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felassan · 10 hours

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New Details on DA4 from this IGN article: "Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Is Officially Being Renamed, With Gameplay Reveal Set for June 11 - EXCLUSIVE"

"BioWare confirmed that The Veilguard will feature seven playable party members, and that it will feature “fun and fluid, moment-to-moment combat” while continuing to center strategy via the unique powers of each companion.

BioWare general manager Gary McKay explains that while Solas is “still very much a part of the story of Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” the team wanted a title that reflected a “really deep and compelling group of companions.”

“One thing that’s important to remind fans is that every Dragon Age game is a new and different experience and this game, more so than ever, is about you and your companions – a group that you must rally to fight by your side,” McKay tells IGN. “We can’t wait for players to meet, connect and form their own personal relationships with the unique companions that make up The Veilguard. That’s the spirit of this game…of this story. Choosing who will join you on your adventure, fight alongside you, and be there by your side in the end.”

McKay claims that the name change wasn’t a matter of focus testing, which commonly informs decisions like these. He even goes so far as to admit that sticking with Dreadwolf might have been easier.

“We actually think sticking with Dreadwolf would have been the safer choice – ‘Dread Wolf’ is a cool name after all!” McKay says. “In the end, it was most important for us to have a title that was authentic to the companions that are the heart of this adventure we’ve created. We’ve worked throughout development to create really incredible backstories for each companion that intersect with the main narrative in meaningful ways.”

As for why it’s not simply named “Dragon Age IV,” McKay says it’s for the same reason that Dragon Age Inquisition wasn’t called “Dragon Age III: Inquisition.”

“Every game in the series tells its own unique story and the title is an important element to help set the stage for the next standalone adventure inclusive of its own hero, companions, narrative arc, villain, setting, etc,” he says.

Asked what it means for BioWare to finally be able to show The Veilguard to the world, McKay said, “As the studio head and executive producer, it’s been incredible to see the journey, resilience and passion that this team continues to bring every day. We have an incredible group of both BioWare and Dragon Age veterans who have been with us for years, as well as new faces and voices that love the series who have helped to create an unforgettable experience we feel will be worthy of the Dragon Age name.”

So who exactly are the Veilguard? In the lore, the Veil is a barrier between the physical world and Fade, which is Dragon Age’s spirit realm. Solas, who helped create the Veil, now wants to destroy it. Hence, as McKay puts it, “the Veil needs guarding.”

While acknowledging that the why and the how is definitely spoiler territory, McKay says, “The biggest clue I can share is that you and your companions – that make up The Veilguard – are central to taking down a new evil threat unleashed upon Thedas. It might not just be Solas.”

McKay isn’t quite ready to reveal the party members quite yet, but does provide some hints on what to expect, including some initial info on romances.

“We spent a lot of time making our companions feel authentic based on their own unique experiences within this larger fantasy world, which in turn makes the relationships you form with them feel even more meaningful. We’ve tapped into Dragon Age’s deep lore and explored its most iconic factions to bring each of the seven companions and their stories to life,” he says.

“I won’t spoil next week’s reveal but I can say we’ve created a story where you can impact the world and the companions that surround you. Player agency is important to the Dragon Age: The Veilguard experience and allows each player to form unique personal connections with their companions of choice. And, yes, you can romance the companions you want!”

McKay says the decision to pare the number of companions from nine to seven is mostly down to it being the “right number for the story we’re telling.” Each one is intended to represent a unique faction or element from Thedas, and will feature their own arc with “stories of love and loss, each with meaningful choices and emotional moments.”

He continues, “As you accompany your companions to unravel their backstory and earn their loyalty and friendship, you’ll visit more regions of Thedas across a deeper variety of biomes than any Dragon Age before it.”

McKay mostly sidesteps questions of how Inquisition’s characters might fit into The Veilguard’s story, though he does confirm that it will once again feature an original protagonist similar to The Warden, Hawke, and The Inquisitor, noting that each Dragon Game has its own standalone story with its own thread and conflict.

“Games across the Dragon Age franchise are never designed as a game-over-game continuous storyline. There are familiar arcs, factions and heroes important to the overarching Dragon Age universe that weave through the new story we’re telling,” he explains. “The previous games, characters and events aren’t the anchor of Dragon Age: The Veilguard it’s about your adventure with a brand new cast of companions that you must rally to fight against a powerful force.”

He once again teases another villain beyond Solas: “I don’t want to get too deep into spoiler territory but I can say that the Dread Wolf is not the only god players need to be worried about.”

When The Veilguard is finally revealed on June 11, BioWare’s presentation will include 15 minutes of gameplay from the opening moments of the game, which will help set up the story. On the gameplay front, McKay says that The Veilguard’s combat was a “big area of focus” and something the team wanted to push forward. Among other things, McKay says that The Veilguard will feature an ability wheel designed to give players more direct control over their characters.

“As an RPG, strategy in combat is important as you bring two companions to every fight. Each companion brings unique powers and abilities that have a direct impact on how you choose to take down the enemies at hand,” he says. “To add another layer to that strategic element, we’re introducing a new ability wheel where you can pause the action and set up your next move – whether it’s your companions’ abilities or your own.

“The ability wheel opens up a huge amount of strategic possibilities, giving players the ability to control the flow of combat and link powerful combinations of abilities between players and their companions that can quickly turn the tide of any battle. We think we’ve found an exciting balance between fun, fluidity and strategy for every encounter.”

“This is a game and experience that continues BioWare’s tradition of single player RPG storytelling set in the epic fantasy world of Thedas,” McKay says. “We know Dragon Age fans and the community have been waiting a long time for the next game and we could not be more excited to share our gameplay reveal on June 11.""

[source]

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #solas

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ironunderstands · 2 days

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Topaz appreciation post because she’s been rotating around my brain like a rotisserie chicken and I need y’all to get her like I do

Genuinely, I believe her to be the most underrated limited 5 star in the game everything wise, because she is so damn interesting and nobody talks about it ever and it drives me nuts.

So, I’m going to make you understand why exactly I love her and what makes her so amazing in the first place.

Her lore

Topaz’s lore is rather simple, at least compared to other characters in the game, but simple ≠ bad and her story serves her perfectly.

Long before Topaz was Topaz, she was a girl named Jelena, living in a desolate planet at the edge of the galaxy. The economy of this planet was based around mining and industry, which resulted in her home becoming more and more polluted as time went on. The wildlife almost completely disappeared, people had to wear masks to breathe, and it seemed like her planet was reaching a hopeless, dismal end.

Until the IPC came. They promised to fix everything, and heal her planet of its environment problems, in exchange for every person on the planet signing a contract of indentured servitude to the IPC. Seeing no other way out, Topaz’s home accepted, forever tying her and the rest of the planet to the IPC.

Topaz is was (and still is) incredibly talented and competent, excelling in science, economics, finances, math, etc. Her exceptional talents caused her mentor and parental figure Dvorski, who works in the Strategic Investment Department to recommend her to Jade, one of his superiors. Presumably, this is how she started her climb up the corporate latter, eventually becoming the Topaz we know and love today.

Throughout this, she maintained her friendly and headstrong attitude, and never abandoned her love for animals or the people in her life like Dvorski, a trait which will be important for later.

So, I’ve established the basics, so what makes this interesting?

Topaz’s trauma and how it affects her character

I feel like a lot of people ignore just how much trauma she really has, and how it affects the way she behaves in the present.

For starters, her love of animals. Sure, Numby is adorable and in general this is a rather fun trait for a character to have, it’s not something you would consider to be a sign of something darker.

However, remember that Topaz’s planet almost lost all of the life on it, and she witnessed firsthand almost every creature she knew and loved either go extinct or become severely endangered.

So, when you view her love for animals through this lense, it’s easy to see that she’s so attached to animals because Topaz almost lost them forever, and this trait manifests in a lot of the behavior she exhibits.

According to Topaz herself, her efficiency goes up 27% when Numby is with her, and it seems to be blatantly obvious that being around animals give her at the very least a peace of mind/sense of comfort. I mean in game she is Topaz and Numby for a reason, and her relationship with them is a core part of the way she behaves. When Topaz can’t ground herself, she has Numby to help her with that, which hurts even more considering she is likely going on these missions alone 90% of the time, meaning her literal only friend is a pet/animal.

Considering Topaz’s biological parents never get mentioned, it’s not hard to assume she is orphaned or at the very least estranged from them, likely due to the disaster on her planet, leaving her only loved ones to be her pets and Dvorski. Losing one half of the only support system she has would be devastating for Topaz, which is likely why she brings Numby everywhere (also considering I don’t think she has mentioned him in the present, her pets might literally be the only things she has left).

In her own home, Topaz collects a myriad of species from across the galaxy, as if to preserve them so at least even if they disappear on their home planets like hers did, they won’t go extinct entirely.

Personally, I think her fixation around them cooperating and coexisting also reflects on how she feels about other people. If animals from completely different planets can get along, so can people. If she can convince creatures lacking in intellect work together, then she can do the same for ones that possess it, as ultimately Topaz is a massive people person, and believes what she’s doing is best for the galaxy.

It’s almost like an experiment, with every little change to their ecosystems, every new organism added, every new abiotic feature taken or removed, Topaz can simulate what that might be like in reality. In a way she wants to take care of humans like she does her pets, however instead of doing it through her own means, she uses the IPC and her power as a Stoneheart as a vector for that.

But why is she so confident? What makes Topaz wholeheartedly believe that what she’s doing really is the best for the galaxy, even if we know it isn’t perfect, even if only ~80% of the planets she works on are “saved”?

Well, like always, it’s her trauma again.

Imagine you’re living on a planet slowly dying due to its people’s greed and ignorance, in which everything you know and love is falling apart, and absolutely nothing can be done about it. But you don’t need to imagine this, I mean this is a situation we are all going through, as it’s already what’s happening to our planet right now, so perhaps instead picture what it might be like to live here in a few decades if nothing changes. How miserable that would be, how upset you would be at those in power, how disappointed you would be in humanity for doing Nothing when we had so much time and already knew the consequences almost a century in advance (seriously we have known about climate change since like the 50s).

So you give up hope and accept your fate, accept that everything is going down in flames and the humanity, the planet you know and love is going to be snuffed out forever.

Only to get saved when an outside influence comes to your assistance. Sure, they make everyone sign a contract binding their lives to them, but you wouldn’t have a life to give had they not helped. Besides, you owe it to every other thing that shares your planet with you, every plant, every animal, every organism has been utterly wiped out by human greed, so it’s only fair to pay them back, right?

I mean it’s your whole world at stake, so how could you say no? How could you deem their terms unreasonable if clearly your own people didn’t deserve the responsibility they had over their own lives? If their situations could only be fixed by giving it to others who could guide them? By giving it to the IPC? The Preservation ?

This is the mindset Topaz grew up on and has known for her entire life. She has seen humanity utterly fail itself and is unwilling to allow that fate to befall others. She doesn’t trust other people to make the right decisions, she doesn’t think they know what’s best for them, because the people she was closest to, her very own people couldn’t do that, so how could she ever expect strangers to do the same?

How could she ever give the leaders of these planets the benefit of the doubt, knowing that doing that for her own almost caused it to be wiped out completely? How could she see them as anything more than the selfish bastards who ruined everything? How could her heart not ache thinking there were people on the planets she helps who would be doomed to experience the fate that almost fell upon her had Topaz not stepped in.

How could Topaz feel guilty over the planets that don’t succeed? The ones she can’t save? As after all, she thinks they were lost from the get go? Does it eat her up at night knowing she failed them? That she couldn’t prevent the folly of humanity this time, so the next planet she must work harder, be more stubborn, push back even more, so nobody ever experiences what she did instead?

I mean being an indentured servant hasn’t been that bad for her, she’s succeeded in every endeavor she’s set her mind to after all. Sure, she’s entirely alone, and sure, if the IPC no longer deems her or her people useful, they could cast them aside once again.

But Topaz is smart, she climbed to the top of the latter, she’s been praised to hell and back, she’s known far and wide through the department for her efficiency and drive, surely she hasn’t done anything wrong?

Sure she’s heard whispers, rumors and projects of other departments, of the deep dark secrets of the company she owes her life too. Inwardly she wonders how those who follow the Preservation would even be willing to commit such atrocities, inwardly she hopes they are just rumors. The IPC saved her planet, so how could they destroy others?

The Preservation’s power will protect all, will save them from their miserable existences. Nothing else matters in the process, no dissenter understands this as like Topaz does. She will save them, she will protect them, even if it means she is detested by everyone she encounters, it must be done. All for the Amber Lord.

I find it very compelling how despite the fact that Topaz has become a Stoneheart, she is still dressed in the fashion of an average IPC worker. As if she is an equal part of the puzzle as them. Equally useful, equally disposable, equally biased, equally ignorant, and equally foolish.

I mean, how could she be anyway else?

Her future

Belabog was just as important for Topaz’s development as she was to it.

She was wrong.

As stubborn as Topaz is, she is not arrogant, and when Bronya proved to her that the people of Belabog can and would fight for their future, Topaz did everything in her power to help them.

As that’s what she really cares about, people.

I think Topaz the determination she has in Bronya and it shook her to her core.

Because so far, the only way Topaz has seen real progress is from the hands of the IPC.

But Bronya doesn’t give into them, and she puts everything she has into saving her people. Moreover, Jarilo-VI follows the Preservation as well, but they don’t agree with the IPC’s method of it.

Is the IPC wrong?

That is the question Topaz is faced with, what is the thing she has to grapple with once she leaves the planet. When they demote her for not getting the debt back immediately, does Topaz wonder why they were so concerned about that in the first place? Shouldn’t they be happy that a world blessed by their very own deity managed to pick itself up without their help? Isn’t that the point?

Does she think back to her previous projects, the planets she saved and the planets she failed, and wonder how it would have worked out without the IPCs involvement?

Did Aventurine teasing her about “failing” the Jarilo-VI project confuse her, because they were still saved like Topaz wanted them to be in the first place? How could they ever be considered a failure?

She believes debts and payback are what holds planets together, but it only ever seemed to cause Belabog to fall apart.

This is the first time Topaz really is forced to reevaluate her priorities, to question if her methods are justifiable, if she’s really doing the right thing.

Belabog didn’t break her, it didn’t topple her worldview and turn everything on its head, but it did plant some seeds of doubt in her brain, seeds of doubt that will grow into a new mindset.

HOYOVERSE IF YOU ARE LISTENING HOYOVERSE, GIVE HER THE MENTAL BREAKDOWN + PRIORITY REEVALUATION ARC SHE DESERVES!!! DO THAT AND MY LIFE IS YOURS PLEASE.

Like you don’t get it you don’t get it what do you mean they set all this up and they might not go anywhere with it. Please hoyo please please please let her break away from the IPC’s condition and warped perspective, please let her truly follow the Preservation, please make her turn away from them, please make her an emanator of Preservation after she does this. Topaz stoneheart form, Topaz emanator form. Please please please let her save the crew let her save her subordinates let her save the people she failed previously let her save Aventurine and Ratio let her save Numby let her save herself.

Her instability

I have already somewhat touched on this in point #3, but Topaz just cannot exist in the state she is now permanently.

Like a radioactive element she’s going to slowly decay over time until she ends up in a more stable form, and who that will hurt in the process, and how long that will take, we will have to see.

Hypocrisy is not something that can exist for long within characters, as due to its inherent contradictions, it messes with the way they are characterized until they are eventually forced to either eliminate it themselves or have the story do it for them.

Topaz is a hypocrite, desiring to do good and help people, but she ends up hurting them in the process.

However, she has only just begun to realize this, and as more and more of the IPC’s atrocities get revealed, it gets harder and harder for both the audience and her herself to justify her behavior as we witness the extent of their crimes.

So how has she remained this stable for so long?

Well, the IPC has done everything in their power to keep her that way. From a young age she was involved with them, as they not only saved her planet, but her only known parental figure worked in the Strategic Investment Department. Soon, he recommended her to Jade due to Topaz’s exceptional talent, and presumably the other Stoneheart quickly picked her up and took her under her wing, causing Jelena to rise fast within the ranks and become one herself.

The IPC has been Topaz’s only frame of reference for how things should be done, her only perspective on write and wrong for so long. The only hints she gets of other points of view are that of the people who destroyed her planet, her own people. Unintentional or not, Topaz has been made to feel her whole life like the IPC are heroes and the common people are foolish and greedy and evil, and only now has that worldview started to crumble piece by piece.

Sure, we have always known how terrible the IPC was, a perception that has only gotten more and more true over time. However, Topaz is not the audience, and in universe the IPC presents themselves in a very positive light.

Think of the Myriad Celestia trailer and how it portrays the IPC; that’s quite literally how they want to be viewed in game, how they market themselves to other people. If Topaz has only ever known them to be that great, shining, progressive company who vows to follow the Preservation and improve the universe, how could even begin to criticize them? After all, she had never known any other perspective. Even when she did fail in the past, Topaz viewed it as a strike on her own record and an unfortunate situation in general, not as a demonstration of the IPC’s misdeeds.

The IPC is good, the IPC saves people, the IPC follows the Preservation, Topaz is a good person, Topaz does good things, Topaz helps people, Topaz saves people, there is nothing wrong, there won’t ever be anything wrong.

Until Belabog

They don’t want to cooperate with the IPC. To roll over and let themselves be gutted for all they are worth.

Well that’s fine, that’s happened before, at least that’s how Topaz justifies it to herself. She thinks of their massive debt, it must be paid after all, otherwise how could the galaxy remain stable?

But the weapons the IPC gave Jarilo-VI were never used in its defense. The thing they owe the IPC for never ended up being valuable. Belabog stood on its own, without the help of IPC in its defense.

They saved themselves.

As if it couldn’t get worse, they did it with the power of the Preservation.

And it didn’t come from the IPC, it came from them.

The Interastral Peace Corporation, who claim to be followers of the Preservation, standing against people who really do have their blessing and being proved wrong.

Do you know how that would feel to Topaz.

She’s wrong, and she’s proven wrong by the very deity she claims to follow, she believes she follows.

So Topaz makes her choice.

Stick with the IPC’s plan, or stand with the people of Belabog

And she stands with them.

Topaz’s character never changes. I hate when people act like she switched up on them and changed her whole worldview, but in reality that was the most in character thing Topaz has ever done in her entire life.

Because she cares about people, so when the opportunity presents itself, she will always stand with them.

This is the first time Topaz goes against the IPC’s wishes, and it won’t be the last.

She made her choice, she demonstrated who and what she truly cares about, and that will only drive a wedge between her and the IPC further and further until she snaps.

I find it funny how Topaz is a fire type character, when the song core to Belabog’s themes is “Wildfire”

However, maybe it isn’t just about them. I think it’s about the Preservation, about what the game in general is trying to tell its players.

How fighting for your right to exist will hurt, but it is not impossible, and that pain will be the only way to enact change.

Well, Topaz,

you made your choice

go fight against your fate

Thank you so much for reading! I really enjoyed making this and I hope you at least understand why I think Topaz is such a compelling character. I need an arc centered on her in the future and if I don’t get one then trust me things will be dealt with. She will get her just desserts.

#honkai star rail #hsr #hsr analysis #topaz hsr #topaz #topaz honkai star rail #topaz and numby #Im insane about her I was tweaking while writing this #This community does not deserve Topaz #aventurine #dr ratio #I need to make a post on the parallels between the IP3 #They are so so so important to one another though #I hate when ppl downplay that #THE NARRATIVE PARALLELS GRRRRR #ppl need to acknowledge just how hard the IPC fucked up her too #Like it’s more obvious with Aven and Boothill but still

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thelampisaflashlight · 2 days

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Have You Ever Eaten a Whole Bag of Sour Patch Kids

[This started as lore, and then turned into... whatever this is. I take my craft very seriously. Dew has a strange encounter.] Below the cut.

As Alice fell into Underland and thus deemed it Wonderland in her awe, so, too, did Dew tumble his way through the briars and brambles, and narrow paths of trees into the warm embrace of Hell.

He'd gone astray, a lost lamb -or perhaps a foolish wolf- gone without his shepherd; Over the guard rail that marked the divide between the road turned to gravel and the forest beyond.

Seeking shelter, sick from that first shock of falling, falling, falling down...

And the nauseous quake of too much alcohol and not enough food in his belly.

The dark night overhead, the stars hidden by clouds heavy with rain, the dull rumble of thunder getting closer.

His hands scraped up, bleeding from where he'd clutched to harsh pines and wicked thorns to stop his knees from buckling and losing himself among the brown needles strewn upon the ground.

It's never been clear to him... where and when his body gave out.

But the memory -the dream- of larger hands cradling him as a babe in arms, carrying him from the forest to the footpath, swaddled in pitch black furs of an animal unknown to him remains, persistant.

Rousing himself from a deep slumber beneath those same furs, Dew stares up at his ceiling.

Years have past since his arrival at the abbey, since his transformation into a ghoul, and his baptism into the church of Satan.

With a huff, he turns his head and eyes the clock on his nightstand.

4:30AM.

Too early to be getting out of bed on his day off, but the shifting of his body returns some sensation to other parts, and before he can reason with his bladder to go back to sleep, he's up and headed to the bathroom before he can piss himself.

His legs protest, and Dew decides he doesn't have the energy to stand up to take a leak, and plants himself firmly on his porcelain throne.

No sense in putting in more effort than is necessary, but as he's sitting there, and ever so slightly more awake, Dew reaches for one of the magazines he keeps in the bathroom.

An unsanitary practice, if you ask Aether, but Aether isn't here right now, and Dew has had enough late night regrets to not keep something worth reading in his on suite.

At the very least he isn't bringing his phone in the bathroom like SOMEBODY -Swiss- he knows.

...Flipping through a months old copy of Guitar World, he kind of wishes he'd brought his phone in here.

Dew hums and glances out at his bedroom, having not shut the bathroom door -he never does really, not unless someone else is in the room, and even then he's not exactly shy about this stuff- and feels his body go cold...

Someone's in his room.

A shadow is cast across his bed, a figure just out of sight.

He thinks, maybe, if he wasn't already in the process of doing so, he may very well have pissed himself from fear.

Startled, he gives an undignified shout and rushes to cover himself, screeching when-

"...Dew, I threw up..."

"AEON ERIK PHANTOMIME, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK-"

Aeon sniffles pathetically.

"Can I have a hug...?"

Dew looks at him aghast.

"...My pants are literally around my fucking ankles right now and you want a... How did you get in my room?? I had the door locked! And why the fuck didn't you knock... Geezus..."

Aeon does grabby hands towards him, looking utterly miserable.

"...Gimme, like, two minutes."

"...You need two minutes to pee?"

Dew throws his magazine at him.

"I need to fucking pull up my damned pants and wash my hands"

Aeon blinks at him.

"You wash your hands after you pee?"

"I'm pretending you didn't say that just now." Dew says, shooing him out of the doorway, "If you're not all gross, go lay down..."

Climbing back into bed after finishing up, Dew settles and groans as Aeon tries to cozy up to him, the lankier ghoul attempting to curl himself into a little ball against his chest.

Dew pets his back, if only because the slow, easy motion is soothing to him in its own way, "So, you think you caught some kinda weird bug, or did you just eat something strange again?"

Aeon hesitates, still attempting to worm his way, from the feel of it, into Dew's stomach.

"Have you ever eaten a whole bag of sour patch kids in one sitting..?"

"...No."

"Why did you pause?"

"Shut up and sleep, or I'm suffocating you with my body."

"...Yes, sir."

#lamp writes #shitghosting #nameless ghouls #dewdrop ghoul #aeon ghoul #phantom ghoul #ghost band #the band ghost #ghost bc #ghost band fanfic #mentions of throwing up #tw emetophobia #just to cover my bases #it really did start as lore #and then became this

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mossy123302 · 2 days

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I am not exactly entirely good with character or relationship analysis (A reason why my dumb fox head is aroace because I am not good w/ navigating romantic relationships)

So this is just my best effort writing the dynamic Q! Philza and Q! Missa have.

I do like to headcanon, like others, that Philza is indeed aroace, but not in a way, that like he doesn't understand what platonic or romantic means. Sure, it's funny to tease Philza about it, but it's also true that close friends could very much do so. I think Philza is quite aware of what is romantic and platonic, he knows the boundaries of it. I mean Philza is literally married to the Goddess of Death (implied) Kristin. It's more or less that Philza doesn't simply care for such labels. (I very much hc that Philza could probably be genderfluid, like me- Peeposmile)

It's something Philza even mentioned in the live stream when talking about the deities in hardcore world. It's something they don't care about and just vibe with whatever they're vibing with. They don't care and I think Philza is the same in that mindset. He just doesn't care, and will be blunt about it, if he needs to actually talk about it.

Philza seems to deeply cherish those that are ... similar to himself from what I can tell. I don't fully watch Fit or other POV to get a clear understanding of Phil's relationship w/ others so I'm sorry if I don't include them, same with Technoblade. I've recently started watching mcyt again and I don't want to talk about something I don't have a full understanding of.

Anyways, Phil deeply connects with those that share similar traits to him in some regard. Techno whose the Blood God, who clearly has an understanding of death, war and loyalty and this clearly shows via Missa too. Missa, while not a fighter, does understand death and how important it is... He literally is a gentle grim reaper. He understands death much clearly, because his mother is also a Goddess tied to Death as well. Missa is also fiercely loyal to Phil and his children, because honestly, he was so busy! He didn't have to return to Quesadilla Island but he did because he cares about Phil and his children, quickly adopted Tallulah and he hadn't even seen her yet.

Whoever Phil trusted and guards with his life, Missa will guard that person with his life as well. Of course, unless, we talk about BadboyHalo then that's another discussion LOL. Such a mess between the demon (?) and grim reaper.

Anyways, we know how much Phil values such loyalty that, I cannot remember what Tubbo said, but he immediately locked Tubbo out of his own home because of what he said about someone and while despite implied flings with others. Philza never spoke about others the way he speaks about Missa.

Their relationship definitely...crosses the line of platonic and romantic. I can see why it would be considered queer platonic relationship, but also at the same time, it's like there is some line being breached which makes everyone raise an eyebrow cause sir, what do you mean platonic-

Philza is clearly...possessive over Missa, because the way he got so defensive when Bagi mentions Antoine (right?) and Missa should date. Philza didn't have to get so defensive, because Missa already immediately denied. Philza could have kissed anyone else, like Fit, but chose Missa instead. He even demanded Tall Missa to the admins, got jealous over any shipping fanart and acts like he's fine and doesn't miss Missa at all. *Coughs in* "I'm going to f*cking off myself. Did Missa log on again?!" (Side eye Philza)

Like he's done lots of things that makes everyone just raise an eyebrow- Philza is fooling no one but himself (& Missa)

I also enjoy the lore Missa has going on with accepting that he is indeed a part of the family and isn't alone. Missa had just lost Spreen, and suddenly, he had no one but the Angel of Death as his assigned partner. Missa must have felt so unmatched compared to Philza because what could he even offer to the family? He had nothing but his music and kind words, which is everyone that Death Family wanted. Missa brought a different change to the family that makes them be vulnerable, to not be so serious all the time and to actually just relax and be like a family that's just on vacation.

I mean, and just talking about loyalty and kindness. Missa never gave up... He fought his way back, despite getting taken away by wolves and suddenly Badboyhalo being so cruel. He always made sure his family was safe and always brought something for them.

Didn't Missa say he got lost because he tried to find a gift for Philza?! Like...the commitment to find a perfect gift for Philza, and still returning (sure, without the gift). While it's hilarious, Missa doesn't run away because of his wet cat behavior. He runs away because he doesn't want to put his family in danger, he cannot fight as well as others can. He relies on others to fight for him and then he jumps in to help, but because the time zone doesn't allow such things. Missa is forced to run.

And Missa is good at it. He will run as far as he can, if it means his family will be safe. He isn't running away from his family, but the danger because at the end of it all, he will return back to his family, no matter how long it takes.

And Missa casually admitted to Chayanne that he needs Philza more than he realized, the same way Philza realizes he needed Missa but didn't dare admit, whether it is out of fear or something else that he couldn't voice it. But Philza clearly showed it through his actions, that he brought/dragged Missa to Rose's Sanctuary before they went to sleep forever. He didn't have to do so, but he did... indicating their bond is much deeper because Rose's Sanctuary is literally a pocket dimension that no one cannot access.

Missa has access. Now he sleeps eternally with his family...

Also their whole dynamic just being Sun/Moon. Fated to never see each other at times, until an eclipse and yet...they still leave signs to let the other know that they're still remembered. This also brought to my attention how Missa is afraid of the sky, while Philza yearns for the sky/to fly.

You think The Sun (Philza) misses the Moon (Missa) so much, because of how far they are, instead of just not seeing each other. The Moon clings to Earth, because they're afraid to go beyond...to something unknown while the Sun cannot stay still, and yearns to burn and be free.

Deathduo/Pissa has me on chokehold.

I do hope this was an interesting analysis, I'm not very good at this..honestly it's probably just me rambling if anything.

#deathduo #pissa #thoughts #qsmp #qsmp missa #philza qsmp #goddess of death kristin #i have more to say tbh #but my brain is gone #i am so tired

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kelpie-mare · 2 days

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It has come to my attention that my appalachian/southern prhases are not common everywhere, so here are some of my favorites:

You couldn't poor piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel - literally you fucked up so bad you broke the laws of physics with your dumbassary OR the tools are there and you're too stubborn or ignorant to use them

You wouldn't know what to do if you were holding a pail of water and your ass was on fire - you have the tools. Whether or not you're too stupid to use them is another question. (You can lead a horse to water)

The devil's beating his wife - something that's so out of ordinary/character that it seems wrong. USUALLY it's the "reason" sunshowers happen. (The devil is basically Gomez Adams to his wife in our lore, so him beating her means something impossible is happening)

I'm more nervous than a long-tail cat in a rocking chair factory. - i'm so incredibly anxious.

This's louder than two skeletons fucking on a tin roof (in a thunderstorm) - that shit's loud. Extra loudness requires adding the thunderstorm.

This/that/you're as useful as tits on a boarhog. Boarhog is slang for male hog.

I'm sweating like a whore in church - it's so hot/humid i feel like a sex worker in a judgy baptist pew - OR, i'm in the hotseat pew myself for something besides sex work stigma

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear OR you can put lipstick on a hog, but it's still a hog - dress it up all you like, the situation's still ugly

You sure made a cow's ass outta that - a cow's ass is when you hammer a nail too hard, and the hammer leaves 2 half moon marks that look like a cow's ass. It's not worth it to pull the nail, sand the wood and try again: you CANNOT undo or fix it.

In this way: you hammered too hard and fucked the situation up permenantly.

Slap yo momma / slap your momma / slap your grandma - something is so surprising it shocks you into doing the unthinkable of bitch slapping a respected older woman. Often "the food my mom made is SO good i slapped her" is a context.

Slap yo mamma is separate bc there is a seasoning mix called "so good you'll slap yo mamma" or slap yo mamma for short. This is specifically from Black southern culture (it's cajun based seasoning for reference) and it's important for me not to lump in "yo" as just another word for "you" bc it is an AAE word, not a synonym. Slap yo/your granny has the influence that most non-Black folks i know don't use Granny as much as like...grandma, meemaw, etc. But these terms overlap.

You're just the south end of a north-bound bull - i call bullshit

We had a come to Jesus - more recently it has moved to people, but it has always been in the context of training a shitstain animal (usually a green colt)

Basically: we're gonna fight, and you're gonna lose. (No this is not abusive bc the animal is never beaten or frightened into behaving. It's just that trainers will encourage or prod a horse to get all his explosive anger out...and when he's calm, the trainer rewards him with space and softness. Let him fight it all out first kinda thing)

And my favorite, which is more Texas and less West Virginia:

Bless your heart - you stupid, bitchy, need a comeuppence motherfucker.

A lot of these might sound similar to Irish colloquilisms to you. The reason for this is that folk/mountain (what most people call hillbilly) culture was a huge part of eastern southern culture. See also: irish fiddle to folk fiddle pipeline.

I have not sanitized these phrases, and i will not. Sometimes, words are offensive, but that does not mean that silencing culture and history is the answer.

Some of these words or phrases can trigger people or be harmful. That is fact. However, the intent was NEVER to harm marginalzied communities. Remember, my family is white, so we don't experience racism, but we were poor, dirty, cousin-fucking hillbillies. It's reclaiming uncouth language to empower our clmmunity.

These phrases are to build community, not to make someone feel bad cause they said "whore" and not "sex worker."

PLEASE reblog/comment with ones you knew or were supprised by. If u also have cultural sayings u wanna share, i welcome it!!

Discussion of the validity/bias/intellegence of these phrases will get u blocked.

@shinylyni i know u will find this cool!

#colloquialism #language #appalachia #southern culture

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riptidesblog · 2 days

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If I rewrote/fixed plot holes in Ninjago Pilots:

They're actually not that bad for a beginning,but I would change a few things:

-I'll not question blacksmith being a career that could provide for two teens,but the fact that Kai seems to be a bad one does not sit right with me.Especially since the issue with the curled sword was not his impatience but the size of the water bucket used(I think)

-Wu being "I told you so,useless" to Kai after Nya is captured.Replace that with sympathy maybe? It would make sense as Wu knows what it's like to lose a family member and is wise enough to understand that Kai is distraught

-Give better reasoning for trusting the map to Ray than Wu fearing his death bc knowing the lore we have now,Wu is likely to outlive him.It could be that monastery was obviously a bad choice and Wu didn't want the weapons lost forever bc they're needed for the prophecy and with most of the past generation of ems either gone or not entirely trustworthy(earth em before Lilly was a traitor during the serpentine wars,then rejoined the alliance,damaging Wu's trust in him and Lilly herself was young and going out on adventures making her unavailable; Libber is missing,Ice em is either dead or missing to Wu's knowledge and etc)

-Personal hc for where Cole,Jay and Zane were during Kai's training is that on the journey to monastery Wu messaged them without Kai noticing,sending them away with a task.Once Kai mastered the course he called the 3 back without warning them about Kai

-Jay's "We're saving a girl?Is she hot?" line.The first part along with their reaction to Kai implies the 3 didn't know anything about Smith-Jiang siblings.Including age.On the one hand,that's creepy.Jay is just lucky that Nya's not too much younger.On the other,it might be in character for Jay to say something without thinking.If we're keeping it then have Jay say it later when there is a possibility that Kai or Wu informed them of the situation and the details.

-Show Kai warming up to the team more and more

-Establish the disastrous consequences of Tornado of Creation bc the only bad thing to happen from that in all the show was Lloyd being taken out by a door and that was just a coincidence.Not only will it give more detail,but also explain why ninja don't use it all the time

-Nya quoting Ray despite not remembering much about her parents.Let's assume Kai told her about it

-Wu's plan.What was the point of taking the sword to the Underworld if the other three weapons would be brought to the same place? That moment needs to be thought through

-Wu's 'death'.He was not a fallen warrior bitter with defeat,so there's no reason for him to go to the Underworld with the sword of fire and he did not turn into a skulkin.To fix this and previous point,let's say he got trapped on the other side of the volcano with the entrance to the Underworld and sword of fire has been with him bc he obtained it during the battle.He did not die yet

-Flame.Other 3 dragons didn't need to be woken up to protect their weapons(Rocky took some time tho).My personal hc is that the other 3 woke up immediately bc they sensed the humans and the skulkin.Flame however living so close to Underworld has his senses for the skulkin and similar dark forces(like Garmadon's Oni heritage) muted and the only others present in the Fire Temple were Kai,Nya and Wu,who all have dragon heritage

-Dragon saddles should not exist at this point in the show(I know it's to sell toys,but still)

-Jaya hug and Ignacians enthusiasm/cheering. Just don't include it at all,Jay and Nya are strangers at this point and Ignacians have no idea what's going on.Instead show them being confused and afraid of dragons and Jay maybe introducing himself to Nya

-Garmadon and Wu need to refer to each-other by smth other than just brother.It's repetitive and kinda unrealistic(no matter how old,siblings are siblings).This goes for the whole show

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nellandvoid · 3 days

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"it is unseen" or whatever the cool kids are saying nowadays

hello everyone sorry for the lack of art my brain isn't cranking it out as fast as it was previously but here have this silley lore + silvia-mabel bonding mini-comic (fyi people who make comics have all my respect this was SO FUCKING HARD for NO REASON and you all make it so easy god bless y'all) as compensation <3 (also yes silley is the silvia stan ship name don't look at me like that)

anyway i wonder why the reason for her divorce is so fuzzy to her... and why that's the part of her divorce that's so fuzzy... hmmmmmm... also mabel is so excited cause silvia is one of those people who doesn't reveal anything about herself unless she absolutely HAS to, so to mabel, her openly offering this up means that silvia trusts her and they've become level 4 besties

making this was very "unstoppable force (all of my lore drops needing to be comics/long-form info drops) vs immoveable object (i have Never done long-form art before nor have i ever finished a long-form project)" for me so while this may be more common (and hopefully look a lot neater in the future those with experience making long-form art stuff please gimme tips peace and love) they will not be as. often. and i will try to figure out how to do short-form lore dumps too lol

transcript below the cut in case any of the font is wonky!

PANEL ONE

Silvia: Ok, that's the sixth time you've sighed in ten minutes. Come on, out with it.

Mabel: It's just... boys, you know?

Silvia: Oh do I.

Mabel: This was supposed to be my chance for magical summer romance, but so far it's just been a summer of stupid magical creeps. And I know it's only been a few weeks, but what if the rest of the summer is like this?

PANEL TWO

Mabel: I'm just tired of boys being stupid, I guess. I dunno.

Mabel: Were boys this stupid when you moved here?

PANEL THREE

Silvia: Boys have always been this stupid, honey. And to be honest, boys that grow up here tend to be stupider than most. I'm one of the lucky ones...

Silvia: ...since the guy I married moved here after he finished growing up.

PANEL FOUR

Mabel: MARRIED?!

Silvia: Do you want me to braid your hair or not?

Mabel: Who cares about my hair? This is way more important!

Silvia: It's really not that big of a deal--

Mabel: Yes it is! You're married! To someone in town! Who is it, tell me everything.

Silvia: I was married. We're not... together. Like that. Anymore.

PANEL FIVE

Mabel: Oh gosh, that's so sad. I'm sorry.

Silvia: Eh, it's been years since we split. The two of us are still good friends, so no harm no foul.

Mabel: So then what happened? Or wait, sorry, I shouldn't ask--

Silvia: It's fine, honey. To be honest...

PANEL SIX

Silvia: ...I think it was a buildup of a lot of things. Small lies and secrets that didn't mix well with big tempers.

Mabel: You think?

Silvia: Yeah. To be honest, I never really thought about the 'why' much after it happened. It's all kinda fuzzy, but...

PANEL SEVEN

Silvia: I don't really remember what the final straw was for me.

PANEL EIGHT

Silvia: I just got tired of not trusting him, and of him not trusting me.

#nell's void #gravity falls #gravity falls oc #gf oc #gravity falls ocs #oc: silvia herrera #oc x canon #verse: drinking in the warm sunshine #otp: silley #artists on tumblr #digital art #mabel pines #stanley pines #good LORD this took forever #we're getting some bonding #and some lore #my ocs can never be happy sorry everyone <3

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mrrwsoup · 1 hour

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can you tell us more about rueben? is rueben a dragon or something? i get the feeling he's meant to look like a deer for sorta disguise reasons, like haha oh he's just a herbivore, until he brings out the fangs and starts chompin'. but that could just be bc most of the pics on here are of his face primarily so it could be more obvious. either way i love him, 10/10 would approach without a muzzle like a dumbass who thinks they can pet a grizzly, but i wouldnt mind if he decided to maul me at that point it's my own fault and it's a little bit sexy anyway. t4t but specifically in a cannibalism kind of way. coughs. thank god you have anon available. i just love your art & characters & lore so much thank you for your service o7

i can tell you more about rueben!! he is half mule deer half dragon...purposefully conceived to a witchy off-grid deer mother who believed bearing the child of a dragon would benefit her magical practices, and ofc it was all downhill from there to where he ends up as a murderous trick shooter in a criminal circus front lol

the dragon part is more obvious in his former design (the design ive recently reblogged art of), current design does have more of the disguise element, as you say "oh hes just a herbivore. until he starts chompin". theres some more basic info on him on his toyhouse page here.

basically just the sharp teeth, and his eyes shift between brown and gold...like twilight lolll....but also technically hes a ~weredragon~ and transforms at short uncontrolled intervals into an actual dragon monthly. at least when hes not on t shots LOL no menstrual cycle no dragon cycle.

anyways thank you im glad you enjoy him!! ^^ im all for t4t cannibalism....i seriously need to draw more bloody art with his updated design/redraw some old pieces, its high on my list...

#asks #rueben #i made him when i was 17 and little has changed tbh.....just made him a little more outwardly deer #and hit him with the transmascification beam

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illmoraineakoi · 19 hours

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Also, I noticed this when I was messing around with sprites earlier:

Broken Vessel's shell is a grey while Ghost and Hollow's are bright pure white. Grey shells seem to be the default state of dead Vessels.

Which brings up something I always found interesting: Bretta's first Dream Nail Dialog:

"...Shining figure...So bright..."

Shining figure? So bright?

Bretta, you are speaking with a eldritch abomination filled with Literal Shadow Goop. Vessels and Darkness are as synonymous with each other as Fire and Hot. You cannot get a darker dark than the VOID!

Except, Vessels aren't all Void.

Their mask-shells are clearly different. The only part of them (outside their 'cloaks') that isn't black. And a part of them that is very hard and immobile, like bone. They crack, they splinters, they can break. It is the most vital part of a Vessel to staying 'alive'; the Vessel's shells are the only thing keeping their shades contained, keeping their physical forms stable. They are the "harness upon the Void" that the White Palace workshop lore tablet talks about.

And they might be, potentially, the only thing left mostly untouched by the Void when they became Vessels.

Because why else would their shells glow?

Why would Bretta think that Ghost was shining and bright if they weren't? Why would the color dull to grey when they die if they weren't loosing some sort of brightness? For what other reason would an aura of faint light follow Ghost in-game?

Vessel's mask-shells glow faintly with Pale light.

That's why alive Vessels use #ffffff; the exact same reason why it's used for PK: to show brightness. And just like PK, that brightness goes away when they die. They stop glowing.

Except for the Greenpath Vessel.

For some reason.

GP's shell is white even though they are very clearly dead. It never changes, not even when they've fallen onto the ground. My best guess is that GP was an early-ish replacement asset that TC didn't really put much thought into.

Hornet's arena used to be where Broken Vessel's fight was supposed to be. BV was originally supposed to give the Mothwing Cloak upon defeat. But BV was moved and Hornet was added. So now there was nothing to drop/give the Mothwing Cloak, bc let's face it, Hornet dropping a whole article of clothing upon a non-death defeat would be really weird for multiple reasons. So, TC needed a replacement way for the player to get Dash. So why not another dead Vessel? Now with bonus Foreshadowing Points! That's what I think happened, at least.

Depending on how early this was done, the entire concept of the Vessels might not have even been a thing yet. Hence the inconsistency.

It doesn't change the fact that now when I look at them it feels like they're still just barely alive.

#hollow knight #The fact that BV has two barely different shell colors is bothering me so fucking much #You couldn't have just picked one Ari?!?!#THK is not shown but their shell is also ffffff so no changes between them and PV there #THK 's face only gets a shadow on the suspended sprites #I was not going to go through the Abyss Asset Vessels to check the colors #They're grey just trust me

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tubchunk · 7 months

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why do i think the overseer is still tied to the federation? or if that there is something that is still controlling the islanders?

WELL ! LET ME GET INTO MY THEORY (involving insanity, social psychology (what im doing my masters in), and my never ending imagination)

but firstly: let me introduce you all to the robber's cave experiment!

the robber's cave experiment is a very popular psychology field experiment conducted by muzafer sherif in the 1950s. essentially, at a summer camp in Oklahoma, they divided 22 boys into 2 groups of 11 each and at camp, the groups were kept separate from each other for the first few days so that they all bonded with their team. they even were told to choose team names.

then, they were made to compete on several tasks, as well as individual tasks, where only winning mattered. there were even situations designed for one team to win at the other team's expense (such as, one team arrived late to a picnic so the other had eaten their food). through this, the teams started to make remarks about the other and what they'd do if they crossed them. the competition started with just name-calling, until it got to one team burning the other's flag, then them retaliating by looting and trashing their stuff. you get the picture.

in the cooldown days, they were asked to write characteristics of the other team and their own. it's not surprising to hear that they described their team members favourably but the other team's as unfavorable.

then, the next phase was trying to reduce this animosity, where it was seen that tasks that forced them to work together towards a greater common goal helped in reducing hostility. particularly, these were conducted in a different place to robber's cave, to leave those grievances behind. by the end of it, seating was mixed and people were mingling again.

(there are ethical issues with this experiment that im not getting into rn but)

why is this all important?

well, did any of that experiment, i don't know, sound familiar to what has been happening?

the random division into arbitrary teams, choosing a name and leader, quests that rely on scarcity of resources, situations where one team benefits at the expense of another?

i think, purgatory is nothing but the qsmp's version of the robber's cave experiment.

it's clear that the past few months have been, chaotic, with the islanders. the federation have had to deal with more and more direct attempts at fighting them from the islanders' ends, with the workers being kidnapped and killed, and just more overall chaos. and even though there are interpersonal disagreements, everyone seems to be by each other's sides against the federation.

they don't understand it at all. and they need to understand it, AND tear them apart to make it easier for them.

two birds with one stone.

they ship all of them off to a new island, where they have suddenly been divided into 3 teams, forced to compete in order to survive, win, and save the eggs. the biggest point scorers are when they actively hunt and kill each other. they're looting, fighting, falling apart and sticking close to their teams to the point of codependency. tight-knit friendships are disregarded, not to mention how almost all relationships have been separated. everyone is for their team, and no one else.

fascinating information, and discord amongst members.

what else could they ask for?

probably events will be outright competitions where they compete to win, and there will be no consolation prizes, making winning the only thing that matters. further driving the ingroup vs outgroup language and dynamics that have already formed.

but then after the two weeks are up, what then?

well they have two options. either let them back onto quesadilla island with these new scars and vendettas, everyone having completely shaken up their dynamics, forced to live together again.

or...

a new island, where there are no teams. no competition. and all of them have to work together for a bigger goal (probably, getting the eggs back for real). something that would make the group dynamics melt away, and help everyone become friendly again.

which would be in their better interest? and what happens if someone, halfway through the experiment, figures out whats going on and whats behind it all?

so they give them a "mystery" to be preoccupied on.

one of the teams is "cursed" and if they lose, everyone loses.

you would think that would make them all work together to figure it out but, judging by how days 1 and 2 went, thats clearly not people's priority. the ingroup vs outgroup dynamics, scarcity, and competition are strong enough to shadow this one crucial instruction.

that's exactly what they wanted. for everyone to be too busy fighting each other for victory, that the odd person being curious would only investigate this claim, and not go further into the purpose of this whole game. maybe there really is a cursed team, whose loss dooms all maybe it was just something said to throw people off the trail. maybe the cursed team is the same throughout, or changes every day. if there are rules, the islanders don't know them. and they seemingly don't care, yet.

so i truly think the only way to make it out is for people to start questioning who is the cursed team, and who is making them do all this and why. it's for them to push aside the arbitrary teams that they have been put in and actually work like they used to back home. because playing the game as it has been laid out to them is just playing into the hands of whoever has put them here. the question is whether they will realise this with time to spare, or when it's already too late for them, their friendships, their relationships, and the eggs.

well that was just me waffling on about psychology and what i think the purgatory event may really mean, cuz nothing makes sense. here are my rapid beliefs: blue team are cursed red team are red herrings green team are a ticking time bomb of fed vs anti fed

thanks for coming to my ted talk

#qsmp #qsmp purgatory #qsmp theory #qsmp lore #I COOKED HERE I THINK #MAYBE #IDK #I JUST NEED LORE AND REASONS FOR ALL THIS #AND FOR EVERYONE TO STOP FOR A MOMENT AND LOOK AROUND AT THE FRIENDSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS THEY'RE TEARING APART

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