#if u know me irl and are reading this no u aren't

[saltwaterbells]

writing nine pages of smut during your microbiology lecture sometimes is the only way

#jude.txt #if u know me irl and are reading this no u aren't

[cr-pisacs-evil-brother]

Pathologic Bachelor ARG Megapost

This post is a culmination of months of (mostly my own) research into the Bachelor ARG. For far too many days and far too many hours, I’ve been doing my best to solve this, with the help of a few other people. I looked very deep into most Fyodor Vitin posts, played through The Marble Nest several times, looked extensively through the Pathologic wiki, and read/analyzed countless outside sources for this post, and I will link as many of them as I can. (If there are links that you think would help the ARG that you’d like included in here with credit please let me know.) For any people that are credited, an “@” before their name implies that it’s a Tumblr username, while a “u/” proceeding their name implies it’s a Reddit username. I have discovered and analyzed dozens of leads, some of which are more likely to be important or intentional on the part of IPL than others. The primary purpose of this post is to give all of you Pathologic fans new leads and theories to analyze in pursuit of solving the mystery behind this ARG, so many of the things within this post should be looked into further! With this post, I will lay out my findings in a series of sections, all of them having several connections to each other. This post is more than 10,000 words and is not meant to be read all at once, so feel free to read sections, take breaks, re-read sections, or skip around if you'd like. “Observations, Research, Analysis” is a vast majority of this post and consists of observations made about the ARG material, as well as any research I did into those findings that bore fruit, and analysis/connections to other things. The additional notes section consists of some of the conclusions I’ve reached after putting all of my evidence together, as well as some connections I didn't really make in the previous section, but keep in mind they’re still just theories so they could obviously be wrong. I would like to emphasize that I am not a native Russian speaker, but I did have many native Russian speakers helping me along the way, and in particular, I’d like to thank @kurury-chan for her massive help with this. She transcribed the newspaper for me, provided tons of consulting, translated many other Russian sources, and actually went out of the way to go on an irl tour of a certain ARG-related location to see if my theories about it could hold any ground! Because I'm not a native Russian speaker, the sections where I'm required to analyze Russian text (notably the newspaper section) will probably be the least interesting and I'll probably end up making a lot of points that aren't valid. Additionally, I’d like to thank @cryingsyren (who also happens to be my bf) and @ded-not-ded for their help. As for formatting, since Tumblr doesn't have tiered lists for some fucking reason, all main points will be written as bullet points, and any sub-points within that bullet will then have numbered points afterward. For example like this:

The first main point about a topic

Sub-point of the first point

Second sub-point

The second main point about a topic

I'll either do that or I'll do it like this:

First main point

First sub-point First sub-sub-point

Second sub-point

Second main point

Edit 1: I've had to revert much of the Chat text (the font I used for the sub-points above) to regular text because of a formatting glitch that irreversibly changed most of the Chat text to bold, which was very confusing.

Depending on which looks better in the context of the points. Because that formatting is so awkward and clunky I'll try to minimize the use of tiered lists as I convert this from the Google Docs format to the Tumblr Format. Most of the time that I use tiered lists here it's to deal with the character limit Tumblr has on single blocks of text within a post. With that out of the way, let's just get into the post.

Observations, Research, Analysis:

"The Accident" Fyodor Vitin post

The first thing I noticed about the newspaper when I took a good look at it was the use of bolding with certain letters. If you look at the Newspaper you’ll also see ink splattered on the page in several areas, which could be a clue toward noticing the bolded letters, or it could be something else I’ve yet to discover. I knew I wouldn’t be able to transcribe the entire newspaper by myself, not being a Russian speaker (although I’ve just started learning!) so I enlisted the help of @kurury-chan, a native Russian speaker, and she transcribed the entire newspaper for me in Cyrillic. After getting this transcription I went through and spent a couple of days looking for which letters were bolded, writing them down, and coming up with possible translations/meanings. I’ve come up with lots of possible meanings for these, but for many of them I couldn’t figure anything out, and I’d love help if anyone has any idea what they could mean! To me many of them seem like word fragments that are simply missing one or two letters, and so in the document where I list all of the bolded letters I put some words/phrases that are very close to the seemingly fragmented words. Once again keep in mind that, while I’m trying to learn Russian, my understanding of the language is still rather weak, so I may have mistranslated some of these. Another small detail to mention is that there’s a prominent crease on the left side of the paper that runs through a decent portion of the bolded words. First, I’ll start with the bolded letters on the left side of the page. I may have missed a couple, and I may have written some of them down as bolded when maybe they aren’t supposed to be seen as such.

Here is a link to a list of all the letters I think are bolded on the left side, which lines they’re on, and possible meanings, many of which I’ll be discussing here. I will not go individually through what I believe all the bolded letters mean, but I will go through and explain the ones I think are most meaningful and important, as well as some connections I’ve made with them. And here is a link to the original Russian transcription and my best attempt at an English translation.

It’s possible that the crease that runs through the left side of the paper and notably runs through many bolded words somehow denotes that those particular bolded words are special, or perhaps that they should be seen as separate from the other bolded words.

Line 15 has a rather interesting bolded phrase, because it actually appears to make a somewhat coherent 3-word phrase, but one of the words seems to be a surname, “Pepe.” Additionally, the crease on the left side of the page starts right above the word “ПЕПЕЛИЩЕ” in the title, and splits it so that “ПЕПЕ” is separate from the rest of the word. (ПЕПЕ is Pepe in Cyrillic.) If you want to know what the non-Pepe words say, skip to the next bullet point, because the rest of this one is my analysis of the ПЕПЕ part. So, of course, I looked into the name a bit, looking through all notable historical figures with the last name, and found one that I think is of special interest: Guglielmo Pepe. Born in the small ancient town of Squillace, Pepe entered the army at a very young age, and was an Italian commander during the early 1800s, but his military career was fraught with trouble, as he also had rather revolutionary politics, which angered both the government he was serving and many of his peers, and he was exiled on several occasions. Upon Pepe’s return to Italy at the age of 30, he was given the rank of general. After this, the most notable events in his life would largely consist of his attempts at going rogue in revolutionary attempts to change the existing power structure, for which he was usually punished. (It’s also perhaps worth mentioning that his brother was part of the attempted French invasion of Russia.) All of this is to say, Pepe obviously shares some striking similarities to General Block, perhaps the most striking of which is his status as a 30-year-old general, which is an aspect of Block’s character that is highlighted several times. So, of course, I looked into Block’s character a bit more, and discovered that in the Russian version of the game he is called “General Ash” instead of “General Ashes.” “Strange,” I thought, until I saw that in Russian, Ash is “Пепел” which is pronounced as “Pepel” for anyone that isn’t familiar with Cyrillic. If we look into it, we do see that the letter after the Пепе is л, but it is notably not bold. This is, if you're counting, two separate times in this paper where the plural for ash, пепелище, is split up so that only the пепе is emphasized. As for other connections between Pepe and Block, we could look at them both harboring some revolutionary tendencies and being punished for it, both by The Powers That Be and his peers. General Block also tells Artemy that he was born in a town not too dissimilar to the Town on Gorkhon; this is interesting because there are some connections to be drawn between Squillace and Gorkhon, primarily that both of them preserve the beauties of ancient times that have all but been lost to most people. Related to this, it should also be noted that I believe the plot of The Marble Nest was heavily based on the plot of The Seventh Seal, which is the same movie that inspired the character Alexander Block.

The rest of line 15 is also interesting, but I’m not sure exactly what it’s supposed to mean yet. It translates to “Heaven on Pepe” basically. I consider the “Pepe” part to probably be the most important, since there’s a large crease that runs through it, which I think probably denotes a level of importance? The line’s meaning might be related to the fact that “heaven” is sort of a synonym for “utopia,” or the character that Block is based on is the protagonist of a movie that revolves around the ideas of heaven and Christianity, which is something we saw very briefly with Block in Pathologic 1. If you have any ideas please post about them and tag me, or simply comment/reblog this with your ideas!

Line 1 and line 18’s bolded letters both start out with “ов”, and for my English speakers out there it is pronounced sorta like “ove.” ов is interesting because if you translate it as о-в it actually is the shortened form of “island” in Russian. Line 1’s bolded letters read as “ов попо”, and for people not familiar with Cyrillic попо is basically “popo.” There are, apparently, many Popo islands in the world, and I couldn’t find one that I think directly connects to the ARG or Pathologic, but maybe someone else out there will, or perhaps that line has a different meaning to it. As for line 18, it says “ов испустивших” and according to Russian wiktionary, the second word is one letter off from the word “Emitted.” I looked a bit deeper, though, because that didn’t satisfy me (why would they use the incorrect spelling of a word after all?) and I didn’t see much, but I did find two things that used the exact word “испустивших” that interested me: A Saudi Arabian newspaper that has been translated into Russian, as well as a Russian poem from 1777 celebrating the birth of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, also known as Alexander I of Russia. The latter is more interesting to me for numerous reasons, the first one being that it might serve my theory about the connection between line 1 and 15, as line 1’s bolded letters end with попо and line 15’s end with пепе. The connection is weak, too weak for me to make it a separate bullet point, but strong enough for me to want to explain. So, as we know, there is a connection between line 1 and 18, it’s what this whole bullet point is about, and this theory (using the term “theory” loosely) relies on us seeing them as very closely connected. Basically, Alexander I was the ruler of Russia during the French invasion, which is interesting because, if you’ll remember, Guglielmo Pepe’s brother, Florestano Pepe, took part in the French invasion. This, to me, is an interesting connection, but I do admit it’s definitely a reach.

That’s where I’ll stop talking about the bolded letters on the left side of the paper. If you’d like to see what other bolded letters there are, what they could possibly mean, and try to decipher the meaning for yourself please go to my linked Google Doc(s).

As for the right side of the Newspaper, there are some bolded letters, but I can't seem to make much sense out of them, and by this point in my research I was starting to pursue more promising ARG leads, so this section is rather incomplete. Just as a reminder, the right side of the newspaper is an advertisement for a lantern/kerosene shop. I personally think the right side is more interesting than the left for a couple reasons, but most of them are either self-evident or will be discussed later.

The lantern on the right side of the paper is the same model that’s used throughout the Haruspex’s route, but most notably it’s used a ton during The Marble Nest as set dressing. And when I say "a ton" I really mean it.

I also remembered vaguely an unused lantern item found in the game files of Pathologic 2, so I went to the Pathologic wiki to look for it, and surely enough the exact lantern used by Artemy, the one that appears so many times in The Marble Nest, is also an unused item present in the game files. When using console commands to give yourself the item, you’re able to click on it and select the “touch” option, upon which you’ll see the number 6192355001378070 where the name of the item should be, and 6192355001378072 where the touch text should be. I’m not sure exactly what these numbers are supposed to mean; my first thought was that they seemed long enough to be coordinates, so I put them into google maps and it does lead to a location in Russia! Nonetheless, the numbers are a little bit too long to make sense as cohesive coordinates. Still, it might be something worth investigating. You'll see later in this post just how significant numbers and number patterns are in this ARG.

The word used to describe one of the victims of this inferno, “academician,” has sorta interesting connotations in countries that were once part of or heavily influenced by the USSR. This person is referred to as “Mr. F.L.” in the article. This guy is also said to be a historian and a “бытооописателя,” which as you can probably tell by the fact that I’m not using the translated English version is a weird word. Perhaps the strangest thing about this word is the fact that it clearly has 3 o’s where there should only be one. The actual meaning of this word is odd, as it’s very rarely used, and according to all sources I could find (including native Russian speaker and linguistics enthusiast @kurury-chan) it is either an archaic term for a historian or a term meaning “writer of everyday life.” I’m honestly not sure what that means, and at first, I thought it meant something like a blogger. The most complete and coherent definition I could find describes it as “author of works describing everyday life.” A different translation I found seems to say it means something like "chronicler," which I suppose makes some sense.

In the bottom right part of the paper, you will notice what at first appears to be a signature. Admittedly I had almost no hand in this part of the investigation, except for the isolation and upscaling of the text. Most of the work here was done by @cryingsyren with some help from @kurury-chan and @ded-not-ded. Here is the image that I got for them of the text, and here is our current interpretation of it: It at first seemed to be Russian cursive (and it probably is supposed to be), which complicates things quite a bit, and @cryingsyren spent a couple days trying to figure out exactly what it says, (with some help from @kurury-chan) and as far as we can tell it’s four letters, which are separated into either two or three sections. I think we have a decent grasp on what they’re supposed to be in Cyrillic, but the interesting thing is that they do look a lot like both Russian and Latin cursive. I’ll describe them now using what Latin character they look like in quotes followed by what Cyrillic character they look like in parenthesis. The first section is an “M” (М) and a “K” (К), which are very clearly connected. The next section is either an “H” (Н) or an “H” and an “n/u”. We’re not exactly sure whether the H and the n/u are supposed to be connected, but the n/u being lowercase seems to imply it is. The interesting thing about the n/u is that, while it looks like it could be a Latin n or u, it also looks like it could be a Cyrillic и, which is the italicized version of the Russian letter и. It seems all too coincidental that all of the letters they used have almost exact visual counterparts in the Latin alphabet. At the moment our working theory is that it could be initials, and this is where I come in, because for days I knew I recognized the "MK" part of the signature, but I couldn't remember exactly where from until today. For anyone that has played too much Pathologic Classic HD like me, you may recognize the "MK" signature from the center of the loading screen in that game, scrawled in a way that most people wouldn't pay attention to it, and certainly that most people wouldn't have it committed to memory like me. During the roughly 170 hours I've spent playing the game I've probably looked at that MK more than I've looked at my youngest brother. This presents the question, who is MK? Well at first I thought it could be Mr. Katzman, as referenced in the "Mask" post, but that didn't seem right to me. This is when the fact that so much of my brain is Pathologic lore facts came to help again, when I remembered state inquisitor Mark Karminsky, who you may remember as being one of the men people thought would come to the town before Aglaya Lilich showed up. As for the rest of the writing, I'll leave that up to you guys to figure out.

Something to note for later on: We know there to be 19 inquisitors when Pathologic takes place, and in this ARG the number 19 becomes very important with later clues.

"Mask" Fyodor Vitin post

Arguably this is the Fyodor Vitin post I’ve done the most research into, and it eventually led me to develop a very deep and passionate interest in the Buryat peoples that has so far caused me to read several books and around a dozen academic papers about them. I haven’t only done research into the Buryats for this post, though, because although the Buryats are the primary inspiration for The Kin, they’re not the only inspiration. Despite all of this research work, this section will be rather short because I’ve already been through and exhausted most possible leads I’ve found, and this is what remains. Since the post is in English, and I think everyone that follows me presumably knows English (если вы не говорите по-английски, я хвалю вас за то, что вы зашли так далеко) I won’t summarize it, so I’d recommend reading the Vitin post and then coming back.

We see in the post the mask of “Muu Shubuun,” which we’ll immediately notice is almost the exact same mask as is used by the Executors in the game. Actually, in the Marble Nest, you can acquire the Executor mask, and its touch text reads, “The mask of Muu Shubuun, ‘the wicked bird.’ Part of the Reaper costume from the local theatre.” I have found several different sources that lead me to believe this is based on actual Buryat folklore, however, I’ve heard several conflicting accounts on whether Muu Shubuun is an evil spirit that tricks people by taking the shape of a beautiful woman, or if it’s closer to what we see in the game/ARG, but both seem to be documented as existing within sources on the Buryats. I think this confusion between the two likely means the stories and connotations associated with Muu Shubuun vary based on different groups of Buryats. An alternate spelling I’ve seen used is “Mu Shuvuu.” Possibly related to this is the character “Shar Shuvuu” (which means “eagle owl”), who appears in The Marble Nest during the “marriage” scene in the steppe camp behind the cathedral. In fact, a surprisingly high number of NPC characters in this DLC are named after birds.

The phrase used in the post to describe a seasonal festival, “dosoo ba beshē tēēhēē” is where I’ve devoted much of my research, with most of that research being from about a month ago. Only the third word in this phrase, beshē, appears as a kin word in the games as far as I know. However, we can use a method here that people in the Pathologic community have been using for years to figure out the meaning of kin words: Most of the steppe language in the game is based on one of many languages: Buryat mostly, Mongolian sometimes, Tibetan sometimes, and some parts of it also take inspiration from other languages of similar origin to these. A majority of the language seems to be based on Buryat, and many Kin words come straight from the language. A few words in the game seem to be made up entirely by Ice-Pick Lodge, and many are based on words from the aforementioned real languages but tweaked slightly, as if to indicate that the steppe language spawned from those languages but has some distinctive elements. To determine what this phrase means, I tried my best to dig into the languages and find parallels:

“Dosö” in Buryat means “inside”

In Mongolian “dooshoo” means “down”

In Mongolian “ba” means either “and,” “we,” or “sorcery”

In Tibetan, “ba” means “cow”

“Beshē” in the game’s steppe language means either “not” or “other”

The prefix “të-” in Buryat means “to transport”

In Mongolian the prefix “te'e-” also means “to transport”

As for the “-hee” part of the word, I have not found a single source that could tell me what it means. I’ve found several Buryat words that end in “he,” but I can’t seem to find a connection between them strong enough to suggest what it denotes.

Upon first seeing this festival mentioned, I believe I commented somewhere on the Pathologic subreddit that it might be the same one we see in the Kin’s camp behind the cathedral in The Marble Nest. While I’m not 100% convinced still, I also don’t doubt it that much. One interesting thing to note for any people that might wanna investigate this in the future is that I’m pretty sure what we see in the Marble Nest is the same thing that Nara and the Haruspex perform in the abattoir, as they both seem to happen on day 10, and if you look close you can see that Nara is the one that is cut open in The Marble Nest. Seemingly with the Haruspex gone, there is no one that knows the lines and so the ritual doesn’t go as smoothly as it could.

“Messages” Fyodor Vitin Post:

This particular Fyodor Vitin post is the third one, which if you know Ice-Pick Lodge certainly has some importance to it. The post is a series of letters and images, one depicting an Executor and one depicting Voronika Kroy, who's a minor character in Pathologic 2 and the main character in the Pathologic Feverish Feelings ARG. The letters detail how the recipient’s reports about Voronika Kroy have been seen and have started an investigation by the Federal Bureau. What’s most interesting to me are two things: the jumble of (Latin alphabet) letters in the bottom left, and the number used within the letters (the post-card letters in this case).

The number in question is “196-17-1” which is apparently the case number used for the Voronika Kroy investigation. This number will be more important later in relation to other clues. One interesting thing I've found is that the RGB value for 196-17-1 is a deep red.

The jumble of letters at the bottom of the picture is “eiamrucdvrturxoevecid”. It is 21 letters and can be divided up into chunks of 3 or 7 letters. 3 and 7 of course being Ice-Pick Lodge’s favorite numbers. Up until this point, it has been assumed that this is an anagram, and I have no reason to doubt that. It has already been pointed out in the Pathologic subreddit that the words “Executor” and “Corvid” can be found in the anagram, as well as the Latin words “Cura”, “Curare”, “Curari”, “Medici”, and “Vivam.” Credit for finding the Latin words goes to u/apostforisaac who is apparently studying Latin at university! Additionally, u/Own_Sympathy_9814 deduced a possible meaning by unscrambling the anagram and finding “MAVRUD + VERIDIC + EXECUTOR”, which they believe hints toward the answers lying in the Marble Nest (I wrote the entire Marble Nest section of this post before finding their post about that, so I do feel pretty validated by it). Many people have been approaching this anagram, like many other parts of the ARG, as if they have one right answer, and frankly, I just don’t think that’s in the style of Ice-Pick Lodge. I’ll quickly list out some words/phrases I found in the anagram and what they mean/how they could relate. I will also include words that have already been discussed, and they’ll be marked with a “*” so you don’t think I found them. Most of the ones marked with a * I won’t be discussing, as most have already been discussed extensively. I also won’t be discussing the ones that I think probably don’t have much meaning, but I’m including them because it still could be something later on down the road.

I am You don’t actually even have to unscramble the letters to get this one, as the second, third, and fourth letters of the jumble simply spell it out. What's interesting is that the 7 "I am" discourses are a crucial part of the Christian Gospel according to John. The Gospel according to John was an important clue during the Feverish Feelings ARG, which revolved around Voronika Kroy and her Inquisitor father, Peter Kroy. If we're speaking of the four canonical gospels, we must also address the Gospel according to Mark, which coincidentally is the name of an inquisitor that has popped up elsewhere in this ARG. Following this theme, there is actually a non-canonical Gospel According to Peter, which seems too cool to be a coincidence.

Eve This is one you don’t have to unscramble also. Interestingly, Daniil is often compared to a snake, even being called a snake-man in Marble Nest by Shaazgai, a man belonging to the Kin. In the biblical story of Adam and Eve, it is a snake, often thought to be the devil, that convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Retroviridae The scientific name for a retrovirus. If I was more knowledgeable about biology I would say more, but this seems important.

Rex Iudaeorum Translating in Latin to “King of the Jews,” this was the inscription that allegedly was put on the cross that held Jesus of Nazareth, as detailed by 19:19 in the book of John. Very interesting as Daniil does compare himself to Jesus at least once in the Haruspex route, on the night before Aglaya comes. The Gospels, as discussed before, all detail the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The "19" connection is also interesting because of the inquisitor detail, and I'll talk about more of the connections to 19 later in the post.

Cardio Commonly used medically as a prefix for heart conditions, “cardio” is a Latinized version of the Greek “kardia,” which simply means heart. Heart imagery is very common and significant to the Bachelor.

Eva This is similar to the Russian version of Eve.

Corvid*

Cura*

Curare*

Curari*

Medici*

Vivam*

Mavrud*

Veridic*

Executor*

Order Could relate to the committee in The Marble Nest and the fact that after they’re replaced by tragedians the absurd order begins getting sent out to the orderlies.

Carex ericetorum This is a plant that would almost definitely be present in/around the Town on GorkhonThis is a plant that would almost definitely be present in/around the Town on Gorkhon

Creature

Marble Nest:

The Marble Nest, as we know, is very concise, only really lasting half a day in-game. Because of this, the dialogue does tend to feel a lot more intentional, as though the named characters are not necessarily speaking only to The Bachelor but also trying to convey a message to the player. This, of course, is because The Marble Nest takes place inside Dankovsky’s head. If this ARG will be revolving partly around The Bachelor, as it seems to be, then there’s no better place to start than digging into his head, which is why I’ve played so much of the Marble Nest for this.

There are several specific stories/myths/historical figures that are mentioned through Marble Nest. First, we’ll go through some of these.

There is a very interesting conversation that The Bachelor has with Georgiy Kain, where he is trying to justify his decision to lift the quarantine restrictions to The Bachelor, who is rather upset obviously. I’ll cut down and paraphrase most of the dialogue, since if I didn’t this would be much longer, but basically the conversation goes as:

[Georgiy introduces himself, and says he decided to let The Bachelor sleep so that he would have the strength to face the upcoming trial] [Daniil asks if Georgiy lifted the restrictions and let the plague into The Stone Yard] Georgiy: “Quite so. It's plain to me that you are on the verge of shredding me into pieces. But still your wrath. As a great Athenian once said, ‘Strike, if you will, but hear.’” Daniil: “Themistocles, I know. He met a rather gruesome end, by the way. Died of plague.” Georgiy: “No, it was Pericles. You are a learned man, but history is not your strong suit. Which is why you should listen to me. Perhaps it will help you see something that you missed in your previous studies.” [Georgiy then goes on to explain a bunch of other stuff about the plague, which as far as I’m concerned isn’t all that useful to the task at hand.]

I find this so interesting because The Bachelor, in his own head, poses a question to himself, gets it wrong, and then has another separate figment of his imagination correct him, and then proceeds to tell The Bachelor that he’s not great at history and should listen to Georgiy more. What’s even more interesting is that, as far as I can tell, Georgiy and Daniil are both wrong, it was actually Themistocles that said “Strike, if you will, but hear,” and it was Pericles that died of plague. I found this interesting enough to look into who Themistocles and Pericles were, and here’s what I found:

Themistocles was a politician and general that broke the mold by being non-aristocratic and populist, which gave him the support of the people but put him at odds with the nobles and some of his peers. He turned 30 in 494 BC, which qualified him to run for the position of Archon, which he did, and won the position the following year. He had a prominent rivalry with another politician named Aristides. Whereas Themistocles was populist, Aristides primarily fought for the upper class. Themistocles eventually 20the rivalry after Aristides was exiled. Years later, though, Themistocles himself was exiled, and while he was gone his enemies took the opportunity to charge him with treasonous activities, knowing he could not defend himself. Because of this, Themistocles could never return to Athens, and so found employment and a home among the people that he once fought against while serving Athens. Given military command once more, he was actually Themistocles who said “Strike, if you will, but hear,” and it was Pericles who died of plague. I found this interesting enough to look into who Themistocles and Pericles were, and here’s what I found: Pericles, to me, has less interesting things about him in relation to Pathologic, with the main two being that he rehabilitated the image of Themistocles and he died of a plague. What could be interesting is the fact that General Block and Captain Longin are in both Pathologic 1 and 2 often compared to Achilles and Patroclus, two Greek soldiers from ancient folktales, primarily known for being two of the most important characters in The Iliad. To me, drawing a connection between Achilles and Block, as well as Pericles and Longin, isn’t that absurd. What could also be interesting to note is that Pericles was the main character in a play written in part by William Shakespeare. While Themistocles' life almost exactly fits the character arc of General Block, down to the weird connection between him dying of the plague in The Marble Nest and Themistocles drinking bull blood (as well as Dankovsky thinking Themistocles died of the plague), I think how Pericles fits in could lie in the Shakespearean play, as we all know how important theater is to Pathologic. You see by now at least partially what I think this alludes to, but I’ll talk more about it in the additional notes section.

Next, I’ll discuss a mythical story brought up in the Marble Nest: The Tower of Babel. This is brought up by the clerks sitting directly outside Georgiy Kain’s house. I think most people would talk to these guys right before talking to Georgiy, but I have more to say about it so it’s written second. When talking to one of the clerks during their argument about the plague, one man mentions that he thinks The Polyhedron is at fault, and no matter how Dankovsky replies (he has 3 options), the man then says “History already knows an example of people trying to erect an impossible tower. It ended in tragedy.” I could go on explaining why I believe this guy is talking specifically about the Tower of Babel, this post is already long enough so just trust my reasoning here, please. Notable to the point I’m trying to make, one of the other clerks brings up that he thinks the plague was started because of the irreconcilable differences between The Kin and the town, and the fact that the Kin have been forcibly mashed into the town. When Dankovsky asks the man if something is holding the Kin in the town, preventing them from leaving and returning to the earth, the man says “Someone is… our rulers. They have embedded the steppe people into this town, carved them into its warm flesh. This isn't a town, it's an honest-to-God minotaur. A chimera. And chimeras have remarkably short lifespans and bad health. Can you breed a snake and a crane? You can, yes. But the progeny won't live long.” This dialogue is interesting for a few reasons, one related to the tower of Babel and two related to other possible ARG clues. The first interesting thing is that what he’s describing, drawing a connection between the Tower of Babel and the Polyhedron, actually makes a lot of sense. To him, the Polyhedron is not only an affront to God, but its accentuation of human hubris coincides with a beating down of nature and the earth, represented in part by most of the Polyhedron’s mass being concentrated far above the earth while also piercing the earth’s heart. The story of the mythical tower, to oversimplify it, is essentially a tale of people from many different walks of life all coming together to construct a giant, seemingly impossibly tall tower in order to avoid the possibility of a second biblical flood destroying most of humanity. God sees this attempt as an affront to both him and the natural order, and so before the men are able to finish the tower he divides them all by making them speak different languages, making it impossible for them to understand each other. So, in this second clerk’s interpretation, the plague is a result of the town both rebelling against/abusing nature and also taking the Kin into itself. Unlike the first man, who believes the tower itself is at fault, this second one believes it’s all because of the town making itself into a “chimera,” which he believes cannot live long. What’s clear to me, though, is that although these men believe they disagree, their explanations complement each other very well, which brings us to our third man, who has a rather simple but somewhat confusing explanation. This clerk believes that this plague occurred in the town because men should not be “remodeled or altered,” and when asked what that has to do with the epidemic he replies “I don’t know… It wasn't we who designed the world like this. I believe in men, Doctor; in superhumans, I do not. This earthly life wouldn't fit them. Immortals have no place in the world of the living. This is just how it works. Take from it what you will.” This man seems to be implying that Simon Kain, the immortal man, is the reason why this plague appeared in the town. This is when it all started to come together for me: these men's stories do really all complement each other, because here they are posing the Polyhedron, chimera, and Simon as all the same. This will further be explained in the additional notes section. Three parts of one whole if you will.

Now, the mention of the Tower of Babel is interesting for two other reasons, one of which will be discussed in the additional notes section and one of which I’ll discuss here. In the Fyodor Vitin “One can work here” post there are numerous items displayed in the room pictured, but perhaps most interesting to me is the golden bull statue that sits at the front and center of the photo. My first thought when seeing that image was “Oh! This reminds me of the biblical story of the golden calf statue, which I bet is what they’re referencing.” For those who aren’t familiar, I’ll be oversimplifying another biblical story now. While trekking from Egypt to the holy land, Moses leaves his people behind to climb to the top of a mountain and commune with God. Moses is gone for forty days, upon which the people are fearful that he will not return, and so they molded a calf statue out of gold to worship. God, upon seeing this, sends Moses down to the base of the mountain to punish his people for their sins. Moses burns the golden calf in a fire, ground it to powder and water, and forced his people to drink it. He then killed all of them basically. My thought process was related to the fact that The Bachelor is punished severely by The Powers That Be for his own affront to God, the pursuit of immortality. Now, after that previous discussion about the Tower of Babel, I am noticing some very interesting things in this picture, and primarily that there are two other related statues. Now that we have the previous context about The Tower of Babel and the clerks in our mind, we can see new meaning in these statues: a black statue of a centaur, and a white bust of a man. The interesting thing about the centaur should be obvious, it is another chimera. The bust of the man, which seems to be made of marble, reminded me somewhat of ancient Greek statues that are chiseled to glorify certain leaders and make them seem somewhat perfect while also immortalizing them in stone. You can probably see the connection I’m making here, and so I will leave the rest of the explanation for the additional notes section.

Another thing that's interesting to note is the aforementioned three men, unlike most characters in Pathologic 2 and the Marble Nest, do not stop moving when you pause the game; their animations continue to play even after you bring up the pause menu. If you’re unaware, there is actually a small detail in Pathologic 2 where pretty much everything nature-based or that is a natural force of the world, as well as everything that’s supposed to be seen in a meta-narrative sense, does not stop moving when you pause the game. This includes rain, leaves falling, the particle effects that come off the clocks, fire, executors (not orderlies), plague particles, etc. Once I noticed this (while trying to get a screenshot of some things to analyze) I tested out some other NPCs in The Marble Nest, and all of the other people I tested seemed to freeze when the game was paused. However, this is not to say that no other characters in the Marble Nest move when the game is paused. I only tested about 4 guys besides the primary trio we're discussing, mostly just to make sure it's not a thing that all Marble Nest characters do. If one of you people reading this would like to go through and see which characters in The Marble Nest also possess this trait, it could prove fascinating.

Finally, I’ll talk about two somewhat modern (at least modern compared to the previous two) stories that are brought up in The Marble Nest, although not directly: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. Admittedly, I have not read either of these stories (it’s possible I read the EAP story 5-6 years ago and just don’t remember it), but I do actually know quite a bit about the stories and their themes from a couple of literary studies on specific genres I’ve done over the years. Additionally, for this section, I have done some more research on the plots and themes of these stories which yielded fascinating results.

The Time Machine is brought up when The Bachelor visits The Cathedral and speaks to a Tragedian standing within. The Tragedian talks about how the building is not a temple, but a machine. Daniil asks what kind of machine, and The Tragedian responds “This is a time machine. Time works differently on the inside and on the outside. It's frozen now. I think something's broken.” To which Dankovsky can say “A time machine? Are you saying it can transport me to the past or to the future? Like in that Englishman's book, what's his name…” For this, I did some research into what book he could be referring to, and almost instantly Time Machine stood out to me for a number of reasons. I think there might be something interesting to be said about how this relates to the ARG, but I’m not going to be the one to say it, because I’m honestly not sure how or if it does. I will describe how it connects to Pathologic though, in case that sparks anyones mind. The work is apparently seen as popularizing the idea of time travel and the time machine, which relates to what IPL has said about The Bachelor’s route I suppose. As for the plot, it’s about a Victorian man using a time machine to travel to the year of A.D. 802,701. He meets two races of people, one descended from the oppressed working class and one descended from the pampered owning class. Over hundreds of thousands of years of this lifestyle, the two races have started to diverge, with the owning class becoming child-like and basically useless, while the working class has been forced into a life of toil and hardship which has shaped them into a race of underground-dwelling animalistic race of people. Essentially the novel is a depiction of class struggle and the class contradictions inherent within capitalism, but with a bit of a metaphorical twist. The toiling of the working class underground is what allows the upper class to live in abundance without the need for work. There is very interesting commentary here to be made on the worms/odonghs in the game, as well as the eternal youth that is present in some elements of the stone yard, but this isn’t a Pathologic essay, it’s a Pathologic ARG essay.

The Masque of the Red Death is alluded to by The Bachelor in a dialogue with a wandering citizen, who opens up the conversation by saying “A masquerade ball will be held in the main square this evening. People want to celebrate our victory over the sand pest. You don't mind…?” To which The Bachelor has 3 possible replies, one of them being “I seem to vaguely remember a rather famous story about a masquerade held to celebrate a victory over a plague. Remember how it ended?” To summarize, The Masque of the Red Death is about a group of noblemen taking refuge in an abbey to hide from a plague (the plague is known as the Red Death). The plague’s symptoms are gruesome, and all people who contract it apparently die within a half hour. The main character, Prince Prospero, and his fellow noblemen believe themselves to be entirely safe, though, as they have welded shut all the doors and isolated themselves in the abbey. To entertain the guests, the prince holds a masquerade ball that takes place in seven of the rooms of his abbey, each colored differently. The first six rooms are blue, purple, green, orange, white, and violet, with the last being black and illuminated by a red window. No guests venture into the seventh room, as they are all scared to enter it. Every hour a clock in that room chimes, upon which the guests freeze and go silent momentarily, before resuming normal activity once the chiming stops, only to do the same thing after an hour. Once midnight comes, a person appears in robes covered in blood and resembling a funeral shroud, wearing a mask that depicts a person clearly infected with the Red Death. This figure walks through six of the chambers before the prince starts chasing them with a dagger. Confronting them in the seventh room, the prince immediately falls dead upon seeing this person’s face. The other party-goers all charge the figure, stripping them of their clothes and mask, only to find that there is no one underneath. The conclusion of the story states that the figure was not a person, but rather an embodiment of the Red Death. The Red Death also appears as a reference in the novel The Phantom of the Opera, as well as several film and musical adaptations. The titular phantom dresses up as The Red Death, and in many adaptations wears a skull mask as part of the costume.

I believe Hamlet is also brought up at some point in The Marble Nest, but I can’t seem to find the dialogue so I’m unsure if that’s true.

Next, I'll talk about another random Marble Nest clue

The Bachelor’s hover text for the beetle item says “I used to collect these as a kid. Left the collection with my father.” @pseudoquiddity found that a paper on the top of “The Beginning” Fyodor Vitin post spells out Mechnikov, which is almost definitely referencing Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, who was a Russian zoologist and immunologist who achieved incredible scientific discovery during his life, and notably for us he was largely focused on the issue of aging and extending human life. Mechnikov was actually brought up in an IPL teletype post as one of the Bachelor’s main influences scientifically, alongside Albert Einstein and Max Planck. The relevant thing about Mechnikov here is that, as a zoologist, he did many notable studies on insects throughout his career to see how their bodies reacted to things compared to how ours did. One thing that’s interesting to me is that the type of beetles we see in the game, I believe, are based on Trypocopris Vernalis, commonly known as the spring dumbledor or spring dor beetle, which is not known to inhibit the region that the Town on Gorkhon would reside in. Another thing I find interesting is the touch text from the Alpha version of the game, which reads “Some fifteen years ago, the Soul-and-a-Halves, the gang of children who are defined by sharing special bonds with their pets, actually considered to allow flower chafers as their "Halves" due to the beetles ‘looking as though they knew something’. The idea was quickly abandoned as ridiculous.” Maybe I’m just 8.6 thousand words into this post and have finally gone insane, but I think the beetles “looking as though they know something”, combined with their close connection to Dankovsky, it seems too intentional.

In the “Feverish Feelings” ARG, the Beatles (the band) were brought up indirectly and used by the players as a clue to get more information. This also related to the clue relating to the Gospel according to John. Additionally, speaking of Mechnikov, u/Fantastic_Advice5593 theorized that the numbers on Daniil’s train ticket from one of the original ARG notes could be hinting toward the date May 15th, or 5/15 (15/5 if you use the non-American dating system I believe), which is Mechnikov Day, and is commonly recognized as Mechnikov’s date of birth. Proving this connection further, the “Messages” Fyodor Vitin post was posted on May 15th. Another interesting thing is that if we convert the time that the “Messages” image was posted to the time scheme used in Pathologic (that is, a 24-hour clock), it comes out to 19:35 (Using GMT+3 time zone, as that’s where Moscow is located.) This is interesting because “Messages” was also posted 19 days after the previous post, and I know for a fact that 19 is an important number in this ARG: The newspaper from the “The Accident” post was labeled as issue number 19, the bible passage that we saw referenced in the anagram from the “Messages” post is John 19:19, the jumble of letters that we found in the touch text for the unused lantern item includes “19,” and so does the 196-17-1 number from Messages. In a way, the number 19 is sort of a self-checking method to substantiate some of the clues we’ve found thus far.

Griffins’ Tower

Many of the details in this section wouldn’t be possible without @kurury-chan who, upon my inquiry about the tower and its accompanying pharmacy, actually visited it, got tons of cool pictures, and translated a ton of the history for me! I literally cannot thank her enough for her help with many elements of this post, but especially in this section. In the original Pathologic ARG, “Feverish Feelings,” the Griffins’ Tower is brought up a couple of times throughout, and was part of an intensive fandom discussion because many elements of it paralleled many themes and plot points of Pathologic. The following connections/possibly related facts are a combination of fandom discussion from the time and my own research:

The tower is connected to a pharmacy that has existed since the 18th century. Both were once owned by the Poehl family, who were a rather eccentric yet somewhat mysterious rich family. Rumors from the time (The 18th/19th century) speculate that members of the family engaged in “…alchemy and witchcraft, and in the basements of the house he turned mercury into gold and bred griffins. Since ancient times, it was believed that griffins, mythical creatures with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, were the guardians to secret sacred knowledge and treasures.”

In 1994, the artist Alexey Kostroma, together with the society "Here and There" (Tut i tam), organized a demonstration/art-piece to advocate for the preservation of the tower and the revitalization of the city, which they believed was falling apart before their very eyes. During this demonstration, they hoisted a large egg (approximately 1.5 meters) onto the top of the tower, and they painted (I’m not sure what was used to put the numbers on the tower, but I assume it was paint) numbers on almost every brick of the tower. While the purposes for the those two additions rarely get brought up in conversations surrounding it, the egg and the numbers are now some of the most well-known parts of the tower, despite the fact that neither of the two are there anymore. The Polyhedron, as we know, is a tower that at the top houses children and is made from its own complex blueprints. Additionally, in the Marble Nest, but also throughout Pathologic as a whole, there is a common piece of imagery that connects eggs and the Utopians. In the opening of The Marble Nest, the item that’s used on the loading screen is an egg. If you look at the egg sprite in P2, you’ll see a crack in it that heavily resembles the Polyhedron. Daniil Dankovsky commonly uses the Latin phrase “ab ovo,” which means “from the beginning” but when literally translated means “from the egg,” and his touch text for the egg in Marble Nest reads “To understand anything, start ab ovo — ‘from the egg.’”

While playing through The Marble Nest several times for this ARG, I noticed something that gave me more confidence in The Griffins’ Tower playing a role in it. If you guys have played Pathologic as much as I have you’ll know there’s a tower in between the Stone Yard and the steppe that you can’t enter and is barely ever really explained. If I’m picking apart my brain correctly for Pathologic 1 knowledge, I believe it is implied to be a Focus of some sort. If you’ve only played Pathologic 2, or you haven’t played through The Bachelor’s route in P1 enough, or you haven’t read through the Pathologic “Corpus” entries, you probably have an incomplete idea of what a “focus” is and all that it entails. I won’t go too deep into it now, but it’s said in one of the Corpus entries that, on top of the Polyhedron, Cathedral, Stillwater, Crucible, etc., there were a number of experimental Focuses that were built for Simon Kain to test the limits of what buildings could capture the human soul and memories. It’s a building you can’t ever enter, but it does have a visible door, which is very similar to the way that Simon’s focus is described by Victor Kain. I’d like to draw your attention to the visual similarities between that tower and the Griffin Tower. I’d also like to draw your attention to the fact that, in the original design concepts of Pathologic 1 every character is associated with a specific animal, and Simon Kain’s is a griffin. What is a griffin? Well, it’s a fusion between two drastically different creatures, a lion and an eagle; a griffin is a chimera.

Interestingly, in 2005 (the year Pathologic came out) the pharmacy connected to The Griffins Tower was closed for a while because it became flooded with water while trying to extinguish a fire.

There is a photo in the pharmacy connected to the tower (which has now been converted into a museum about the history of the place and pharmacies in general) that depicts, during the early 1900s, the pharmacy sitting next to a theater called “Simpatiya” (Sympathy).

While @kurury-chan was on a tour of the pharmacy/museum she found an interesting marmite that was on display. It was created by Samuel Clarke and it’s called “Pyramid,” and the marmite has an accompanying poem: Когда ночи темные, подумайте о Кларке, который попал точно в цель. Его ночные огни создают светлые ночи, в которых вы прекрасно видите. (When the nights are dark, think of Clark hitting the mark. His night lights create bright nights in which you can see perfectly) This is interesting largely because the poem reminds me somewhat of the body text for the lantern ad found in the newspaper post.

In the original email mentioning the Griffin’s Tower, Voronika Kroy appends the message by saying “P.S. I feel like I’ll need this memory later.”

Seventh Seal

I watched this movie after discovering all of the allusions to General Block we’ve seen thus far, but being unsure what to do with any of them. For those that don’t know, the movie The Seventh Seal’s protagonist Octavius Block has been listed as one of the main inspirations for Alexander Block, and since IPL seems intent on leading us to analyze certain works of literature/film/theater for this, I decided to look into it. What I found is incredibly interesting I think, because it seems that one of the main inspirations for The Marble Nest is The Seventh Seal.

The title is based on a bible verse (from the Book of Revelations) that reads “And when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” This verse appears both at the very beginning of the movie and then again toward the end. This thirty minutes/half-an-hour element appears prominently in both this story and The Masque of the Red Death. One other place it appears is on the pocket watch in the first Fyodor Vitin post, where the time on it is 2:30. I am very confident that it also appears in The Marble Nest once or twice, but despite looking I was unable to find it. If anyone else knows where it might be, either comment on this post or message me, and I will put it in this section and credit you.

The movie's plot revolves around Antonius Block, a disillusioned medieval knight returning from the Crusades. Block is struggling throughout the movie with his inability to believe in God and his realization that his whole life has been wasted. He wishes more than anything to do one last deed before his death to give his life meaning. The movie is set during the Black Death, with prominent elements of the story revolving around the plague. The movie largely focuses on how Block takes in several poor and out-of-luck folks fleeing the plague, inviting them to stay at his castle and escorting them along the way.

Toward the beginning of the movie, Death comes to take Block, but he convinces Death to play him in a game of chess for his life. This game of chess continues throughout the movie, with Death allowing Block to take several breaks in order to find clarity about his life and death. Toward the end of the movie, he allows Death to take his queen, effectively ensuring he would lose the game in the next turn, so that his companions could get away without Death noticing. After returning to his castle, everyone has a nice meal before Death arrives and takes everyone, excluding the people that Block helped get away by tricking Death.

Many things from Pathologic seem to take inspiration from this movie; most notable being the storyline of The Marble Nest (Dankovsky’s “People” screen categorizes people as chess pieces, essentially implying that his struggle against death is a sort of chess match), but there are also some smaller things. For example, there is a scene where the characters encounter someone afflicted with the plague who cries out for help, and one of the women tries to get closer to give the man water, but another person stops her, as giving water to a plague victim is futile and dangerous; almost immediately after this, a personification of Death appears. This heavily reminds me of the intro/tutorial of Pathologic 2, where a similar scene occurs.

While watching the movie, it’s very easy to see how Block was directly inspired by the main character, but it’s hard to convey exactly how without describing many scenes in detail, so I will simply describe one of them. After leaving a church confessional where he admits to his faith faltering and wanting to perform one meaningful deed before he dies, Block encounters a young woman who’s about to be burned at the stake for allegedly having ties to the devil. He takes pity on this woman, seeing something special in her, and believes she can tell him about life after death. This, to me, seems very reminiscent of Block’s storyline with the Changeling in P1.

Another small lead before this part of the post is finished: This lead, I will admit, I stumbled across completely at random, and will not talk about much because there’s not much I can say about it that isn’t obvious. It might be worth looking into the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov, and perhaps thinking about if Fyodor Vitin was based partially on him, since we know Vitin works closely with Daniil.

Additional Notes/Comments:

In the newspaper clipping, it is said that a man with the initials “F.L.” had been one of the apparent two victims of the fire that burned down several buildings. This man (who I’ll simply refer to as “F” from now on) is an academician, historian, and writer of everyday life, which obviously fits well with the man that we know as Fyodor Vitin, and it has been assumed up until this point that he was the victim of this fire. I think there are three possibilities here: Fyodor Vitin was not the victim of this fire somehow, Fyodor Vitin is not his real name, or the newspaper is lying to us. In connection to the light/lantern emphasis in the newspaper, it might be worth it to note that the word “vitin” in Faroese means something like “the lighthouse”/“the beacon”, while in old Swedish it means something like “to know.” What’s more interesting is that Vitin in old Swedish is a second-person plural present indicative, and for people that got a useful education, that means it’s a verb that’s used to factually describe the current actions of the people that the speaker is saying it to. If Vitin isn’t his real surname, his username could mean “Fyodor beacon”, or “Fyodor (that you all) know”.

As discussed extensively in the section on the Tower of Babel, there is a direct connection drawn between the Polyhedron, Simon, and chimeras. We elaborated a bit on this connection in the section on the Griffins’ Tower. What’s especially interesting then is the fact that, in The Marble Nest, the Polyhedron is labeled as “focus,” implying that Simon’s essence is infused in the Polyhedron, as is what happens in the first game. This, I believe, confirms our theory about the connection even further. What then makes this even more related to the ARG is the fact that in the “One can work here” post by Fyodor Vitin, we see the three statues depicting the golden bull, the centaur, and the marble bust of a man. It is then worth noting that this bust of a man made of marble could be a reference to The Marble Nest, perhaps trying to get us to look there for clues. I believe, if the golden bull is meant to represent the Polyhedron (or at least the Polyhedron argument in The Marble Nest), and the centaur is meant to represent the chimera, then the marble bust of the man is meant to represent Simon (or, once again, represent the Simon/immortal man argument from the Marble Nest). This is supported by my point about the marble busts both immortalizing men and also making them more into concepts than men (as the statue can only depict a small part of a man’s life, usually depicting him in battle, leading a governmental position, etc). In the original game, and as can slightly be seen in hints of the second game, Simon is sometimes seen as more of a concept than a man; he is the ideology of the utopians incarnate, the perfect man that represents everything humanity could be. As a chimera is vital to Burakh’s quest, so too is it vital for Dankovsky’s (and it’s interesting to note that Burakh has the chimera revelation while in conversation with Dankovsky.) If the Marble Nest is used to represent the stone yard, or the “town” in its purest form, then Simon Kain is the marble man. It then becomes important to figure out where the “One can work here” picture is supposed to be depicting. I believe, if the statues there are supposed to represent all that we’ve said so far, the location should be representative of Dankovsky’s fight against death, and therefore I say it probably has to be Thanatica.

Now, as for all the connections with General Block, there are obviously many of them, from the Guglielmo Pepe hypothesis to the mention of Aristides/Pericles to The Seventh Seal to the whole “ash” thing, it seems far too much to be a series of coincidences. I don’t think it’s too crazy to connect the prominent appearance of the number 30 in the Block/Pepe/Aristides context to the prominent appearance of the number 30 (as in half an hour) in The Seventh Seal, which makes the appearance of the number 30 in that first Fyodor Vitin post even more interesting. It’s long been theorized that, from what we see in the Haruspex’s route and what we’ve seen in Pathologic 1, the Bachelor’s new route will probably feature General Block much more prominently. Perhaps, as the first ARG was so focused on the inquisitors, we’ll also get to learn more about the army in this one. Maybe General Ashes even had something to do with the building that was reduced to ashes?

The topic of religion, and specifically Christianity, comes up a lot in The Marble Nest. I think all the connections I’ve made in this post to Christianity have convinced you that it’s seemingly an important part of this ARG. In the first ARG, there were certain biblical passages that acted as clues, specifically from the Gospel according to John, which we talked about in the section on the “Messages” post. As is also mentioned in that section, the connection to Inquisitors Peter Kroy and Mark Karminsky seems to be driving us toward looking into The Gospel according to Peter and The Gospel according to Mark. It’s also talked about in that section how these both relate to Daniil. Mark Karminsky specifically also seems to have had something to do with the "Accident" mentioned in the newspaper, and so perhaps combining numbers from the newspaper within the Gospel of Mark could lead to some clues.

Still, as much as I’ve said in this post, there is more I wish to analyze but have not yet. This post has been in the works for a while, though, and I don’t want people to be waiting any longer, so I’ll have to save that other stuff for another day.

If anyone can somehow get into the game files of the Marble Nest and retrieve the texture/model for any of the letters or books (like the two linked images), that will end up being very helpful.

Other screenshots from Pathologic 2/The Marble Nest that could be of interest:

Grigory Gorky (Pathologic 2) Grigory Gorky (The Marble Nest) Mikhail Goba (The Marble Nest) Daniil Death Certificate (The Marble Nest) Rug (The Marble Nest) Book (The Marble Nest) Familiar Bloody Handprint (The Marble Nest) Tipped Over Lantern (The Marble Nest) Staff Sergeant Plover (The Marble Nest) Avrely Gubar (The Marble Nest) Odd use of Roman Numerals (The Marble Nest) Cathedral Letter (The Marble Nest) Plant that I found several times in the Cathedral (The Marble Nest)

#pathologic #pathologic 2 #pathologic arg #daniil dankovsky #мор утопия #Bachelor ARG

[angelprinz]

laveennn!! I missed u smm:(( it's me! 💌 anon again hehehe..sorry I didn't send asks for the past 2 months,my phone broke:((( anyway,I have a new ask ofc!<3

pervert!discordmod!xiao who saw u post a photo of urself in the "face reveal!" channel,my god,he fell inlove right away. he didn't even see your body but your face was so cute ! that's when his stalking came in! he has ur number,insta,snap,whatever social you have!! he stalks you daily,he knows your passwords,people you talk to,the people you text,your classmates,everything!

pervert!discordmod!xiao who thought having ur socials wasn't making him satisfied..so he simply hacked ur phone! now he can see ur photos,videos,notes whatever! he has every photo of you,but sadly you dont take nude photos so hes sad:((( but its fine,he has pictures of ur body to masturbate to!! he always has his imagination too<3 hell,he even writes down his own fanfics,from him to later read!

pervert!discordmod!xiao who pays artist to draw you,and it's not wholesome. he has drawings of you in a maid outfit,bunny outfit,lingerie(all colors hehejshss),face covered with cum,him fucking you,slutty outfits,and even more stuff!(that cant be named..for reasons)

pervert!discordmod!xiao who finally got your address! it's not far from his,so its perfect! now he can stalk u irl<33 he watches you sleep,eat,change your clothes,take showers,go to school,go out with your friends and pretty much watches your every move<33 he even set up cameras all over your house so he can watch you all the time! he takes photos and videos of you changing and taking showers,for him to later masturbate and cum on his phone,or his computer screen<3333

pervert!discordmod!xiao who decided to kidnap you,hes not gentle either. after he got you all tied up looking pretty,he'll rip your clothes and fuck you right on spot,no he doesn't care if you wake up! he'll be happy u woke up,cuz now u can see how much he loves you<33 he's going to fast,and you're sitting here crying cuz hes abusing ur poor cunt!:(((( hes also not kind during the act,hes spitting mean and degrading words about how a filthy person you are,cumming around him and squeezing him so tight. you're enjoying this,aren't you huh? you wanted this all this time,for him to kidnap you and rape ur tight cunt!<33 now,he has you in his hands..oh my,hes gonna have so much fun with you<3.

xiao hi I'm here pick me choose me love me pls abuse my tight cunt xiao !<33 I love xiao fr

- 💌 anon

when he stalks u and uses you like a little toy for all his wet dreams <3 xiao and his obsession with covering you in his cum, making sure your face is painted in white with his loads !!! he also loves making you cum around him, he touches your most sensitive spots and forces you to orgasm every time he abuses your hole!!! xiao's watched you for so long, he knows the weak areas of your body.

mr hacker xiao i luv him sm ! ty anon sm for this thirst hhhh

#💌 anon <3 #tw. dark content #xiao <3 #xiao smut #gi smut #genshin smut #genshin impact smut #genshin x reader #xiao x reader #tw. noncon #yandere xiao

[olderthannetfic]

People going to you to say they didn't like a book instead of just posting that in their own blog and blocking the rabid fans is so fucking sad to me. Is this where we're at? Instead of blocking the sea of lost teens and 20-somethings in the dark academia tag who try to use "dark academia" as a substitute for having to develop their own interests and hobbies, we're now going to whisper on anon, "I don't like this one book"? That's how scared of negative interaction people are? It's the dark academia fandom. They're morons. They don't even argue with you that The Secret History is good, they reply with your post quoted and emojis inserted inbetween every sentence and think they're big smarty smart-smarts who showed you, or they say you didn't get it. "The fandom is absolutely insane" by what metric? Speaking as someone who's been sent suicide bait, death threats, rape threats, pictures of dead animals, Holocaust pics and actual CSEM by other fandoms, if you're too afraid of someone replying, "wow lmao ur not smart like us u no get it" or spamming your original post's text with emojis, maybe you're not old enough to be on tumblr or be reading a book aimed at adults.

The fact that people are now so afraid of pushback that they won't even say they dislike something off anon is honestly really pathetic. This is like people on Reddit who say, "I wouldn't say this if I weren't deleting my account later today, but I don't like MCU movies." It's the same vibe and I have the same question: you know you can just block people if they cry about shit you say, right? I got sent a dead rat once by a Yandere Simulator fan and the police + a restraining order is basically blocking but for RL, but most people in the fandom for The Secret History aren't going to actually interact with another person. They don't even usually bother to write fic or make art for it, they just repost quotes from it with some pics they swiped off of Pinterest for it.

Those are the people who you're so afraid of that you can't even say, "I don't like a book" lest they hurt you. You're afraid of Pinterest moodboard makers who ask things like, "what religion is the most dark academia? I want to convert to that" with a straight face who think wearing a white button-down shirt and brown pants makes them the embodiment of wealth and class and quiet luxury.

As someone who's actually had interactions with crazy fans IRL - especially Star Wars fans, as they're almost all frothing at the mouth to rant about how much they hate Star Wars - I am happy to report that this is a survivable thing and not one you need to be so afraid of that you don't dare mention it for fear of backlash.

Speak freely. Block people. Move on. Their tears are embarrassing for them, not you.

--

I spent some time in anon spaces, and it felt like a nice break at the time... but I have to say, I really notice the difference now that I'm findable again. For all the shit that comes my way, a hell of a lot of people have tried to befriend me over the last few years. I wouldn't have met any of them if I hadn't been visible.

[ugh-yoongi]

who are some of the fic writers who've marked your experience on here? you don't have to tag, i'm just curious :-) btw if you have a rec blog we want innnn.

i had a rec blog. i wanted to be super organized and also include all the fic i've bookmarked & read on ao3 as well, but that amount of work seemed really overwhelming so i never did it. and then i never did anything with that blog at all, period, so i deleted it and just use my #fic rec tag here. :')

(def willing to share ao3 mxm recs tho if anyone wants any.)

the rest will probably get long and sappy and awful, so i'll put it under a cut.

@the-boy-meets-evil / @effortandmore / @hot-soop — the absolute best people i know. i am lucky to call them my friends. they are talented and endlessly supportive and patient and they only give me minimal shit when we see each other irl and it is not an exaggeration to say i would get nothing done if it weren't for them. i owe them so much. (going to add @bubbleteakittyy here too even tho she doesn't write bc she is also endlessly supportive and gives me minimal shit irl. love u.)

@yoongiphoria / @here2bbtstrash / @eoieopda / @sailoryooons / @gimmethatagustd / @monvante / @moni-logues / @here4kpopfics / @xjoonchildx / @axialitae / @jjkeverlast / @chryblossomjjk / @jimilter / @raplinesmoon / @beahae / @kithtaehyung / @theharrowing / @ladyartemesia (pretend you didn't see me sneak edit this bc i knew i would forget people and i know i still did after this too) @daechwitatamic / @quarter-life-crisis2 / @hoseokhasmyheartxx / @seokjinsonlyone — building a network here is hard and making friends is even harder, but these are all people i have interacted with in some way (sometimes a lot of ways and some more than others) that i appreciate endlessly and support always.

special shoutout to @ressjeon for real bc she was, like, the first person on tumblr to actually talk to me and put me in groupchats and help me make friends. :')

there are a lot of other writers on here whose work i adore but i feel weird tagging in smth like this just bc we aren't mutuals or don't talk that much or anything and i Overthink Things Like That.

another special shoutout to @jihopesjoint for being top 2 funniest people on this entire website and being the best even when i send her weird spongebob shit unprompted on discord.

finally, literally just anyone who has read my work. regardless of whether there was feedback or it was just a reblog, it still continues to blow my mind that i can write things and post them on the internet and there are people out there in the world that read it and sometimes even enjoy it. that's really weird and really cool and i'm not sure i'll ever really come to terms with it.

#is this weird? i feel like i'm being a weirdo lmao #jewel answers

[aropride]

earlier today i got curious if there were any irl groups for aromantics in my area (answer was no) so i googled it and the first result was a list of 37 groups on meetup.com tagged "aromantic". a lot of the titles didn't mention aromantics at all and only mentioned asexuals so i decided to count up which groups were actually for aromantics. i also decided to look at the locations of the meetings, because almost all of them were in the US.

under the cut because this post is really long! (post archive link)

Out of 37 meetup group names:

17 names mentioned aces but not aros

11 names mentioned aces and aros

2 names used the term aspec (one used the terms aro and ace as well, I counted it twice)

0 groups were primarily/only for aromantics

6 were non-aspec-specific LGBTQ meetup groups

2 didn't mention queerness in the group name at all (one is a volunteer group that's mostly queer, the other was a childfree support group that's explicitly queer-friendly, including aspecs)

(ID: a pie chart with 4 slices showing the above data, minus the ones that used the term aspec. the smallest pie slice is 5% and is for entries that were not queer specific, next is 16% and is for ones that aren't aspec specific, next is 32% for the ones that mentioned both aros and aces, and the largest slice is 46% and is for entries whose titles mentioned aces but not aros. a fifth color in the key, blue, represents groups that were primarily for aros, but there is no blue in the pie chart. end ID)

So I got curious as to whether aros were even included as an afterthought in these groups. as anyone with a normal amount of time on their hands would, I read through all 37 descriptions.

Out of 37 meetup group descriptions:

none were exclusively for aromantics

20 mentioned both aromantics and asexuals

14 only mentioned asexuals

3 didn't mention aros or aces (these were all wider LGBTQ meetup groups)

(ID: a pie chart with three sections showing the above data. 8% didn't mention aces or aros, 38% were ace-inclusive but didn't mention aros, 54% were ace- and aro- inclusive, and 0% were aro-specific. end ID)

Comparing the titles to the descriptions:

6 didn't mention aros in the title, but did in the descriptions

3 didn't mention aspecs in the title, but did in the description

1 mentioned aros in the title, but not the description

3 of the 37 groups mentioned alloaros

2 explicitly said aros are under the ace spectrum (which is not true)

Notes about the descriptions:

One group said they were “aromantic-friendly,” but their description said it was for "asexuals, demisexuals, and grey-asexuals". I counted it as not mentioning aromantics because aromantics were not explicitly invited.

One group said they were for “asexuals and aromantics,” but that it was a “safe space to discuss asexuality” and didn’t mention aromantics again. I counted this as the title mentioning aromantics but the description not mentioning us, because again, we weren't explicitly invited.

One group counted intersex as an asexual identity. I don't even know what to say about that except that it's just... wrong. And shows the leaders know nothing about asexuality. I am so exhausted. The same group said aromantic is under the asexual spectrum.

One group used the term “Aspec” but didn’t clarify who that included. I’m assuming they meant aces and aros and counted it as such.

Locations:

29 of the 37 groups were in the US.

2 were in Australia and 3 were in Canada

The other 3 were in India, Singapore, and Germany, respectively.

here's the map i'm using to define the regions, i did not make it so if u disagree take it up with the bureau of economic analysis, not me

(ID: the US Bureau of Economic Analysis regional map, which divides the country into 8 regions: New England, the Mideast, the great lakes, the plains, the southeast, the southwest, the rocky mountains, and the far west. end ID)

amount of groups in each US region:

New england: 2

Mideast: 5

Southeast: 6

Great lakes: 0

Plains: 2

Rocky mountain: 2

Southwest: 2

Far west: 10

groups in non-US locations:

Canadian locations: Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, Hamilton ON

Australia locations: Melbourne, Sydney

India location: Kolkata

Germany location: Kassel

Singapore location: Singapore

(ID: two maps, showing the same points in various different colors. one is zoomed in on the US and a small fraction of canada's southern border, and the other shows the world map. the groups in the US and Canada are almost entirely clustered along the east and west coasts. there are two in australia, one in singapore, one in india, and one in germany. end ID)

i've made a map (link) of all the meetup entries and their locations, color-coded by how aro-friendly they appear. green means aros were explicitly invited in the title and the description, blue means aros were mentioned in one but not both, and grey means only aces were mentioned. pink are for general queer meetups, yellow is for not specifically queer but queer-friendly events, and red is for entries that conflated aromanticism and asexuality.

a quick search for different aro irl groups didn't bring up much more but it did bring up aromanticism.org (run by AUREA, the aromantic-spectrum union for recognition, education, and advocacy), which has a list of aro-specific groups, and aspec groups in general. there are 36 aspec groups, of which 3 have been confirmed to be explicitly aro-friendly. there are two aro-specific groups. it also brought up acesandaros.org, which has a list of 106 groups. around 34 have the word "aro" in the title. i'm running out of energy so i'm not going to go through them all but i'd bet the statistics would shake out similarly to meetup.com.

and to be clear: it's not bad that there are more ace-focused or ace-exclusive groups. and i don't think this is the fault of ace people, more the lack of visibility and education about aros. what's bad isn't that there are ace groups, it's that these groups are in the aro tag, while not being aro-focused or sometimes even aro-friendly, while we have no groups at all focused only on us in our own tag. and to be clear: it's not really about the tags, it's about aromantics not having our own spaces. i'm tired of aromantics being ignored and pushed aside in aspec spaces and the wider queer community. i'm tired of alloaros being ignored and pushed aside in aro spaces, in aspec spaces, and in the wider queer community. these are all places we should be able to feel comfortable in. they're places we belong in, and we should be able to feel like we belong.

i don't know. i wouldn't have been able to go anyway, even if there was something in my area, i can't drive and have no one to go with. but it would've been nice if i'd had the option. it'd be nice for anyone to have the option.

#text #data tag #also the bold is for emphasis and headers i hope its not too annoying #aromantic #aro #long post #I DID NOT MEAN FOR THIS TO GET SO LONG. SORRY. #i got. a little carried away. i love grpahs and data and maps forever yay

[radio-ghost-cooks]

oh gods im having thoughts abt a blorbo

okay so. despicable me 3. wAiT DON'T LEAVE YET I SWEAR IM GOING SOMEWHERE WITH THIS-

Balthazar Bratt (unfortunate name. sorry bro.) is so fucking trans coded. and overall queer coded. yes i'm being serious.

i was talking with one of the irl broskis and i realized that shoulderpads check off a lot of boxes for an 80s cis-passing trans guy.

for starters, it makes u look broader in the shoulders. you can see how that would be useful given how bio guys tend to have wider shoulders than trans guys.

plus if they're big enough, it COULD help hide the badonkadonks. the honkers. the bazongas. especially since binders likely aren't very good for the bendy supervillain lifestyle (lots of dance battles).

and shoulder pads are one of those miraculous style pieces that ride the line between stealth and passing, ESPECIALLY in the 80s!! a pretty popular style with women was oversized suit jackets with shoulder pads. combine that with the points above and you have a piece that reads as cis passing to those who know and trendy girl to those who don't.

on top of the shoulder pads, his whole villain origin story is puberty. that's basically every trans person's villain origin story.

and as for queer coded, well....

look at him.

they gave him only one earring for a reason.

#despicable me 3 #character analysis #but make it gay #balthazar bratt #is this just me projecting? #possibly. #gay? yes #transgender #and gay

[crplpunkklavier]

I'm rereading Exorcism (now that its finished! yahoo) and I love Kitty Poes sm shes such an interesting characterrr would you wanna tell me about your process for developing her? ig I couldve DMed you but I myself love a chance to rant publicly so here you go lmao. I am unfortunately only on chapter 14 (though I got further than that last time) so if you wanna be spoilery just give me a warning and I'll read it later >:3c

kitty my best friend kitty

i think i can go over this without any spoilers past chapter 14! you have already seen her big arc and i am sooo happy people liked her <333

so! i've never mentioned this to anyone before, but kitty is a bit of a riff off of one of my oldest OCs. when i was about 18, i was big into katekyo hitman reborn, mostly because i was even bigger into organized crime as a general topic. catalena foggia was the youngest of four, and after a rival family took out her parents and all three of her older brothers (you know, the sort of backstory you give people as a teenager) she very grimly stepped up to the throne.

now whenever i need a female character with a "hello, i Run This Place" air about her, my mind goes to catalena, who of course was called cat by all her friends.

and i knew that i wanted a character like that as klavier's manager. generally, whenever i get to make OCs for my aa fics, i try to make most of them women if they aren't already implied to be men by canon like the rest of the gavinners, since aa refuses to have adult female characters that don't die. the gavinners started out as a bunch of teenage guys, the music industry is tough as nails, LA is horrible..... nobody but cat could've done it, man.

the whole dutch connection sort of happened on the fly. i knew i didn't want to call her catalena foggia, even if nobody but, like, the two irl friends i still have who knew me at 18 lol, knew of that oc. it was still important to me to differentiate, because this wasn't cat, this was a new oc who was very similar to and inspired by her. i remembered that kitty is a valid first name, so i went for that, because i like to think i'm funny. :^)

once you reach the end of exorcism, you'll find a little gdoc with bonus content i left in the end notes there, which among other things contains explanations for all the pun names i've used in the fic. including kitty's, but i'll reiterate here: the reason i stuck with a cat theme was that klavier gavin, in my mind, is absolutely a golden retriever, so i wanted to give him a manager/babysitter who is a cat. a big cat. kitty is short in stature, but i mention her lion's mane of hair often enough in the text, so, u know.

that's also part of what i wanted her to be. yeah, she had to be tough simply for the industry and for the fact that she was managing teenagers for a while, but i also knew that i wanted to give klavier friends, and people in his life who really care about him, and will stick with him through all this. kitty is lawfully loyal: if she doesn't agree with something, she has no trouble walking out, but once she actually takes to someone like she took to klavier, she will be fiercely protective. i never mentioned her age, but i imagined her in exorcism to be somewhere in her mid to late 40s. she's seasoned, she's experienced, she's capable - she's what klavier deserves!!! that's what i wanted. kristoph and daryan are so painfully incompetent, when it comes down to it. klavier needs people in his life who know what they're doing.

so, i wanted a big little lion lady for my dog boy. i sort of just clicked through my various dictionaries for a while looking up different cat terms in different languages to see if any of them sounded enough like a last name, and that's how i landed on poes. only after that did i decide to make the dutch conundrum A Thing.

thank you for asking about her <33333 enjoy the rest of the fic, feel free to keep me posted about ur reading experience too :3c

#extraterezi #exorcism tag

[g-xix]

grace out of curiosity how morally wrong would u say it is to date ur teacher asking for a friend

😦😦

I'm a big believer in the fact that free will exists and that whilst I can give my opinion, you aren't obligated to listen or take my word for gospel or anything.

So erm...

I'd say it's pretty morally bad... There's worse things you could be doing ofc, but it's undeniable to act like dating a teacher wouldn't be bad

My main issues with it are that: -Age difference -Maturity difference -Power difference

Which are all super linked tbh

I know you probs came into the inbox looking for some sorta consolation or empathy maybe, and whilst I still respect u and don't think anything less of u (even as an anonymous speaker), it'd be a disservice to my personal morals to give you the green flag for this

Because dating older ppl in general, there's that age difference which is looked down in society, and obvi hard to maintain between couples because there's such differences in lifestyle holding either back from a 'normal' loving relationship

Then the maturity difference - if a teacher does have malicious intent, it's a lot easier for them to project tht onto you (assuming you're a minor/student) than someone their own age. Because they've had a lot more experiences as an adult, like - they've had autonomy for longer, they've got more experience with dating and real world society.... That difference in maturity does make manipulation, gaslighting, abuse a hell of a lot easier which is ofc not preferred

And that power difference. I think in England it's illegal to date someone with a position above yours or who has occupational power above you (correct me if im wrong, anon, and all others reading) - and that law's there in place to prevent coercion within the workplace, from a person of occupational superiority to inferiority. You know, such as preventing the boss telling a secretary that if they go on a date, that the boss'll promote said Secretary. Coercion in the workplace due to power differences. As a teacher, he has power over you in school/college/wherever, which doesn't make for the most ethical relationship considering if he wanted to turn things sour, he does have that power to do so.

Sooo overall? I wouldn't advise you go for it. At all. There's just too many possible things that could end up going wrong.

That being said, im very interested in how you've got into this situation. Is said teacher attractive to you in the fact that you wanna date them too? And is it genuinely romantic attraction or ru trying to smash your teacher?

I've seen this sorta stuff as book tropes n stuff but never really irl, so im quite morbidly intrigued if im honest

And whilst everything i've said is heavily biased against dating your teacher, i'll always be here to listen non-judgementally if u rly need to talk ab anything + rmbr everything i've said is just an opinion which you don't need to apply to. My only real thing 4u is to pls be safe and rationalise whatever you choose to do, Anon <33

#WAFFLE!! #not sure what other tags go for this post tbh

[sassenach082]

i'm curious: since mav is bradley's legal guardian (permanent, I assume) does that mean he's probably on shore assignments (or top gun, i guess) for the majority of his naval career instead of what he does in the original canon (quits top gun, never goes back to teach after that first time, presumably is on deployment a lot before he gets in trouble for something and gets put in the test pilot program?) that's an interesting prospect to me since it seems similar to a lot of pre-tgm fic, where mav just... like, stayed at top gun after '86, and never left, but obvi in most of that, he didn't have a kid to take care of. i mean, things probably change a lot after bradley... maybe cuts ties in the 00s?? if the pulling papers things still happens, but with all the family support and no mention of carole ever explicitly telling mav in the beginning about not letting bradley fly, i'm also curious how that plays out too since it's also probably v canon-divergent. and also — how do u think ice's career trajectory goes? ive seen many takes on how he got to compacflt lol

Hey nonnie! Whew, buckle up, I have a lot of thoughts.

They're going to be at Top Gun for a while, but they won't be staying there. Ice will come back later on, but Mav will be doing other things. This is going to be long and rambly so if you want to read (and aren't bothered by vague spoilers) more under the cut!

With wars coming up they're going to be shifted around back to active duty flying, particularly in Desert Storm. Mav figures out a way to make it work but he refuses to let Ice go without him, and Bradley gets it because he's a military kid. They also aren't going to always be together; actually, they spend quite a few years apart, which is going to hurt my heart to write.

They try to stick to the West Coast. I don't know how much you know about the Navy, but the two main hubs are San Diego and Norfolk, Virginia. In real life they shifted Top Gun out to Fallon, Nevada, but since in the canon of the movie it's still in Fightertown it will be staying there. Most Naval Aviators on the west coast are actually stationed at Lemoore, a base in the middle of California which is a bit of a shithole if my cousin Jay is to be believed, lol, while the east coast aviator hub is Oceania, Virginia. Aviators go through cycles of on a ship, leaving a ship, and then into fleet replacement training to go back on a ship. As soon as my cousin the aviator gets a good night sleep I'm going to pick his brain more about it. If anyone reading this is an aviator or knows one hit me up! I adore my cousin but talking is not his superpower. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Anyway to answer your question it's going to be a bit roundabout. IRL you have to have a plan for your dependents in case of deployment and Mav gets it figured out with Ice's help as for who will watch Bradley which will be a whole other can of worms but I don't think Mav or Ice are the type to watch their friends go off to war without them. I haven't fleshed it all the way out but Mav is going to CHOOSE the test pilot path, mostly because it keeps him close to Bradley, and he's going to be doing some special ops shit because in my brain that's literally the only reason the kids in the movie have no fucking clue who he is even though they've all been to Top Gun and walked past his picture EVERY DAY in the atrium, haha.

He's still Mav so yes he will still be pissing off Admirals.

As for Ice, I haven't figured out exactly how I want to get him there I'm still doing research. I do know that they have to command ships so at some point he'll get a carrier most likely because he's Ice and who the hell better to hand a carrier to, in my opinion. He leaves the sky fairly early in his career if you look at the whole span of it, partly because flying is something he loves but doesn't define him like it does for Mav, and this way he can keep Mav up there doing what he loves while he also gets to climb the ladder. It's a lot of politics which I hate so I'll be grumpy about having to research all that shit but I mean COME ON, it's Ice. Of course he gets a fucking Fleet. I also headcanon that the Joint Chiefs are beating his door down and he's just like that Obama eye meme saying THEN PERISH because he likes being able to go to the ocean to escape them.

Anyway back to the Navy, not sure if you or anyone who is into Top Gun knows this, but Ice is quite literally AS HIGH as you can go in the Navy. There hasn't been a Fleet Admiral (with the five stars) since Nimitz died in '66 and has only ever been held by four dudes: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey Jr. (names you may recognize if you know your WWII Naval history but I digress). So basically four-star Admiral is IT, like that is the top of the ladder, unless you get asked to join the Joint Chiefs of Staff and work directly with the president. Tom likes to be in charge of things so I think the Joint Chiefs would be hard for him - they have no direct control over the Navy at all and it's a desk job in Washington D.C.

Maybe one day he could become the Secretary of the Navy, but I don't know if I can see Tom doing that, tbh. They have to be 5 years removed from military service at minimum. So I dunno. Still up in the air as far as Tom! Right at this moment he's being an asshole on an aircraft carrier in 1987, so there's that.

#sassy answers asks #i'll ride au #vague spoilers under cut #it's just about where mav and ice's careers are headed #nothing super specific #and i haven't decided most of it yet anyway lol

[bluemooniegif]

besides bungo stray dogs, can u rcm me some manga having thought-provoking theme like that

ABSOLUTELY I CAN!! here are some manga, book and movie recs for you, cause I couldn't help myself :>

MANGA RECS:

1: The Case Study of Vanitas (Vanitas no Carte)

I knowww it's a cliche that BSD fans must also enjoy VNC, but it's genuinely just AHH so good!! it currently sits at 62.5 chapters (10 volumes & 9 uncollected chapters) and it has a 2-season anime adaptation. it's the second manga series by Jun Mochizuki, who's also well-known for her series Pandora Hearts, and is still ongoing.

set in 19th-century France, our story begins with Noe, a young vampire, who's excitedly travelling to Paris for the first time. in his travels, he encounters the strange and enigmatic Vanitas, a human who somehow possesses the power of the Vampire of the Blue Moon- a feared being shunned by the rest of the vampire world.

we learn from the very beginning that Noe is recounting this story to us, and that he kills Vanitas with his own hands- but why? how? nobody knows, but we're bound to find out!

2. Attack on Titan

I doubt anyone was expecting me to mention this one, because it has quite a reputation for being gore-filled and action-packed, but when I say this literally changed my life I'm really not kidding (I wouldn't have this blog or be into anime at all if not for AOT!). it's a completed story, with a four-season anime (including 3 OVA episodes) and 139 manga chapters (in the main storyline; there are multiple spin-offs and 2 bonus mangas/light novels).

many years ago, the final remnants of humanity were forced to flee into a city surrounded by three giant walls. these walls are the only things keeping humanity from perishing at the hand of the titans, giant humanoid figures who hunt and eat them. but a young boy, Eren, wants nothing more than to see the world beyond the wall- until a titan taller than their walls breaks into the city, throwing humanity (and Eren's life) into disarray.

though it's true that a large chunk of this animanga is action, the lore is incredible. I can't say too much without spoiling, but the thought-provoking aspects aren't talked about nearly as much as I think they should be. once you've finished watching or reading, I highly recommend you watch this video, which is one of my favourite video essays of all time!

BOOK RECS:

1. Slaughterhouse Five

this is one of my favourite books of all time, and it's only 177 pages, so it's a super quick read! not only is it severely anti-war, but it's deeply though-provoking. I think about it every day. I quote it regularly. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone, especially now, with everything happening in the world.

I honestly don't have words for how much I love it, so here's the synopsis on Goodreads:

Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller - these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. Slaughterhouse 5 is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.

2. No Longer Human

there are so many editions of this, and I would recommend all of them- this is my other favourite book of all time, by the way. I may be barking up the wrong tree when I tell a BSD fan to read Dazai, one of the most accessible and relatable Japanese authors for a Western audience, but hey, I've got to remind you just in case you haven't given it a shot.

No Longer Human follows the life of Yozo Oba, a boy born into a big rich family, who constantly feels at-odds with the world around him. it's an exploration of mental illness, social isolation, self-expression, and compassion. I actually have an entire youtube video talking about it and how BSD-Dazai reflects Yozo as much as irl-Dazai, and it's my pride and joy so please go watch it!

MOVIE RECS:

Okay, I only have one rec for you, but this movie haunts me (in the best way possible):

Forgotten (기억의 밤)

I really need more people to watch this actually because holy shit it was amazing and nobody talks about it!! WATCH IT!!! PLEASE!!!!

Jinseok watches his brother get kidnapped right before his eyes, and it powerless to do anything. 19 days later, he returns, and... something is different about him. Jinseok is determined to uncover the mystery surrounding his kidnapping.

the twists in this are actually insane. I can't tell you anything aside from the synopsis without spoiling major plot points. if you only take one recommendation I bed you to take this one.

okay that's all bye!!

#asks #bsd #manga recs #book recs #movie recs #no longer human #slaughterhouse five #the case study of vanitas #attack on titan

[chryblossomjjk]

bts fic recommendations | 01.10.23

→ hi friends! this is a little segment i do every tuesday (reviewsday get it, aren't i funny, pls tell me how funny i am) where i read and review two-three fics. as a content creator, i know how big of a role other creators play in your growth, therefore, i want to do my part in making sure everyone gets the recognition they deserve! so with that being said, please check out the amazing fics listed below. make sure to like, reblog, and leave feedback! ♡ #reviewsday #kikirecs

pina coladas (pt 1 + pt 2) - @han-nah-banana (jjk x reader | established relationship, smut, angst, fluff)

ok so um... the attention to detail is off the charts! like when the little things you mention about jungkook and oc, like them eating healthy foods, only having sex in the missionary position, etc. tells us so much about them and the status of their relationship. like you showed us that they were stuck in a boring, mundane relationship through little hints and i really love that. ALSO POV SHIFT IN PART ONE WAS SO GOOD! like the way their thoughts mirrored one another was such good storytelling ugh!!! also think you picked a great setting for this type of story, the 80s. it makes everything feel so real, like the sexual repression oof! so glad they got to bang it out in the sexiest way in pt 2! really really good for your first fanfic like WOW! loved it!

i can do better - @here4btsfics (pjm x reader | fwb, smut)

summary: your boyfriend of two years just dumped you and you’re angry and sad. so get hammered with your coworker at his place and eat bad food and watch trash tv which leads to some interesting conversations.

bro all you did is enforce my delusions that irl men cannot compete bc they are not park jimin. men should apologize for not being park jimin at this point. even kim taehyung... anywho lmao. DUDE and then oc listing all the things perfect about jimin. she is just like me fr!!! also like this is kind of how i picture jimin in real life ngl. THAT MAN IS A COCKY CONFIDENT DOM I WILL ARGUE THIS SHIT UNTIL IM BLUE IN THE FACE GTFO! and miss oc... no strings attached girl??? A WHOLE BLUFF. honestly, this entire fic is one of my daydreams when im in a lecture and i fucking loved every second of it bby! so so good. so glad you decided to start writing again, extremely proud of you.

darksided - @eoieopda (myg x reader | established relationship, smut)

summary: min yoongi adored you. he'd simply never hurt you.

i saw someone post about smut where the characters are so grossly in love is their fav genre. this is exactly that. this fic encompasses everything i love in fanfic. i felt like a fly on the wall, being dropped into the middle of the situation where i figure out who the characters are through their actions, words, etc. you do that so perfectly here. like the way i know everything i need to know about min yoongi through the FUCKING setting?? naur this is s tier writing right here. also there's just something you do with words thats v magical. can't put my finger on exactly what it is but here is an example:

"a quick survey of the landscape before you indicated that this was a criminal oversimplification."

LIKE IDK JUST SOMETHING ABOUT HOW YOU STRUCTURE SENTENCES IS GENIUS! like cannot even begin to describe how good this was. would die for this couple honestly. the smut had me clenching too OOF. so cool to see what you've accomplished on this platform in such a short period of time! it's so so deserved and i can't wait to see where you go from here. don't know how you can even get better than this like ur already at the moon um!!! but god it's only going to get better from here. like next thing u know u'll be a famous writer fr. wishing you nothing but the fucking best!!!!

#reviewsday #kikirecs #bts #min yoongi #park jimin #jeon jungkook #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts smut #bts scenarios #bts recs #jungkook smut #jimin smut #yoongi smut #bts fluff #bts jungkook #bts jimin #bts yoongi #bts imagines #bangtan #kpop #bts au #bts fic recs

[theragethatisdesire]

rageagainstdesire!!!!!!! how are you im going through withdrawal rn and i blame you!!!! for the ask game cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)? IM CURIOUS!!

HI SHEPNICOLO TEEHEHEHEHEHE for those of u who aren't clued in every time nicole pops in my ask box it literally just tickles me pink bc we are friends off of tumblr (but not irl...yet) so i just get the gigs

HEY NICOLE

cactus ⇢ something you’re currently learning (about)?

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ i am currently failing 100% to learn french, i guess you could say i'm "learning" about the game of thrones uni bc i was obsessed with the show and am currently reading the books to theorize about GRRM's ending, and i am currently re-learning plant care bc i bought some new, unfamiliar plants today!!!!! exciting!

i also plan to learn italian but you know me. 2,000 plans, very few results.

ask me anything! get to know me :)

#rage.rambles #shep.moot #i love nicole truly if you're not following her ur making a mistkae #she's the BEST! #ask games #about the author

[aleeyenn]

Hello aleeyenn! I'm the anon who requested and sent that message!

I had to make a whole account because I wanted to show you an image, but anons aren't allowed to do that, so I had to rewrite everything, so my apologies!

Also, my apologize if this is simply weird in general, I dunno if I should stick to Tumblr (since you did, you're the least active here) >.<

But I wanted to say, I'm incredibly happy and honored that my message meant so much to you! I'm really honored and soo hyped because you and your work really mean so much to me, as in your one of my biggest inspirations, so I was so excited to read that!! Thank you! Please keep drawing and creating. (Also, have you considered making full body refs for your gijinkas :o?)

I did want to gush and say why I love your Pin (and all your other gijinkas) and felt really seen. It's because of how unique and out of box the designs are that you rarely see with other designs, while still capturing the same personalities and aesthetic (and even shape sometimes) of the original characters.

But to be specific, thank you for making her super feminine and pretty, while keeping her punk side!!! >u<

Alot of other gijinkas design her in typical biker / rebel chick get up w/ a lot of metal spikes, which dose makes sense, because of her metal part on the top of her (and fits her tough leader role personality wise) a lot of also make her body type in an hourglass, which also makes since, since Irl pins are in those shapes.

But what I really appreciate about your design is that you went in the opposite direction! I love how you made Pin wear these big poofy clothes and aprons! It's not only an easy and unique way to reference the shape of an actual pin, but it highlights a side of her that I don't really see the fandom highlight all that often. Her love of baking, gardening, her being bit of caretaker and just an friendly and easy-going person. I also just love seeing blk and poc women just being so happy and being femmine, it's so rare to see that and makes me so happy.

But another small design choice that I can't over and that made me go over on the edge on the "omg she's literally me" train. Are her punk boots! I know it's there to show off how big and tall she is compared to her meow, but I really like the contrast! And still showing off a little of her and toughie side, that she doesn't mind getting dirty. I love you can show off that is a caring and soft person yet still commanding woman by just a design!

This means so much to me, because I didn't think I could consider myself part of the alt community, due to me being really femmine and plus sized, I thought I didn't really fit, but I think seeing your version of Pin made me realize that being "punk" means so many diffrent things, and I don't really have to be super thing and pale to order to be an part of that culture, and never realizing that I could be considered pretty

Also, I just love how you draw her with your version of Coiny, it's so adorable and again, it's amazing to see a happy plus sized girl being loved and adore by a guy, not be treated as joke., thank you so much

Thats all! My apologizes for going on lesbian and analytical mode on your inbox, I'm deeply sorry if I come across as weird, you probability were not thinking that hard or deep with your designs, but I just really admire of how all of them are breath of fresh air, I have known a specific person that looks exactly like one of designs in my family when I think about it!

I just want to say before I go, is that this what I specifically want to go out and cosplay as, as it's what totally made me single handedly self-confident that I could be pretty in the alt community when I so low on myself

I love this drawing of Pin so much, you have no ideal it meant so much, I know it's sound silly that a doodle affected me, but seriously, I thought I could never look fit in or look pretty in that aesthetic with my weight, interests, and skin

When I saw this and started really seeing myself in it, literally I went in my head "wow, if your Pin can look so beautiful in that, I guess I can!" and it somehow changed a lot of my perspective of me.

Thank you so much again aleeyenn! I'm currently getting started, thank you for making my entire year just by existing and drawing. Keep doing what you are doing and amazing work, and I hope you have an amazing new year!

I WOULDVE ANSWERED THIS SOONER BUT I WANTED TO MAKE A REF FOR PIN FOR YOU! but GAAAHHHH nobody has ever said anything like that to me before and it MEANS SOOOOO MUCH I CANT EXPRESS IT 😭😭😭 when i make humanizations allllll i want is for them to make people feel represented and confident in themselves and MY DREAM CAME TRUE!!!im like. genuinely so happy that you said all that and really analyzed her because i actually put a lot of thought into some humanizations i make and she was one of them… i feel like with a bunch of pin gjinkas they either make her super feminine or super punk without an in between and i wanted to make an in between because it’s what she needs .. nobody like really acknowledges both parts of her i feel like a lot of everyone sees her as a shy anxious girl or rude and cold person because they focus mostly on pre split bfb and that irks me … because shes really not just an anxious person she is a leader and blah blah blah but i really wanted to push every aspect of her into a humanization to make her recognized as herself instead of someone she’s not … but no more rambling THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND IM SO HAPPY MY ART MADE YOU FEEL THAT WAY 😢 you are so sweet and i’m literally over the moon that you like her that much and saw so much in her Like my design isn’t just a design it made someone more confident and accepting of themselves THATS SO CRAZY! thank you thank you thank you… i hope you enjoy these little drawings i whipped up i need to make more references anyway so this was a good head start… THANK HOUUUU and remember there’s nothing more powerful than embracing and being yourself and never stop doing that! YAYYYYY!

#tpot pin #ALSO THAT DRAWING…. ITS OLD ENOUGH TO BE EMBARRASSING #i remember making it i wanted to draw pin in an alt-ish outfit so i went on tt to look for one #i need to redraw it someday

[randomexistingthing]

I think you might be enfp (although its hard to tell online since u might be diff irl as i know my personality is diff lol) E-extroverted N-intuitive F-feeling P-perceiving Bassically you like talking to people (and gain energy from it), maybe a lil impulsive /notneg, generally energetic. And you you think abstractly+ find patterns (bassically a good imagination and you wouldn't have a hard time believing something you didn't see if it 'makes sense', idk how to explain anything well but i'll give a short example: You walk in the room and feel the vibe is off, you know the vibe is off without someone saying/doing anything and it's usually correct. You care a lot about how people feel and focus more on the individual rather than seeing people as a majority, you might also make decisions based on your gut or how you morally feel rather than logically (Not bad). You care about the 'harmony' of the group and want to make sure everyone is happy, althoug this may lead to gullibility and lack of self care, so take care of yourself please. People that are percieving are usually more flexible and adaptive, although they also tend to be less organized and more 'scattered' (not all but most). You might be an enfp-t (turbulent) but i'm not sure since that might be my bias (I'm intp-t) ((although i usually doubt everything lol)) idk tell me if it's accurate and about yourself so i can also get it better /nf

tbh I also think my personality is different from my irl personality ;-; not much, but there's a little difference ^^"

I feel like enfp would actually go with my online personality, but irl I'm more introverted :'D

And idk about the perceiving part...

BUT HOLY SHIT AM I THAT OBVIOUS?? THATS (MOSTLY) HOW I ACT IRL HOW DID YOU GUESS ALL THAT FROM SOME CONVERSATIONS WE HAD, HOW?? /Notneg. Impressive <:]]

And you are intp?

Introverted

Intuitive

Idk

Perceiving

? :o :D

(I'm now gonna do the long list about you here, not in a ask like I intended but the transition from topic to topic is just too good)

I feel like you care a lot about others, and frens. You are very nice! You also like sharing things, like songs :D you also like rambling about things, but feel a bit bad afterwards because you think you overshared. But that is not necessary, your rambles are always interesting to read! You also said you are a bit anxious.

You like psychology, not the 'how to manipulate someone', but the 'peoples disabilities'. (I could read too much into this now) but I feel like you are studying/ researching these topics in order to help those people, because you don't like watching others suffer from something they aren't deserving/ controlling. But when they deserve it, you don't know any mercy (this sounds so harsh I'm sorry but idk how to rephrase that TwT) and aren't scared of openly talking about wanting to 'ruin' them. (not negative, completely understandable). You even go so far to talk about murder. (maybe it was just a moment where you felt like that, and you can just ignore that part if you usually don't think stuff like that)

BUT I'm talking about wayyyy too much negative stuff. Back to being positive! :>

When you have a mutual, you care about them and their interests, you even ask about them and their creations! (Thank you so sooo much for the ask about thing btw) and you make them happy with that. You also have this up and down with emotions (but could also have been the period. ((when I'm on my period I cry over the stupidest things ;-;))

you are also very reassuring and give a lot if feedback, that's nice :) the tone indicators also show exactly how you mean something and leave no room for sad thoughts, like „what if they meant it like that and not this".

I have run out if stuff to say and I'm not creative enough.

I hope you enjoyed reading that (and I also hope I didn't bring your mood down because of the negative stuff :') :( I swear it's not that much actually it just came out as a lot)

#iamunabletothinkofablogname #fren #:333 #ask ^^ #((also long ramble from my side sorry about that))

[vermillioncrown]

just read ch. 7 of tpac! the whole time i was like "timmy, no." and then i was like "korvin no!" i mean, looking from the outside, stalker tim drake would definitely freak out korvin, but reading the chapter in tim's pov, it makes him sound so reasonable. and i could say the same thing about korvin when i read his pov in ch. 6 and how there's a reasonable thought process there. im not blaming korvin, but looks like he just escalated the situation, and im worried what tim and korvin end up doing.

love the moment tim concluded that korvin must be his replacement, and he seemed to have just went "ok. alright. makes sense. i'll be professional." it's genuine, but it also sounds like he's compartmentalizing there for a bit.

also, for the rest of the chapter, i was just going, "oh my god, just talk. someone tell stuff to someone! maybe, idk, ask?" while also cackling. the tendency of not telling people who care about you about stuff you probably should is very much a bat thing, i'll say.

gotta say tho, if i only had this chapter on tim's pov to base on, it wouldve looked to me that korvin fits in perfectly with the bats' in terms of a lack of communication skills. or is this just a mind game he's instigating? the usual paranoia? what was going on his head when he went for the flight reaction at the sight of tim as robin? and then pulling that usb stunt.

like. what kinda vibes has korvin been getting from tim for him to get to this point?

i shall answer morning (?) you and then later you (second ask)

=

yep thank u for seeing that if you take each pov as is, both tim and korvin may be squirrely in different ways but they both come from a rational starting point (which is what makes their particular type irrationality a slippery slope and super fun to write)

(and something to be mindful of irl, i'm def prone to anxious spirals but have the energy of a dried-out slug so i just ride the spiral to the end until it's so irrational that i go "lol okay there's a higher chance of a meteor striking my apartment dead on, calm down bitch" to myself. korvin has a lot of energy)

and tim wrt potentially being replaced "i guess so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ hahaha" he is definitely compartmentalizing and rationalizing

(i don't want to get into uwu tim sadboi territory bc i feel that's a slippery slope to take, but bro's not okay. it takes a type of childhood, parenting, and enabling to make tim drake.

but i hope readers can catch hints of that in his pov)

no one's fucking talking lmao who does that??? (real adults with emotional and social competency)

(people who aren't terrified of being vulnerable 🙃)

but like, think about it. if you're constantly trained to have a secret identity and always around people that do the same...you get used to not talking. very bat, like you pointed out. + so much more going on; someone left a very insightful comment on the chapter that had me kicking my feet in the air 🥰🥰

and yes, the final bit you've pointed out--to tim, this is like standard fare bat mindgame shit. or what the fuck is going on with this kid??? who reacts like that, to that extreme???

this will resolve next chapter, so hang on until then 😏 please do continue to speculate because 1) it's fun and 2) i really don't write things by accident (my writing's already bloated--i do a lot of excising and editing to keep to the point)

rereading tpac ch. 7 with a clearer mind than i was in the morning earlier.

i gotta say, one of the best things i love about your writing the most is how wonderfully flawed you write the characters. tim drake is a character i adore and it's a compliment when i say i wanna punch him in the throat with the way you characterized him. it's so fascinating to see korvin from the direct pov of someone korvin doesn't know well yet, like with dick's pov and with barbara, back to how he was before they bonded, and especially with someone young like tim and also tim being tim.

which! ofc they would clash terribly for the first time! ofc tim "no sense of personal boundaries" drake would simply absolutely rub korvin "hates being perceived" kwan the wrong way in the most vehement way possible.

anyway, ya. tim deserves that a little bit in the end, and im excited to see where the tim-korvin dynamic is gonna go from here.

first off, i just wanna say i'm super flattered and appreciative of you (and other readers) actually giving this much attention to the fic. i joke it's not homework but like, you're having fun, i'm having fun, there's a bit of substance going on 🤭 a little puzzle, a little treat

and then another thank you 😭😭😭 because that's the goal with my characters. i want them to be believable and coherent in their own perspectives, which means traits and behaviors that are strengths can be recontextualized as flaws (and vice versa). not really into strict "this is always positive" "this is always negative".

(a big running theme in all my fics + something you can't avoid with SI fics is "a whole person is defined by both the internal and external". you have your core, but you must also be perceived)

i'll take the way you want to punch tim (lovingly) in the throat as a compliment! i want that! he deserves a bit of bullying! i just get sad when ppl get actually mad-mad at him because...bro's just trying his best but playing the wrong game with the wrong pieces lmao

his view of korvin also goes back to your previous asks about how'd they interact, and the answer is "depends on the context of how they meet and their relative social place to one another". tim's much older than korvin in whfagt and those are extenuating circumstances, so that's a very different interaction vs...this lol.

HAHA yes, you got it in one on how tim rubs korvin wrong. you'll get the other side next chapter.

(another theme with SIs is "get perceived, idiot", so korvin's getting dragged kicking and screaming into that. eventually. might take a whole sequel.)

you're excited to see, and i'm excited to show! in my other fics, the SI has the luxury of fucking off and stepping away from powder keg social interactions (kinda), but not korvin. so it's finally reasonable for me to write the most batshit (pun intended) insane character dynamics i can imagine

(if i wasn't so tied into my metacognition, there would have been plenty of places in my other fics i could have gone off the rails like readers wanted/expected. but that's not how i work.)

#maryallenc #inquiry #on tpac #redglyphs #writing #thank you for spending brain cells on my fic bc that's just...wow to think about #i'm trying to make little puzzles and you guys find them worth solving #🥰🥰🥰 #i feel like well-developed characters are like puzzles #they have their core but how it manifests depends on the context #or you have figured out a different context that yields convergent evolution of how their personality manifests #if characters always behaved the same no matter what that's not a character that's a macguffin #and unless there's more going on in the story (themes+message+prose+etc) macguffin characters don't interest me or (worse) they irk me #they are illogical with respect to their setting. they don't fit. #i am a little creature that loves fitting things into things