Asatrion.

Idk this isn't very fleshed out. Just my thoughts on what I think could have made Act 3 stronger . I'm also a sucker for OP Vampire Lords (Castlevania, Strahd) so I really wanted to see that reflected in Cazador instead of this guy who reminded me of an Oblivion NPC.

#long post #my ramblings #astarion #astarion romance #cazador #bg3 #bg3 tav #baldur's gate 3 #astarion ancunin #bg3 critical #i guess critcism #i just found Act 3 to be very lacking as much as I love the rest of the game #inspired by post i just saw on magistrate astarion #bg3 gortash

[slavicafire]

once you notice the ghoulification of celebrities through uncontrolled unhealthy and obsessive drug-induced extreme weight loss you will no longer be able to miss it. faces and bodies and expressions nearly unrecognisable. and you need to see it! you must consciously see it. paired with just as extreme and uncontrolled and unhealthy plastic surgery, you need to see it as grotesque and ridiculous, you must not assume this is the new normal, you can't passively accept it as this new standard we must hold each other to.

you must see it as a cruel and oppressive capitalist tool that it is. you need to see it and point it out and remember that it is unhealthy and obsessive and that it is actively harmful as it trickles down from the rich high horse down onto the people. that it is directly and consciously created to target minorities and profit off of them. that it brings direct and tangible harm to people already endangered by the system. you need to see and understand the impact of the abuse of resources and the push for accepting a lack of ethics in genuinely useful medical fields. it is pushed as the new standard hard. push back.

#sorry to ramble but I just saw a trailer for a movie and every single actor there is very clearly after sudden and extreme weight loss #and plastic surgery that even with the most acclaimed and expensive doctors is dangerous and harmful long term #and I know how quickly that will trickle down - from the celebs in US to people all over the world #also this is not anti plastic surgery as a field. if that's not clear.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

i... wrote a smol fic (っ´▽`*)っ

also!!!!! If you haven't seen it - shoutout to first ever published fic in Ninja Showdown/My Immortal Soul tags - Lustrous Red by @missadmyre !!!

#ninja showdown #my immortal soul #first ninja x chase young #rc9gn first ninja #first ninja #rc9gn #chase young #xiaolin showdown #randy cunningham 9th grade ninja #rc9gn plop plop #well i say smol fic.... but those 4k words felt very long. #i did say i was going to direct my energy into writing >.> and now look at me ive gone insane #no actually dont look at me im just gonna go cry over my 20k words of rough drafts for like dozen ideas that are now going #to haunt my every waking moment like JESUS i woke up today and literally wrote out 1k words of an idea for a modern au for those two TToTT #its literally an au where its a meet cute turned meet violent and first is randy's sorta dad and chase wants to adopt omi #not to mention a different AU where its an epic mystery adventure AAAAAAA someone heeeelppppp meeeee #also. its been a month but im still staring so intently at missadmyre's fic hoping for another crumb. like thank you sm for the food!!!! #ive literally been rereading it several times after i went insane about it on my main blog and im still slurping at it like a starved perso #Ive been collecting my ideas like a dragon but after reading that fic i was like: I WANT TO READ MORE FICS ABOUT THEM #but i dont wanna be a whiny baby&beg others and be annoying about it. So i put on my big person pants and was like f it WE R WRITINg NOW #so i dont care how bad my writing will be. we gonna be balling on those ideas and YES it doesnt make sense im just v rambly rn