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a-little-ray-of-fantasy · 4 months

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CherriSnake, as a couple, most likely wasn't in the plans, if you only saw the pilot, but honestly, I personally really enjoyed their dynamic in the show, regardless.

There's a reason why people shipped Cherri Bomb and Sir Pentious all these years: rivals to lovers is always a win. Plus, the confident, spunky powerhouse and the battle oriented, dorky edgelord? It really made sense!

So let's talk about them in the series proper!

Cherri Bomb was never against the idea of dating Sir Pentious. Maybe unimpressed by his awkward attempts, but never really rebuffed them.

If anything she kinda pokes fun at him for trying so hard with her: you say you're my arch nemesis, but then you try to flirt with me?

What, YOU want to make sex with me? Care to explain why?

They've been rivals for years by now, Cherri KNOWS Pentious tends to put up a front to impress, and most likely would've given him a chance if he had the confidence to be true about his intentions.

Sadly, this is Sir Pentious we're talking about: a very insecure man who struggles with socializing and pleasing others. So he blunders his own attempts at flirting to avoid being rejected by buying everyone drinks or wanting to have sex with everyone.

Speaking of that, Sir Pentious, of all people, wanting to have sex? It's really not him, it's not something he'd do under normal circumstances, but he's drunk, all his previous attempts have failed, so he might as well be bold. But even then you can tell by the way he says "Do a sex with me." that he has NO idea what he's talking about.

And she's quick to call him out. Again, not with annoyance but with humor.

Sir Pentious was completely out of his element here, and, being the insecure man he is, instead of going with his strengths (which we're going to talk about in a minute), he went for what HE believed Cherri wanted, and he payed the price: she wasn't impressed, he lost his chance.

Also, I totally believe that the reason behind his struggles to come to terms with his crush is also linked to the fact that... he's a man of science, war and machines! He just can't get a crush, it doesn't work like that! So of course he'd try to mask it!

Of course he engages with Cherri Bomb: she's his arch nemesis! Nothing more! He would never buy drinks for her specifically! ...except nobody will ever buy his lie, and he wouldn't notice how obvious he is.

Next time, we see Pentious trying, and fail once again, to confess to Cherri, but something has changed. He talked to Charlie about it. And while we don't see WHAT they've said to each other, we know for a fact that Charlie totally encouraged him to be himself and confess his feelings.

Heck, if you watch closely, Vaggie even puts a hand on Pentious' own as if to wish him good luck! She's really come to trust him, aw!

And this time, while Sir Pentious still is too nervous to fully confess his feelings, he still goes about it by actually sticking to his strengths, the reason why he fell for Cherri in the first place.

Sir Pentious is an inventor, a warrior, he works with machines. He has engaged in turf wars against Cherri for years and by now he knows her: she's destructive, unpredictable, and unstoppable. She most likely often beat him too, but both gave their all in the battle. And Sir Pentious definitely was impressed by that.

He's not blind, of course he finds Cherri pretty (and let's face it, she is!). But that's the reason he fell for her, something on his league he could recognize and actively engage in: her prowess in battle, her creativity with her explosives, and her determination. And he fully told her that, with clear admiration in his voice.

And this time, Cherri, while still a bit confused on how he's still being awkward about it, this time shows a positive response: she thanks him, she smiles, she genuinely appreciates his compliments.

Reminder that Cherri is much more upfront about, uhm, going out with people. She has slept around, did quick things, and if lore is still the same for her, her love life wasn't a happy one. She's used to have people wanting her for her body, or having surface level attraction to her.

But this is her long time rival, the one man she often faced in turf wars, the edgelord who always put up a front of a grandiose villain when he really was an awkward nerd from the Victorian times that was easy to rattle. And maybe she didn't develop feelings for him the same way he did for her, but it's clear she never held animosity against him. She does care for this lovable loser, deep down, so his compliments are genuinely appreciated.

So when the battle begins, and Adam has started showing the big guns, Sir Pentious gives a quick glance at his blimp, knowing what has to be done, and with the feeling there's a high chance he won't make it.

And so he does the one thing he's always been afraid to do. It's now or never: if he has to go down, he shall do it with no regrets. To heck with fears and insecurities: he loves Cherri, and this time he will show it the way he knows how.

An awkward but completely sweet kiss in the middle of the battle, as her bomb goes off in the background. A gesture that REALLY represents their bond.

Sadly it's short lived. Sir Pentious finally declares his love and runs away to save the day, but still emotional about what happened: the only request he has for her before the deed is simply to remember him.

And I'm positive Cherri will definitely remember this. Him, the kiss, the battle. Everything.

#Vivziepop #Hazbin Hotel #Cherri Bomb #Sir Pentious #Fave Character #Comfort Character #CherriSnake #My OTP #Personal Rambles #Character Analysis #Analysis

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seelestia · 2 years

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— 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔. (𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐑)

SUMMARY. playing a silly pick-me-up game with the wanderer is all it takes for him to realize that he is a liar and he hates you (this is a lie). (1.0k+ words)

CHARACTERS. scaramouche / kunikuzushi / wanderer + GN!reader.

GENRE. fluff.

CW. set after the events of sumeru's archon quest, reader says one attempted corny line, scara is called kunikuzushi here, light references to scara's lore.

THOUGHTS. an offering to scaranation because this man has been on my mind without paying rent (disrespectful btw /j). also, this work is inspired by this tiktok! <3

(+ tagging @medeaheartly aka the most persistent scara stan i know. ily, jae <3)

✰ masterlist.

"This is stupid."

KUNIKUZUSHI has lived for half a millennium and this is, by far, this is the stupidest thing he has ever heard — or rather, the stupidest idea that has been suggested to him.

After all, who even thinks that sitting down together and saying what you like about yourself is a good idea?

Not that he has heard many in his life; the Balladeer was known for coming up with his own ideas and executing them to perfection himself. If a subordinate even dared to utter any sort of suggestion, he'd make sure those were their last words. What, did they think he was incapable of thinking for himself?

...Or at least, until now after the Balladeer became a discarded identity, a fragment of his past. But still, it doesn't mean he is fond of this particular idea and what is more stupid is that he can't even object to it.

Well, he can just outwardly say no if he wants to. There is nothing here that is stopping him technically... Oh, but there is one obstacle, you see.

You are holding his hands in yours — and the most mortifying part here is that he doesn't want you to let go.

Ugh. Holding hands is such an unnecessary and useless step, he scoffs to himself.

Although Kunikuzushi said all that internally, he doesn't do a spectacular job at concealing his annoyance well. It is portrayed there so clearly across his face like a stroke of bright color on a blank canvas that you can't help but frown.

"Well, Nahida said it'll help. So, it won't hurt to try once, right?" You then give his hands a gentle squeeze, just a little gesture to pass on a sense of encouragement through your linked fingers.

But it is more than just "a little gesture" to Kunikuzushi because for one moment, he almost wants to retract the last statement he said about holding hands. Almost.

"...Fine," he mumbles sharply.

"Good," you nod in response, but he doesn't miss the hint of enthusiasm in the way you do it. "I'll start first," you say, the ends of your lips starting to curl into a smile.

Is that smile supposed to be intentional or not? He can't tell, but what he can tell is that he already dislikes this stupid game.

He dislikes it because he can't understand why he is holding onto your every word in anticipation. Kunikuzushi can't fathom just why exactly is he so curious about what you like about yourself? Whatever, it isn't as if he cares that much, hmph.

"I like..." You trail off and the male listens intently, way more intently than he expects himself to. "—Your smile," you end your sentence with an ounce of satisfaction so evident in your tone.

All the amount of focus he invested gone to waste just for you to say that? "Tsk, you're the one who wanted to play this game so much. At least, stick to the rules, idiot," he grumbles lightly.

He wants to come off as indifferent, but the way the lightest shade of red begins to graze his cheeks betrays him. Kunikuzushi averts his gaze away from you behind the pretense of rolling his eyes. By all means, he thinks your attempt was terrible; after all, he rarely ever smiles but you've seen him smile before, even if it was once in a blue moon.

...You can't actually mean that corny line in a genuine way, can you? No, that must be a ruse to catch him off guard, he is sure of it.

"Okay, okay," you seem to find enjoyment in his reaction, letting out a chorus of amused giggles. At this point, Kunikuzushi doesn't even dislike this game anymore, he hates it now — and that stupid lightness in your voice as you laugh, he hates that too (what a weird thing to point out).

"I'll do it for real this time," you stifle another giggle before eventually retiring from your fit of laughter. "You better," the male in front of you scrunches his nose in, what you assume to be, a menacing way.

Intent on keeping your promise, you take a deep breath, "I like..." For some reason, your gaze just lands on him as if on instinct as you continue, "—My eyes."

And to Kunikuzushi, too, it is on pure instinct when his own pupils suddenly look up to meet yours. Your eyes, you say? He examines the subject of your words closely, indigo irises clashing against [E/C] ones.

There, inside them, his reflection almost seems to drown completely in the colour of your irises. A brilliant [E/C] color surrounds his figure at the sides, not as if it wants to consume him but to douse him in that very same color. Kunikuzushi used to despise looking into a mirror; he despises looking at his face, the very product of what his creator constructed... but not right now.

He waits and waits for that same feeling of hatred to resurface, but he can't feel it. It's still there, but subdued. Subtle, as if a lid was placed above it. Why? Is it because he is looking into your eyes and not a mirror? What an irking conclusion. Just what kind of sorcery are you and that little forest god casting on him?

But how ironic, he can't find it in him to look away from you. His brain is shouting at him to make a remark about how "irritating" your eyes are — yet, in the end, the only thing that escapes his lips is a confession murmured under a hesitant breath.

"...I like your eyes too," he murmurs quietly.

You can tell that those words are meant to be taken away by the wind, never meant to be discovered again. Perhaps, Barbatos isn't on his allogene's side today because you can hear those words as clearly as day.

"I heard that," you smile softly.

Embarrassment instantly takes over and Kunikuzushi snaps out of his trance in the snap of a finger. He looks away with that disgruntled look again as he says, "Ugh, I hate you so much."

"Is that a lie? Do you really hate me?"

"...Shut up."

(Yes, it's a lie.)

─ ⊹ ⊱ ・・・・・・☆・・・・・・・⊰ ⊹ ─

✰ TAGLIST: @meimeimeirin @hcikazu @tsuk4sa-yug1 @catcze @semi-orangeapple @yuuki4646 @d-a-r-k-s-w-a-n @daisydkj @omgscaramouche @coquettemaiden @lemontum @herdrops — [ bolded names are unable to be tagged + register here to be a part of my taglist! ]

#genshin x reader #genshin x you #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche x you #wanderer x reader #wanderer x you #genshin fluff #genshin scenarios #genshin imagines #genshin headcanons #genshin drabbles #seelestial.inks

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st0rmyskies · 12 days

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Team Bonding Linkshipping Stories

There's been some recent kerfuffle among enjoyers of the little Team Bonding unofficial series, and said kerfuffle has manifested as... a shitton of explicit monsterfucker and Link/Link fics. I hope you have some extra time this weekend for some light reading.

Under the cut for length...

Presented in chronological order, including the three stories in the series I've written...

This story drops some new lore about the Shadow Beasts that it's important to know for later.

Pairings: TP!Link/Shadow Beasts, special guest star Midna.

A battle with the Twilight Beasts takes an unexpected turn for the Hero of Twilight. It's all manner of wrong, and yet... he can't help but find himself enjoying it.

Immediate sequel to To Be Taken by Twilight, two chapters.

Pairings: TP!Link/Midna/Zelda, leans heavily into MidZel.

In the aftermath of the Twilight Invasion, Link, Zelda, and Midna find time to just breathe.

Spoilers: They do WAY more than just breathe in this story.

The original sin in this series, all because someone in a server once talked about the Shadow Beasts being sexy.

Pairings: A little bit of everyone/Shadow Beasts.

During their journey, the heroes were subject not just to the antagonism of the shadow but to the unique perils that plagued each of their eras. When the swirling portal opened above them and heavy stone spires fell to the earth, Twilight felt every hair on his body stand on end. There was really no delicate way for Twilight to warn his brothers-in-arms of the danger they were all in.

Pairings: Mainly Time/Twilight with Twi/Wild and Warriors/Legend mentioned as well.

There is another legend that is passed down alongside the story of the golden goddesses, although not many remember the tale. It's the story of two devoted lovers, one of whom was the bearer of the Spirit of Courage, who were separated from one another by the cruelty of fate. When no god nor great spirit would aid the hero in being reunited with his lost love, he was forced to turn to more nefarious methods, cleaving his soul in two. Maybe this is why some of the heroes have crossed paths with one another and connected along their adventures in spite of being separated from each other by entire eras. And maybe in this era, fate has given Twilight a second chance.

Pairing: Time/Twilight.

The group lands in Ordon Village, and there just aren't enough places in Twilight's home for eight heroes to sleep. Some of them may end up needing to share close quarters.

Pairing: Time/Twilight/Wild.

“What’s the matter with you, Rancher?” Warriors’ voice was curiously devoid of genuine emotion, but when he turned his attention back to Twilight, his eyes were bright with– something. "Feeling a bit territorial?” Or: following the events of A Dangerous Game, Twilight finally checks on Wild after their romp with the Shadow Beasts. Well, he tries to. It turns out that Time got there first... or Wild sought out comfort in someone else when he usually reached for him. Twilight doesn't know which option feels worse.

Pairing: Time/Wild.

“What if I feel safer next to you.” Wild countered. “What if I feel safer when I’m touching you?” Turning his head to meet Wild’s eyes, Time slowly slid his hand across Wild’s warm thigh, his lips only inches from Wild’s own. “Is this enough?” he said softly. Wild considered for a moment, his hands reaching for and curling over Time’s own thigh in return. It took both of Wild’s hands to cover the same amount of area as Time was touching on him. “We could be closer,” he whispered in reply, and before Time could respond he was kissing him. OR, Wild and Time together before everyone else.

Pairing: Legend/Warriors.

"For while it could take so much for Legend to finally lay down the hypervigilance trained into him after years and years and years of adventures and mortal peril, being trusted to safeguard his rest filled Warriors’ heart pride." Spinning off from A Dangerous Game and the snaps from the same little breaks (in our soul), Legend and Warriors explore their own aftermath following the encounter with the Shadow Beasts.

Pairing: Four/Shadow Beasts.

This is probably a bad idea, a piece of Four thinks as he makes his way down the trail. He has things to do. Or, well, better things to do. It's just... it's not his fault that not-people are so hard to come by. or, Four makes interesting decisions in the wake of Team Bonding

Pairing: Sky/Hyrule/Shadow Beasts.

He shouldn't have enjoyed it, but Sky couldn't help but find his feet carrying him back to the clearing when they'd oh so recently encountered those monsters from the Twilight.

#stormy fic recs #friend fics #team bonding #linkshipping #link/link #midlink #midzel #midzelink #also did we mention shadow beasts???#i love each and every one of these stories so so much

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queen0fm0nsterz · 5 months

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I was thinking about the old LN1 character bios and remembered the line about the Twins being "born to be chefs". Assuming their not native to Nowhere, this would mean they had some violent tendencies before becoming residents, like it was their destiny.

This then made think about the end of tson ep 3 where Otto says the something like "Our world isn't the only world, let alone the predominant one".

All this made me realize that the worlds other than Nowhere may have been created by it (The Nowhere is implied to be sentient in it's own right) specifically to create concepts and injustices that could be used to warp and traumatize children, turning them into visitors and then into residents.

Thoughts?

Alright so this is a great question that I think leads to a much larger discussion about how the Nowhere operates. I would like to hear what other peeps think as well.

So, starting from the Chefs. Personally I always assumed that they are part of that group of characters who are from the Nowhere because of the way their description is worded (and also their baby pictures... this one is so cute lowkey...)

--- But following your train of thought: considering what we know of the Nowhere, it seems to amplify certain characteristics of a person, usually the bad ones. Two kids who are a bit propense to get into fights in the waking world may very well become blood thirsty maniacs in the Nowhere.

Interestingly, the modification of traits does not only apply to personality but also the body -- and usually, the physical changes are in relation back to said traits. For example, the Teacher - someone who is known to be controlling - can extend her neck infinitely to look everywhere and have the ability to blink removed to make sure she's always watching. The Doctor, a perfectionist with tons of authority, is always looking down on people while also growing enormous to match his ego. So on and so forth, you can follow this reasoning for a large number of the Residents we meet.

I think other timelines derivating from the Nowhere is definitely a possibility, as we don't know much of how the universes work there.

The general theory of a multiverse irl is that no timeline has any specific weight or importance over others; they are all parallel no matter how different, with no timeline being "the real one". This is if we view the Nowhere under the lens of it being a separate dimension. In TSON, the Nowhere is kind of implied to be sucking the people most vulnerable to it right in, so perhaps the idea Otto has of it the predominant world stems from the fact that he can't explain his fascination with it... or from a real, genuine desire to somehow "return" to the original land, if that's where the other timelines originated from.

HOWEVER, I would like to offer an alternative perspective on this --- based on what I found out during my research on the Ladies. Yup we're going there again

Rather than the characters themselves, this time I'm going to refer to a symbolism that is very prominent in their lore: Buddhism. More specifically the references to the six planes of existance, and how those can be tied back to Little Nights in a loose way. As stated in this site:

" The six realms of rebirth are a schema in which beings are reborn according to the kind of life they lived. [...] The animal realm, in which inhabitants are driven by basic needs, is one of the three “lower” realms. The other two are the hell realm, a place of constant suffering and torment, and the realm of the hungry ghosts, grasping beings who are never satisfied. The three “higher” realms are the human realm [...] the demigod realm [...] and the god realm, where beings enjoy a life of pleasure. It’s important to note that some Buddhists view the realms as literally real, while others interpret them psychologically as metaphors for the emotional states of the human condition. "

(Click on the link to read the whole thing; I only highlighted the parts I think are relevant to this conversation :] )

What I believe specifically relates back to the Nowhere are the three lower realms, from which the place itself may be loosely inspired by because of how its inhabitants are described.

All of these are things we see in Little Nights from various Residents, depending on the social class and place. It is important to note that while these realms are placed in different hierarchies due to quality of life, they all cohexist together without necessarily being more important than each other as they all have the same purpose in the end.

If the worlds of Little Nights operate in a similar way, then what we're looking at is not really a case of dimension hopping, but rather a passage from a plane of existance to the next. A forced one at that, at least in the case of Noone.

Now, considering Otto's assumption, the idea of the Nowhere being a predominant realm only popped up because he was trying to wrap his head around it and how Noone felt, but to tell you the truth, it is a rather baseless assumption considering he's never been there and is only experiencing it in a very limited way. However... considering how many children from different places in time and space have experienced the Nowhere, sometimes even simultaneously, I wouldn't say that it's completely wrong to assume that the place might be the "original plane of existance".

Now. Reflecting on what you said at the very end, I would like to ask a question back: do you think the Nowhere is, hypothetically, only capable of bringing out the worst in people inherently? Or is it only acting this way because humanity itself is more easily conditioned to fall victim to their bad traits?

I've been recently thinking about it because of the Maw. The writer of Little Nightmares, Mr. Mervik, has stated multiple times over the years that the place has not always been the way that it is; at the same time, he also said that it was not man made, but rather created by collective hunger/desire to be fed. These two things don't make sense together unless you assume the Maw was not originally born for the Guests and the whole cannibal business, but rather from a desire of shelter. A need to be fed. Which is not inherently a bad thing -- and it would explain why the structure itself is so largely built to house so many people, and why children still feel relatively safe in it to this day.

So I find myself thinking that perhaps, the Maw degenerated overtime because the people inside of it (cough its leaders cough) did. And if this is the case for the Maw, who's to say it's not the same for other places? The Nest, for example? The School, the Hospital... etc. But. It is also true that the creatures who inhabit the Nowhere (the Ferryman, the North Wind, the Flesh...) all seem to have their own interests and destructive amusement more at heart than anything. If these creatures are what move the large of the Nowhere (which I guess they are considering the eye symbol is all over the goddman place), then the human will can't really do much.

That being said, I am wondering currently if it could be possible for the Nowhere to bring out something good from a person in the right situation. At the same time, the hopes are incredibly slim. Nonexistent, actually, but it's nice to think about hypothetics.

#little nightmares #little nightmares 2 #little nightmares 3 #little nightmares theory #ln theory #ln meta #little nightmares 2 theory #tson #the sounds of nightmares #tson meta #the chefs #little nightmares the chefs #six #six little nightmares #the lady #the lady little nightmares #(relates back to the maw ig)#{damn viewing the nowhere under these lens makes fox a lot more tragic now that i think abt it #because im assuming the maw has primarely spawned from *her* desire to find a place for her & her children to live in safely... oh #its such a childish thing in retrospect... wishing on a star and then your wish GETS GRANTED in the most FUCKED UP WAY IMAGINABLE #my girl did not get 《bite of 83》ed for this #plus according to context clues (aka my insanity) i dont think fox has ever been on the maw... like. alive #so its even twice as tragic because she never really got to try. like she could have done something good but the chance was ripped from her #im emo in the club again}

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i-dreamed-i-had-a-son · 23 days

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Ok y'all it's time to join the party (very late) on my latest deep obsession, which THIS TIME I am going to allow myself to pursue instead of killing the joy (because of how intense it can get) and share with you!!

And that obsession is Epic: The Musical.

Holy smokes man this thing has remolded my brain, it just somehow hits all of those things which I desperately love in media

Firstly. The music is absolutely exquisite. And not even in the ways you'd normally think! Like--there's such wonderfully detailed soundscaping! The musical follows Odysseus on his journey home, and the songs themselves contain beautifully done effects that basically make the listening experience into a movie in your head. Monsters, crashing oceans, the underworld itself--and not only is this included in non-muscial sound design, it's incorporated into the music itself. The realm of the wind gods uses flutes as the main instrument--because it's a WIND instrument I'm losing my mind

PLUS there's the additional elements of musical "Easter eggs," thematic connections, leitmotifs, instrumentation identification, musical callbacks and even foreshadowing like come ONNNNN it's so well done

All of this with the added bonus that the songs, while cohesive, do not all sound the same, and do not feel like normal musical theater songs. They are the perfect mix between modern music, orchestral arrangements, and a musical theater jam, because they are 1. SUPER great to belt along to, 2. Very much linked together (as explained above) and 3. Very unlike the standard, vocal-focused empty pop sound we're used to (theater) while keeping the innovative, ear-wormy, modern (pop) beat that often feels out of place in theater!

And lyrically this musical is super strong. I spent a ton more time on the music (and will likely write more at length later) because that is what got me obsessed with it, but there's also much to praise lyrically! Unlike most modern "non-theater" musicals, while you can tell at places that it has been influenced by (the ever-present) Lin-Manuel Miranda, it feels authentically unique and independent. So many songs have genuinely profound lines (check out Just a Man, the second song in the saga) and the pop elements never lend themselves to empty repetition. Everything sung or said has a purpose, which I am obsessed with. Yes king go off give us everything

Finally (for now) there's just the genuine love that the creator(s) have for this musical. Jay Rivera-Herrans is the brain behind it (he wrote the entire musical over several years) and like...just look at what he shares about it on his Instagram. He gets so EXCITED!! And not like PR excitement, this is like legit "I'm making silly noises because I can't contain myself" excitement!!! He reminds me of me in that sense because he has SO much love and passion for what he does and the nuance in it and the people who enjoy his work, and he shares that in an unfiltered, real, authentic way, and we need to see more of that in the world.

Anyway, if you haven't heard of it and are now interested, it's pretty easy to catch up--there are 5 of the 9 sagas out right now, but only half of the songs, and Spotify has a playlist or two that has them all in order. It's only an hour and eight minutes worth of listening and I have just listened to it through twice in two days; it really does not get old. And then if you go to Jay's Instagram the rabbit hole is deep!! And he explains a lot of the lore and symbolism and intentionality/Easter eggs in the musical!! I went through all of the content he posted, pretty much...

So there's my official hawking of Epic (if only I had gotten in on this earlier!! The "Get in the Water" song that was trending a while ago?? That's from this!!) and you should go listen to it!!!!

#epic the musical #epic the underworld saga #kay is a musical theater nerd #kay can i just catch my breath for a second #jay rivera herrans #again folks i know i am late to the hype train #but as my fixation is setting in i just HAVE to share it #so anticipate a deluge of posts when i find some good stuff to reblog (gonna check the tag right after this)#and when i go back through and make like an ultimate compliation post of musical callbacks and references from within the show #which i have a feeling i will actually follow through on doing if only for my own sake haha #anyways!!#this made me very happy and i hope you enjoy it!!#kay has a party in the tags

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blorbocedes · 1 year

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HEY so i have deep dived into brocedes (going on... 3 days now?) and the one thing im rly struggling to find is an accurate brocedes timeline with links to everything (and i mean EVERYTHING- their promo vids, them eating cereal tgt, lewis on nicos website at 18 etc). i've scrolled through ur acc (its been so helpful!!) but some of the links no longer work i can't pinpoint on certain dates (greek trip?? what year was that?? when did they race each other in italy?) so i js thought id ask if you could help me figure that out lol also i am happy to read any in depth essays of brocedes and their progression as childhood bsfs, to teammates, to rivals, to strangers, that you have on the backburner bc i genuinely am a fan of all things brocedes atp (this is me shamelessly asking for a master post like the one u did w the post 2016 timeline- yes im happy to wait esp since there are sm new things to comment on (SPAIN 2023??? OMG!!)) ANYWAY altogether thanks for everything youve done for me as a brocedes newbie 🫶

hi! I'm gonna try to find some primers and stuff for you. the thing about brocedes is a lot of it you have to find out for yourself, and that's part of the fun. you won't find one masterpost with every single link unfortunately, but my blog has a pretty good aggregate of most of them.

here is the post 2016 interactions primer post

there's a lot of useful links and basic rundown here, one of the major primers

the Greece story timeline is vague cause they've both mentioned it multiple times, and it's a major staple in their canon. here it says 14.

Nico and Lewis talking about snowboarding at 17, so they were friends after they were teammates, and here's them partying as young adults (bc Nico and Vivian got together at 18)

the iconic kellog's picture! and here's how kelloggs lore followed them

here's an essay that's freaking pivotal!!!

here's additional lore I've collected, such as them living in the same building, their childhood shenanigans.

there's a lot of individual lewis blogs where you can find out more about his karting years, and for nicology I personally go to @fzxy40 for more nico insights.

this is when they raced each other in Italy so you can trawl through karting records to find it

And now, in 2023, we have Lewis bringing up Nico unprompted talking about how karting with him was some of the best times, and Lewis and Nico both stuttering fidgeting as Nico interviewed him for Spain 2023

as for promo! my pinned tweet is a great compilation of their skits, you can look up more on YouTube like the cringe merc commercials they did together.

there's a lot of lore on my blog you can check the archive for, and I'd be happy to help you otherwise if you're looking for anything specific!

#brocedes lore #blorbocedes ask #it's a bit scattered but you have to put in the work 🥹💪#brocedes primer

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blueskittlesart · 1 year

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A while back you were talking about how you’d write a comic based on BotW and you mentioned you’d retcon the transphobic Gerudo questline. I was wondering how you’d go about doing that? I’m genuinely curious, cause that part of the game always made me feel weird as well 😅

yeah ok. so i think that the botw gerudo are. difficult to retcon because of some of the lore implications of their politics so this is a tricky situation. in this hypothetical scenario i'm trying to write this in a way that A. conveys the story fairly accurately or at least doesn't feel out of place in the overarching plot, and B. keeps most of the lore surrounding the gerudo intact, while still removing the major transphobic elements. in order to keep the gerudo lore and the overall vibe of the quest intact, I can't completely retcon the 'women-only town' thing out of existence even though the idea of women-only spaces can turn really transphobic really fast, so this is gonna be a bit of a balancing act lmao. bear with me here

what we need to decide first is how insanely dedicated we are to the sanctity of the original storyline and/or how much we're willing to overlook for the sake of canon accuracy. the easiest and most obvious way to fix it would be to retcon the obstacle that requires crossdressing entirely and give link another way into the town, by proving his identity to the soldiers on the outside or somehow contacting riju beforehand instead of sneaking in. however, i know that many (MANY) fans really like the gerudo set for. various reasons. and in this hypothetical scenario i can envision my head being bitten off by angry fans who didn't get their femme link content. so. we have other options we can look at.

if we want to keep the crossdressing, there's going to be some inherent transphobia we are going to have to overlook. for link to have to crossdress, he has to 1. be rejected from the town on the basis of his presentation and 2. sneak into a women-only space by dressing femininely, both of which can get really bad really fast. there are some minor changes we can make to make this feel a lot less overt, at least, such as cutting that shitty man outside the town who talks about wanting to get in to harass the women inside and either cutting or being a lot more respectful about the crossdresser who link gets the outfit from. no matter what, this isn't gonna be the perfect scenario, though.

what i think i would do personally is sort of. combine these 2. i'd have link get to the oasis, talk to a couple people and come to the conclusion that it would be hard (not impossible) for him to get into gerudo town as a man, and have him throw around the idea of showing off the sheikah slate or something as proof of his identity without actually going to the town and trying it. he'd rest at the oasis for the night, and the next morning would end up meeting either riju or someone in the royal guard at the oasis who recognizes his identity based on the slate and gives him the gerudo set, not to SNEAK IN to the town, but so he doesn't stand out/get stared at when he DOES enter. they would then enter the town together and the quest would proceed as normal from there. this is the best way i could think of to remove the idea of him cross-dressing as a tool of INFILTRATION without totally nuking the entire quest line. not perfect, but. well. look at what i had to work with here. i did my best

#asks

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wyrdle · 2 months

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Ikutsuki Backstory ideas and other character thoughts

Jotting this down for my own reference for a hopeful future comic about this pun man as well as for anyone interested in the babygirl lmao. Also I can't believe so little exists to help flesh him out more

Persona 3 spoilers under the cut

Ok so I haven't finished the game, but I've sped run reading wikis and watching movies and clips, pardon me if I get any details wrong. I also don't know the other games, but am semi-aware of some of the links between Ikutsuki and them.

Anyway:

Ikutsuki rambling about The Fall and a Prince out of the blue is painfully one of the worst twists I've ever seen 😂 You don't lore drop your way into justifying your motives lmao. I'd have liked some hints about his past, and then a final explanation for it. Whilst I understand it's meant to be a sudden twist, it just turns out anti-climatic and even annoying narratively haha.

So, to fill out how Ikutsuki's backstory, I was thinking it'd be rad if we saw his actual research days with Kirijo's CEO / Mitsuru's gramps. I'd likely scrap that they were actively looking to invoke The Fall, and have them primarily focused on the time-bending abilities of Shadows, all being scientists dedicated to helping humanity genuinely.

I dislike the idea of such a large group of scientists being omnicidal maniacs/Nyx worshippers, so I think simplifying the Kirijo family's guilt to simply accidentally fucking up their experiments and causing such catastrophic change to the world to be a better go at it.

Enter Ikutsuki, who is a part of this research team like every other hopeful/morally decent scientist. The experiment goes awry, Shadows are released en masse, Professoer Shuji Ikutsuki is swathed, bathed, consumed by this writhing dark mass that tells him about The Fall and whispers about the Prince who will be grandly rewarded for it.

In his canon pre-suicide speech, Ikutsuki talks as if he believes the current world has lots of wrong in it, going to the extremes of wanting to cleanse and rebuild it. I think it'd be fitting for him to start off as this hopeful scientist, cheery and dorky, only for him to go through the trauma of direct exposure to Shadows + being the lone survivor amidst the wreckage and dead bodies of his colleagues.

It's a combo of real-life horror and supernatural Persona weirdness that motivates him into being the manipulator/cold scientist he is. Idk if my timeline of events is right, but post-Tartarus formation, ikutsuki kicks off figuring out plans for The Fall in earnest. Prompting his secret research on children for inducing Personas etc. (I think Strega and Ikutsuki weren't involved with each other, so for this I'd say yeah, he'd be the one responsible for that instead of Kirijo group in general.)

Other fun things for him is that surviving the sort of possession by Nyx's fragments during the formation of Tartarus gives him 'the Potential'. AKA he discovers he can exist in the darkest hour, and is eventually the one who researches himself to enable others to do so as well. It's just more reason for Kirijo group to not suspect him, and even owe him for his work.

I'm likely getting plenty of canon timeline of events off, but I think it'd be really cool for the Chairman himself to be similarly affected by the Kirijo group's experiment alongside the SEES members. Albeit, in a way that fucks him up into becoming the antagonist. Not to say he has no free will/is being actively coerced by Nyx, but that singular moment of interacting with the Shadows changed him and his outlook on life quite drastically.

Lastly, I'm pained that he doesn't really fit into the group. I think there's so much potential there for him to actually be a part of the SEES gang, holding some genuine affection that's a remnant of his pre-Shadow affected self, even going as far as having hesitation/second thoughts. Idk lol, canon Ikutsuki's death is waved off with little impact beyond how he killed Mitsuru's dad, when this guy the SEES team trusts/looks for direction kills himself in front of them. There's no emotional pay-off or pain, his death/twist reveal is just an event that happens lmao. I'd have liked to see Ikutsuki genuinely be an adult figure all the kids needed, and for them to feel the sting of his betrayal on a more personal level than what we got.

Anyway, TLDR, I feel like this helps make Ikutsuki a better villain lol. His fingers are in all the pies already!!! Use him!

So normal about this long haired, bespectacled, goofy middle aged man. He has such dad energy, and I love the angsty narrative of being corrupted lol

pls yell about him to me tq very much

#shuji ikutsuki #persona 3 #the whole child experimentation thing could also be an interesting aspect #like instead of senseless cruelty #having ikutsuki be a bit more grey and actually hold fatherly affection for them yet still abuse them #is so painfully sad #bro's braincells fried when the lab went kablooey #i am haunted by the imagery of a man struggling with his devotion to this all powerful incomprehensible world ending thing #that's so much more fun lol #IMAGINE #persona 3 spoilers

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foliejpg · 1 month

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oh yippie more asks:D

i have a lot :3

🍓🌵🥑🥤🌻🧃🧸🪐🍬🦷❄️🌿🏜️🍦🌸🎨🧩

you dont have to answer all of them but here you gooo

oh hell yes this is gonna be so fun <3

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?

i don't remember specifically how, but i know i first interacted with shipping on youtube in like 2007-08 back when you could comment on people's profiles and message other users, so i think i must have commented on some like.. pokeshipping amv and just struck up a convo before i followed some friends i made to ff.net and deviantart, and started writing on ff.net lol

🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love

so i don't use spotify, i'm an apple music girlie and i really only listen to my own playlist i made that is composed of all of my top 100 songs of the year going back to 2015 LMAO

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

@actuallyalaska she got me

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

every writer i tagged yesterday!! all of whom take part of the @bandomthememonths go read all these great fics by these awesome writers<333

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

@judasisgayriot your gifs are a godsend and i always love getting a comment from them <3

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

my name is short for guinevere lol

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

so i'm sort of picky abt my dash lol i try to stick to foblr so if you post mostly fob then i'll prob follow! i do a good scroll through to get the vibe, but if they post a lot of non fob stuff, i usually skip bc its just not for me but no hard feelings ever<3

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

well i just bought a new (refurbished) computer for the first time in a few years, so that's exciting! i've recently started making embroidery patches and that's been a lot of fun lol idk i've just been having a good time<3 i'm doing a lot of home renovation projects so i'm excited to have a brand new kitchen soon lmao

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

not a fandom character but as far as bandom goes, i don't really care for mcr and maybe that just has everything to do with that i'm really not familiar with lore/band mbrs etc., but danger days is the only mcr album i really connected with especially when i was 16-17 and its still one of my favorite albums, but i'm good on their other albums lol

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

just be kind<3 ik that's super cheesy but i think its easy to forget that other ppl have feelings too and maybe just being nice to someone will make their day. also don't ever pay full price for anything if you can avoid it. generic brands are just as good as name brands

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

i have.. no idea honestly lmao

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

listen when i figure it out, i'll let you know lol when i'm stuck i eat an edible and stare at the wall until something comes to me

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

ANY AND ALL!!!! especially when they tell me a specific part they liked - even if its just a line makes my heart go bu-bump<3

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

genuinely i can't think of a character i hate, i really don't watch anything but like. seinfeld and its always sunny in philadelphia lmfao

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

this is my cat bear<3 she's ten years old and sleeps in a drawer in my desk while i work

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

here and here and here and this nsfw fanart from my bubbline au these are all my absolute favorites <3

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

i answered this here but its super long so<3

#ask #anon #tag game

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somany-fandoms-solittle-time · 10 months

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ya know what..... Kalim is one of those sunshine characters that naturally interacts and "befriends" so many characters. It's always the sunshine characters that I'm drawn to put in a giant poly-hole where basically everyone is in love with them. It just makes sense.

Kalim x Silver: He's always waking Silver up in class and tries to help is drowsy spells. They're also just one of the few genuinely sweet guys on campus so it's pure fluff. A bonus advantage is that since Silver is a Trained Knight (or on the road to be) he can protect Kalim from assassination attempts.

Kalim x Ruggie: Eat The Rich w/ a twist. My precious hyena boy DESERVES to get married to a sincere Sugar Daddy (or as my gf and I like to say, Sugar Bestie™). He's worked hard enough and Kalim is one of the few upper class individuals that would NEVER use his money or status to control, manipulate or abuse another. He just wants to help out and the endless positivity would not only bring Rugs outta his comfort zone but would also impact those in his hometown A LOT.

Riddle x Kalim: Not a favorite, but I get it. Two kids from wealthy families (one more wealthy than the other) who were kinda isolated from the "regular" world and gotta figure shit out for themselves away from their former caretakers. Obvi, very different contexts and personality but that's what helps them depend on one another. Even when they can't relate, they can Listen and Grow together.

Floyd x Kalim: ARE YOU KIDDING THEY'RE ADHD BUDDIES?!?!? Not only can they relate with similar neurological issues, but their common interests can be a safe zone for them to bond. On top of that, even with their reckless personalities and their overall lack of forethought, Floyd is STRONG and could protect Kalim from any pushback or consequences. They're also both raised by Extreme Capitalist (even thou we don't exactly know what the Tweels parents DO) so the business sense and exposure to the darker side of things probably wouldn't be too much of an adjustment for either side.

Obvi Jamil x Kalim: I know not everyone likes this ship (and considering the dynamic and difference in power/status I TOTALLY get it). Even if the relationship is seen through platonic soulmates, brother-like, or just a 'we-were-stuck-together-for-years-and-now-we-don't-know-how-to-live-apart' sitcom kinda vibe they'll ALWAYS be linked together. Besides, an angsty, complicated childhood friends to lovers story with repressed mutual pinning is a guilty pleasure of mine lol!

Whoever he gets paired with, regardless of if it's a ship that has an anchor in canon interactions or PURELY fueled by fanon crack, there's a billion tropes to work with before even having to dip into AU or Crossover. Kalim is a COMPLEX CHARACTER with so many random lore drops and info that has so much potential. Even when people are writing or creating fan-produces with a more 2d version of his character, he's still lovable!! He's one of the few reoccurring characters in a cast full of obnoxious, weird, arrogant, awful, annoying, egotistical, pigheaded teenage boys with the power of NUKES.... And isn't completely terrible.

Lemme reiterate, that I LOVE so many characters in Twisted Wonderland but boy do these kids get on my nerves. They're all little assholes in some way or another, but there's a range between "okay, pretty standard high schooler" to "IDC IF YOURE TRAUMATIZED NO AMOUNT OF BACKSTORY CAN EXCUSE YOUR ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR!!!!! YOU'RE A FUCKING INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL WTF" and Kalim is a lot chiller. He's irrational sometimes and often does things without thinking it through.... But he's also a kid who's allowed to make mistakes and grow now that he's away from the bubble he grew up in. He can interact with people of all walks of life and get that perspective.

And depending on who he's paired with, romantic or otherwise, it's fascinating and heart wrenching and awe inspiring to watch him grow through the lens and experiences of the other person(s).

.........thank you for coming to my Ted talk 😌

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pokevism · 4 months

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took the words RIGHT outta my mouth with the last post. madhouse is a mixed bag more than it is an outright fundamentally broken story that would never work.

the worst part about Madhouse is that it has so much potential and promise. it's BEGGING to be written by somebody who actually cares at all about the story because most of the details really can work, but instead of being told as a delicately crafted story it's being used as a coping tool by a writer who didn't even know how to go about the damn endangered species plot point properly.

idk, i'm the kinda guy who likes seeing stuff at it's best and madhouse totally dropped the ball, so i just like the sudden wave of madhouse rewrites lmfao

btw your human characters look cool as hell

Yes! Full agree! I'm such a huge fan of No Bad Ideas, that I do genuinely believe any story could be a really good experience if handled by writers that care. Calling a story fundamentally unsalvagable is, I feel, pretty close-minded in a way! Madhouse suffers basically from the author throwing everything in the pot haphazardly without measurement, when it needed to follow the recipe's gentle guide. I also want to make self indulgent content, but it takes care, it takes patience, and most importantly of all, it takes real passion for the craft. Lily Orchard Doesn't Understand Art. She doesn't care or respect the medium whatsoever. It's clear she doesn't understand what makes the works she enjoys so enjoyable, because it's usually nothing that she thinks it is, nor is herself capable of. It shows in everything she tries to create. People don't see what she tells them they're supposed to see, they see the total lack of passion, soul if you will. Even this story can work and be so impactful if you put genuine soul behind it, and that's the beauty of ideas. It can totally flop for one person but thrive when handed off to another. Her lack of passion extends to the lore of her world. examples include... Ralts are going extinct, does this affect the characters or world in any noticeable way? No because she didn't bother to think any further than “i wanna make them more rare and special” also she finds a special rare endangered ralts just out in the wild near her home. wouldn't it avoid busy spaces bc it can sense people and Ralts are skittish? whatever it just accepts Lily immediately with no work because- ooh a piece of candy! Silph co. has a cloning machine they wanna use to fix the population but how would this actually fix it when the problem is that Pokémon aren't breeding and why would they ignore Ditto who fixes this problem immediately? No idea because the machine was the only way Lily thought of to "Make cryptid child real!!" and nothing else. The machine only makes clones of the Pokémon put in, and not viable base forms of an evolution line, but this is never addressed because it's completely irrelevant in the face of Lily's Cryptid Lovechild over here. Gardevoir made a psychic bond to her trainer without her consent, does this effect how they behave around each other afterwards? Not really! because she's uninterested in thinking about how it would! The psychic link connects their life force and thoughts but in a non-intrusive way so Lily the character just happened to not notice ANYTHING wrong here until she was told? Can you believe that? I can't. How do these things effect each other? They don't! Nothing effects anything else because she doesn't care! They just happen and then stop happening and nobody ever talks about it again except to go “ah yes this is a thing, I will fully accept that and never question it again”! I've, notably, just described Lacey, the 'cynical' Kalosian Socialite. Who just fully took Lily the character at face value despite being a cynic and then vanished off the surface of the earth because she's irrelevant now that she's approved of Lily's Cryptid Lovechild. I could go on but i'll cut it short. Lily only uses Madhouse to express her crooked desires uncritically and without consequence in a blameless void, Which is fine... if she didn't believe it was more than that. Regards to you and anyone else also rewriting madhouse, I love seeing people capitalize on the potential of such a story, as well. In your own Asylum work so far alone, it has more soul and passion than Lily's entire body of 'creative writing' and 'critical analysis'. On that note. Thank you, Dillweed! I've actually seen your work before I started this account. Your characters look so visually distinct from other styles i've been exposed to. Such strong expressions compliment each one of the characters vividly, enhanced by how effective every design decision is. I can respect how much thought you put into your own characters! Thank you for the ask!

#is Cryptid even a good word to describe Bonnie at all??? Cryptid Child is the whole personality but i looked it up and Bonnie doesn't even #match the definition google gave me of a cryptid? she's Eldritch for sure though i think. Hmm..#pokemadhouse #pokemadhouse rewrite #pokeblr #pokemon #answered asks #lily orchard is a bad writer #lily orchard #mikaila orchard

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literaticat · 1 year

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Graphic novel question! If a series is released in graphic novel form on a platform like Webtoon, would that make it more or less attractive to an agent to pitch to a bigger publisher? I’ve seen the insane success of those that are in Webtoon Originals that then are put into print, but it seems like some of the print runs are published under the Webtoon umbrella, so who knows if/when agents become part of those conversations.

I guess I’m just curious about whether an agent would be interested to see a series “beta tested” prior to accepting it, or if it’s better to create the series without posting online and pitch it that way. Thanks!

OK so I have literally no knowledge about this, so I did a little digging. However -- I didn't dig THAT much, so other people probably know more about it (and if you do, feel free to comment on this post and add things or correct me!)

My cursory understanding is, when you upload your work to Webtoon, you keep your IP rights (that's good) -- BUT, you do give them some sort of exclusivity with regards to posting that series - you can't just post it in multiple places. And if it is popular, they might elect to buy some of the IP from you and license it to another publisher (as happened with Lore Olympus, for example), or publish it as a book through their own publishing arm (which is fairly new.)

Now -- I have NO IDEA what their contracts look like, or what the terms are of uploading, or what they "own" or have "first dibs" on or whatever , how much they might pay you, or anything else. What it SEEMS like, is, if you are publishing on WebToons first, you are potentially going to have WebToons be a part of the conversation forever should the series really take off, OR, have to wait a certain number of years before you can do something else with it. According to this Reddit Thread, they have the exclusive rights to distribute digitally for three years, and they have the option to acquire a percentage of the IP for a pre-determined amount of money, which would likely mean that they are always going to "get their beak wet" when any deals are made for print books or whatever else. Maybe that's a great deal! I have no clue.

I don't THINK an agent would be involved though? (THOUGH I COULD BE WRONG????) -- because it feels like those deals are done THROUGH WebToon, whether or not WT publishes it through their own arm. (See the Reddit thread link above that includes the copyright page for Lore Olympus).

So, basically what I'm saying is, maybe publishing on WebToon first is a good bet -- if you are publishing the kind of thing the fans there love, and you are genuinely just INTO the idea of posting and getting immediate feedback and seeing fan reactions in real time etc -- and hey, if it really takes off, maybe your book will get published and you'll get some money, but really you are doing it because you love the community and all that stuff. (After all - compared to the sheer volume that is up on that site, while there ARE huge hits that become books - it's not like MOST things do. There's no guarantee of that.)

If, however, you want to do an original GN but aren't interested in all that stuff -- you'd probably have more freedom about the rights and such by NOT publishing it on WT first.

(One potential option - TRY doing a series on WT "for the people" -- why not?! -- But then create a totally separate GN that is just for you, and try to get an agent / sell THAT one to publishers. Because WT only has any rights to the series you are posting on there - not totally separate work you create. So maybe that's potentially best of both worlds - you're building your fan base on WT, and maybe that ends up being a book and maybe not -- but meanwhile, you are also getting another book out there in the world that WT has nothing to do with, but your WT fans might also buy!)

(Also that might be a dumb idea lol, IDK!!!)

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lulusoblue · 2 years

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What would you say is your favorite thing about Bioshock infinite? I beat it for the first time recently; real mixed bag there for me, and I’m interested in what draws other people to it.

(ok sorry for the delay on this but I really had to think on this)

I guess my favourite thing overall about it is the nostalgia? Weird to say but whenever I play it I just feel comfortable because it reminds me of when it first came out and I was only just on tumblr and how talking about it lead me to my closest friends in my social circles? It's also a semi-collectathon like the other BioShocks or Dishonored, just looking around in corners for lockpicks, money, audio diaries, little setups of props that tell a story you could easily miss. Y'know, the lore.

And so that I don't clog anyone's dashboard, here's a read more as I ramble (I'm sorry I can't help it this is an ask that genuinely got the hamster in my head to start working the wheel thank you), because I can't speak for sure what draws other people to it but I can speculate on what drew us all in around the time of release.

So it's been nearly a decade and pretty much everyone has agreed there are aspects about Infinite that did not age well up to today. How the Vox Populi were handled, the combat system, how they tried to create a BioShock framework to link the alternate universes, Burial at Sea... plenty was not implemented to the greatest potential, and since then we've learned more about what happened behind the scenes and it's no surprise some things were so messy.

However, at the time, Infinite was a bit of a breakthrough for a Triple A title. Your mileage may have varied, but there were just things about it that made it differ from other Triple A games at the time.

Introducing the Multiverse

Main thing was how the story went into things like multiverse theory and the idea of constants and variables, which was a great jumping-off point for future Shock titles and helped connect back to System Shock, what BioShock spiritually succeeded. It wasn't the best use of multiverse theory and certainly wasn't the first, when we had things like Fringe or His Dark Materials, and not everyone liked how Infinite handled it.

On the other hand, I think it's one of the alternate-history timeline pieces of media that helped popularise the idea, and fit with BioShock's previous alternate-history stories with how the first two games had some subtle hints of it with certain characters being involved in historical events. And, again, before the DLC episodes came out, it really opened up potential for how the series could go forward with the idea that a BioShock game didn't need to continue directly from Rapture or Columbia, but an entirely new "impossible" city with similar elements.

People got excited and connected the roles of characters between games - Jack, Eleanor and Elizabeth being key characters raised by antagonists to fulfill their wishes/legacies; if the Man could be the role of the protagonist of titles or the founders of these fantastic cities; the cities both having people in charge abusing their power and acting on ideals warped by going into the extreme, leading to the populace falling into chaos as they tear the city from the inside out; how when certain people get given a power that goes against nature to do whatever they want, they use it how they want to devastating effect - it was the idea of all these possibilites and connections, similarities and differences that I think really buzzed about in the fandom early on.

I think when Burial at Sea was finished it put a damper on things like the theorising, because at first it was sort of railroading not just Elizabeth's character and ambiguous future, but both 1 and Infinite's overall fates. Infinite was no longer a flawed standalone, it was now a prequel to BioShock... but also ran alongside it? Rapture in BaS is the primary timeline... but the bond between Big Daddies and Little Sisters are completely different now? Fink had people fishing for ADAM slugs from the sky?? Drinkable ADAM took 10 times the amount of injectables, and Fink and Suchong still make a limited resource drinkable???

Needless to say, the whole multiverse vibe of Infinite getting dropped in Burial at Sea left a negative impression on a lot of people, I noticed it a lot on here because I was the deepest in the salt mines and yet plenty were still fond of Infinite so... Burial at Sea just got disowned. I remember someone saying Levine had said BaS wasn't canonical, and to this day I cannot for the life of me find real evidence that he ever stated this, but a bunch of us clung to that and the fact that whatever Levine didn't understand in the original game he either still didn't understand or just didn't care about with the DLCs.

We also viserally hated BaS for pretending 2 never happened.

It's Just So Goddamn Pretty and Charming

Weird thing to say for a BioShock game, I know, but Infinite was pretty much tumblr gifset gold, and its graphics are probably what aged the best of everything in the game.

Not to say Rapture didn't have any beauty to it, but it was very much leaning into a haunting and deteriorating aesthetic, 1 having the immediate aftermath of a city gone to ruin and 2 showing the ocean slowly seeping in to reclaim its space. You could soak in (haha) the environment of a city long since dead, come across props placed deliberately to tell a story without words, with that little hint of survival horror where a splicer might walk in and catch you off-guard.

Columbia was a very different experience, there was sunlight and sky and clouds and floating buildings and people walking about going on with their day. The levels where you get to put your weapons down and just play walking simulator for however long you want are probably the better levels. In general, Columbia has a lot of well-done atmosphere and moments where a player can just stop and take a screenshot for their desktop later. It was an still is a visual treat, and the general artstyle of BioShock as a franchise not being super realistic and being somewhat stylised really helped the games age well. Even the massive hands of NPCs and the horrifying children of Columbia have their own charm to them.

And on that note of charming, the characters themselves had charm to them, be it in short audio logs or through the story with recurring characters. All the games get their charm from the audio diaries because they inform the overall story in some small aspect and add to putting you in the time period and setting of the story, as well as the attitudes of characters then. Honestly I never get enough of walking through the welcoming level and overhearing people talking in this cheery tone where the subject matter of conversations starts to become slowly off, or how an NPC will comment on finding Booker attractive when it's entirely possible that not 30 seconds ago Booker was rummaging in the trash and found loose change and a pineapple.

And you might be wondering if things like these were really that great, and in 2013? Yes. Yes, they were great. Why? Because it was 2013 and everything was brown. (or at least it felt like it) Mainstream games were varying shades of sepia tone and mud-brown because war or something, it wasn't ALL games but for triple A titles it felt like they thought spilling coffee on the camera was a style choice. Characters as well, they were either bland or assholes, I could articulate better if my brain wasn't white noise surrounding the before times, but it felt like western-made games like Calladuty Shootaman were just devoid of colour or charisma unless you were a BioWare game.

With Infinite, its bright colours and characters with... well, character (for better or worse put a pin in that), were a breath of fresh air for those generally playing it, even if some of the charm came from NPCs being blatantly bigoted in that old-timey voice (which really Infinite is not the only piece of media to do that).

And you're going to sigh for me saying it, because it makes me sound like a stan again, but another big factor in making it Infinite charming and different was... Elizabeth.

Yes, Elizabeth

Women in games weren't really treated as characters in the early 2010s, particularly in Triple As. It was a particularly misogynistic time in gaming in pretty much all areas; within the game narrative, behind the scenes in a game's development, and ESPECIALLY in fandom.

If a character was female and feminine, then she was either going to be a useless damsel just there to be a nuisance or to serve as a slutty mcslutterson just there to be sexy and/or bang the main character (or for bonus points, be punished for her sexy, slutty crimes). Like, any instance of a female character where her boobs were just existing meant some kind of misogyny was heading her way. It all just lead to pushback of being a girl and girly, like the only way to make a female character feel like she had a point or had worth was to make her a hardass and just as misogynistic "I'm not like other girls" as the men.

so Elizabeth being the emotional core of Infinite was pretty 'groundbreaking' at the time, for lack of a better term. She was feminine, she was girly, but she wasn't a useless damsel because of her gameplay design to assist the player, and she wasn't a slutty mcslutterson because she's never sexually available to the main character. Hell, she IS the main character in a way, Booker's just her bodyguard.

Escort missions were treated with the utmost disdain (a big reason why people chose to shit on BioShock 2 when it's entirely optional after one tutorial), and women were treated like eye candy, sexy lamps, or romantic interests/sex objects for the player character in more linear titles. So in terms of a giiiirl in a main role, Elizabeth was something new people into games and gaming culture; her escort mission didn't have annoying mechanics leading to fail states, and she was treated as her own character first and not as a romantic or sexual interest for the main character. She was allowed to just be, with interests and skills and agency in the story.

Triple A titles and the developers behind them just didn't seem to know how to write or design female characters beyond what would entertain what they believed was the main demographic; horny dudebros. If you want a quick example, the Mass Effect series was a big hit with its first two installments, being a space opera with some horny-on-main showing *cough*Asari*cough,* but nothing too egregious for games at the time and nothing as bad as other stuff out there. Then we had Mass Effect 3, a game that like Infinite was the third game in a surprise hit franchise given the Triple A treatment, and released not a year before. And returning female characters had designs that... well... choices were made, some more egregiously boggling than others. Biggest example would be Ashley Williams, whose new wardrobe didn't fit her established character in previous games.

Fans weren't fooled, because Ashley is a character who went on record to say she was comfortable with her femininity as she was while dressing appropriately as a soldier. While not stated, the obvious reason for the redesign was to make her look more like Miranda Lawson from the previous game, whose sexy appearance is actually part of her character and comfort in her sexuality. They literally changed Ashley's appearance from wearing practical uniform to a catsuit with a miniskirt for the sake of titillation for a potential new audience. And to be clear, it isn't that sexy characters are inherently bad or badly written. It's that developers and writers usually picked the wrong time to sexualise said characters, i.e. "there's a time and a place for a butt shot, and a scene where this woman is asking for help on a personal matter isn't it."

But anyway without going further off-topic, Game companies wanted to sell games and when it came to women in games, they believed that sex sold, hence female characters in games being sexualised with it rarely informing their characters or serving anything beyond titillation for a presumed male demographic.

Infinite seemed to be on that track with Elizabeth's demo appearance, where her bust was much bigger and she sounded a lot older, but looking at iterations of Elizabeth over time up to the final game, it becomes clear that the people behind Elizabeth were actively trying to avoid having her fall into that sexualisation, or at least any further than she already was. They made her breasts smaller and changed the bodice of her dress to her corset, keeping the blue dress that was by that point iconic while also modifying it to something that Elizabeth clearly would not wear by choice. They gave her her sailor-style dress for two thirds of the game so that players could connect with her more for her personality and story.

And, to top it off, the game is actively laughing at you for trying to ogle Elizabeth, after an age of games where the male gaze was encouraged. When there's a scripted scene, the camera keeps focus on Elizabeth's face and not her body. A player can't walk up flush to her to stare at her chest or her butt because her hitbox is pretty big and she will keep moving out of the way. You can't look up her skirt because it's too long, you can't get a view as she jumps off a skyline because she's too quick and even if you get it glitching out, Elizabeth's character models don't even have any legs above her knees (which for saving polygons is common in most games but that's not the topic). Hell, the ONE time a player can "successfully" try to be a perv to her exposed skin is when she's tied to the operating table at Comstock House, and aside from not being able to get too close, you know what the devs did? They defocus Elizabeth if you try to use your sights on her.

youtube

(from 08:23 to 08:57)

Most games at the time would not bother to put up this much resistance to players being gross horndogs, even as a joke like in the playthrough above. At first with Infinite and Elizabeth it was like "haha they cockblocked us lol", but in hindsight it feels more and more like it was pushing back against objectifying the emotional core of Infinite wherever possible, like the devs wanted people to view Elizabeth as a character first.

Honestly? Elizabeth wasn't the greatest example of how to treat a main character who was a woman in games, but she was one of the characters that at least pushed people in the direction of handling women and their writing better in future. Most people, anyway.

I'm gonna cover this separately in another post on the topic, but my friends and I are usually just baffled at how much the attitude towards Elizabeth has changed today, because while there are instances of dodgey writing with her story, Elizabeth is one of the characters that helped push narratives in gaming towards drinking their Respect Women Juice, because for all the "critiques" about her appearance and her role in the story... I can only think of what games were like around the time and I just

And just to cover my bases...

Yeah, the Narrative About Racism Was Pretty Racist Itself

With the subject of the Vox Populi and Daisy and the "both sides can be monstrous" way that plotline got ended unceremoniously, I don't believe it was written with any malicious intent (though I wouldn't argue if I was proven wrong on that, who knows what else we're missing behind the scenes). How the racism is handled has aged the poorest and is very much a deal-breaker for some players today, but with the context of when the game was made and released, I think they were trying to be sincere without completely understanding what they were getting into. Unfortunately with most media by white people, it's down to ignorance.

It did not help Infinite's case either that later that year, Black Lives Matter started, and with that movement more attention was given to black voices speaking out about stereotypes and portrayals of black characters in media, including in BioShock Infinite. I don't believe the people behind Infinite meant any harm in their portrayals of Daisy and the Vox. It doesn't mean it wasn't wrong or justifiable, but given the general lack of diversity in game companies at the time it's at best understandable how they and some players of Infinite would have missed the mark on a subject like racism. When it comes to racism, it's a lot deeper and a lot less PC than a white writer would want to get into if they weren't genuinely dedicated to showing the truth and ugliness of the topic, which Levine was not, because Infinite was not a story meant to be about racism at the end of the day.

I think with the demos, while the Vox were clearly antagonists, the reason for them being antagonists was a lot better than what we got. It's how they were always intended if we believe what was shown, and we might not know exactly how they went from that to being "the good guys get the means to fight the bad guys, but in doing so they become the bad guys". It was a mistake, and on some level we KNOW Levine knows it was a mistake by Burial at Sea Episode Two's development at latest, given how he tries to retcon Daisy's reasons for holding a child at gun point (which isn't better it's just. another flavour of "bad").

tl;dr, In Conclusion, yada yada

Overall, I feel so many people still like BioShock Infinite today because of what it kind of did for gaming along with other titles released back in 2013. It got lots of mainstream attention for a game that wasn't Call of Warfare or Modern Duty, which was what people expected from first-person-shooters a lot of the time. It was also one of the titles out there pushing for the argument that video games could be artistic and hold deeper meaning and stories, even if with Infinite your mileage may vary. It was part of the "you HAVE to try this game" list of experiences, and it's stuck to those people even if it hasn't gotten on too graceful with time.

I feel like it was a net positive at least with how it treated the main girl of the game and how fans reacted. Yes, there were plenty of horny dudebroes and creeps drawing fanart because the internet never ceases to surprise, but a lot of people fell in love with her for being a female character that got better treatment than most, both in-story and in fandom. Plenty of other women in games may have had better stories and characters and mechanics than Elizabeth, I won't argue that, but again, this was a woman in a game for a mainstream audience at a time where women were either a sex object or a punchline in popularly consumed media, particularly online.

You know what, I'm changing my favourite thing about Infinite. My favourite thing about it was that it shone a spotlight on the whole series. Something that was an ironic positive was how, after Infinite came out, people started viewing BioShock 2 a lot more favourably, either by comparison to Infinite because it felt weaker in certain elements, or by revisiting / first-time-playing the games, especially when the remastered version in the BioShock Collection was released. Infinite being such a big success financially prompted 2K to try and make more money by bringing the older games to the next console generation, which brought the whole series to a wider audience. And it was damn good to see BioShock 2 get a new perspective that was heaps more positive than when it was released, it was always a shame to me that online circles treated it like trash since it was the first game in the series I played until completion (I just couldn't get into combat for BioShock 1 at the time).

I'm sorry for making this so long and sorry if there are points that don't seem clear or make sense, it was too fun and brain-excercising to not go into why so many people still like this game. Well at least the reasons that wouldn't require me to retire at 30 from exhaustion and mental breakdowns anyway.

#bioshock #bioshock infinite #long post #theluckoftheclaws #just me sitting here praying i didn't go too off-the-rails with this one #i get incoherent when i rant or infodump

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tobi-smp · 2 years

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But... am I misunderstanding or was there a miscommunication between ccs at the time? Like, did cc!techno not know what was happening?? Was he suppose to do something different? I'm guessing there was no script for that part and it was all improvised (which is kinda weird because we know they were scripting things at that point, like Schlatt's death). I didn't watch the whole arc, did Techno miss hints of what was happening or something?

context: [Link]

I genuinely couldn't tell you ! I don't know what happens behind the scenes but it genuinely feels like cc!techno just, doesn't know the implications of basically anything he gets involved in

a clip resurfaced yesterday of techno in the bedrock bros arc describing tommy's exile as a "two week depression arc" where he tried to make everyone feel bad for him "even though he was intentionally provoking everybody" [Link]. and yeah, it was said like a joke, but like Is It?

it was weirdchamp enough coming from techno when he was the person who was supposed to take tommy in immediately after a Failed Suicide Attempt, I should hope that he'd at least know how bad the optics are with trying to downplay that as tommy being A Little Bummed Out Over A Bad Party and just actual victim blaming. but here he is, saying it anyways. and this would be Unfortunately Consistent with cc!techno continuing to have his character work off of dream both while refusing to acknowledge the Implications that has for his character And while trying to play his character as an antihero of sorts.

I have no idea what communication looks like behind the scenes, what techno was told or what he saw going into these events Or what he's seen since. but also like, it's Weird to me that cc!techno seems to be making these decisions for how c!techno should act without understanding the context that he's making them in, and then refusing to accept that context.

and it's not as if this is a techno-only issue. there are lots of cc!s that have said tone deaf things about the exile arc, there are lots of cc!s who have made lore decisions without understanding the full context of what was going on, hell cc!wilbur didn't know that c!dream escaped until he was told on stream (genuinely don't know how that one happened).

but techno is Continuously put directly at the center of arcs and story events and characters that involve very Serious subject matter, particularly with tommy and dream, and then makes decisions about what he wants his character to do and when without informing himself of what's going on around him. and then everyone else is forced to just kind of, Bend.

a Relevant example of this is the syndicate investigating snowchester. it was in the direct aftermath of tommy's death and this fact was just casually brushed off because cc!techno didn't want to deal with it. so he walks up to tubbo, mourning the death of his best friend, and starts interrogating him about whether he should get to keep his home or not.

cc!techno refuses to see the red festival as traumatizing because he doesn't want his character to be "the villain," cc!techno refuses to see doomsday as traumatizing because he refuses to think about the context his actions are happening in, and he was seemingly uninformed about c!tommy's death at dream's hands. so when he made that decision he was seemingly unaware of how that would make his character Look. he made jokes about tubbo having "nukes for self defense" and tubbo wasn't Allowed to openly address his character's trauma.

cc!tubbo didn't dig into his character's trauma with the red festival and doomsday until the cookie outpost and the burger arc, he transplanted Quackity into the role as the villain that c!tubbo was angry and afraid of with c!techno getting a pass "because he was forced into it by quackity and schlatt." and I can't say that I know what happened behind the scenes, but considering what cc!techno's said about the red festival Now I have to imagine that cc!tubbo's plans for having his character try to work through that trauma wouldn't have gone very well if techno had been in quackity's place instead.

the characters literally are not allowed to address the trauma that c!techno caused them because cc!techno won't address it. and that's Weird innit

#dream smp #technoblade #tommyinnit #tubbo #c!techno critical #cc!techno critical #meta #discourse #victim blaming

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dystopiandilfs · 2 years

Text

Okay here's some genuine constructive criticism, opinions and advise for Tales based on reasons why I don't like Tales as a whole.

If I was to be in charge of Tales instead of Karl here's what I'd change/add.

Warning if you click read more you will be faced with opinions, some of which can be negative. You have be warned.

Firstly I wouldn't have so many people involved purely because you don't have time to flesh out all the characters enough for people to get attached so they don't care when something bad happens to them. Less people also means you can spend more time introducing each character and explaining why they are specifically there and how Karl got there.

Secondly I would make sure that the people I do invite take it as seriously as I want it to be perceived. You can't expect people to take your story seriously when half of the people involved spend more time making jokes and derailing the stream. Having a group that consists of 4 taking it seriously and 4 fucking about is a bad thing. Nobody is going to focus on the story if you've got Quackity and Sapnap making dick jokes. Not once for Tales has Karl's name trended but everyone else always does because of them making jokes. Karl is somehow the least memorable and important person in his own character stream.

Next I would actually tone down the production level. This means no extravagant builds being commissioned, no big fancy intro etc. This is purely because Tales feels like a spin off au series to the DreamSMP instead of actually part of the SMP. A huge reason why things like Las Nevadas and The Prison were so amazing was that they were built in survival by people on the SMP rather than a build team being commissioned to create a big fancy build in creative on a random server. There's such a huge disconnect between Tales and the SMP because of Tales being the only character story to not be on the SMP and it's only connections being easter eggs and cameos. Honestly hiring a team to do all the work just seems lazy and you can't expect people to connect with your lore when you yourself aren't even involved in creating it an the only connections you have is playing it.

Next thing I would do I switch up the layout of things, the whole basis is time travel but we never really get into the time travel aspect of the story so if it were me I'd start the stream off in Kinoko and head to the library and grab a book and the story in that book is basically what happens in the stream and the book is written by the other time traveller and Karl is time travelling through each of the other time travellers stories to figure out what happened to them. He's basically copying the other time travellers path and each episode gives more hints on who the other traveller is and what happened to them.

I'd also link what happened to DreamSMP events. For example the other traveller stole a spore of the Egg when they came across it on their journey and hid it in what is now the SMP, the egg was reawakening after Karl also came across the egg and accidentally brought back some of the egg power which is what reawakened the Egg that was found by BBH. Another link would be specific people and items so for example Karl brings back a diary from when he visits the town that went mad and Foolish later finds it and we find out that Foolish is the reason the town went mad. Basically the whole thing is that Karl is trying to figure out what happened to the other time traveller but doesn't know that he's losing his memory and he's bringing back things to the SMP which have big effects. He's basically unintentionally ruining things whilst trying to fix them not realising that he's fucking things up.

Next thing I'd change is face cam. I've always been someone who said I don't like character lore or story lore having face cam because I feel like it takes away from everything and my thoughts still stand here but what I'd like to add is for Karl to not do a just chatting segment before and after the stream aswell. Just have a timer before doing the lore like Sam and Quackity and just end the stream after the lore. I don't like people doing lore and then going "what did you think" like just end your stream and raid someone.

Next I'd focus more of building Karl's story over everyone else by having smaller streams in-between the big ones that is purely just Karl. They can be in character or just cc!Karl doing a just chatting stream where he talks about and explains his character a bit more. Let's be real nobody leaves a Tales stream knowing more about Karl's character or even remembering anything new we might have learned because he doesn't spend enough time on it. Everything explained about Karl's character is immediately glossed over by some other big reveal which is why I think solo streams are good.

Next I'd focus way more of actually creating a story because at the moment it seems like Karl only focuses on the last bit with the Inbetween which is fine but it's also only 10% of the whole stream which is why he has to rely on fancy build and cc appearances to carry the story because he doesn't put time into actually writing anything for the main chunk of the stream. Which is also why Karl can never control the group because nobody knows what they're supposed to be doing because there's no story or structure.

The only things people actually remember are the Villains, Ranbob and Billiam for example. Half of the people who watched Mizu can't tell you anything other than cc!Dream woke up to play a toxic murderous Dream stan in a Ranboo au cosplay. The only thing people remember about the Murder Mystery Mansion was Techno's character, The Egg and Quackity not knowing how to spell economy. Nothing about Karl's character is remembered because anything important is glossed over and there's no time or attention put into building a character to the point of it being over shadowed by the dumb names people give their characters.

Basically Karl needs to focus on creating his character and building the main part of the stream rather than the final 10 minutes because having a switch from friends messing around to serious lore isn't going to have the effect you want because people are going to focus on something else. I mean more people tweeted about Ranboo being the other time traveller than anything else and Ranboo wasn't even on the stream. (also Ranboo isn't the other time traveller bet)

Also hot take Karl should stop inviting Quackity, Sapnap and George because they're never going to take Karl's lore seriously and all they do is derail the situation. I love the three of them but they can't focus for 30 seconds and always are the reason why Karl has no character story or memorable moments and don't help Karl build his story in any way. It genuinely baffles me how Quackity can be so serious on his own lore streams but can't even shut up for 30 seconds on someone else's.

#dreamwastaken #mcyt #dreamsmp #dream smp #georgenotfound #sapnap #quackity #karl jacobs #karl jacobs critical #tftsmp critical #quackity critical #george critical #sapnap critical

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